I'm about to start covering my four star 40 and i had a question about the wing. I'm going to do it black from the le to the main spar, and yellow from there back. Do i need to cover the whole wing in yellow....then go over the top with black, or can i cover the wing in two pieces on top. I was concerned about the structure added by the covering no longer being as rigid with two pieces. But if its OK, then i would rather do it that way. Also....any tips on monokote over monokote?? Thanks, Shaun.

My newb opinion:

I did almost identical (except blue instead of black). I started by covering the whole top with yellow then started to put the blue over the top of the yellow. It would have overlapped by at least 4". I soon found out it's not a good idea because when ironing that much over a sealed surface, like monokote on top of monokote, the air bubbles just never stop. I'd suggest covering from TE to spar+1/4. Then cover the black over the yellow by 1/4". You do the back to front then cover over moving forward around the wing, as I understand, so that the seam isn't windward and peel up. Could also seal it, I guess

Also...i was just assembling the plan to get a look at it...and the middle landing gear bolt was interfering with wing hold down dowel. Did i grab the wrong bolt? Or do i need to cut the bolt down. Thanks, Shaun.

You didn't mention the bottom color, but fir this example, I'll assume it's all black on bottom (Top Pic), or the same black/yellow combo (Bottom Pic)

Here's the best way to do it, and the best sequence (make all seams overlap by about 1/4")

How far does the bolt protrude through the fuse former? It only needs to go through by about 1/8"

Sorry, not the bolt, I meant the wing dowel

Hey MinnFlyer,

I just did my wing with four pieces, two to each wing half. I did the top from TE to LE first, then covered over the LE part by 1/4" and wrapped all the way around to the TE on the bottom, bad idea?

-Dave

I'm sorry...the bottom is going to be all yellow and then i think im going to checkerboard it. But i assume i can do it the same as the second pic only combine the bottom two pieces. The dowel sticks through about a quarter inch or so. Thanks, Shaun.

NewbieT, The reason for the sequence above is simple. It keeps all of the seams facing WITH the airflow. And the reason for always doing the bottom first is to keep the seams on the bottom where they won't be easily seen

Shaun, Can you trim the wing dowel down so it doesn't hit the screw but still protrude past the hole?

Not what I meant...from your diagrams (the three part covering) I did part 2 first then combined part 3 and 1 as one large piece wrapping from 4" from the LE, around the LE over the bottom all the way to the TE. I guess the purpose of 3 or 4 covering pieces is stylistic in that you could do different colors? I only did two colors, yellow on top and blue front and bottom as I described. What I was wondering, other then style, is there any reason for the extra piece covering the LE?

-Dave

I also have a question about covering the fuse. I am going to cover the sides in yellow and the top in black (see picture). Do i need to make the turtle deck and the black that extends down on the the fuse two seperate pieces since the monokote over monokote? Should The black piece on the top deck also be a seperate piece? Thanks, Shaun. (I just took a pic of my plane and colorized it)