BobbyRichardson

I have covered two Extra 300's of which I have built from kits. I think that if I covered the plane before I installed the vertical and horizontal stabilizers it would have been a lot easier to cover, also the covering between the vertical and horizontal would have turned out better. I'm a beginner at this covering (Ultracote) thing. My plane turned out nice, but did I do it the hard way.

Which way do you cover ?

With the tail feather attached or not.

Thanks

Bobby Richardson

daveopam

My Feedback: (9)

If you can cover the tail feathers before they go on your way ahead of the game. This is how ARF's are done.
You just cut out the covering were the joint will be and epoxy. later daveo

dr_wogz

My Feedback: (3)

yeah, it's always easier to cover 'pieces' than assembled parts.

You typically always cover teh wingand ailerons separately, same with vert stab and rudder, hor stab and elevator..

Start from the bottom and or back, to make sure your seams point 'backwards'

Fuel proof your firwall after you've covered. Monokote dosen't stick too well to epoxy, but epoxy really sticks to monokote.

Apply small strips where two pices of covering come together, like the joint between the fuse and stabs.. A thin strip folded in half, along the entire length of the joint, gives you an easier time ciovering, as you need jsut cover to the joint.. Kinda hard to explaing, without pictures..

rcflyer52

My Feedback: (7)

IT'S MORE AWKWARD TO COVER WHEN THE STAB & FIN ARE INSTALED. BUT, YOU CAN HIDE THE SEAMS IF THEY ARE ON. TRY COVERING THE FUSE SIDE WITH ONE PIECE OF COVERING. IT CAN BE DONE AND THE PLANE LOOKS MUCH BETTER WITH OUT A VERTICLE SEAM HALF WAY BACK.

G.F. Reid

My Feedback: (1)

I agree with you. It's harder to make the covering look neat when it's done after assembly, but if you learn how to do it neatly (and it's not really that hard), it looks better without the seams giving the plane that 'assembled ARF' look.
I will admit though, that it's much easier to cover them separately.

Bill L

A lot of magazine articles and ads show the entire plane sitting there assembled, NAKED[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img] NO COVERING[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img] It really looks neat in the ad but not at all practical. I think they just balance all those parts, do not breath, and take the photo. Cover, then assemble[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] I too am learning, and that is a bitter lesson to learn once it is assembled[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/img]

G.F. Reid

My Feedback: (1)

To the contrary Bill, I always assemble mine completely before covering anything.
I covered one before assembly years ago. It was easier but I just didn't like the look of the of the breaks between the horizontal and vertical stab.
I guess it's ok on a sport plane or trainer but I like scale planes and the tail fillet on a fullscale plane seldom has those highly visible breaks.