Taxidermy silkspan

[gene poremba]

 I wanted to post my experience with useing the silkspan i bought from a local taxidermy shop. I bought 20 sheets @$1.75 per sheet & the sheets were 24"x 36". The sheets arrived in a yellow envelope rolled up inside a plastic bag via regular US mail within two days from placeing my order. The sheets are about the thickness of my K&S medium weight silkspan.( closest i can compair it to) At first glance i was really happy with what i saw, but closer examination showed inconsistancy between the sheets. Upon holding the silkspan up to the light you can see sporatic holes in the weave of the silkspan. (some of considerable size) I decided to go ahead and try this silkspan on the underside of a Twister i am currently building, & heres my experience useing it. The silkspan applied just as easy as the old silkspan & shrunk up tight as a drum, no problems there. However i had to go thru several sheets of the silkspan to find an acceptable piece large enough to apply to my wing without haveing to deal with those open holes in the silkspan over open bay areas. Upon shrinking up tight i noticed that still some holes emerged in the silkspan over the open bay areas. It took several thicker coats of dope to fill in those trouble spots. I applied my regular silkspan on the top of the wings and fuse areas with no problems. Other than the sporatic holes in the taxidermy silkspan it presented no other problems. I will use up the rest of it as underlayment when i apply Monokote over open bays, so it wont got to waste. I hope the pictures post.....Gene

[gene poremba]

 You can see the holes i'm talking about.....

[john e. holliday]

Thanks for the report.  I will stay with Poly-T(aka Poly-Span).   It may be a little more expensive, but I know how it works.   

[Dan McEntee]

  Those holes can be dealt with at the shrinking stage by tearing small patches and doping those over the hole. Just tear a patch out of some scrap, and leave the edges ragged. As you put on the first coats of dope, apply a little more around the edges of the patch. As the build up progresses, you can take some 600 grit wet-or-dry and feather the edges in and you won't even see them. I fix punctures ion finished wings this way. A little bit of work but worth it if this source of sil span holds up and it lasts on a model. My guess is that they get some sort of reject material from the manufacturer. But if in the long run it's reliable, durable and available, it sounds like a winner to me.
  Keep us posted on how it ages and such, and how the final result turns out.
   Type at you later,
   Dan McEntee

[Douglas Ames]

Where is it manufactured?
I'm guessing that they don't have the same specs. and quality control of modeler grade silkspan.

[Tim Wescott]

I'm finding this thread interesting not for the possibility of using silkspan from a taxidermy shop for models, but for the possibility that somewhere, somehow, there's a factory that makes silkspan that could maybe be talked into making some for models?  Or, better yet, that the stuff is being made for some other purpose and that someone could buy some rolls to sell by the yard to us.

[gene poremba]

 I purchased the silkspan from McKenzie Taxidermy Supply here in North Carolina. (www.mckenzietaxidermy.com) I believe it is more than satisfactory for what ever they use it for, and if it wasnt for the occasional hole here and there i probably wouldnt have had anything negative to say about it. This very well may be a lower grade silkspan, like previously mentioned, and there may possibly be other grades available by the manufacturer?? Maybe someone reading this can shed more light on this.....Gene

[Avaiojet]

My question would be, did the material wrinkle some when dope was applied?

[Douglas Ames]

This model site has Silkspan and some cool supplies.

http://www.easybuiltmodels.com/parts.htm

[gene poremba]

 Aviojet, i'm not sure what you mean by wrinkle when dope is applied, but it does relax some for the first coat or two of dope, but tightens back up again once the dope is dry. Really no different than other silk span i have used before. Hope that answers your question....Gene

[john e. holliday]

Looks like it works.

[Jim Svitko]

This model site has Silkspan and some cool supplies.

http://www.easybuiltmodels.com/parts.htm

I ordered a roll of the silkspan from easy built models. It has not arrived yet.  When it does I will let you know what I think of it.

Here in DFW there is an old (very old) hobby shop in Irving called Model Aircraft Labs (M.A.L. Hobby Shop).  The place has been there for something like 66 years.  You could talk to the owner all day about the good old times.  I had not been there since 1998 or so.  Last week I called him to ask if he had any silkspan.  He said yes so I went over there to look at it.

This looked to be the original silkspan, still in the tube, medium weight, maybe a bit heavier.  He also had some light weight.  This silkspan was a pale beige color, not white.  I have no idea how old it is.  It was in excellent condition so I bought 10 sheets of what looked to be medium weight.

The shop owner told me that he heard about the silkspan shortage. He thinks it is nothing more than low demand so there is no reason for producers to make it.  Maybe the tea bag makers found something else (a cheaper material?) and since there are not enough modelers who actually build these days, silkspan is not worth making.  Who really knows the real reason why?

This shop was the only one in DFW that I called or visited that had any silkspan left.  If they had none, they said they did not know where they could get any more.

This shop is a trip back in time.  It is a small place crammed with things I last saw 40 years ago.  The shop owner (son of the founder) said that Dick Mathis used to get his balsa there.  He keeps some balsa on hand but not as much since things have changed so much.  He still has some jars of original Aero Gloss dope.  Hanging from the ceiling are are all sorts of planes.  Some of them are free flight planes, maybe some by Dick Mathis.  There was a plastic Corsair with a Wen Mac .049 and the old Cox trainer, the blue and yellow one with the rubber bands to hold it together.     

[Jim Thomerson]

I visited MAL a couple of times when Mr Say was still alive.  A fascinating place.  He had a huge collection of Cleveland kits, magazines, lots of raw balsa, old engines, etc. etc.  There is a big railroad layout in the back.  His thing was cutting balsa.  He cut indoor balsa for the guys who want 1/64 square 5 lb balsa.  He told me he cut Nobler kits for Bob Gieske.  They made a number of free flight kits, which is what you see hanging around.  I have one of his kits which needs a K&B Infant 020.  Anyone want it?

[john e. holliday]

I remember the car he was restoring in the back as well as the tour of hid balsa cutting area.   Yes, he did mention Bob Gieseke. 

[Dan McEntee]

I visited MAL a couple of times when Mr Say was still alive.  A fascinating place.  He had a huge collection of Cleveland kits, magazines, lots of raw balsa, old engines, etc. etc.  There is a big railroad layout in the back.  His thing was cutting balsa.  He cut indoor balsa for the guys who want 1/64 square 5 lb balsa.  He told me he cut Nobler kits for Bob Gieske.  They made a number of free flight kits, which is what you see hanging around.  I have one of his kits which needs a K&B Infant 020.  Anyone want it?

    Hey Jim;
    If you are coming north for our contest in September, bring it with you then. I think I have a couple of Infant .020s

   Type at you later,
     Dan McEntee

[Jim Svitko]

The silkspan I ordered from Easy Built Models has arrived.  I have not had a chance to use it yet.

The Easy Built Model silkspan is 17 wide X about 10 feet long.  From what I can determine, it is identical to the 24 X 36 sheets of what was claimed to be medium weight silkspan that I bought at a local hobby shop a few years ago.  The texture and appearance of both are the same as far as I can determine and there is a definite grain direction.

The silkspan I bought at M. A. L. Hobby Shop in Irving a few weeks ago is heavier than both.  The M. A. L.  silkspan might actually be heavy silkspan.  It has been so long since I used the old heavy silkspan that I can't say for sure.

My primary use for silkspan is to cover bare wood, even on a fully sheeted foam wing.  So, the medium weight silkspan is good enough for me.  In the days ahead, I may have a chance to cover some scrap wood with it and apply some clear dope to see how well it compares in this regard to the silkspan I have been using.

Someone else will have to get some and test it over open bays.