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Building Tips and technical articles. => Building techniques => Topic started by: Casey on March 09, 2016, 09:29:35 AM
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As dope will stiffen balsa and seal it a bit, does it make any difference if I put a coat of dope on my stunter before I monokote it?
I appreciate all comments, thoughts ,opinions and advice.
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Don't do it. Just make sure you have all surfaces to be covered sanded and leveled with some good filler for low spots. Don't try filling the grain of the balsa either. Any little imperfections and dust will show up when you put the MonoKote on.
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Thanks John for your advice
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Let me post these here... They are a little long for one sitting. Unless you have nothing else to do... Lol.
Surface prep under monokote can be a lengthy subject. I agree with Doc, and I'm going to add; l like Doc says, everything is going to show if not prepped correctly. However, this is true with paint. So, if your going to prep the surface like a paint job, then really prep it like a paint job. The better the surface, the better the appearance. I have used dope, polycrillic, and balsarite under monokote, all with great success. I've also had jobs that are obvious i was lazy that day... Lol
I've also been very successful with a great sanding job, down to 400 grit sand paper on the bare balsa, no other sealing at all.
https://youtu.be/lXiOl7DuXBw
https://youtu.be/VXWL9-bMWXI
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https://youtu.be/s4Lw3X82m2c
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https://youtu.be/9dOM8PAEpFI
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Here's the way I do it. I sand it down to 400 grit, then coat the wood with red devil vinyl spackle and sand again, sand it all off. I then paint the plywood and hardwood parts of it with Sig Stix-It which I like a lot better than Balsarite.
I iron down all the edges of the covering and leave it all loose. When I'm done, I heat it with a heat gun and rub it down lightly with a clean soft cloth. Easy and quick.
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"Great" Dane,
Do you have a background in video production? You have it nailed. H^^
Nice white Ringmaster. #^
Charles
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Well, Dane, I don't know where to start. Firstly, as it is late here and I just had time to watch the first video only, I must say that you are doing a great job of both the aircraft and videos. Secondly, I think is the main reason I am writing this right now is that I commend you for building in the kitchen on the counter. Not too sure if I would get away with it, actually I am pretty sure that it would be a very quiet night if I did! Anyway, keep up the good work and I will get to the rest tomorrow night. Thanks for sharing and ttaking the time to make the videos.
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Thanks guys.
Charles, no i have no video or photography experience. I'm just a lowly tractor mechanic... Lol.
Bill, that sounds like a darn good method to me. There's lots of good ways to apply monokote. The key is to start with a good base, and good prep work
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Well Dane, what can I say? I just watched the fourth video. It took a while, but I got through them, and I am simply amazed by the work you do. It was honestly amazing seeing what you did with the Econokote. I never would have thought that one could do such curves like that. So, anyways, thanks for taking the time to make the videos and sharing them
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Nothing lowly about a tractor mechanic! Nice work. Richard
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I am a little late to the party here, but I have successfully and with great results doped the balsa before monokote/ultracote application. In fact thanks to John Miller, I actually used dope and light silkspan on an open bay wing before ultrakote application.
It hardens the balsa so it is more dent resistant, and it helps to keep the covering from sagging as it gets warm in the sun, as it is adhered to the silkspan...
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I have tried the monokote over silkspan method and it looks bad as I can see the grain of the silkspan underneath the monokote. I don't see how you can avoid this as you need to iron down the monokote to the silkspan to get the benefits of covering not sagging. Exactly what is done to the silkspan before aplying the monokote? You can't put much dope on it because you need the porosity to get the monokote to bond without air bubbles. I have read the John miller article so I am familliar with it . Also you can't sand the silkspan without much dope on it. I would like to get a copy of that article again to maybe try this again .Maybe someone could post a link to it on this site?