I am building a spacewalker 2 and its really great now that I am getting near covering I am not sure what to do about finish.I gather the pre painted covering is heavier when its akll said and done and I want it lite.I am leaning toward the sig koverall as I want a fabric look.as for paint is there any paint in lowes or the other place that can be sprayed on and resist glow fuel..??I am not looking at plastic films as I am making this scale.

Use Solartex. It's plastic, but looks fabric. Pre-colored and fuel proof.

Dr.1

sure looks like fabric and was examining a yellow cub covered in century 21 today at the local hobby shop.looking at every option..

Solartex is significantly lighter than the 21st Century fabric, if that is an issue for you.


Mark

The Solartex is very user friendly. I discovered the tex's long ago using Worldtex purchased from Indy R/C. It is a superior covering material compaired to Monocoat, especialy sing MC seems to have changed. The only issue I have with the Solartex is it will sag some and loosen from sheet surfaces with temperature and humidity changes when coated with latex. This seems to be less of a problem when coated only with clear polyurethane (no latex paint on solartex) to seal the fabric with. I am finishing up a Dr1 Solartex cover, acrylic latex and minwax satin polyurethane. Next time I will use the Koverall and attatch it with Polycrylic, seal with Polycrylic, latex paint and Polycrylic clear coat.
JEB

I prefer Solartex (or Worldtex, Colortex or any ****tex) over most other types of covering. All the ****tex's are pretty much the same. No, solartex is not plastic as stated above, it is a fabric. I have never had any problems on it saging or loosening with time or humidity but; I usually put a cover coat or sealer coat over it just to make cleaning it easier. The weave or grain does collect dirt easier than the films do if not overcoated. Another good covering is Ceconite. It is not painted though and does not have a self adhesive backing, you must use nitrate dope or some other adhesive painted on the structure befor application.

Rodney,

I've used Solartex on most of my models. I don't get where he thought it was plastic. It's definitely fabric as you stated. I just wanted to second what you said so nobody would get confused! I prime and paint mine.

Gibbs

Cloud,
Go with the Solartex. I've used both solartex and koverall and solartex is MUCH easier to work with. Koverall requires that you prepare the surface, dope it on, seal the weave, etc, etc and by the time you've done that, you've added enough weight in dope to make it heavier than solartex. With the solartex, you can paint it with just about anything and then put a sealer coat over that and you're done. Good luck.

papermache

concur with papermache. having used both, i prefer solartex due to ease of use. just make sure you use a "cool" iron to apply it or it will wrinkle and never come back. another thing not mentioned is that koverall tends to fray since there's not an adhesive backing whereas the solartex doesn't.

What Rodney said!! Only thing I do is set my plane out in the hot Calif. sun for A few hours after covering then tighten it back up with an iron. I do that once or twice and it's tight forever without any sag at all. Good Stuff!!!

Amen to Solartex-best thing to happen to scale R/C since the funnel. I have used several types of paint, sealed with PU to fuel proof. Works great. Only very slight wrinkling after a period of time, can be corrected by using a thin cloth under your sealing iron. It really shrinks tho, so stay away from the seams when tightening the fabric with your iron. Lower temp mentioned above is a good idea.

thanks..I guess solartex is a good way to go with m,y 1/4 scale spacewalker..After the fabric is shrunk onto the plane what do you do about trim colors.especially if there is no solaetex color you want.??and does stripping tape stick well on the surface..and do you seal the covering with any polyurethane etc..

I am a proponent of Koverall, and you have been slightly misled. (probably not on purpose) Koverall is a lightweight (.5 oz/yd2) woven dacron fabric. It is most like ceconite that is used on real airplanes. The guys are correct in that it requires dope to adhere the fabric to the framework. Nitrate dope works best here. They are also correct in that it can fray if not cut correctly. The correct method for cutting is to use pinking shears. Koverall is very easy to apply, and is very forgiving, and you can achieve any type of texture that you require. I will attach 2 different photos of different aircraft that I have done using Koverall. The Corben is finished in Dope, while the WACO is finished in 2 stage automotive paint. The reason for using the automotive paint is that I needed to get a higher level of shine than is possible using dope. Please note that the WACO does not yet have any trim painted. That will be next.

You may have noticed that I do not ever use any iron-on covering. I think that the plastic ones look phony, and I do not like the way that the iron-on fabrics look when completed. This is not to say that they are no good, but just a personal preference.

Bill, AMA 4720
WACO Brotherhood #1

I havent got to the covering stage so the jury is still out..I think I would be pleased with either.as for monokote I tend to agree with you.

a friend send me the link and I started to read this tread because ,i'm looking at my finishing covering options and fuel proof methods ,I'll explain .. I always used sig koverall well most of the time ,and it's great ,it takes longer to get the job done, due to the fact that you have to 1st applied the glue to the surface/frame ,(sig sells stick it but stinks and it's messy to clean up ,but there's a solution to that u have to use deluxe cover grip, it's like white glue and it's heat activated once you paint the frame with it you place the fabric on top and iron it and done ,then after all that is done u have to seal the wave of the fabric using burathane dope ,,(3 coats I usually use )sanding in between ..and then after all that is done you have to paint the plane and fuel proof it now here's the problem ,I used to use nelson hobby paints ( you applied it with a foam brush),most important THEY WERE FUEL PROOF when u add crosslinker drops (cross linker is a fluid u add to the paint and nelson paints sell it with the paints )but the guy is out of business ,so now because I don't won't to try smelly paints or poison paints and spray guns etc, I'll maybe try latex and fuel proof it with varathane clear finish (never tried this approach ) ..again it's a longer process using sig fabric ,but at the end it's way cheaper than solartex,(in my personal case that I have the dope ,the thinner, fabric ,and glue ).So you have to valance that if u choose to use sig fabric.you will need burathane dope ,burathane thinner,the glue I mention and the fabric ..
Now I did try solartex and it's great!! you applied it like monokotte it's thin enough that takes the curves perfect and comes in colors ,and looks like fabric ,I never try painting it so I can't give u advice on that ,only problems 1) to expensive for a 2 m roll , 2) it's not longer goin to be made and when it's gone is gone ...
about being heavier or not well I'll put it this way the engines on those planes picture right here will lift a plane twice that side ,so for me the weight is not a concern I'm not building gliders .
I posted some pics the n11 is all solartex ,the old timer it's all sig fabric and nelson paints ..
My personal recommendation to you is that u go with solartex ,will be easier in a way to applied , will look nice ,and in a way compare to sig fabric if you don't have all the stuff u need will be cheaper ,even if its $20 a 2M roll ..
I hope my experience with these products help ..