Thanks for that info.

I went down to the printing shop and they said that I can have any type decal that I want. They asked me if there was some type of material that I want it printed on. Is there any type of material that the decal needs to be made out of for it to work on the plane?

paul

What types of backing do they offer?

I did ask then that.. Thay just asked me what do I need to use.. I have no idea

I would bring them a sample - something removable like a rudder or elevator (if they're not attached yet)

I do not think that I asked the quetion right. They asked me what i what the stiker made from. I asked them if my fuel will hurt the stikers. then but they did not know. They make decals for cars and they do not come off is what they said..

Sorry about that..

Whatever they print it on, you'll want to fuel proof it with a clear polyurethane

Thank you for the videos
I have been dreading covering my P-51 (HOB kit) but after watching the footage i think i am about redy to start
I have tried some of the methods on scrap bits of balsa and they turned out good well i think so anyway
Once again thank you RCU for posting such helpful video's and tip's

One of the biggest things to keep in mind is that covering is a long, slow process. Don't rush it.

Avoid thinking things like, "I'm going to cover my wing tonight" - Instead go into it with the mindset of, "I'm going to start my covering job tonight"

I have had planes take as much as two weeks to cover. So just take your time and do a nice job.

Mike, Thank you for taking the time to make and post your How-To Cover videos. I found your series of videos (somewhere in another thread) 5 videos totaling 88 meg. WOW. They proved to be invaluable to me today.

I’m a novice flyer and new to building. I had a mishap and had to reconstruct my landing gear. With everyone’s assistance, I had great success the first time. Below is a recap of topics I learned that I found really important:

1. I used Ultracote. My E-flite came covered with Ultracote from the factory so the finish is a perfect match.
2. Measure twice, cut once. Give yourself a little extra scrap. I did just fine but an extra 1/2 inch of scrap would have been welcome.
3. Make sure your iron is at the correct temperature. I borrowed all my covering equipment from a friend. He didn’t have a temperature gauge so I used a good quality probe thermometer to accurately set my temperature. It did a nice job.
4. G o s l o w l y. At times I found myself working in one inch increments.

Anyways, thanks again for everyone that posted tips in this thread. And a special thanks to Mike for your assistance.

Roger

Hey Minn! It's time for a sequel - every time I see this thread title come up with new activity, I think to myself
"Aw-RIGHT, he did another one!"
Only to find it's just the same post...[sm=disappointed.gif]

The sequal is in the works.

Last June Ken Isaac (RCKen) and I got together and video taped an entire trainer build, from opeing the box, to building the plane, to covering, to starting and tuning an engine, to the first flight - although the first flight was on the morning of the day Ken had to leave and it was WINDY AS HELL - but we got 'er done.

Since then I have been ungodly busy, but so far I have downloaded and edited ONE of the SIX tapes we recorded. But now that winter is coming, my schedule should slack up a bit and I hope to get the rest done soon.

Once they are done, we plan to put them up on our own server and charge a small one-time fee to download the entire series.

Mike, can you offer any suggestions for wrinkles that pop-up hours after I've finished?. Because Ultracoat doesn't make a metalic blue I went with Monocote. UGH! the thing is looking like a new born Hippo!. Monocote has to be done by 2 people I'msure of it!. My iron settings are as per their instructions and I'm afraid to pull it so taught before I apply heat that sumtin's gotta give!. Should I go back and apply a hot iron to these edges ..or just cut it and re-do it.? Thanks for your help...again. Mikel-T.

Before ripping it off and burning it in effigy try this:

Get the wrinkles out with a heat gun, THEN iron it down again. Keep the iron pretty hot and make sure you get it well stuck to whatever is underneath it

Mike, thanks for taking the time to make such informative videos, now they are ALL in my reference file. Are there any special cleaning tips for preparing loose edges for resealing on a plane that has had fuel residue on or nearby the loose material?

Anything more on the tape of the complete build mentioned in your post #60?

Clean it GOOD with alcohol and a clean rag or paper towel. You may need to do it two or three times (Using a clean paper rag each time) to get it good and clean.

Clean the exposed area of the adhesive too.

Then try ironing it back down. If it still won't stick, clean it again and seal it with CA

I did a repair job on the underside of my wing spanning two bays. Using Monokote I drew it tight along the leading and trailing edge and along the cap strips of the ribs. I tacked and sealed all the edges and then hit the open bays with the heat gun. It was tight as a drum and seamless. Now months later the repaired area has started to sag and I have tried to further shrink the covering to tighten it up, but to no avail. Has this covering shrunk as much as it's going to? How do I get the covering tight again?

That's very unusual... It's not unusual for the covering to wrinkle, but it's unusual that it won't tighten up again.

About all I can say is to try heating it again, maybe see if you can get the gun hotter.

Worse comes to worse, you may have to remove the patch and replace it.

Thanks for the advice. I have tried to tighten up the Monokote on a number of occassions. I 've used a heat gun and/or the iron with a protective sock on high heat concentrating on the two bay repair area. The Monokote certainly expands but does not shrink back tightly. I have venting for the heated air. I still have ripples over the open structure mainly near the corners of the repairs. I am concerned at this point that anymore attempts with high heat may shrink the plastic around the seams and melt the MK. I have an example of this on another area when I applied MK to an open bay without spanning the covering to the ribs. I've never taken the iron past 250 degrees on my repairs and I have blown the area with the gun repeatedly with high heat. Does Monokote shrink to a maximum limit after repeated attempts? I don't mind replacing the covering. It's the basic white under my Avistar wing. I am more interested in learning about the the handling of the plastics and the different results I can achieve.

Now while you are kind enough to respond, I have one other question(s). I have a new Sig 4* wing covered in AeroKote. After absolutely making sure the wing was properly prepared. I applied the supplied mylar decals to the wing running them along the spar. As I feared after a number of months, the only place on the wing that began to develope wrinkles is right under a portion of the decal. The decal is applied correctly to the covering. It is the cover that came loose from the spar. Can I SAFELY use my iron on the decal at a low temp to shrink the Aerokote without distorting the decal? Recomended tacking temp is around 200 degrees. What is a safe temp range? If I want to remove this decal will low heat and a careful "peel back" be the correct way of removing it?

Well, that depends on the decal. I would try it with low heat and a sock on the iron

I should leave it along. Sometime in the future I am sure I'll be happy that I only had wrinkles under the decal. Seriously, I can make a test sample. I'll take some Aerokote, a piece of scrap wood and an unused decal. put them all together and then apply some heat to the decal to see what happpens.

Thanks for the videos, articles and your help.

Hey Mike, Thanks for the videos, they helped a lot. When did you leave Newburgh? I used to live in Middletown and worked at the Texaco R&D facility in Beacon, (or Glenham, whichever you prefer). I moved away from there 6 years ago, enjoying the southern California sunshine now. Thanks again.

Ken.

Small world, I used to live in Chula Vista in the late 70's when I was in the Navy. I left Newberg in 94. I used to work at Stewart Airport as a CAD/CAM machinist on those C-5 cargo planes

Mike, I also lived in Chula Vista in the mid sixties while in the Navy. Retired from the Navy in 76.

Larry

Mike, Watched that short video on wingtip covering again. It looks like you put 2 or more inches of down deflection on the wing while pulling the covering tight before the heat. How do you hold the rest of the wing on the workbench with that much leverage on the end? Pictures are great but having a little problem judging how much tension was actually used. Was that an unusually flexible wing?

I explained somewhere in the videos that the wing was sitting on a foam pad (About 2" thick) and I had some books on the other end to weight it down. Having a second set of hands is even better, but my wife was busy at the time

So probably what you were seeing was the foam compressing - the wing was very rigid.