RE: Is Monokote really garbage??
 

Is Monokote really garbage??

It always has been as far as I'm concerned regardless of the level of the skill or quality of the job it's still garbage! They put the coloring with the adhesive and it smears onto other colors and it wrinkles at the drop of a hat. Ultracoat all the way baby why would anyone use anything else is beyond me it don't smear or wrinkle. I covered this Mustang's plastic cowl and canopy with Ultracoat try that with Monocoat you will never get it done. If all we had was Monokote I would glass and paint all my planes that stuff is truly first class garbage!

RE: Is Monokote really garbage??
 

I think it needs to be emphasized this is Sticktickler's opinion. I've seen many people use Monokote, and have as good result as Sticktickler's, results using Ultracoat.

I'm not picking on you, Sticktickler! I just feel you have overemphasized your opinion. Certainly, you would have to agree that many folks do use Monokote and get fantastic results with it.

RE: Is Monokote really garbage??
 

Hey the guy asked for an opinion and I gave him mine I would not cover my trash can with Monokote!

RE: Is Monokote really garbage??
 

You got it right, save the Monocote for your planes and the Utracote for your garbage can... Glad to see you came around :D

Seriously, I use both and there are good and bad with both...

RE: Is Monokote really garbage??
 

Because it all whent into the trash can many years ago!!!!! I just got smart and now use the better product that actually stays on the model and looks better as well. Come on guys lets just face it Utracoat is supreme Ultracoat vs. Monocrap will win every time!

RE: Is Monokote really garbage??
 

I have found Ultracote very difficult to get to stay down... Wether it is on my ARF's or stuff I have covered with the seams are a PIA.. They don't seem to stay down.. I usually ent up using CA on them to keep thim down.. It is more expensive, the covering wont stay on the back making it hard to draw patterns etc on it... It is thinner then Monocote and it is very easy to burn a hole in it with the heat gun.. There are also positives with Ultracote as I said previously... I usually lean towrds Monocote if though when using film as a covering material...
Just one mans experiance....

RE: Is Monokote really garbage??
 

I've never had that problem ever I often use many color overlays into my designs too with very good edge adhesion.

RE: Is Monokote really garbage??
 

That is interesting... Don't know anyone around here that does not have it... I wonder if it is a climate thing... I suspect our summer temps are a lot higher here... We get a lot of 100 plus days in the summer... The planes sit on a black asphalt runway which I am guessing is another 20 degrees warmer... On a warm day that would bring the temps up to around 130 or more that the Ultracote is exposed to... Could be this is enough to release the edges a little bit and then when we wipe them off it peels back a little more... Monocote with it's higher temps does not have this problem..... Jus a guess...

RE: Is Monokote really garbage??
 

Well that sure makes good sence to me I do know for a fact how low of a temp it takes to alpy the Ultracoat on plastic parts. Have you tried Coverite Balsarite it works great for all covering on balsa. Don't help much with color overlays but it sure holds the covering down to the wood.


Crystal-clear Balsarite brushes on easily, waterproofing woods and smoothing surfaces for professional-looking results. When covering is applied, Balsarite reacts with adhesives to lock coverings on with an unbreakable bond. Available in Balsarite - Fabric for fabric and Micafilm, and Balsarite - Film for all film coverings including Ultracoat, Black Baron, Solarfilm and MonoKote ®.
http://www.coverite.com/accys/covr2500.html

RE: Is Monokote really garbage??
 

Yes I am aware of Balserite... However the luny politicians in our state have decided we cannot use that here... Tower won't ship it etiher.. We do have access to something called Stix it or something like that.. Pretty much the same stuff.. Usually if I need something like that I will take some Titebond, thin it water and brush it on... Works pretty much like the other stuff from that point... All that is a PIA fhough... That's one big reason Monocote is ususally my first choice for film... Haven't had any problems with it yet like some of the other posters seem to have... Who knows, my turn in the barrel may be coming :D

RE: Is Monokote really garbage??
 

I will ocassionally use shrink wrap(monokote) but if you really want a good finish you cannot beat Sig Koveral and dope. It really doesn't take much longer to apply Koveral than monokote but there is more time involved with the finish and the results are definitely worth the extra effort. Why spend 50 to 100 hours building a plane to short cut it at the finish. Here is a pick on my Cub that is 3 years old now and it looks as good as the day I painted it. No sags or wrinkles!!!
Anthony

RE: Is Monokote really garbage??
 

I will second Koveral or Solortex for that matter... Where do you get your dope from ?... Getting pretty pricy at Sig..

RE: Is Monokote really garbage??
 

I used Sig Nitrate dope to apply the Fabric and Behr Semi-Gloss Latex paint purchased at Home Depot. The paint was thinned 50% and sprayed with a HVLP gun then Nelosn's Hobby Specialties clear gloss sprayed over that for fuel proofing. It gives it a very scale looking finish.
Anthony

RE: Is Monokote really garbage??
 

Sticktickler, I'm the guy you are refering to that asked the original question. You have an opinion about the stuff, no doubt about that!

RE: Is Monokote really garbage??
 

Lets see, on these planes I used Monokote, hmmm, Monokote on the second, yup, Monokote on the big one, yea, thats monokote too!

Yea, 30 years of building and almost all my covering jobs have been monokote. I think it works just fine. There are lots of people that don't like it, but to each his own. I am not going to put someone down just because they don't like it. :eek:

RE: Is Monokote really garbage??
 

Personally, I prefer 21st Century Fabric or Solartex but that's probably because most of my planes are older designs. In all fairness though, I just completed a deBolt Livewire Champ and chose to do it in transparent Monokote. The results were very good --- just as good as I remember the last time I used it back in the mid-90's.

Hey, covering, radios or engines ---- if you don't like it, don't use it.

RE: Is Monokote really garbage??
 

I have often read allot of negative comments about plastic coverings in general but for 20 or more years it was all I ever used. In the last 5~7 I have mainly been building fabric covered planes and I really do see a difference. I saw a Triplane the other day covered in glossy red plastic and it just looked aweful and I know that I would have never thought that way in the past. I still look at it as fine for some planes like a Herr Auquastar I built, but in general I have moved more toward paint and fabric finishes. I have also moved away from glow almost entirely and now fly electric and gasoline (mostly 4 stroke with oil sumps) so fuel proof finishes are not really a concern for me and that has opened up many new finishing options that I couldn't consider before. Another small example, I even look at some planes like my Rascall110 and start to think how nice it would look with the plastic off and fabric on, I just don't have the time to get around to it.

RE: Is Monokote really garbage??
 

[/quote]

I've been using Monokote for about 10 years now and I haven't noticed any problems that others have claimed. I have heard that people talk about "fish eye" in the monokote. I have seen that in one roll, but heck there are odd times in any product that you get one bad. Have you ever found a burned potato chip in a bag? I returned the roll and the next roll was just fine.

I don't know why the rumors are running rampant about Monkote's quality is in the toilet. To be honest with you, I think it's a scapegoat. It's easy to blame the quality of the covering when you get a bad covering job, instead of somebody saying they can't cover well. I have seen this in a lot of people. They will swear to the end of the earth that they hate Monokote and will never use it again, when they had one bad covering job with it. I used to have horrible covering jobs too, but I got better at it with practice. It's like anything else in this hobby, the more you practice the better you get. So what I really want to put out is that I challange anybody that is going to trash Monokote to be honest with themself and the rest of us and decide if it's the Monokote that caused the problem, of if it's the fact that they need get better at covering.

Here are a few pictures of recent planes covered in Monokote, no problems at all to report with it.

Ken
[/quote]


OK I've got to ask What the heck do you mean by "fish eye"?

Humbly, Bob W.

RE: Is Monokote really garbage??
 

In all fairness, there are a lot of guys with a lot of experience sharing their opinions on this thread, for you to say, we can't cover is worse than Monokote itself ;)

How many ARFS have you seen advertised "covered with Monokote". I don't know about you guys but whoever covers some of those models, should be given a fricken reward, very nice but, leave it the sun once or twice........................... need I say more [8D]

To defend either product is futile.

Try Ultracote, the rumors are true ;)

RE: Is Monokote really garbage??
 

Could not have said it better myself!!!!!!! And for all of you that have used Monocrap for 10+ years all I can say is I'm sorry. ULTRACOAT ALL THE WAY BABY!

RE: Is Monokote really garbage??
 

Are you serious... Look at any ARF ad and if it is covered with monocote it usually says so in big proud letters... Ultracote however seems to be disappearing from the scene... World Models who use to be a huge user of it has quit.. They use there own covering now... I have a couple of ARF's (Seagull, Pheonix etc) that are covered with Oracote.. Some say this is the same as Ultracote but I don't think so... It is a lot heavier as in thincker then any Ultracote I have ever gotten from Horizon..
What is the problem with Monocote in the sun ?... None here and we have sun... The sun/heat here will lift the seams on Ultracote...
Face it, there are negatives and positives for most coverings.. I prefer Sig Koveral but in the winter time it is hard to use with the fumes and all from the dope..

RE: Is Monokote really garbage??
 

we all have our personel preferences,i have used almost every product imagineable,i can do a better job of covering with ultracoat and would say for a beginner that ultracoat would be a good choice in that it is a bit more forgiving.i have noticed however that ultracoat in the sun will sag after a while it does shrink back down.the only other two things i dont care for is ultracoat will pull at the edges when you are overlaying it with the next step of covering,also you get shortchanged in a roll compaired to monocoat.i think most bad covering jobs are not following directions and heat temp settings.i have noticed with diferent colors of covering they react diferently.silvers are a bit more difficult to me to get right.the darker colors reds blues to me are a little more tricky to do rounded corners.as far as one product being better someone here said it,there are pro's and con's to everything.i started out useing monocoat way back i have been building models for over 30 years now and can say that to me monocoat hasent changed,that smell when applying it brings back many memories of sleepless nights getting a model ready for the weekend.i limit my use of dope and other coatings to fuel proofing the areas exposed to fuels.i have got my children involved with building and flying rc airplanes and have always been cautious of exposing them to toxic fumes.when iron on coverings came along in mainstream they were a blessing to me.IMO one product monocoat/ultracoat are about equil as far as what they do if you go into covering with an attitude that what you are useing has flaws then dont buy it.if you can do a better job with one or the other why would you change.

RE: Is Monokote really garbage??
 

HORACE315 (if you can do a better job with one or the other why would you change.)
GOOD POINT!

RE: Is Monokote really garbage??
 

Color choice, availability and price are all reasons to be able and capible of using all the different brands of covering materials. I try to be open minded and fair about the various products available for me to use in this hobby.

When I posed the original question, I had no doubt some would answer in the negative about using Monokote (this opinion was already known to me, by all the bad comments about Monokote voiced previous to my asking the question). I thought there would also be some positives. Although I haven't totaled it up, I think the positives and negatives are running fairly close.

RE: Is Monokote really garbage??
 

Stickbuilder
I am getting the distinct impression you don't like Monocote :D Could be wrong though