Anyone had any luck with white Monokote lately? Anyone know if Sig is shipping kits again?

Mike

At this point I'd rather buy white towerkote, the monokote I bought was absoloute garbage, you can see the structure under the film, and it was opaque yellow and blue metallic.

I agree! Same story with some neon green monokote the color just detaches from the film and super hard to shrink. They have changed something. And man does it smell, I had to clear the room after opening a new roll. A year ago I wouldn't buy anything but Monokote but probably never will again. Just used some Towercote and works great. It is low temp but comes out perfect very easily. It is thinner but I would say it is almost as strong

I just used a lot of white Ultracote on my new SIG Sumpthin' Extra. That stuff came out beautiful and you can't see through it. I love all the Ultracote colors. Good and pretty durable stuff.

I've switched to Ultracote and love it. The latest batches of Monokote are only suitable for lining your trash can which is sad since I used the product for more then 15 years. What's the story with Sig kits? I know Tower doesn't sell them any more (since Tower and Sig can't come to terms on distribution and price) but I thought Sig is still selling them direct from their site. Has something changed?

They are, it's just a balsa quality problem, the last batch they got was only good enough to put in that monokote lined trash can.

A buddy of mine came over today for some help putting his Extreme Flight Extra 300 50 ARF together and the covering on that ARF is as good as I have seen. (Oracover/Ultracote).

Then I look over at my Four Stars and Herr Cloud Ranger and they look like they have been covered with bubble wrap. [:'(]

I will never use Monokote again.

You know the hobbico guys are reading this and saying ***, were in trouble. But then again, they've know the covering is junk for at least a few years now.

Yup, I gave up on Monokote after years of being a faithful user of it. Even though Top Flite says no, something in it changed and it is just not the same stuff. I switched to Ultracoat and have never looked back. Good Luck, Dave

I tried using monokote again, helping another young fellow cover his plane after major repairs, all I can say is [:'(][:@][:'(][&:][:'(] I too have used monokote for years, but when I use up my old stock never ever again. All its fit for now is lining the kitty litter tray

SO SAD! I was really hoping someone would say something positive like "hey, Monokote is fixed" but that doesn't appear to be the case. I e-mailed Mike Lee at Sig so hopefully he can shed some light as to when they'll start shipping kits again.

Mike

how long has this been going on? I've been a faithful monokote user too
I bought 4 rolls 2 years ago and was just getting close to using it.

Any batch #s or anything that would let me know if My stuff is newer or older?

To paraphrase an old driving while intoxicated public service ad, "Friends don't let friends use Monokote."

Thank you EPA for our new Monokote[:@] I want to cover my Planes , Not EAT the stuff

I just used some Monokote white and metallic teal on a Shoestring I'm building. Works fantastic. Just like it has for me for 8 years.

I received an update from Mike @ Sig a couple of weeks ago. At that time, they had found a new balsa supplier and a container of wood was already on the way. Hopefully, the quality of the wood is up to Sig's standards. Once they receive the container, I suspect that they will have a lot of work to do grading and cutting the raw balsa to get it prepped for kit production.

The only thing I use monokote now for is trim over Ultracote.

Just wish Ultracote had more colors.

I have used monokote for every plane I have built so far until someone recomend to me Ultracote. Worst mistake I ever made. Every covering I have tried so far is better than ultracote including monokote, worldtex, solartex, coverite/supercoverite etc...

Ultracote is the worst covering on the market today. I got 4 (different colors) rolls to cover an airplane I had just built. When I cut the covering to the right size I went to peel off the backing and the covering created these horible looking zig zag creases that could not be ironed out. I also have found that Ultracote does not stretch as well and does not conform into contour areas very well. About a week later when I finished my plane I noticed that the clear coating on top of the coveirng started peeling off and that cant be ironed back down because it is the part that does not have any adhesive on it. More reasons it is not very good is that It does not have nearly as many colors as ultracote, it does not have any paint to match the covering and it is even more expensive than monokote. I dont know why anyone would want to use Ultracote to cover a plane.

David G.

Not even good enough for lining kitty litter boxes. The smell of it would drive the cats away from the box and your house would then start to smell from the new areas the cats decide to use as their new box. For now on I will only use Coverite fabric, very smooth and easy to apply, very little if any air bubbles, and stays drum tight even on my cold porch.

This is one argument that will never, ever end. Haven't heard the one about UltraCoat being junk though... FWIW I'm covering my Extra 300S using Ultra for the white and Mono for a robin egg blue. Both are actually working just fine. The Ultra seems a bit thicker but handles well and the Mono has a nicer gloss but is stretching and shrinking just as good. I have had severe problems with white Monokote from a couple of years back so I won't be using that color at least again.

Also to the guys who think Monokote smells now, that is nothing compared to what it used to be like - say back in the 70's and 80's.

To each there own,
Dan

hmmmmmmm couyld be why my cat hasnt been seen for a while

qldviking,
You don't happen to live anywhere near a chineese resturant, if so I would look there first for the collar.

ROFLMAO [sm=lol.gif][sm=lol.gif][sm=lol.gif] no good looking for a collar, it would be chopped and cooked too

I've been using Monokote since the early 80's and just recently recovered a rebuilt plane with some fresh stuff. Maybe it's just me, but I didn't have any problems out of the ordinary with it. I also use Ultracote from time to time, but I'm not a big fan of the stuff. Two completely different animals, with different methods of applying and shrinking.

Someone mentioned Towercote? I've used that also, and I'd have to agree, that stuff is real easy to work with, good adhesion, plenty of shrink, etc etc. The only complaint I have is not enough color selection, and the colors tend to fade rather quickly. Good cheap stuff for "knock about" planes. I think it's probably Econokote with a tower name on it.

Has anyone tried that (Chinese ?) covering from World Models called (I think) Light Tex? I purchased one of their trainers with that brand covering and was really impressed with it. I see on their site the price is right also, about $9 a roll.

SIG is shipping kits again. The local hobby shop has received in the last week a Four Star 40 and LT-40 kit. I also ordered a Spacewalker and it came ASAP. I do have a couple of other kits on backorder from them but I am assuming it takes some time in getting them produced. They probably have quite a back log.