Help triming an all white plane
 

After a lot of thought I have decided to keep the all white
Edge 540T. Now I need a little advise from anyone who
has added large pieces of trim over Ultracote.

After searching and reading a ton of posts it looks like i
have 3 choices for adding the trim scheme over the white
ultracote....

Option 1 - apply Monokote over the Ultracote with the windex
method and then go around the edges with trim solvent.

Seams like it would work, and I can get paint to match the
Monokote for the cowl etc.

Option 2 - apply Ultracote over the white ultracote with the
windex method and use low heat to seal the edges.

Again this seems like it would work, but I have no experience
with Ultracote, but from what I have read some like it better
then Monokote? And I read that matching paint is hard to come
by for Ultracote?

Option 3 - apply ultracote over the white ultracote with low
heat only.

Same as above.

Did I leave anything out? Tom, have you had any reports from
client's as to what method works best?

Thanks for your help.

RE: Help triming an all white plane
 

Ultracote is MUCH easier to use than Monokote..Ive used all 3 methods and they all work..

RE: Help triming an all white plane
 

Option 4

Trim away the white parts that would be covered by your new color. No need for windex.

Option 5

Strip entire plane and do your own scheme from scratch. (this might be my plan on my next plane)

RE: Help triming an all white plane
 

... or just go with vinyls

RE: Help triming an all white plane
 

I thought I answered this before, I have a bad habit of writing what I want to say and then hitting the Back button DOH!

What I tried to say was my best luck (and I'm no covering genius) has been with sticky-back covering like Ultra trim or Monokote trim sheets used with windex and little or no heat.

Spray on plenty of windex, this keeps the stuff from sticking while you want to move it around into position.

Keep squeezing the water out as it dries with a squeegee, when it's dry completely (allow 24 hours) it will be stuck down hard. You can go around the edges with an iron on low heat but should not need to.

TF

RE: Help triming an all white plane
 

I forgot that alot of the plane is sheeted...That also works well..I would prolly do it that way or go vinyl..

RE: Help triming an all white plane
 

If you want it to stay forever, cut your design lay it on the plane and mark it then carefully cut the covering away 1/4" smaller all round then iron down as usual ( a soldering iron with a sharpish point is perfect for cutting covering, a knife can cut pretty deep!) Putting covering on top of existing can be very frustrating.

RE: Help triming an all white plane
 

I was in the same boat as you are now......I lookied and looked and decided that vinyle would probably be the easiest way to go....I continue trimming my smaller planes until I get proficient at it.......I went with a custom scheme to match my motorcycle.....should look pretty cool once I ge them in and put them on......Kirby Kustom Graphics should be able to hook you up.....Very helpful and creative folks there...Good Luck

Shawn Matthew

KEEPEM FLYIN!!!!!

RE: Help triming an all white plane
 

Im not sure vinyl will work for what i want to do?

I found a scheme that I really like, I just don't know
if I can pull it off.

I really like the forward swept scheme on the wing,
and the strip on the side should not be to hard. I am
still debating weather to do the yellow on the bottom.

I was also thinking of replacing the purple with blue,
but I cant find a good color chart for ultracote.

I cut a yellow piece out of Monokote, and it layed down
pretty flat with just a pit of soap and water, but I know
if I heat it it will off gas.

As for removing the white.... I really would rather avoid
that at the moment. If I screw up the whole thing I will
strip it and redo it next winter when the twins are older
and I have more time.

I have always built kits, and this is my first ARF ever. That
is why I have no experiance adding trim over covering.

Thanks for the help, and keep the idea's coming

RE: Help triming an all white plane
 

The way I would try it would be to first make a cardboard pattern of the yellow and blue for the wings stab rudder etc..Then lay the pattern on the wing and trace it..then leaving a 1/4 gap cut out the pattern on the plane..then trace your pattern on the covering and apply it to the stripped areas..the checkerboard can be bought pre made or you can just cut out the sqaures..make patterns for the stab fin etc..the hardest thing will be matching the paint for the cowl.

RE: Help triming an all white plane
 

it is way easier to remove the unneeded white covering then cover wood with ultracote


then use Toms method for putting black stripes on the bottom for contrast

heres a pic of the on i did using the remove unwanted white method i tried applying the covering over covering no matter how slow i went there where soooo many bubbles

RE: Help triming an all white plane
 

I agree

RE: Help triming an all white plane
 

I have a white Wilhare Estra 300 LX, I found a very nice squeme and what I did was to cover it with Monokote. I used the Windex procedure and it works very nice. Here are some pictures. I hope this helps

RE: Help triming an all white plane
 

great job elcapi01 looks great i like the colors

RE: Help triming an all white plane
 

I would leave the base white IMO.. Of course those Thai girls can cover way better than me:) Great job elcapi01 I would err on the side of vinyl because I got a guy who cuts it and I have used it on my planes and my truck.. With vinyl you could change your scheme easier if you dont like it.. My $0.02..

RE: Help triming an all white plane
 

Thanks, I am still working on the wings which are getting complicated. As soon as i have one done I will post some Pictures.

Regards

RE: Help triming an all white plane
 

Thanks for all the replies,
I decide to try sign vinyl and picked up some yesterday.

I have one wing almost finished, and the other half done.
I will post other pictures when I finish the plane.

The large Yellow section was a bit tricky... I drew the wing
in CAD, then made a paper template to test fit, then cut out
the vinyle. The yello looks kinda mustard color in the picture,
but it is brighter in natural light.

RE: Help triming an all white plane
 

Advent, Looking good!

RE: Help triming an all white plane
 

Schweet!

RE: Help triming an all white plane
 

Wow that does look sharp. I think I might try that on more of my planes. I have spoken to a lot of people who use that method, and it looks really sharp. Plus, like other people in here have mentioned - you can easily change your scheme if you dont like it ;)
At least now you have a very sweet design that is unique for your Wild Hare!

RE: Help triming an all white plane
 

Thats awesome!!! How much did that cost??

RE: Help triming an all white plane
 

Whats that Redrum? the vinyl?

I paid abot 40 bucks for 12' of 15" wide blue and 8' of 30"
wide yellow. Not the cheapest place, but she had it in stock
and i didn't have to wait for it to ship.



Thats awesome!!! How much did that cost??
[/quote]

RE: Help triming an all white plane
 

Hell... it would cost that for covering. How much weight does the vinyl add?

I just recovered the ailerons on my H9 33% Edge after I stiffened them so I can use a single aileron servo.

I bit the bullet and got myself one of those Coverite irons... the digitally controlled ones. Best investment I ever made... it gets to the temps you want fast, and it tells you when it's there +- 3 degrees. Awesome!!! When I set 220 degrees so as not to get any shrinkage with Ultracote, that's exactly what I got... no shrinkage. Anyway, I was able to iron Ultracote over Ultracote without getting any bubbles at all... just use low heat and go slowly across the surface. Worked great on the flat surfaces, but I'm not sure how well it would do on compound curves.

Anyway... it is doable for those that care.

RE: Help triming an all white plane
 

A couple more pictures of my progress

RE: Help triming an all white plane
 

Good job Advent.....looking great.[sm=thumbup.gif]