Mike,

Don Ramsey has posted some comparative weights for covering and other finishes on his web site under Building/Flying/Engine Techniques.

http://members.cox.net/don.ramsey/

Ok, I looked at the world models site
http://www.airborne-models.com/html/...p?ProductID=79
and here is the specs on their covering.
Width : 800 mm ( 31-1/2" ) x 2 meters
Weight : 5.8 g / sq.ft. ( 0.20 oz. / sq.ft. ) 1.8 ou sq yard
Application temperature : 58°C - 93°C ( 136°F - 200°F )
Its called lightex.
They also have toughlon.
Width : 800 mm ( 31-1/2" ) x 2 meters
Weight : 7.7 g / sq.ft. ( 0.27 oz. / sq.ft. )
Application temperature : 58°C - 121°C ( 136°F - 250°F )
I really like the low application temperatures.
This stuff is lighter than monokote.
I'll be using it on my next project.
Chris

You can talk to GP reps until you're blue in the face. After some bad deals with Tower and Great Planes I found the best way to results is to call Hobbico since they are the parent company. Get someone in management in either sales or cutomer relations and yu're off to the races. A quick search of Hobbico phone numbers got me this 217-359-1430.

As for telling good from bad MC, a friend of mine showed me how to tell as soon as you get a roll. Just look at the backing. it should be smooth with a few lifts here and there. No tiny bubbles (gives you the grainy look) and no big or large quantity of places where the backing is lifting off the covering.

I am also starting to look for alternatives to monokote.... I remember there was one covering from Australia (Rhino...something I'll look it up)

I'll never use monokote again! I don't know what happen but something did happen.

White - Has a lot of bubbles on the " sticky side"

Red - Doesn't want to shrink

Black - Doesn't want to go over monokote very well even with the windex trick!

Is time for top flite to open their eyes, I'll be using ultracote until monokote is fixed.

Albert ( a very unhappy monokote ex-user )

Hi Albert. I guess by now you saw how that metallic gray looks on Kevin's Extra. I just hope it stays attached to the airplane, it was all I could do to make it stick. Not a darn thing I could do to get rid of that dimple texture it has. I can't believe that garbage like that ever makes it out of the factory as a product.

But didn't all of you know that it is your fault for not adapting to the newly formulated monokote!

What's curious is that Great Planes and others who cover their ARFs with Monokote don't seem to have the same issues.

You don't see their ARFs with dimpled Monokote, or covering that is coming off. Isn't it odd that the manufacturers have access to problem-free material while more and more complaints surface from the retail side?

Just a thought.

BobbyG

A buddy of mine has a GP U-Can-Do that the covering is starting to shatter on the wings. Took longer than mine and others at the field took when we covered, but it's doing it too. Seems to be right at the seams where the colored covering meets the base white.

I'll bet that is because those ARF's are made offshore and the covering material works.....what ever it is! It sure is not the MK that I have used!
Those guys haven't got time to mess around complaining to Baxter.
In fact, I wouldn't be surprised that they know MK is defective and are stuck with a trainload of it and are just waiting for it to dissappear before they announce the 'new' MK.....hehe.

Meanwhile, I noticed just yesterday that there are some areas that are starting to shatter on my model.
Time to change.....it was good while it lasted.....dammit!!

I would assume that they have 1000 rolls of the stuff sitting there and that they know how to spot a bad roll as I do. So they just don't use the bad rolls. Easy as that.

Chris...you gave me a great idea!!
I'll just order 1000 rolls of each color, select the good rolls and toss the rest out!.....hehe

Then those bad rolls go out to local hoby shops, and viola! We are not ironing it hot enough, but their ARF's are fine.........

Right....I had the heat up so high that the foam wing melted under the balsa.
It still wouldn't shrink or stick.
Oh...gee, I guess I did it wrong.
The original fly-paper sticky back Monokote didn't have a problem sticking or shrinking. Of course if you had to pull it up you couldn't do it without taking the wood with it but at least you had a bag to take it home in.

So how do you spot the bad rolls of MK\???
I have 3 brand new planes with MK on them. Venus 40, Giant TF p51 ARF, and 1/3 CAP 580 Matt Chapman. I am now concerned that I will have to recover them in a year. \

I just did my new 35% Extra in Ultracote.. It was an enjoyable experience.. The covering behaved predictably and it came out like glass.. Here is the end result.

\I looked at the back of my bad rolls of \MK and didn't find the tell tale signs of bubbles or sections of backing comming off. I did see however, tiny bubbles or, bumps in the actual color/shiny side....
I am a little skepticle of any tell-all signs of a bad mk covering untill you actually start to heat it up. And the comment someone made earlier about pulling this way that way bs doesn't help. I would'nt be bothering to complain at all if it were a simple fix....................... |It is the MK and there bad QC..........[:-]

Nice mike...
did you make the checkers or do you buy the covering like that all done for you\???? If you did, any tips on how to make them with the covering you used\???

No that is Ultracote 4" checkerboard... Im always going to take the path of least resistance and when I saw Ultracote made the stuff I was in.. I have done it myself on an old U CAN DO before though. I used monokote and used the windex trick to put the checks over the white without heat. I havent had any luck getting unltracote to stick without heat unfortunately.

I believe ultracote is called oracover in its country of origin, Germany---and it's called profilm here in the UK.
Certainly here, we can buy protrim, which is a self- adhesive-backed version of profilm.

Yup, Monokote has changed...




Cheers, Sawacs

Sawacs,

Thanks for the picture, that's the same problem I had with at least three rolls of white. I thought it was just air trapped on the back side but i was wrong.

Albert

Same thing I've seen in all Monokote purchased between Nov 2005 and March 2006. It was from two different hobby shops in two states (NH and NJ) and 4 different colors.

Gents, I am not in a position to knock Monokote yet as I have not completely covered a plane with the new stuff.. I have always used Monokote and loved the outcome. However, I am about to cover my first plane "with Monokote" in 5 years or so..

I have laid a piece down with the new stuff on a Skyshark edge but it was only a 1/2 inch strip in the landing gear area. As far as I can tell, there were no issues compared to the older stuff. The truth will be told when I begin covering using old techniques on the open bay areas and balsa sheeting on the leading edges of the wings..

I will have to admit that I recovered a stock Skyraider fuse with Ultracote almost two years ago and there is not a wrinkle to be seen nor are there any loose edges. I tend to agree that when you cover with ultracote, you use the exact same procedure used with Monokote ( tack it down like you are tightening 16 bolts on an engine) but then you simply need to use the iron to shrink it. When complete, turn the iron up and go over the edges melting them in place. I was impressed but fell back to Monokote for the Skyshark project thinking it was be the same as it was in 1992: I hope I am not wrong.

Cheers!

Has anyone gotten a response from the manufacturer as of yet?

I took a new roll over to my friend to do a little repair work on my plane. First he looked to see if the backing showed any signs of air bubbles. He said it all looked good and cut the patterns out to put down. When he picked up his iron and tried to activate the adhesive he noticed right away that the heat had to be cranked up to get it to stick and then turned higher to shrink.

I for one would be very interested in how this is explained if nothing has changed.