Hi,

I get beautiful finishes with Ultracote but find on my glow planes, it's coming unstuck at the seams in certain spots. Obviously, I ironed the seams down on high heat but they just aren't staying put. This is generally only occurring in the general vicinity of the exhaust.

Monokote: used to be amazing but now doesn't shrink but it NEVER came undone at the seams

Ultracote: shrinks great, eats razor blades, comes undone at the seams

Frustrating because the oil damages the wood and no mater how much corn starch or balsarite you put on it, it never really covers right after getting fuel soaked.

Any ideas??

Mike

Mike,

Have you tried Balsa-Rite for covering? If the will adhere to the wood after the damage from the fuel soaking, it should help the Ultracoat stick down. Since Balsa-Rite dries clear, I usually take a thin brush and paint the edges of all of the seams on my planes. Clear fingernail polish works for this too.

David

Brush and rub on some Monocote adhesive.

Tom

Sounds like the heat is re-activating the glue,, As you know Ultracote goes on at a much lower temp compared to Monokote. sounds like you need to extend or re-route your exhaust so the Heat doesn't loosen up the covering.

good luck

Just tack down the edges with a little thin CA. You can wipe off any residue with Acetone

I learned many years ago that no covering is "fuel proof" on its edges and that includes old and new Monokote.

When it was available, I used to seal the edges with K&B Superpoxy clear while using a very fine paint brush. I put on the very minimum of clear paint. One had to keep in mind where the clear paint was when reheating/ironing the covering, or one would be very sorry. Still, it was the best deal going.

Why Superpoxy clear? Because it was very close to being truly clear - but not quite and not yellow. It had a reddish tinge to it which was mostly unnoticable.

I have also used water based polyurethane clear with great success. The secret is to use the minimum amount necessary. Yes, it is tedious work, but it works!


Ed Cregger

Won't work with Ultracote[]

When I have a seam loosen with Ultracote, I clean as much of the exposed area as I can get to with alcohol(acetone will remove the glue) and then re iron it using about 230 degrees on the iron.

I don't have a lot of lifting problems with Ultra, I over lap by about 1/4 inch and the stuff sticks well to itself. If I do get a lift I do what ABD does or what mike does. As for going through blades, I have a strop on my bench and just sharpen them as I build. My blades are a lot sharper that way then they are right out of the box. I used two blades to build and cover four kits before they got nicks in them, that's when I tossed them for new ones.