jessiej

In the 50s-early 60s I covered C/L combat ships with silk. Cheap at the time and MUCH stronger than silkspan.

Naturaly considering the brief life expectancy of a combat ship I didn't lavish a lot of attention on on the finish. Just sprayed on 3 or so coats of clear.

jess

F106A

My Feedback: (2)

Hi,
I, and many others, added a couple of drops of castor oil to the clear to keep the silk from cracking after several years, especially the spiral cracks. The castor acts like a plasticizer. Sig used to sell something similar. We mixed the castor into the thinner then added it to the clear. I always cut the clear 50% for the first three coats. If you get droplets in the weave, you can brush them with a dry brush or use toilet paper to abosrb them. If you''re going to use a brush, buy the best one you can afford, artist brushes work best. Having a cheap brush start to shed when doping is a pita. If it sheds then you have to remove the individual bristles before the dope starts to set, what a pain. I learned to put silk on dry when I built a CHARGER and tried to use checkerboard silk on the fuse. What a project trying to get the checkers lined up with wet silk! Finally gave up and put it on dry and used a spray can of Aerogloss clear to anchor it in place before brushing. As a previous poster said, silk was always an expensive way to cover a model, but nothing looks better.
Regards,
Jon

old git

Avoid film etc, silk or nylon last and best of all add both strength and stiffness. I have just come across a new technique which involves tissue covering first and then silk. This apparently uses less dope to fill the interstices. See Radio Controlled Model Flyer magazine for February, March, April 2004, CURRENT. Their eMail address is [email protected]. I have not tried this web address and wonder if the "Arty Farties" have considered presentation more important then information, try the address in lower case.




old git

BALSA BANDIT

I have not used silk in many years but I know for fact that it is very hard to not warp a wing unless you have a pattern on the material and when pinning the silk down, square the pattern. I did try to purchase some silk 2 or 3 years ago. I surched all the local rag shops and called several inport companys, they all claim that they have many bolts of silk in stock be when I go and check them out I find that 100% of them have silk blends. I could not find a single supplier in the tri state New York,Jersey, Conn. area.

LesUyeda

Real silk. I just bought 10 yards for $2.10/yard.

http://www.thaisilks.com/store/merch...tegory_Code=20

Les

F106A

My Feedback: (2)

Balsa bandit,
Did you check w/Linda at Hobby Hut on Rt 23? 973-835-2077. I know last week she had packs of Aero Silk.
Regards,
Jon

N1EDM

My Feedback: (2)

Hello Les,
Thanks again for those files. They are a wealth of knowledge.

You answered my next question... where to buy silk. You all specify buying specific weights of silk, such as .50 oz silk, etc... but if you buy it in a clothing store (silk scarves, etc., ) how do you know what you are getting?

I'll look up thaisilk.com. Have you ever done anything with them before? I'm curious about how you find the quality of their silk, and any comments...

THis has been an exceptional thread for getting information.

Will someone please point this thread out to one of the Moderators? They could point to this one as having good solid information, a lot of fun, a lot of ideas expressed, and didja notice? Not one flame?

Definitely, this thread was a cut above others that I've been through. Thanks for all the helpful information, guys!

Bob

LesUyeda

Hey, Bob.

I bought some various pieces from them several years ago, but at that time they were out of most of the colors that I wanted. You can buy a sample set from them that contains 12 to 24 2" x 2" samples. I have lost interest in the colored silk, because my effort is SCALE. That means that I have to paint everything anyway, and the lightest silk that they carry is plenty strong enough for all of my stuff. The service was good, they did not charge my credit card until they shipped, and they did ship promptly. They do not specify silk in weights; they use a gauge called momme, that is related to number of threads per inch, and the size of the thread (I think). What I have been using is Hobotai 5 momme, not dyed.

Jon. Aero Silk is great stuff, at about 10 to 12 dollars a yard.

Les

zoomzoooie

How would the Hobotai 5mm work for detailed 1/2A scale biplanes?
I want to use silk for strength and light weight with a doped finish.

Is it light enough, what would it compare to?



ZZ

N1EDM

My Feedback: (2)

Hi Les,
I think I might get a couple of yards of the colored silk from thaisilk.com or silkconnection.com and see what it's like. I have to see how that glider fuse goes together (it'll be a simple box, but something that I can practice on).

I guess you can put on details like AMA numbers, etc., by doping colored tissue onto the silk. Thanks for the input so far...

Bob

LesUyeda

ZZ. On a structure that light, I would wet the silk before I did anything else, lay it out and let it dry. In other words pre shrink. The picture is of two elevator halves, placed leading edge to leading edge. The leading edges are 1/8 diameter carbon fiber tubing; the ribs are 1/16 balsa. The silk compressed and bowed the ribs enough to produce the gap you see.

Bob: I have never dealt with silkconnection, but I will have to check them out. I usually paint whatever numbers I want on silk. From 5' away, no one will see the overspray. I have been known to cut them out of Solartrim, when I was using a coarser fabric (Solartex, Koverall, etc).

Les

Sport_Pilot

Thai silk is way too heavy. Might as well use Koverall. I didn't see one sample sheer enough to use for light weight models with that silk translucent look.

N1EDM

My Feedback: (2)

Why do you think that the Thai silk is too heavy? I've been on the web site and it lists the weights. I could see if you happened to get a heavier weight product.

Just curious about how you came to that conclusion...

Thanks,

Bob

LesUyeda

Sport Pilot. Are you sure that you are in the right site? The silk I have been buying from them is NO WHERE near as heavy or coarse as Koverall; in fact it appears identical to K & S Aero Silk, that we have been using for years.

Les

boberos

Hi guys,
Go back to the posts about "Cheap Silk" to find out more about your silk problems. Many of your questions were answered there.

Thai Silk 5 momme weighs 0.6 oz per sq. yd $2.50/yd (only comes in white)
Light Jap silk waighs 0.4 oz. per sq. yd $15.00/yd
If you want pre dyed Thai silk you must go to 8 momme.

Your choice but I have seen 5 momme dyed different colours & is is quite translucent.

Have fun,
Bob G

LesUyeda

I did't have time to photo and post this morning, but the blue stuff in the photo is Thai silk. Translucent enough for me. And yes, it is the 8 momme stuff. Since then I have been buying only the 5 momme.

Boberos. I don't know how I happened to miss that "cheap silk" thread, but I did. I think it kind of reinforces what I have found. Thanks

Les

Strat2003

My Feedback: (1)

The Lanzo Bomber in the "cheap silk" thread is mine. The silk is the 5 mm from Silk Connection. It's plenty transparent. As far as transparency of the different grades....they have a $20.00 minimum order. To get up to the minimum, my wife suggested I buy some of the 8mm for her to make a blouse from. She's not gonna wear THAT blouse anywhere but the bedroom, lol. 8mm is stillvery sheer!
Regardeing weight....I still had to add a whole pound to the Bomber to bring it up to SAM minimum weight, so a heavier grade of silk wouldn't hurt at all.

N1EDM

My Feedback: (2)

If I did this right, here's the link for the "Cheap Silk" thread. I'm reading that right now...

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_13...tm.htm#1310068

Les, is there a minimum on the Thai Silk web site? I'm going to buy a few yards of 5mm and 8mm and experiment some.... I take it that the white 5mm silk is 45" wide. I might also use a yard of that for a model parachute...

Thanks for all this info so far. I'm going to pig out on it...

Any more out there??

Bob

LesUyeda

Don't know, Bob. I have ordered, and not worried about minimums. My orders were over $20 anyway. You can e-mail them and find out.

[email protected]

Les

Sport_Pilot

They must have sent me the wrong silk, or I gave them the wrong number. The silk I got was slightly heavier than Koverall and more tightly woven, not transucent at all.

N1EDM

My Feedback: (2)

I just put three different silks on order yesterday from Thai Silks.com - I ordered the 6mm (I meant to order 5mm - my goof) and two of the 8mm dyed Habotai. It'll be interesting to see what their weight is like. I work at a chemistry lab and will be able to weigh the silk up pretty accurately once it gets here.

This way, I can start experimenting with a dope & silk finish...

Bob

spud8939

My Feedback: (4)

jcw,
Hi I read through this thread and found your comments--the way you use silk is the EXACT same way I came up with on my own many years ago. It removes many of the "problems" people inexperienced with silk find. After modelong for about 50 years, I still think silk is the best covering, and shows craftsmanship if a person has some.
Very interesting,
spud8939

N1EDM

My Feedback: (2)

Just so you know, my order from Thai Silk came in today. I got some green (Emerald) and red (Coral) along with some un-dyed silk to experiment with... The quality looks good...

My wife is giving me odd looks though.......

Thanks for the tip...

Bob

spud8939

My Feedback: (4)

Bob,
If you are familiar with them, how does the stuff from Thai compare with Sig or Esaki brands?
Thanks,
spud8939

dicknadine

my 80" PLayboy covered with Mono-coat, powered with Royal .28. it gets it up in a hurry and then float around till you get tired, have close to 100 flights on it along with a few rebuilds. my buddy has a copy with electric power and enjoys it also. dick