I am building a p51 and am getting close to the covering stage. I bought a vid on how to go about it. It says that any imperfection will be seen through. Well i have sanded and sanded and puttied and sandedand puttied and sanded trying my best but will every little crack between twoo peices of wood be shown? How do i know when it is good enough? Or is pretty good good enough. I realize it is a tough Q buti know nothing about covering a plane(or typing). and just want to know there may be an end to my struggles.

Any help or comments will be very helpfull.

The cracks between joined wood pieces is not a significant amount to show through the covering. What you have done already is more than enough to start covering.

What most people such as myself worry about (and what most instruction booklets mean) is such things as large gaps, pin holes, dings, large scratches, mismatched joined wood pieces, dark wood filler and such are what shows through the covering and disfigures the final look.

If you can show pics of the finished product please do.

Thank god!!!.....thanks for the reply...now i just got to learn how to fly a plane...lol..i'll save that lesson for cheap trainer. i'll post pics when done..thanks again

Very welcome dude, hope I was of help!!! What are you using to cover it with? Monokote (I do not like myself - really hard to get wrinkles out of), Oracover or Ultracote (my personal favorite). What I mentioned above goes for basically any iron-on covering, except of course for the transparent (which I would never use myself) which will show more if not all of the blemishes, the reason I stay away from it.

Also the silk and dope finishes will show more of the blemishes as it is semi-transparent.

Well the above isn't exactly true. The covering material is going to show just about every blemish that is underneath it, so if you have gaps where the materials join it's going to show in the covering. But don't judge it with your eyeballs as looks can be deceiving. Use your hands/fingers as a tool to see if there are imperfections. If you can feel it when you run your hand over it then it's going to show when you put the covering on. It's really that simple. You should strive to have as smooth of a surface that you can get before you put the covering on, otherwise it's going to show through.

Please don't let the above advice about Monokote scare you, many people seem to have the same wrong impressions about it. It's not hard to get wrinkles out of Monokote if you work it correctly. Many give up too quickly on it while they are working the material, and then say that it's no good. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with Ultracote either, I've used both and have good results with both. If asked my preference I prefer to use Monokote because there is a larger selection of colors available, and it's what I have the most experience with.

Obtaining a good job of covering isn't hard, it just takes some time and some practice. Nobody gets a perfect covering job the first time they try. But hang in there and keep working at it and you'll pick it up in no time.

Hope this helps

Ken

I'm using UltraCote to cover my TF Piper Arrow. It's not perfect but if you ask me it looks pretty darn good. I've been very pleased with the UltraCote so far. I've never used Monokote so I can't say if it is any good or not. I hope to post some pictures of my Arrow soon. This was my first cover job/build and all I can say is take your time. I'm pretty happy with the covering.
Good Luck
chopper man

A good covering job takes TIME and work. I haven't used Ultrakote but use Monokote. I understand the Ultrakote goes on at a lower temperature than Monokote. Use the right tools over the right prep work and either will look fine. Rush the job?[:'(]

RCken is absolutely correct, sorry I didn't point that out.
Real good reference - If you can feel the imperfection/blemish with your fingers it will show through the covering.

So run your fingers over the cracks between the wood joints you mentioned above. If you can feel the cracks they will show through the covering.
Also remember that any pen or pencil marks you made to measure and cut wood pieces will show through as well. The black outer-edges from laser-cut wood and other manufacturer-made blemishes such as wood-knots (I have had many of those in sheeting material) will also show through.

RC Ken; You go right ahead and use your Monokote. I used it for years, then something changed. It will not shrink like it use to, and believe me I have used tons of it. There fore I am a confirmed user of Ulta-Cote now. Mac

I Agree.