covering tip needed

[3d "kid"]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Mokken
	Why don't you offer assistance, instead of a smart ass comment? I see these from you all the time 50%.. Sometimes it's better to read, and not comment at all... Give it a try... Judging from your post count, you probably spend more time behind the keyboard, than at the field or in the shop. ........

Wow..

[flyin4fun]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Mokken
	Why don't you offer assistance, instead of a smart ass comment? I see these from you all the time 50%.. Sometimes it's better to read, and not comment at all... Give it a try... Judging from your post count, you probably spend more time behind the keyboard, than at the field or in the shop. ........ To the OP, I will always go over a plane with an iron, and right back over the surface with a small towel, gently pressing down on the hard surfaces while the covering is still hot, that tends to help keep the covering in place, especially on all these ARF's.

"ouch"....musta had a bad day.....errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr crash your foamy???

[smokin]

fiddy's comment about "prep work" is certainly an important one. if the surface that you are covering isn't prepped properly, you'll never get good adhesion. make sure it is clean, not fuel soaked, not CA soaked and so on and so on. using a painter's tack cloth to wipe surface down prior to covering is easy and effective.

good luck.

[blackbeer]

	Quote: Originally Posted by jamesrxx951
	ive heard of some stuff called "prep right"???? anyone hear of this? i guess it is for getting the balsa ready to adhear the covering. never used it but im going to look for it.

Balsarite, not sure of the spelling, is one I have used but really all you need is a cheep spray can of "hair net" or something like that. Spray it on the surface to be covered and cover away. Works very well. But you still have to get rid of the dust, finger prints, in other words prep work. That's the key to using iron on covering.

Tom

[yakpilot]

To the OP, If it's the plane in your avatar, it is covered with china-cote. While this brand usually sticks to wood pretty good, it does not like to stick to its self wortha crap. You could try the CA thing but the only way I know to fix it is to peel off the trim and use a good film like Ultra-cote. Make sure to clean the base covering with acetone or trim solvent to give it the best chance of sticking. Just get the iron warm enough to activate the adhesive until you push out all of the air and get it all stuck down. Then turn up the heat a little(read directions for temps)and re-iron all of the edges.

[jonathanmanopla]

you can use topflite trim solvent , this is to bond monokote over monokote instead to usea heat

[jamesrxx951]

	Quote: Originally Posted by blackbeer
	Balsarite, not sure of the spelling, is one I have used but really all you need is a cheep spray can of "hair net" or something like that. Spray it on the surface to be covered and cover away. Works very well. But you still have to get rid of the dust, finger prints, in other words prep work. That's the key to using iron on covering. Tom

thats right, i was close. kinda.

[SURREYRCAV8R]

The key to applying any iron on covering whether it be Monokote, Ultracote, Chinacote or Iron on Fabirc is the surface it is going on. Wood can be sanded down to 600 grit, any finer than that is a waste of time and money. Now comes the dust removal process. I take each piece outside and blow it off with 150 PSI compressed air out of a compressor. Then I wet each piece down with a damn cloth, that opens the grain and makes any hairs stand up. I let it dry. I resand at 600 grit and then use the compressed again. Then I go over it with a tack cloth and get ready to cover.

All three coverings require different heats to get the adhesive to adhere. I have also found that the heat settings will also vary by color as well. Lighter colours such as White and Yellow tend to take less heat than Navy Blue or Black. Anytime I am doing covering over covering, I will use a spray mixture of water and Ammonia, lay down the stripe, star or graphic over it and then squeegee the water out from under it. Dry it well, let it sit overnight and then come back with an iron set to the temperature that works best for that color (by doing a test pieces first) then go over just the edges leaving the center of the stripe, star or graphic alone. After that I will go over the edges with Q-tip soaked with Monokote trim solvent. Wipe up the excess and then let dry overnight. If any color bleeds out from the edges use a Q-tip with a little trim solvent on it and wipe it off.

Use a soft cloth, NEVER use paper towel on plastic covering, paper towel scratches the surfaces and dulls the shine over time. I have found that Monokote trim solvent works on Ultracote as well but takes longer to dry and use it sparingly! In the case of graphics with fine points such as stars, I will place some clear fingernail polish on the edges of the tips. This seals them down and they rarely come up when wiping down the aircraft.

If you have a graphic that lifts and you get fuel under it, do not even try and iron it down it will never stick again. Best thing to do is remove the graphic, create a new one, clean the surface with Dow Scrubbing Bubbles to remove the grease, then clean with Isopropynol. Then re-apply graphic using water squeegee technique...seal and enjoy!

[mrdakota]

Yeah, you know you're right I've noticed that over the years too, darker colors needed a bit more heat. Till now I thought it was just me

[Mak Gyver]

An old easy tip is to iron it down after cleaning it well, and sealing it with epoxy that is thinned down. Or if the area is around the hatch, or motor box mask with tape and use some clearcoat. This will prevent air from getting a chance to get under it and pull it loose. Also helps fuel & oil proof areas.

[wingwall]

A lot of good advise here, particularly on surface prep. I have seen a covering come off of someones brand new ARF on first flight. There was a lot of sanding dust on the loose covering and balsa surface.

However, one thing that may have been overlooked so far is too high of a heat applied, and I believe that is why some ARF suppliers recommend to not use a heat gun. You cannot control the heat well with a heat gun or hair dryer, and it is easy to get the covering too hot. If you over heat the covering it will loose its stick, and will not want to stay bonded. Ergo all the recommendations for bonding agents to solve it, I'll betcha. I typically use Ultracote, and their instructions say the best bond is at the starting temperature of about 210 deg F, just above boiling temp of water. With good clean surface, no loose material such as sanding dust, and a setting of 210 to 220 deg F you won't be able to peel off the covering without tearing up balsa or distorting and ripping the covering. From there up you start loosing bond. I believe the best shrinking temp is about 275 to 300 deg F. I try not to go over 275 with Ultracote, as that is almost too much for black. And, yes I have experienced the color difference too.

WW