basmntdweller

My Feedback: (9)

Sometimes, it seems as though monokote only wants to tighten up in one direction when I try to shrink it. I covered a wing this evening in transparent red. I cut the pieces from the roll so that the roll edges fell at the root and tip of the wing panel. When I tried to shrink it, it would shrink well chordwise but it was leaving lots of chordwise wrinkles. It took a lot of heat from my heat gun to get it to lay down tight but I felt I was always just on the verge of burning through. If you have ever worked with the transparents, you know repairs are not easily hidden. So, does Monokote have one direction it shrinks better than the other? I don't notice this as much with the opaques but it did seem to occur with one of the neon colors I used recently.
Thanks,,,Matt

Flyboy Dave

My Feedback: (21)

I have had some issues with Mono-cote not shrinking properly, but I never
noticed....like you said, a grain to it. []

FBD.

kdheath

It is supposed to be stretched equally in all directions during manufacturing. I can't say that I've noticed any grain. I do think that older Monokote maybe shrank a little better than what we're getting now. Most of my shrinkage problems have been from a too-cool air gun.

bps

My Feedback: (3)

Monocoat has changed over the years in my opinion. I have no concrete evidence or facts to back that up other than using a whole bunch of this stuff. What we get now is not as good as what we got say 10 years ago. Any extruded product must have a "grain" to it for lack of a better term. Since it is an extruded product the "grain" would run the length of the product, or from the end of the roll to the begining of the roll. It may be just me but it seems to shrink better width wise than along the length. Just my .02 worth (and if you paid you overpaid!!!)v

Kaos Rulz

I agree that there is a "grain" to MK. It does run the length of the roll. I know this because I once covered a ribbed wing running the MK in one direction on one wing half and the other half with the MK rotated 90 deg. The wing half that had the MK running with the edge of the roll parallel to the fuse and un-rolled from wing root to wing tip had less sg between the ribs. The other half (MK un-rolled from LE to TE) had deeper sags between the ribs.

daveopam

My Feedback: (9)

I agree it has a grain. i did a camo job once. I layed the wing panels out on a sheet of glass using individual pieces. Then transfered the whole thing to each wing panel and stuck it down. If the pieces were not running the same way the shrinkage was a bear. I only had a 3/16" overlap and could not apply a bunch of heat. There is also a difference from one color to the next,but thats another story.

David

Huntster

I have noticed that Monokote will shrink more in one direction than the other but I haven't noticed a grain as you have claimed. I use Monokote for the Transparent colors only. I have found that Ultracote is much easier to cut curves into it.

Rodney

It definately has a grain, it will shrink more in narrow direction of the roll than the length direction. So does Ultracote.

basmntdweller

My Feedback: (9)

I guess "grain" wasn't the best term to use but I couldn't think of anything else to call it. From the responses here I'd have to say it wasn't my imagination it was shrinking more one direction than the other. I really hate covering and now I have one more thing to look out for and plan around[&:]
While I hate covering with iron ons, It's still way better than the old silk and dope method for the abuse I put my planes through
Thanks,,,Matt

sebo

I still have some MK that is 20 years old. Haven't used new MK because I have about 20 rolls of the old stuff left. It, too, has a grain. That's not much to say for product improvement. The colors of the new stuff may be better but I am flying a plane that is 15 years old and the colors are still true.

Kaos Rulz

sebo,

You're wise to stick with the old stuff. The new MK is not the same. Top Flite has changed something because the shrinkage is not a s good and requires a lot more heat.

rcamp

I've used a fair amount of Ultracoat, gave up on Monocote, and I've never seen anything to indicate a grain or a prefered shrinkage direction. Just my experience. And I believe there was a change to Monocote, I remember something about the formulation changing due to the increased risk of cancer in California.

Rodney

For the larger models, fabrics beat the plastics in nearly every respect. They are slightly heavier but go around compound curves better, adhere to themselves at seams better, many times stronger and , in general, much easier to apply. If you want really strong films, give OZ cover and RhinoHide a try. They are very strong and as easy to apply as any other film, the only problem, unless you want clear or pearl white, you have to paint them. The fabrics that end in ....tex, i.e. Solartex, Worldtex, Colortex etc. seem to be essentially the same in application and use and all give more material in a roll than any of the common films.