Top_Gunn

My Feedback: (6)

I had a minor mishap with a plane I had covered with Sig Koverall, which then got a few coats of nitrate dope, then color coats of Klass Kote epoxy. A longeron got cracked and I had to cut some of the covering away to repair it, so now I have to patch the hole in the covering.. What I propose to do is give the area around the patch a few coats of nitrate dope, which I understand is OK on top of epoxy, then use more nitrate dope to attach a Koverall patch and fill the weave (some). Then use Klass Kote for the colors.

Is this OK? Or is there a better way? I usually use Sig Stix-It to attach Koverall to balsa, but I don't know if that would work on top of Klass Kote. There seem to be a lot of threads on applying Koverall, but I can't find much on patching.

Appowner

Wow! Good question. Never thought of that and I've used a lot of Koverall. Lucky I guess!

Without any direct experience to back it up, I have two thoughts. First would be to scuff the area around the patch to help with adhesion. May not really be needed but better safe and all that.

Second thought is why use the dope? Isn't the paint an epoxy? If so, why can't you use some clear coat to "glue" the patch in place? Then finish off as usual.

Top_Gunn

My Feedback: (6)

Thanks for the suggestions. I will scuff the paint. I figure I need dope to fill the weave of the Koverall some before applying the color coat. I've never tried Klass Kote over un-doped Koverall, but I wouldn't think it would be much of a filler. I suppose I could use a water-based filler.

The paint-compatability charts I've seen say nitrate dope over epoxy is OK, but I'd like confirmation from someone who has tried it.

Appowner

Agree with the need for confirmation. But another thought I had, what's the difference between epoxy finishing resin used for fiberglass layup and the epoxy paints? Color and thickness? Yet we use the resin to fill the fiberglass weave which typically is a much more open weave than the Koverall.

I'd be tempted to try an experiment. Make a simple box frame and put some Koverall over it. Then see how the Klass Kote does at filling it. Maybe even try several ones and maybe add a filler (Talc) to some clear and brush it on. Just thinking of options here.