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Building Tips and technical articles. => Building techniques => Topic started by: david beazley on May 30, 2010, 05:34:55 PM
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I have been given a 50's era Smoothie with a McCoy .29 that is covered with silk and dope. The covering is torn and brittle and needs to be stripped and recovered. Is there a preffered method of stripping the old covering off the sheeted area without tearing up the old wood?
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David, if you go to www.freeflightsupplies.co.uk then to the lightweight covering supplies, the chap there sells a dope and tissue solvent. It says you just brush it on, it softens the covering and dope and you peel it off! Sounds easy?? ;D Sorry I've just re-read the catalogue and he doesn't post this stuff! Its very cheap, you could e-mail him (Mike Woodhouse) and ask what it is, I'm sure he'll tell you, and you might have an equivalent in the U.S.
Cheers Neville
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http://stunthanger.com/smf/index.php?topic=12018.0
Have a look at this.
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Thanks!
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On dope and tissue or silk I make a blanket with paper towel and aluminum foil.
Pour thinners on the paper towel and wrap up the surface overnight.
The next morning all the tissue or silk comes off.
Don't try this if the plane is built with balsa cement as you will have a kit in the morning, ask me I know.
Lionel.
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I use "Dad's Stripper" just like Randy, I might have even turned him on to it! LOL!! My oldest, Aaron, fond it a few years ago at Wally World. We have gone through two quarts, all most, and have stripped 5 planes down to the bare wood, in no time! I usually use two coats to get everything off. The first coat to get the colors off, and the second to get the paper and substrate off. If you play with the time that you leave it on (just don't let it dry! LOL!!) you can take off "layers". Wipe everything down with "something" (I have used various cleaners for this), make repairs, cover and finish!
I have a Charles Parrott P-47 (classic era stunter) that was "porky" and close to 10 years old. I took off all the finish, cut off the blocks and did a LOT more hollowing (and some replacements), Lightened everything I could get my knife on (LOL!!), did some repairs in the nose section, and took almost 7 oz. off the plane. Originally I had a stock Fox .35, but now she has a T&L McCoy .40 RH in her! Flies a lot better. Aaron's Ares, and an SV11 have also gone through the "Stripper Stage" and came out the better for it. A Sterling Spitfire from 1973 is now getting the rework after she (was) stripped! LL~ LL~ I KNOW she will be so much better after I get through with her this time. The oldest one I have done is 1963 Smoothie that I hadn't flown in 30 years or so. I changed the engine from inverted to upright while she was stripped. Took off the old rip stop nylon (it's good sometimes to be so close to Ft. Bragg) and of course she is much better now than she was when I first built her. It made me realize that sometimes "restoring" and old model can be a good thing! Geez, I got kinda carried away.... LL~
Big Bear