HEY GUYS
I,M UP TO COVERING THE WING ON MY MATRIX. I AM GOING TO BE USING MONOCOTE. I TRIED IT THIS AFTERNOON BUT THE COVERING CAME UP WITH BIG BUBBLES IN IT> COULD YOU PLEASE SHARE YOUR COVERING EXPERIENCES WITH MONOCOTE AND TIPS AND TRICKS. ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED!

Chris, Did you use a woodpecker on the wings before attempting to monocote? If not, do that and you'll see a difference in how it goes down.

Todd

thanks tschmidt.
i don't own a wood pecker so i will probably borrow one from a friend.

Hi "chips"
If you dont have a woodpecker you can use a pin and spend the night *****ing the beautiful balsa finish every half inch or so to get the same effect. The idea is to let the trapped air out from the monocote into the balsa and to get the glue from the monocote into the balsa for a better grip. Use your iron to tack the mono down. Go from corner to corner and side to side, dont do one whole edge all at once. When its all tacked down the mono should be skin tight like a speedo. Use a heat gun to shrink it down and a soft glove to press the mono onto the balsa.
Next time try using Econocoat. This is a lighter and more plyable coating from Monocoat. but it dosnt have the same range of colours. When your finished send me a picture of your Matrix and I will send you one of mine. Deal?
G'luck
Kiwipaul

will do thanks kiwipaul!!

Chris...don't take this wrong..ok? but did you read the instructions on the paper that is wrapped around the Monokote? For many years I used Monokote and became very good with it and then for some reason I actually read the instructions and said ok...I am going to do it as they say and see what it comes out like. Well it worked out well and I know Monokote can be a pain but many people use to much heat. It will bubble like crazy if using to much heat . Also use a MonoKote sock...the iron temp will need to come up a bit if you use a sock...If the balsa is very tight grained you will get more bubbles so the WoodPecker is ideal. If you are trying to cover something other than balsa wood a little slower strokes with the iron can help the MK stick better. It takes time to learn how to use MonoKote so be patient and practice. The EconoKote is a little easier to apply as is Ultracoat...the finish is a little bit on the dull side with Ultracoat but it is very good material.
The best results with Monokote are the correct heat , use an iron sock and practice. I have seen some killer Monokote jobs by people that have never used it before and I always ask them how in the hell did you do such a good job for your first try and almost every answer is "I read the instructions"..

Boss

We baught the plane half covered and the guy we baght it off gave us the rest of the covering with the model so the instructions had already been taken off.

Hi,
"IF" your wing has a completely sheeted surface (like a foam core wing) and "IF" you completely attached/sealed the Monocote around the edges before shrinking, especially if you used a heatgun for shrinking, you may have trapped air between the Monocote and surface of the wing. If this is true, you may be able to pin ***** the Monocote near one edge, slightly heat the Monocote and carefully work the entrapped air out through the pin *****(s).

The process of "working the air out" is accomplished by carefully pressing the heated covering down to the surface of the wing while gently pushing the air bubble(s) towards the pin *****(s).
The *****s must be open all the way through the covering to allow the air to escape but will disappear as the covering is adhered to the wing surface.

When using any of the plastic films, I think it is a good idea to leave a short length of one of the edges unsealed to allow air to escape while shrinking/attaching the film to the surface in question. After shrinking/attaching, the remaining edge can be sealed.

Hope this helps,

i am going to have to cover my wing soon for my first 2M ship and the only wind i have covered is my old kaos......i got some wrinkles on the tip LE and TE but i didnt use a wood pecker.....i really want to make my 2M wing nice so i will try all the prep stuff and try to do my best.......when i used mono i saw it used more heat to stick than ultra.