I thought I was gonna pick up the alpha 40 with the training software last night, but I ended up getting a World Products Mach 1 arf, thunder tiger .46, 4 standard JR servos, new rx pack, and a few small basics like fuel and some extra tubing. I wanted to do a build really bad, atleast an arf so I went for it. I was wanting to recover whatever I ended up with anyway so I could learn to cover, and this thing has some ugly wings! The fuse isn't bad looking IMO, so I thought I would just recover the wings to match.

What covering should I use? Is towerkote any good, or should I just get the ultracote? Other than an iron, heatgun, and fresh razor blades, what else do I need? Thanks for all the great help!

You will find that many coverings are good but there are a lot of guys who claim that one brand is better than others, just preferences, IMO Top Flite's Monokote is a reliable good brand easy to apply and very forgiving because it works with a lot of heat, my second choice is Ultracote and my third choice would be TowerCote which needs to be applied with low heat and a lot of care. There are other top brands like Coverite and Sig that are also great.

Ugly!? Heck I was gonna mention "it's a good lookin' plane"

If I were buying the stuff:

2 rolls of Ultracote.... or more depending on what scheme / colors you are going to use. But it should take 2 rolls.

box of 100 blades. You'll only use maybe 10 or so, but the box is cheaper per blade..... and you WILL use em'

I get by with just an iron, but a heat gun is helpful and probably helps acheive more professional looking covering.... maybe

I would highly recommend getting either a infared point and shoot pyrometer (tempature' gun) if you have the cash, or a cheap little thermometer just for covering irons. You can get them from Tower or whatever just for this purpose. In my experience the numbers on the iron don't mean squat and I like to know the temp rather than "crank it up till it shrinks"

Also I would highly recommend an iron sock. I don't really have a problem scratching the covering when I DON'T use one, rather I end up scratching the teflon off my iron. NOOOOooooo!

Everyone has thier favorite covering... But that Ultracote is some nice stuff!

Good heavens and you are going to strip it now. I never thought I would suggest this but put it together and get started flying Now. Also go get a kit of some sort a real Kit not an arf (you can,t build something that is already built) and start building as you fly.

It maks no sense to strip that airplane now and it may not even last that long.

As far as film covering goes I use only Monocoat, Sig Aerocoat is good and Ultracoat is somewhere down the list with Econcoat and Towercoat at the very bottom of the list and yes have used them all as well as others many times and thats why I now don,t bother with anything else but Monocoat.

John

I agree with those who say fly it as-is. You will probably have at least a couple of mishaps - busted props thrown through the wing on hard landings, etc... I'd bang it up a little bit before recovering it.

I have used Monocote and Ultracote, and I prefer Ultra - just because it shrinks around corners better. For a straight wing, either one would work great.

Good luck.

I have seen alot of thigns and thats not one of them!

Steven

Fly as-is! It may need repairing soon and you can re-cover it then. FLY

Dude you gotta just go fly it! I think it looks just fine. besides, like some others have said, if its your first plane it might need some repairs before you know it. good luck to ya.

First off, EXCELLENT choice of airplanes. The Mach-1's fly beautifully. The semi-symetrical wing means that you'll stay interested in it as you advance from beginner to intermediate. In fact you'll probably want to keep this thing around long after you've become an experienced flyer. I sold mine and I do regret it.

If this is your first plane, I wouldn't bother re-covering the wing. I know the basket weave stuff WM puts on there is a little odd but you'll likely be scuffing it up at first.

I will echo the responses of those above. Just fly the darn thing. You will get your chance at recovering soon enough. I also prefer Ultracoat as it seems to be a little more puncture resistant and that means less hanger rash.

Curt

Monokote is the way to go for a beginner, forgiving to heat and has alot of resistance to mistakes, price isn't bad either

what you intend to do i'm doing right now.

if i were you i would definitely go to fly first what you have!!!

i'm recovering because of a specific issue with tower trainer covering and i have something to fly and i have some experiance with building and covering, means i will not get to the point that im stuck.

GO TO FLY WHAT YOU HAVE!!!!!

Alex

I dont see anything wrong with the looks really. Fly it!