nauticom

I have been reading on some of the scale forums about using pinking tape as a scale effect technique for simulating fabric covered wing rib effects. What is this tape? How wide does it have to be on a 1/5 size Corsair? At what point in glassing/finishing does it go on?
Any help would be appreciated.
Bob Masterson

APIA

"Pinking Tape" is also known as finishing tape or surface tape.It us used primarily for wear resistance. It is applied over all seams, over wing ribs and leading and trailing edges. It is normally applied after the fabric has been pulled taut with the initial dope application. Full size aircraft use either 1 or 2" tape depending on the application. The reason it is referred to as "pinking" is the edges are notched at 45 degree angles to simulate a saw tooth. This provides more surface area for dope penetration.
-Tom

GarySS

My Feedback: (13)

Since Corsairs were metal the application of pinking tape to a model of one would be inappropriate. Panel lines and rivets would be appropriate. But did the early ones have fabric control surfaces? You may need to research that one. The deHaviland Chipmunk was a metal aircraft but with fabric covered control surfaces so a mix of techiques would be appropriate there. Some of the early WWII British aircraft had fabric control surfaces, etc.

APIA

F4U's had fabric control surfaces, this link is worth reading

"The wing had integral leading edge fuel tanks, which were unprotected. For storage aboard carriers, the wing folded upward outboard of the main landing gear legs. The wheels folded backwards, turning through 90 degrees while retracting, so that they were stored flat within the wing. The entire trailing edge inboard of the ailerons was provided with flaps. The outer wing panels were covered with fabric aft of the wing spar.

The pilot sat in a large cockpit over the wing trailing edge. The view straight forward over the engine cowling was poor, even more so than common in single-seat fighters of the day. View too the sides was reasonable, although the cockpit canopy was heavily framed. No concessions were made to rearward view, the aft of the cockpit being faired into a gentyly sloping fuselage decking. The tailplanes and fins had rounded tips, and the control surfaces were fabric covered."

http://www.csd.uwo.ca/~pettypi/elevo...other/f4u.html

Sport_Pilot

I thought pinking tape was used with rib stitching so that the thread doesn't rip the fabric. The rib stitching is used because on full scale aircraft glue is not sufficient to keep the fabric attached to the ribs and edges.

scratchonly

I make mine out of regular typing or poster paper (which I also draw plans on) I tear it on a small firetooth handsaw (with a orange plastic handle) which should be avaailable at most large hardware stores. I tape a piece of balsa stick on the saw to keep the width constant. 1/5 scale should be about 1/2 inch wide. I attach it over glue dot rivets (made with weldbond glue) with waterbased poly or dope. Wet the strip first by dipping it in water and letting it drip dry for a minute or so. Experiment a bit on an old plane or something. Everyone interested in scale are impressed with the finished product.

Good luck.

APIA

The Pinking tape is there to protect and seal the lacing cords. As far as using pinking tape to prevent rips, as Sport Pilot referenced, the requirement is that if the stitching is in the propeller slipstream and the aircraft VNE (Velocity Never Exceed) is more than 250 mph it is required to be added. If there are sharp edges that need to be protected, two options, dope a few layers of covering tape to protect the fabric or adhesive tape is acceptable.
-Tom

nauticom

scratchonly:
Thanks:
That sounds like a good technique. I will definitely try it on some parts to see how the experiment turns out. I want to implant as much scale effects on the ZCorsair as I can.

APIA:
Thanks for your expert inputs. I am impressed, as always with you lurking experts out there in cyber space.

And to all others; much thanks.
Bob Masterson

nauticom

scratchonly:
Would you have a closeup photo of one of your piking tape applications, or the cut tape before application?
That would be of great help.
Thanks,
Bob Masterson

scratchonly

Sorry I have no system for posting pictures. Try to picture a piece of paper about 1/2 inch wide with notches about 1 mm apart (1/32") and 1mm deep on both sides. I hope this helps. I don'know how the face got in there.

da Rock

Bob,
Fabric shops sell pinking shears. They're scissors that cut a zig-zag line. Normal scissors have straight blades and cut straight lines.

When it was discovered that laced seams on airplane covering needed protection, those early fabricators ("fabric-ators" takes on added meaning doesn't it) used their pinking shears to cut the strips they doped down over those seams.

Scale modeling runs into a problem when the original airplane had taped seams. The scale of the model would require that the tiny zig-zags be scaled to match. Darned if them little zig-zags can be pretty teeny-tiny zigs and zags. And even fabric shops don't have scissors that do tiny zig-zags.

da Rock

The cutting blade on a wax paper box works for some smaller scale models.

nauticom

darock:
Thanks for that tip. i just looked at the cutting edge of that and it looks like it might be perfect. Will put it in my to do list, among with the polyed paper tape that scratchonly suggested.
Again, thanks to all.
Bob Masterson

OldScaleGuy

My Feedback: (2)

Johnson and Johnson makes a pinked medical tape that works good too. Available in pharmacies, I get mine at CVS.

Jim_McIntyre

You can see pinking tape in this pick of my DR1. Although the tape looks too wide for scale (normally about 1/2 the width you're seeing), it is a fairly good match for the original (a replica).