light weight tissue for covering sheeted surface?

[Scott Richlen]

What have you guys used in the way of light-weight tissue to cover sheeted surfaces?  What worked best with dope?  Where is it available?

Thanks,
Scott

[Mike Griffin]

Hi Scott

Silk span works very well for this if you can find it.  Good silk span is very hard to find anymore.  You can also use Jap tissue and that can be bought from SIG MFG.  Hope this helps.

Mike

[Tim Wescott]

I've never had good luck covering large sheet surfaces with tissue, but silkspan has always worked for me.

Just my own experiences.  Other people seem to be able to do it with tissue.

[Randy Cuberly]

I actually prefer lightweight silkspan available from SIG.  A lot of top guys prefer Carbon Veil.  Either one works well with dope.  For me the silkspan is a little eaiser to work with and seems to take less dope to fill, but I'm sure there are folks that feel the opposite.  If the Carbon Veil is used it should be the "light and fluffy" type rather than the stiffer stuff that actually looks better but is difficult to work with and sometimes develops a lot of pin holes that are tough to fill, get some filled and others open up!

The carbon is supposed to be stronger but applied with dope and sanded I'm a little skeptical that is it!

I just cover everything wood with lightweight silkspan and dope then fill with dope and talc.

I don't do front row finishes but good ones.

Randy Cuberly

[Jim Thomerson]

http://www.freeflightmodels.com/    Here is a source.   

[Scott Richlen]

Are they still in business?

[Carl Cisneros]

hey Scott

here you go.
Carl

http://www.sigmfg.com/cgi-bin/dpsmart.exe/IndexAircraftAccessoriesF.html?E+Sig

[Akihiro Danjo]

Has anyone used StarSpan for this purpose?
I have used StarSpan over 10 years and have a very good impression.
StarSpan (9gsm) is very light and strong.
But... it is not used for covering C/L models but for reinforcement material of Indoor F/F models.
I think it will be good for C/L covering.

http://www.starspan.co.uk/

Aki

[peabody]

Windy always used silkspan...medium weight, heavy on open bays.
He felt that there was strength gained when shrinking it with dope....

[John Park]

I can endorse Aki's remarks about StarSpan - it's excellent stuff.  It handles like our old English 'Modelspan' but is tougher and less inclined to go brittle with age.  Like Modelspan (and presumably Silkspan as well), it works well on compound curves if applied damp.