Mr.Extra 260

My Feedback: (11)

What would tyou recomend to do to bring out these big wrinkles?

CAP232CM

My Feedback: (8)

Try a heat gun.

sweetpea01

My Feedback: (10)

Heat gun then Iron/sock combo

go slow`

ArCeeFlyer

My Feedback: (1)

If the covering reaches its shrink limit before getting tight, then about the only thing you can do is recover with fresh and make sure it's pulled reasonably snug before shrinking it.

JoeAirPort

My Feedback: (41)

Heat gun works awesome. The iron did not work well for taking out wrinkles. Hobbico makes one and so does Mono coat. The Mono coat gets a little hotter but is $25. The hobbico is $15 and works fine.

Tired Old Man

My Feedback: (1)

I would use a heat gun or covering iron to carefully lift all the edges possible in order to get to the primary (bottom) flat surface while keeping all the outside edges loose so I could work with them later and use those same edges as a gripping location for my fingers.

Next I would use a covering iron to carefully lift up the remaining edges of the flat surface so I could pull the wrinkles to the outside and retack the covering as I went while pulling it tighter. After I had the vast majority of the wrinkles out of the bottom, but before shrinking anything, I would use the iron to completely tack all the outside edges of the bottom. After that was done I would then start re-working the sides by pulling the covering tight and tacking it down as I went. When that was done I would again completly tack the outside edges of the covering so I could go back over it, starting at the bottom, with a heat gun, removing the balance of the wrinkles and making the covering tight.

It's very possible that you may only be able to salvage the actual bottom of the covering on this one, and need to sacrifice the sides and do them again. Salvaging the bottom is a sure thing, though. Using only one piece like this to roll over the cornes can end up pretty wrinkled up at the sides if you have not had a lot of practice at it.

The secret to a good covering job is that it is no secret, just a lot of time and effort. Look at the item to be covered and determine where you need the starting point to be. Always use a piece of covering that's an inch or so larger all the way around than the area to be covered. Lay the covering over the item and tack one spot on the covering with the iron. Now go to the opposite end and pull the covering as straight as you can and as tight as you can without pulling the first tack loose. Next you go to one of the sides and pull it relatively tight and make another tack. Now go to the opposite side and repeat the process. Keep doing that all the way around, working the material as tight as you can to remove all the wrinkles until all the edges have been tacked down. Then go over all the edges again and correct anything that looks like it needs to be straightened out.

Before you try an area such as a turtle deck, grab a clean softball or similar and use some scrap covering to try and cover as much as the softball as you can without any wrinkles. The ball is a very hard thing to cover, but you can actually get about 80% of it with practice. It's all about heating and pulling at all the right places. The practice is what you want to have before you attempt compond curves and wingtips.

By the time you get to this point you still have not actually shrunk anything but the covering already looks pretty good. After this is when you go back over it all with a heat gun, starting at the center and working your way out to each end. It's a long process, but those that learn how to cover their own planes have a right to be proud of their work and they find that it does not wrinkle back up anywhere near as bad as arfs always do. Most home covering jobs will stay tight for years with little maintennance required.

Mr.Extra 260

My Feedback: (11)

If I did start over should I have to use a new roll?

Tired Old Man

My Feedback: (1)

Depends on how much you have left of the old one. Personally, I would first try working with what's already there, but rcognise that you may not be able to do the bottom and sides in one piece until you have a lot more experience. Better to have an extra seam on a long joint with only one color than to waste several rolls of covering attempting that which you are not yet qualified for. That's why I suggested the soft ball practice.

No insult intended, so don't get all mad at me That's just the way it is in the beginning with covering. You're going to mess up a bunch so keep the waste down by taking a smaller bite.

ArCeeFlyer

My Feedback: (1)

If you keep your seams small, close and parallel to the corner, they virtually disappear.

DGrant

My Feedback: (4)

More heat, and more heat, and more heat. Those should come out.. there doesn't look to be any severe creases.. just wrinkles. You actually could trim that a bit too... because where you have trimmed at this point really isn't the "bottom" of the plane, you do have it correct in order of covering bottom first, however.. you need to just go one plateau down from where you have it. THEN.. when you cover the side.. you take that, and wrap it to the "bottom"(the bottomest)... then.. if done carefully, you won't see ANY seams. That final 'trim' within any finished area is soooo important to a pro looking job too. Good luck.

Mr.Extra 260

My Feedback: (11)

WOW!!!! I got out my moms hair dryer and probably sat in my chair for an hour and blew out every wrinkle. It took a while but surprisingly did the job. I did the bottom in one peice. It probably would have been easier the other way but I didnt know.

JoeAirPort

My Feedback: (41)

Oh I forgot, mom's hair dryer works good too, and it's free.

Bass1

Top Flight has a VHS on how to apply Monokote. It's well worth the $12.00 or so. My LHS has a loaner copy that builders occasionally view to brush up on or remember the different techniques. You might consider this option.

Tired Old Man

My Feedback: (1)

Better idea.

based upon the original posts of several threads to date, I would suggest that Mr Extra 260 make the effort to look up and befriend an experienced builder/modler that lives in his area. It looked to be a pretty upscale neighborhood so there is likely another nearby that he could meet and learn from. There's a lot to be said about "seeing" how thigs are done versus reading how things are done. The learning process moves along much faster when working "hands on" under the tutelage of someone that already knows what they are doing.

The plane in a tree on the golf course is a pretty good heads up about some guidance issues here.

Mr.Extra 260

My Feedback: (11)

Yes there is another 2 people in the town that are into rc. One Fly helis and the other drives cars but I am the only plane guy with in a 100 miles.