Hi all, I was wondering if anyone can suggest the best way to apply a stripe of trim, if the stripe needs to make a curve (as in the attached picture).

In the past, I have attempted to cut the trim piece out with the curve in it, but the results were marginal at best.

I'm covering my 1/3 GP 330L and want this to look good. I'm using ULTRACOTE which from my expierence is much easier to bend & manage the monekote, but dont know if I'll be able to use one straight piece of trim & curve it as I iron it down. This method did not work on my previous attempts on my old Sig SE using monekote.

I feel your pain and I would love to know how to do this as well. I have a bunch of curves on the plane I just finished and I basically got them "3' good" - meaning from 3' away they look pretty good.

What I do is cut stripes out with my stripe cutting tool. Then starting with one end of the stripe, work it down very slowly with a trim iron, while keeping it pulled taut. When you get to the curves, work slowly and slightly "stretch" the monokote around the radius, so the outside of the radius is pulled around the inside of the radius (I'm not sure if this is clear). If you move too fast or pull too hard, the th width of the stripe in the radius will shrink. I have only tried this on stripes up to about 3/4 inch.

One method...which would require a little more work and covering, would be to make a template of the piece you want cut (I use a roll of butcher's paper I got a SAM's club). Then use that template to cut out the monocote, then just lay it down and iron it. Again, it's a lot of work, but if you want it perfect, give it a try.

You will never get a perfect line cutting it out of ultrakote or monokote. An easier way is to go to the auto paint store (not auto parts - auto PAINT) and get vinyl tape in the color you want and the thickness. If they don't have it, they can order just about any color you want. Then lay it down on the plane - as you get to the curve, work slowly and stretch it as you go and it will make a very nice curve without wrinkles. If you can't find them at the auto parts store, check with some of the vinyl cutters (I got some from Dennis Kirby at Kirbys Kustom). They are called "end cuts" because they are cut off of the end of the vinyl roll. The auto PAINT store will have a broader variety in both colors and sizes though.

Hope this helps.

Ditto to what F4F2 said. I use lots of auto pinstripe tape.

Well, here's how it went using the "Slow as you go & lots of heat" method...actually turned out pretty well, if your a couple of feet away, you cant see the "Slight" wrinkling of the trim line as it makes the bend. I used a single 1/4" strip of covering & a lot of heat to make the bend.

This is my first Giant scale & HOLY COW does it take a long time to do the covering right!...

http://www.chadfrisby.com/milehighae...op/index1.html

Thanks for the input guys

Well, from this distance (chair to monitor) it looks very good.

Most of the time, we're the toughest critics of our own work. If you think it's pretty good, then chances are it's better than you think. If you're like me, it'll never be perfect, which gives you a reason to strive to do better. BTW, nice website and pics.

D