No More Woodpeckers
 

Discontinued, and out of stock everywhere, so what is an alternative? I knew should have bought one when I had a chance, but wasn't planning to cover with plastic at anytime after doing fabric and dope, but decided to do a fast recover on the cheap on a Chipmunk that needed to go on a diet. There are stripes on the wing that will require paying over the base white and perforating would go a long way to a nice finish. I suppose poking with a pin works, but that takes forever.

Look at sewing tracing wheels. See if maybe one would work for you.


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...3810ad1a9.jpeg

Good idea, will have to wait for the fabric stores to open though. Like hobby shops, they are deemed non essential. Heir Prisker is on a power trip and demands all stores remain closed until HE says so.

I personally have never used one and quite frankly consider them a useless tool. Using the Windex method of applying film over film works very well.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...5e524192e.jpeg

Doesn't work with Ultrakote, oracover, or the HK copy of that brand.

Ah yes, you are correct about that. The Windex method only works on Monokote.

Yeah I found Ultra/oracover/HK theft, to be much easier to work with than monokote. It stretches better and tacks on quicker with more tack and less heat. Downside of course is that no solvents that can be used to attach it to other films.

I'm happy to say that I haven't had to deal with films to any great extent. Even so, any amount of dealing with MonoKote is too much as far as I'm concerned. I don't think I encountered another material in any trade or hobby that I found to be as disgusting as this one!!!:mad:

Too bad you were never able to hone a simple skill many of us see as pretty easy ;)

The older Mkote was good, the stuff on the shelf today can't compare. The film is too stiff, not very pliable and wrinkles easily, and it also does not stretch well. Ultrakost, Oracover, and the HK rip off of it stretches easily, and shrinks very nicely around curves. Working on recovering my Chipmunk with the HK rip off covering, and it is some of the easiest film I have worked with in a long time. My last plane I used Monojoke on and had all kinds of problems around the curves where the plastic wouldnt stretch and crinkled instead, and it gets stiff at the edges making it difficult to get good clean cuts. In fact I had used Ultracoat as the base on the plane and then used monojoke for the secondary color, it is a Citabria which has the red stripes. The tip of the wings and tail are very telling as the white base is smooth all around the edges, but the red has ridges because it doesn't shrink enough. I'm done with Monojoke, sticking with Ultra and HK rip off films for the few planes I don't feel like spending a lot of time covering with cloth and dope or glass.

Yes Monokote has its pitfalls. It takes me twice the time to cover an airplane in Monokote as opposed to Ultracote. That being said, IMO a Monokote job when correctly applied looks much better and lasts longer. The Biplane I previously posted is now 4 years old and still looks new even though the installed YS 4 stroke gets fed 30% nitro. There are a few things to keep in mind while applying Monokote that make things much easier that I am always willing to share however it would seem that minds are pretty much made up here. Best of luck with your project, hope you all are able to get some flying in while all the Covid craziness is going on.

It would be pointless for me to hone a skill involving this material when the finest examples of workmanship using this stuff have left me less than satisfied.

My understanding is that you strive for a high degree of scale realism which of course will never happen with a film covering. Which begs the question of why would you bother with this thread in the first place?

Scale realism in RC aircraft is a relatively recent acquired passion of mine. Until I was involved with full scale aviation and began to see what an airplane really looks like up close, my interest was mainly in sport models, some of which got a film covering.

Nothing beats a good cloth and dope covering though. You can clearly see the difference between the fabric ones and the plastic one.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...c770adb1c7.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...cc965771cd.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...2884a9511e.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...f544f1de3.jpeg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...f149690a7e.jpg


In any case, I am moving along with recovering the Chipmunk. Pulled about a 1/2 pound off it from just the fuselage covering, never going to do that covering again, sticking with Koverall and dope for those. Only reason I went plastic on it is because getting stix-it is hard, still waiting on the order I placed last December along with the dope to finish the top wing of the Liberty Sport. I have a Citabria I covered with Monojoke, the base layer is Ultracoat, the red the joke and there is a clear difference in the film type, the joke only shrinks so much while the Ultra shrinks nicely around curves. I am almost done with the fuse on the chipmunk, just one stab left and the trim piece from behind the canopy will complete the red, then have the blue to finish. Then the wing will need to be stripped and the control surfaces too. Plane should lose about a pound of weight when it's done. The wing is where the woodpecker would come in handy since it is open bay. The tail is solid so I can do it in strips.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...dce452bf2d.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...5b97cde579.jpg