Towerhobbies says I need 3 6' rolls of covering for a Tiger 60. Have never covered I have questions. Say If i want one color on top, one on bottom, and a third on top and bottom (Large pieces so I wont have to cover the entire wing with one color then add other on top), then can I just get on roll of each. How many rolls does it usually take (Tiger 60 or equivalent size plane)? Can I get away with 3 different color rolls, or what. Thanks

The three rolls is about right. You want the wings covered without seams and then add your trim. It is very dificult to get a seam to hold without puckering something awful. The one exception to this is if the ribs are cappped. I have cut stips of covering that would span a bay including th caps. I used two colors and put down the light color on every other bay and then covered the open areas with the dark. This gives a very visible bottom color scheme. You would use this on the bottom only. On the top though you need to use monokote over the base coveing and use the widex method. Trying to iron seal it over the first covering will leave bubbles in the covering.

Keep your coveing pieces as large as you can and cover from the back forward on the fuselage so any seams open down stream. Expect a lot of scrap when covering.

There is a couple good articles on covering here on RcUniverse. I'm sure someone has the links at their finger tips. Sorry, I don't

Don

Yes, three rolls of different colors will usually be enough

I dont think I've ever covered a plane with the recommended rolls,lol. I tend to be alittle wasteful and if it calls for 3 I usually end up using about 4 or more if I use multiply colors and use some for trim. You gotta be pretty darn good and un-wasteful(like minn) to get away with covering a plane of multiple colors with only 3 rolls. And especially if this is your first cover job,your gonna want to get an extra roll or two. Figure out what you main color will be and get 2 rolls of that. Dont be afraid to cut your pieces larger then they need to be so you have something to hold onto while pulling and tugging. Covering is VERY difficult to do well,and takes ALOT of skill to produce a good job. Many people will tell you that learning to cover well takes as much skill as flying itself. But the other side is.......its almost as rewarding too.


Some tips would be to watch minns videos here on RCU....dont try to get too fancy on your first cover job.....a heat gun is a must....and use Ultracote,not monokote(ultracote is MUCH easier to work with).

One of the toughest things to learn is to tack the covering down with the iron set with just enough heat to activate the adhesive, not to start the shrink.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/a...?article_id=67

http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/a...article_id=726

These are Minn's covering articles, very good reading.

Shorty,
Along with your ther post, one thing you may want to put on your wishlist is the following:

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0161p?&I=LZ1366

I think I have seen this combo at 19.99, but I don't have the add with me. These will save you some heartache when doing your covering. I am not an expert, but covering doesn't need to be too difficult if you spend some time figuring out how you are going to approach it. Take your time, be slow and very methodical, this is not an area that you want to rush. Watch the videos, they are a wonderful sampe of how to do things the right way. I learned so much from them (sticky at the top of this forum).
Good luck and keep asking questions as you get your kit and begin building.
Curtis

Sorry, the Sticky to the covering videos are at the top of the questions and answers forum within Airplanes.
Good Luck,
Curtis