alright... i did a search for general construction discussions and couldn't find anything. i'm building a set of GP .40 size floats, yes you guessed it...for my cub, but the plane is finished in coast guard colors and i can't get the orange lustrekote anymore. i'm wondering how well monokote is going to stick to the painted surface of the floats or if i should try to cover the floats and not worry about the paint. the floats are going to be fiberglassed... not changing the mind on that one. but i want a mostly white finish on them with orange trim and maybe some of the blue. i know the paint would be a little heavier than the covering, but the motor is probably going to be a .50-.70 size 4 banger. not realy worried 'bout power.

You can easily cover over paint. The only problem you have is the paint will stick to the iron if you go off the edge of the covering.

ooohhhhh, good call. probably would have figured that out the hard way. should i use a lower temp setting on the iron? i think i have the monokote iron, not sure, but there are no markings for temp around the dial. i usually have it wrapped about 3/4 the way around for my setting.

top flite, not monokote brand...[:@]

I have done it before and I was just very careful near the edges.

I thought about putting a layer of tape on the paint along the edge of the film, but I was afraid if I ironed over the tape it might pull up the paint afterward.

Just be careful and you'll be ok

BTW, if it's Top Flite, it's probably the same adhesive as MonoKote. Your best bet is to use Trim Solvent. Then you don't need any heat

You may want to try some of the low temp coverings that work for foam cores. Monokote needs a fairly high temp to properly seal down.

My 2 cents worth, I would paint them with Fusion, both main and detail colors and then top off with a Fusion clear coat. After fully drying, it is hot fuel proof, but drying takes a couple weeks at room temp. You can get a wide range of colors and the local ACE hardware stocks it, at least around me.

Don

Would you be open to using epoxy rather than polyester resen?

Bill

i thought about using polyester with the cloth for glassing them, but the last set of floats i scratch built, i used a technique someone else told me to give a try, which was like a furniture sealer i guess? i think minwax or something like that? but after putting it on and it setting up, it warped the wood really bad and had ripples all the way down the bottom of the floats. maybe i put it on too thick at first and didn't let it dry well enough before the next coat or i don't know. but i'm kind of sketchy about the whole liquid and wood thing for right now. i work with a few guys in a fabrication shop for aircraft parts like panels and skin and such, so i may buy the glassing stuff and a case of beer and get one of them to do the floats up for me. i didn't think about the trim solvent stuff though. i bought a bottle of it to do the orange trim on the wings of my plane, but haven't gotten around to working it yet. so as long as i get the floats glassed, i guess the rest of it would be pretty cake. is the trim solvent going to have any adverse reactions with the lustrekote? i would imagine both being monokote brand, top flite would think to make them compatible? has anyone else heard of the minwax thing and can maybe give me some pointers for a better job?

The MinnWax PolyCryllic should be applied in thin coats, an hour or two, apart. If applied too heavily, it can warp your sheeting, and take days to cure.

While I'm a big fan of Poly C, I would use epoxy, if I were glassing floats. I feel that it is a better product in thhis application.