covering question on balsa...any ideas?

[road king 97]

Originally Posted by ONETENOR

Yes ton edge repairs do work but not so much for the irregular outline but for the thinned ( venetted/vinetted edge as it is known ) as opposed to the harsh edge caused by cutting. An irregular edge is harder to spot though just the same as in Scratch Patch repair kits They worked well and once polished were almost invisible. Perhaps a little car polsih would help hide film repairs. Might be worth a try. Ta Ta For Now J.M.

I use pledge to shine my planes and they smell like a lemon afterwards too. lmao joe

[stuart]

pledge...to funny,i use it to give a long lasting shine.

as far as holes go........decals,decals and more decals.....,can you guess where i burned a hole in this plane while covering the wing....

[ONETENOR]

Pledge will clean em up ---- but as long as they don't fly like a lemon. However I wasn't referring to just a shine but the very slight abrasive effect of car type polishes to blend edges of repairs. It actually rubs the edges even thinner. The older type paste /semi solid ones seem to work better than the liquid types unless of the T-cut sort.Painted repairs also benefit from polishing. Hope this helps. TTFN. J.M.

[stuart]

lawn dart mike!! an uproar!!!outstanding man,i'v built 4 and the covering likes to stick on the center pc's of the rudder/elev area...i would try the talcome powder idea an the inner balsa strips. i had to use a lot of heat to get the covering to let loose on those strips and it should need that. please post pictures of your covering job. i'd like to see how ya do.

pic's1&2 are roar#3

pics2&3 are roar #1

pic #4 is roar #2

last picture is existing roar #4,your going to love the uproar!

[road king 97]

They use to sell stuff 20 years ago that would polish scuff marks out on rc coverings but i have not seen it in a long while. Here are a couple of mine. joe

[LawnDartMike]

Originally Posted by stuart

lawn dart mike!! an uproar!!!outstanding man,i'v built 4 and the covering likes to stick on the center pc's of the rudder/elev area...i would try the talcome powder idea an the inner balsa strips. i had to use a lot of heat to get the covering to let loose on those strips and it should need that. please post pictures of your covering job. i'd like to see how ya do.

Crap! I'm going about this wrong I guess - I thought you were supposed to stick it down to all the internal bracing. I guess since it is my first covering job I can claim ignorance! It is a bit easier than I thought it would be. About two-thirds done and only one wrinkle I couldn't get out. I'll be sure to post some pictures. I love building but it has taken three weeks of my limited spare time to get this far. I can see why ARFs are so popular even though I don't think I could force myself to buy one.

[stuart]

some folks think the film covering should stick to inner ribs and such for strength,i for one believe the film should stick to Le's and te's so the film in the center stretches taught and smooth for that real clean look. it real tough to get the adhesive to release sometimes and it all comes down to how good ya are with the heat gun. don't just use your sealing iron....the heat iron is first then the blower for shrinking over the rib areas.

as far as the roar goes,you'll have no issues if the film sticks to ribs so have fun!! it flys real nice and don't use high rate setting first time out as the roll rate is awesome even on low rates.another picture to torture you before the maiden....this roar crashed the very next day after the picture was taken by swede at his clubs funfly...................

[road king 97]

Originally Posted by stuart

some folks think the film covering should stick to inner ribs and such for strength,i for one believe the film should stick to Le's and te's so the film in the center stretches taught and smooth for that real clean look. it real tough to get the adhesive to release sometimes and it all comes down to how good ya are with the heat gun. don't just use your sealing iron....the heat iron is first then the blower for shrinking over the rib areas.

as far as the roar goes,you'll have no issues if the film sticks to ribs so have fun!! it flys real nice and don't use high rate setting first time out as the roll rate is awesome even on low rates.another picture to torture you before the maiden....this roar crashed the very next day after the picture was taken by swede at his clubs funfly...................

I never iron down the middle of anything ,wings fuses ,rudders or elev just around the edges or seams . When i see planes that they ironed down every thing i can see all the flaws where they did it. The heatgun does make film stick to ribs and flat balsa but just enough to not show flaws or iron marks. joe

[LawnDartMike]

Luckily I had just done the ailerons and elevator that way so the wings and stabs were done correctly. I didn't have enough black mono to do the bottom of the wings and the lhs only had ultra so I had a chance to try it out. It was a bit easier to shrink but was harder to trim. Otherwise I didn't see much of a difference. Just an observation from a newb that has no preference for either brand.

so I have to say for my first time covering a plane I think it turned out great. Nothing fancy but it turned out better then I thought it would.

I'll get some pictures posted up tomorrow. I owe my success to all of you that gave me the great advice. Thanks.

[road king 97]

Originally Posted by LawnDartMike

Luckily I had just done the ailerons and elevator that way so the wings and stabs were done correctly. I didn't have enough black mono to do the bottom of the wings and the lhs only had ultra so I had a chance to try it out. It was a bit easier to shrink but was harder to trim. Otherwise I didn't see much of a difference. Just an observation from a newb that has no preference for either brand.

so I have to say for my first time covering a plane I think it turned out great. Nothing fancy but it turned out better then I thought it would.

I'll get some pictures posted up tomorrow. I owe my success to all of you that gave me the great advice. Thanks.

Yea i hoping you picked up some good tips , My advice is just what works for me and after you start covering more planes you will find your own way you like to cover, we just covered some of the basics. Iam glad your new covering job turned out good and cant wait for pictures Mike. joe

[solentlife]

Flat plate covering in fact can have iron used in centre and then smooth out. But it needs the film to be stretched properly to make sure it's smooth.
Doing it that way - allows you to trim closer around the edges ...

Once all iron'd - then the heat gun used centre out will remove the up's / downs to smooth out.

Usually I will follow the edge tacking method though due to imperfections that film and paint always show up !!

Nigel

[LawnDartMike]

Here are the pics I promised. It is ready to fly. The COG is 2.75 which is a bit nose heavy. I have the battery as far back as possible so I think I'll change the motor standoff from 1.5 inches to 1 inch and see if it fixes it. This was my first balsa build so please feel free to criticize anything you see wrong - it was quite a learning experience!

[stuart]

mike,she's a beauty!! very nice,rarely do you see black in the covering and yours is really cool looking and i think the 2 colors will be obvious in flight. of coarse there are those rare days when all colors look Grey. are you going to add any other striping or markings like decals to help discern top and bottom for those days? you won't need it but seems like ya have a really nice platform to decorate further.

this was your first covering job....very nice mike.

if your using an aux Rx battery like i am ,i located mine toward the back of the fuse using and extension wire and small access hatch to get cg right. thats the nice part with electric conversions. theres lots we can do to relocate weight without adding lead.


edit:looking down on the motor mount picture seems to look like a left angle on the prop. i know the uproar flys with neutral/no angle needed to the right and minimal down thrust. just curios as i was looking at your photos again and wasn't sure if i was seeing things...lol...i have been know to see things in pictures that don't exist.

[road king 97]

Originally Posted by LawnDartMike

Here are the pics I promised. It is ready to fly. The COG is 2.75 which is a bit nose heavy. I have the battery as far back as possible so I think I'll change the motor standoff from 1.5 inches to 1 inch and see if it fixes it. This was my first balsa build so please feel free to criticize anything you see wrong - it was quite a learning experience!

I cant see any thing wrong but make sure you have clevis keepers and every thing is moving the correct way, ail elev and rudder . Do a range check just before youfly her and have fun. BTW i cut 1/8 airplane fuel tubing up in 1/8 long pieces and slip them over my clevises so they wont come apart. joe

[stuart]

i think his battery is pushed to the rear of the compartment and still nose heavy. theres little room for the battery to move inside the tank space unless you cut away the sheeting only in le area of the wing inside the fuse. can be done ,but not needed.

[road king 97]

Its hard to see but check to make sure your ail are centered, in the one picture they look like they are up to much. It could be just the camera angle tho. joe

[LawnDartMike]

Yep, I have some minor trimming to do on the control surfaces. I ran out of time. The motor is straight - just the effect of a wide angle phone camera. I did cut the wing LE for the battery and braced the spars with 3/8" ply. The battery is pushed back to the plywood and still need to move some weight back.

Sorry about the thread hijack. What do you use to put down stripes and such? Trim solvent?

[road king 97]

Originally Posted by LawnDartMike

Yep, I have some minor trimming to do on the control surfaces. I ran out of time. The motor is straight - just the effect of a wide angle phone camera. I did cut the wing LE for the battery and braced the spars with 3/8" ply. The battery is pushed back to the plywood and still need to move some weight back.

Sorry about the thread hijack. What do you use to put down stripes and such? Trim solvent?

Most times i cut my own stripes and desighns and use a trim iron set on a low heat to tack it down first . If you have it to hot it starts to shrink before its stuck down right. Once its tacked down so it can shrink then turn turn the heat up on the trim iron and hit it again. I make small pencil marks where the stripe is going to be then tack down one end and hold the other end while pulling light and adjust side to side lining up to my pencil marks to keep the tripe put down straight.If i need graffics i always call Callie's graffics ,she does great work and is very helpfull and cheap. http://callie-graphics.com/

[stuart]

sheets of monacoat self stick film work great,just take your time to avoid bubbles. if you want custom look you can go to the local auto parts store and p/u large decals that fill wings with designs i couldn't hope to make on my own. they sell designs that go on both sides of the car so you'll have left and right side duplicates .you won't need the whole decal so theres room to use them elsewhere on the model.

also auto pinstripe is very sticky,thin and lasts even when re-shrinking the covering. personally i.v never used the solvent method or water slide stickers. others may share how they do it.

pinstripes and monocoat self stick sheets on the hog and minisport.

[solentlife]

Originally Posted by LawnDartMike

......
Sorry about the thread hijack. What do you use to put down stripes and such? Trim solvent?

No solvent at all .... not a good idea, you start to get colour bleeding out etc. !

My method is to cut the sripes / shapes out and then remove backing ... lay in place. With HAND ... keep smoothing out ... the warmth of the hand will actually lightly tack the shape in place. Keep doing it .. pressing and moving outward with fingers ...

The iron should be set a lot lower temperature than when covering fully ... you only want a temp that activates the adhesive and not shrinking the fiilm. So you have to work quickly and dab / smooth with iron, not letting heat build up to cause shrink of film.
Once tacked in place ... then a smooth straight sweep of iron along the stripe to finish of.

It's worth knowing also that Car Accessory shops with their self-adhesive decals / stripes etc. are great for us ... The trick there is to use washing up liquid diluted in water to allow you to slide the decal into place / straighten strips etc. .... Then squeeze out the liquid from under by pressing out to the edges .. mopping it away. The decals / stripes will adhere once dried out just as well ... in fact often better as the detergent takes away any crud ! It's how the body shop guys get those lines straight !

Nigel