aaganz

After water spray and tightening up, the Silkspan at one of my wing roots (next to fuselage) developed 3-4 one inch small wrinkles. All the other wing panels are fine. Is there a simple way to smooth these out, short of cutting the whole covering off and redoing the entire wing panel?

I am "re-building" the 42 inch wingspan CL model I built and flew and crashed over 50 years ago. Since the leading and training edges I am now attaching to are balsa+tissue+dope( 4 coats), I am using 1) glue stick, then 2) Silkspan layout, and 3) white glue + water (50:50) over the outer frame + Silkspan.

EzeDope + water in multiple coats is pending.

The plane is similar to a a Super Ringmaster, but somewhat larger and "thicker" in the fuselage.

Thanks for any info,
aaganz

AJ Sun

Well in my years I’ve learned that the Nitrate Dope works the best on coating the surface prior to applying the covering. What I do is apply the Nitrate in thin coats and sand with 400 until I get a shine. Let it set for maybe 72 hours. If the surface is still shined I lay down the covering. Usually mix a little MEK with the Nitrate Dope. Tauline also works well. It softens the coating and the covering really attaches well. Let it set for a few days I’ve never used Iron on my Models I have always covered with Silk. After that dry period I apply distilled water and let it set for 24 hours. Repeat that two more times. Their might be a wrinkle or two. I apply a Nitrate Dope thinned and let dry the longer the better. Usually three coats. Usually those wrinkles disappear. Then I coat with a Butirate Dope. Still thinned when it tightens up to drum sound I used non taughting dope. Depending on the color I will use silver Dope two coats sprayed. Never brushed. Not to offend just the way I’ve learned over the yearsAJ.

aaganz

AJ Sun,
Thank you for the good information! Based on what you wrote, I will do several coats of thinned EzeDope, and see if that takes care of the wrinkles. I do not need this to be a "perfect job", as the plane is sure to crash on the first flight after 50 years. On my next model, I will follow something more as you have suggested. Thanks again.
aaganz

AJ Sun

Ya I I've always enjoyed silk and dope my finishes arent that great either and usually It ends in a crash. Silk is getting very hard to find in Japanese k&S. I have a small stash. That I hope will last me a little while. One other think to make your finish last longer on a few of my planes I use a little olive oil mixed with the dope. After a year of sitting some of my planes I've built I have never flown. And some I fly all the time. It makes the silk last longer before it starts to split at the wing bays. My 40 year old Veco Thunderbird finally split in 3 bays this summer. Record heat for 65 days over 100.AJ

AJ Sun

Hey kinda wondering how those wrinkles turned out. I've just learned that Ezedope is a water base. That's not going to act like.I previously explained. It will have several different tendency than the finish I use. Also recovering a plane has a variety of issues. Oils fuels cleaners and the like are very hard to remove. Also I would never use Nitrate on a rebuild or recover. Those cleaners and residues can cause all kinds of issues. Best cleaner I've used is Alcohol on a recover usually will.remove several deposits even using Amonia but if you use Amonia let the plane sit for several days. Then use Alcohol. As a final cleaning before you apply. Never used water based applications so your on your own. Even with that pre cleaning.AJ.