Different brands of covering have different properties and it require time and practice to get accustom to those properties. I use to have problems with monokote until I learned when to apply lots of heat and when not to. I think their biggest problem is that they should have a website where they provide free training to teach people how to use their product. I think most people give up before they really learn to use Monokote. If you learn how to apply it, it looks better and last longer than any other covering.

All i have used to date is monocote. I have had a decent experience with it but after finishing the plane i looked down and i was using to much heat which caused some problems. To match the covering on my trainer i have bought ultracote and will give that a go. I will post my comparisons when i am done. I have only patched a couple of rips and covered one plane so far.

Flyboy76

Monokote user for 25 years and counting

I'll post some pics later.. but I still like the stuff. Patiently awaiting it to go back to 1980's prices though...lol

I suppose that the biggest problem with any covering job is how it is applied. Silk, iron on film, etc... done properly should last VERY VERY long. I have a GP Cap 21 that I covered when I was about 14, and it still looks like I just covered it. It's in my model list. Have a Goldberg Extra 300 that I covered in the Proteus scheme, about 2 years after Goldberg came out with that plane, and still looks pretty nice and that has been my most heavily used airplane. Even the letters were all hand cut from Monokote.. (ick.. bad memories there... WAY too much cutting)

Does Top Flite actually make Monokote or is it contracted out.

Topflite is owned by Great Planes, which is owned by Hobbico? Topflite is the originator of the product, some 40+ years ago. Today, few Ameriocan companies actually make anything! We shuffle papers, talk trash and handle the money. Sorry, can't really help you. I would guess this might be a difficult question to get answers too, unless you can talk to the actual people who make the product, nobody will answer up, as it's not in their best interests to say.

Four months since the last post, you had to have gone back a ways to find this topic thread!

I think MonoKote is an excellent product, and I have used it for 40 years. I prefer this to UltraCote because it is more consistent, roll to roll, and because the seams are less likely to separate. UltraCote Plus, particularly, suffers from quality control problems. One roll is great and the next is useless. Don't see that with MonoKote.

I've used Monokote for years, with good results. But last winter I covered a Venture 60 with it, and every time I fly it I have to re-shrink the covering on the wing and the turtledeck. It also developed a wrinkle under the canopy, where I can't get to it to fix it. I figure this must be due to the latest change in formula. Next time, something else, though I'm not sure what. I had problems with Ultracote many years ago.

Monokote is as good as the person applying the product. I have used it for years and have produced great finishes. If all falls, read the directions on the product. You would be surprised how many people don't read what's right in front of them. Each brand of covering material has it's own temeperature range for application. I find the 21st Century fabric the hardest to use because of it's narrow temperature range.

I use Monokote. I have helped a couple of people who were having problems with it in the past and found that they were trying to work it too cold. The few times I've used ultracote I've had problems but I suspect most of that was user error.

I've tried just about every brand of covering over the 40+ years I've been building airplanes and I've always gone back to Monokote. I've found that Ultracoat is probably the easiest to apply, it seems to become more "rubbery' when you apply heat than Monokote. I also like the fact that it isn't quite as shinny and plasticy looking as some other coverings. However, its thickness makes it difficult to hide seems and the color from roll to roll is not consistant. My biggest complaint about it is that despite the fact that its thicker and heavier than Monokote, you can see through the lighter colors! I happen to be covering a plane in yellow Ultracoat and you can see much more of the wood grain through the material than I would like. My color sceme is yellow over white (the white is Monokote) and wherever the yellow overlaps the white, it stands out like a sore thumb! This doesn't mean that I won't use it again, I just didn't like the suprise. Monokote comes in a lot more colors than the other brands. I've never had a bad roll or two rolls of the same color that didn't match. I think its a great product


-Johnny-

although photo in the previous post shows superb work, my answer to your original question is yes

Yellow Ultracoat, white Monokote

the thrill of glassing sanding priming and painting to a seamless glossy finish is too much for me to resist. let me look around for a photo.

Anyone with 'Aerokote' stories?

let's just let that stuff die a peaceful death...

The same of "Towerkote" (remember that stuff??!!) [:@]

OK....I was going to try Towerkote next, anything wrong with it?

V.

One of the guys at my club tells me that balsarite is nothing but nitrate dope!Does anyone know if this is true?

I haven't used Balsarite but I have put a hot iron to Sig Coverite that was saturated with dry nitrate dope to help form it around tight corners before doping it in place (a tip I read here on rcu). The dry nitrate dope was unaffected by the heat. Perhaps Balsarite uses the same solvents and hence smells similar leading to confusion.

I've been hearing that Monokote was junk for 30 years. I like it. Having said that, I have started to use dope and Koverall and paint. I build scale and I need the patina of paint for a realistic finish. What I have found is that dope and fabric is a great way to finish models. I really enjoy it. ITs easy and faster than you might think. So, for anyone that thinks the heat-shrink mylars are a pain, give the old-school method a try. You might like it.

Going back to the original thread. It's about what you are used to and how you use it. I've got two planes covered in Ultracote and have problems with loosening and lifting regardless of iron temperature setting. In the end you can achieve good results with whatever covering material as long as you take the time to learn how to apply it properly and within its intended temperature range. The inexpensive coverings (Towerkote, Aerokote and others) while saving money in the beginning don't seem to have the same adhesion properties nor do they "work" as easily when being applied to compound curves, etc. Pick something, stick with it and practice.

Here is my last project in Monokote (Steen Skybolt). While it does not have a scale lustre it gives you a good idea of what can be done. I'm working on a 27% scale version and it will be covered in Stitts and dope to match the full scale.

Some of us have had good results with Monokote for years, followed by bad results after the formula changed. That's not a matter of not knowing how to use the stuff, it's a consequence of Monokote's new formula not working as well as the old one.

My personal and recent oservations seem to indicate that Ultracote loosens and wrinkles more then Monokote when exposed to the sun, while sitting out on the flightline. No matter what type of covering I've used, however, I always seal the edge between one layer and the next with nail polish. This seals the edge and keeps fuel and oil from seaping under the edge and loosing it up.

I have used both. I now only use Ultra-cote/Oracover. Because it is much easier to work with. If your new to covering that might be a good reason to use it. Then after some experience try other brands. My experience has been just the opposite as earlier mentioned. I seem to get more wrinkles with the Mono-kote than Ultra- cote. But then the planes with mono-kote were all arfs. So that may have a lot to do with it. How it is applied makes a big difference with ANY COVERING.