I assembled an ARF Smoothie in March to fly in Old Time at VSC this year. I used all the tricks I knew to keep the covering in place. All the trim pieces were outlined with clear nail polish, the area around the engine was fuel-proofed with finish epoxy which lapped over the covering, and all the leading edges were covered with clear film. I tacked everything down with an iron any time it looked like it was coming loose.
It held up pretty well at first and flew really well. On a flight a couple of months ago, the covering on the inboard side of the vertical tail came loose. The trim stayed in place on the white and the clear film over the leading edge kept it from completely departing the airplane. After the flight, I looked carefully and the adhesive was still stuck to the wood but had pulled completely off the film. I applied Sig Stix-It to the wood (after cleaning with acetone) and re-attached the covering.
On the next flight, the trailing edge of the horizontal stabilizer lifted and flapped in the breeze again held in place by my clear leading edge covering. It was taped down and on the next flight the flap covering came off along with the underside of one wing.
I'm done with it! All the "China Kote" is coming off and I will cover the entire thing with Monokote. I only wish I had done this before assembly since it will be much more difficult with the airplane assembled. The airplane flys too good to throw it away so I'll invest the extra work.
My Primary Force ARF is more than a year old and the basic covering is still good. Some of the white trim has come loose, but the orange is still intact. When I do another Brodak pre-built, it will either be an ARC or I will strip the covering and replace it before assembly.
Steve