shd3920

I am doing the final sanding and will be starting the covering soon. This is the first turtledeck I have ever covered and would like to know.

Would it be easier to cover the side of the fuselage, nose and turtledeck side in one piece and have the seams meet at the turtledeck/nose center (top) or cover the entire turtledeck and nose as a separate piece?

Spitfire222

I think it would be easier to do it in multiple pieces, but it would most likely look nicer to do it in one piece (less seams).

This can also depend on your covering scheme and how many colors you're using. With multiple colors, you can strategically place seams in places where there are color breaks.

shd3920

I will be doing a black and white scheme.
Black/white checkerboard on the bottom of the wing, black at the LE top of the wing and white the rest of the wing top.
White fuselage with black strip going the length of the fuselage. Black canopy.
Bottom of stab checkerboard, top of stab white. White rudder.

hogflyer

I'm lazy when it comes to covering a plane - one of my least favorite tasks when building. With a stringer turtle deck I like to cover the turtle deck first. If it doesn't cover smoothly then the covering is easy to remove. I use one piece and start by tacking it at the center stringer front and back, then at the lower corners on the fuselage side. After its tacked all around then shrink it over the entire turtle deck. I'd us the same process for the nose too, then to the bottom of the fuselage. This will allow you to have a nice, straight seams on the fuselage side under the turtle deck and allow for some overlap on the bottom of the fuselage. This makes it a lot easier when you are covering with more than one color.

If you are careful on how you apply it, the correct way would be to cover the bottom first, next the sides, then the turtle deck so the overlapping seams will over the lower piece of covering. But sometimes it's just easier to cover the turtle deck first.

While it is possible to do the sides in one piece with the seam along the center stringer, if you mess it up then you'll have to do it separately, and try to keep a neat, straight seam on the fuselage.

The pictures are an Airtronics S-Tee 1/2A sport plane that has a stringer turtle deck. I covered the turtle deck first, then the bottom, then the fuselage sides.

Hogflyer

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

The standard way of covering this would be to do both sides and then the turtle deck, then the nose. The nose can often be done in one piece, but doing the turtle deck in one piece can be very tricky (I know, I just did one)