Ya know, it had been a couple years since I built anything after that King Kobra and I was out of the moldeling loop for a while. Then when I saw the name Ultracote a little light went on in the back of my head but I didn't know why, now I do. Who'd a thunk it. Thanks for getting me straight MinnFlyer.

I have used MK for well over 30 yrs now and yes it has changed somewhat especially the white or jet white as its called now,plus several of the metalics even got a roll of pink that was terrible to use.its much thicker and harder to shrink ,but heres something a lot of folks don't know if you are trying to use a heat gun made for UC on MK your waisting your time the UC is a low temp covering and the gun doesn't get as hot as the one thats made for MK.The end results are usually a burnt hole or not enough shrinkage .I wasn't aware of this myself until a few weeks ago when we compared 3 diff guns with mine being the oldest of the bunch over 20 yrs and still works great .It was also the hottest of the three .
As many planes as I build each year I got thru a lot of covering and yes I have used UC with good results ,until the sun hits it for a hour or so.reminds me of a prune and its back to the iron or gun to fix it back to the original condition ,if you don't pull it off the plane in doing so.Hint Iron works best *S*
Where as with MK I let the finished plane set out in the hot sun for a couple hours and let it get loose ,then a quick go over with the gun and I have a covering job that stays tight from then on .
Covering Material is a personal preference as to what a person uses ,whatever they can get the best job done is what they should go for.
The only time you can mix MK & UC is if your base is MK and the UC is trim otherwise you will pull the UC off the structure trying to shrink the MK.Another thing I have seen is MK doesn't like to stick all that well to UC .
Anyway just my 2 Happy Building.

I agree, Cyberwolf. Now, what brand of gun do you recommend?

Dr.1

I've used both Monokote and Ultracote.

Used monokote on my first couple of planes because it is so common. Then switched to Ultracote on reccomendations that its easier to work with. I definately find Ultracote easier to work with - its easier to seperate the backing and shrinks better. I have found though that the seams seem to peel up more, it doesnt stick to itself as tenaciously as monokote (and I do work forward and upwards so all seams are away from the wind) Also the matching ultracote paint does not seem very fuel proof - one cowl I had to repaint 3 times because of fuel softening the paint, then finally switched to lusterkote white (close enough) and its still perfect after a year.


Monocote
Pros - Edges stay sealed, seams less visible. Better color selection. More fuel resistant paint (lustercote)
Cons - Colors bleed if not careful, doesnt shrink as good. Backing is a royal pain to seperate.

Ultracote
Pros - Very easy to work with, shrinks great
Cons - Limited colors, tough to find good fuel resistant matching paint. Seams tend to peel over time


Ive settled on using Ultracote on most of my sport planes, and Monokote for giant and scale projects that need lots of painted trim.

I just finished repairing a plane for a youngster. Used true red MK and was not happy with the results. I've been using MK for 35 yrs and the newer stuff has more in common with the shrink wrap that packages it, then the old reliabla MK.

I've tried just about everything. Sometimes Monokote works great. I had especially good luck with sapphire blue and bright yellow on my Great Planes Rapture. The only complaint I had was color bleeding at the edges, getting on my iron sock and transfering to the other color. The aluminum Monokote that I used on my Herr 1/2A Mustang was horrible. I stretched it tight before shrinking and it intially shrunk nice; 2 days later it was wrinkled. I've used some Sig Aerokote Light; I liked the strong adhesive. I only used cub yellow though, not sure about the other colors. I'm going to recover my Somthin' Extra with Ultracoat, we'll see how it goes. I've used Ultracoat for repairs in the past and just the ability to peel the backing off was enough to make me want to try a large project with it.