My dad and I have been covering my GP ultimate bipe and we could use a little help. We are doing a scheme similar to the one on the box with the red, orange, yellow and white stripes. My question is how can we join the sheets together before we put them on the model. It seams that if we heat them enough so they stick well the film shrinks and crinkles up. If we heat it so that it does not crinkle then it comes apart while ironing it on the plane. I have seen some awsome covering jobs on some planes here. How do you guys do it??

The easiest way to do a trim scheme is to first cover the the plane with the base color, then cut out the trim. And a little trick for monocote is to spray windex on the covering then position the trim on the plane and squeegee the excess windex out. Doing this allows you to take your time positioning the trim and get all bubbles out. When your satisfied with the covering just go over it with an iron to seal it down good. Hope this helps.

Having a bit of a issue when covering my CA 27% extra, so I'm pigtailing on the original post... It's coming out nice, cause I'm going really really slow! But I'm having a problem shrinking the monokote on the rear turtle deck. I hit it with the heat gun, it tightens up nice, and looks perfect, but I come back in 5 minutes, and the few ugly small wrinkles are back, tried using the iron too same deal.... why would it tighen up and not stay that way? Any monokote folks who have seen this?

It may not have been pulled tight enough when you applied it. It only shrinks so much. I might think about recovering it, and be sure to pull the Monokote as tight as possible then.

Go ahead and put your iron on covering on the aircraft...using a good straight edge cut your trim from the pre-sticky covering sold in those 3" X 3' paper backed sheets...this stuff sticks instantly so take your time...also use the windex not only for the sheet material but also for decals...easy and no bubbles...this method eliminates possible mistakes in using the regular iron on covering for trim work...good luck...

Sethlakai

GRANT ED, I never use the "Assemble before Applying" method myself. Just do one color at a time, and overlap the next layer. If you are using MonoKote, overlap by 1/4 - 3/8". If you're using Ultracote, make the overlap 3/8 - 1/2".

Also, if possible, put dark colors over light colors

I have built 2 GP Ultimates (don't ask[&o]) and covered both like the box. Not too original, but it looks good.

I am not brilliant at covering but both came out OK. The way I did it was this.

1. Wings. First mark out on the plans where you want the different colours to overlap. Then apply the white covering to the wing outers going far enough in to get a decent overlap. Next tape a piece of tracing paper over the wing where the next colour will go and mark out a shape for the covering, not forgetting the inboard overlap. Using the tracing paper helps to get a correct shape at the front so that the top and bottom coverings meet at the same place. Remove the paper and use it to mark up a piece of covering and cut to shape. Do this for the yellow and the orange, the red can be done as a single piece each for top and bottom.

2. Fuselage. Work from front to back, again using the tracing paper technique to get the correct shape, especially over the turtle deck. This way I was able to use a single piece to cover both sides, finishing off with a piece underneath. Using paper to make templates is a lot cheaper than Moneykote!

Hope this helps


Terry

I cover in seperate pieces, without a 'base' color.
I connect the colors, then iron onto the wing. A fuse is usually easy, since those I usually do do not have open areas. This method works for LARGE pieces. A single color with several Trim colors wouldn't work well like this, nor would something like the 3D Flag. A sunburst with large pieces, or a series of colors front to back or center to edge would be fine. When the colors change down the length of the wing, and the color change runs through the leading and or trailing edge, this becomes difficult because the top must EXACTLY match the bottom.
As quickly as possible, hopefully as clearly as needed:
1. Decide on a color scheme and cut it out and place it on one wing. (That is, for instance, the top right wing) Use regular covering, not trim. Make each piece about 1/2 inch too wide, to allow it to overlap the next piece by at least 1/4 inch (more is better!). DO NOT remove backing! When satisfied with layout, tape pieces to each other.
2. Remove from wing and place on bench. (Tape down)
3. Cut and place another one exactly on top of this one, then tape it. It will become the bottom Left piece.
4. Cut and place another one exactly on top of this one, but this time all of the pieces will be updside down, then tape it.
5. Repeat 4. These are top left, and bottom right pieces.
6. While leaving tape in place, peel back the backing on adjacent pieces to allow the to contact each other (Dark colors on top!). Place on a sheet of glass and iron pieces together, one at a time to preserve alignment.
7. Remove backing from all pieces and install as you would one contiguous piece of Monokote.
Good luck

Basic covering in the covering/hinge section here:

http://www.rc-tech.net/Begin.html

Gary