MonoKote

[Larry Fernandez]

The joke around these parts is that all my planes are finished with MonoKote.
the fact is that I have not used any plastic film covering for about fifteen years.

So I post this as a question to you all

I'm building a Jr. Flite Streak for a couple of interested kids and last night I attempted to cover the wing with transparent orange MonoKote.
I have no Idea how old this material is as I received it from a friend after his passing and who knows how long he had it before I got it. The roll was sealed and never opened.

As I stated, I have used this stuff years ago and had no problem what so ever.
The stuff I used last night would not shrink. It tacked down ok but would not shrink.
As I tacked it down, it was pulled tight around the perimeter so it wouldn't take a lot of shrinking.

The stuff would not pull tight and after heating the @#$% out of it I melted holes through it.

So Here is my question.
Does Top Flite MonoKote have a useful shelf life ?
Is this stuff different than the MonoKote that was sold years ago?

Larry, Buttafucco Stunt Team

[Mike Haverly]

The stuff sucks.  Throw it away and get some Ultrakote.  I had the same thing happen a couple of years ago.

[Steve Hines]

china kote even works better, you can get it from hobbyking for cheep. After 3 years on one of Samantha planes we had to go back over it, we left in the back of the truck for a week.

[Jim Oliver]

Don't know about "shelf life" of old MC but the MC I have bought recently worked very well. 

There was a period, a few years ago, when I had trouble shrinking some of the colors.

[Dwayne]

Yeah Monokote changed years ago, sucks now, as stated get either Ultraklote, Hobbyking or Brodak.

[Dane Martin]

Having grown up in the era of the "new" monokote, I don't think it sucks. I believe it has a shelf life though. It has no problem going around complex and tight turns, as seen here
http://stunthanger.com/smf/paint-and-finishing/twister-monokote-job/

My experience with the expired stuff was, coincidently orange also

[Randy Cuberly]

Monokote can lose it's ability to shrink if subjected to long periods of temperature cycling.  I don't know the precise range or number of cycles required to achieve this but I have had it happen to many rolls that were stored in a shed here in Tucson for about 4 years.  The thermal cycling would range from about 50 F to 150 F during the summer months and from about 30 F to 90 F plus in the winter.  At any rate it definitely kills the stuff as it happened to 20 rolls of the stuff of different colors.

Randy Cuberly

[fred cesquim]

i have a long building experience with plastic film covering and gone through most of them
and to reply the first question: yes it have a shelf life and the stretching / glue capability decreases along the time and start to britlle to a useless stage.

at first i was "monocote sucks", i´m a dope/silk guy, but then i was pro building R/C models and a friend came with a monokote roll and told me:either use this or return the the kit to me. I had a try and was instantly sold out to the stuff
that said, i have used almost all of the available brands and Hobbyking is the worst (lift eges, ugly colors and the paint tends to fade or dettach from the polyester with age). Monokote is more sensitive to shelf life and tends to sag and not returning back after some years. Ultracote is my choice product, easier to work, sags under the sun but you can taut it back almost forever.
all 3 models bellow have the wing base color done with Uktracote, and painted trims.
monokote sucks? maybe, but looks far better and lighter than doped jobs, at least to my eyes.
and yes, i LOVE dope smell and sylkspan,polyspan wich i use on some models too.

[Chuck_Smith]

I've used 25+ year-old Monokote with no problems whatsoever. As far was I can tell, it has no shelf life. I recently recovered a plane an was a little short on white, so I took roll that had been opened in the 80's and it worked fine.

Ultra Coat does work a little nicer IMHO.  I recently used new Monokote on a Ringmaster and was surprised how heavy it was. (The Monokote, not the Ringmaster. )

[Jim Roselle]

Fred,

How do you prep the ultracote for paint?

Thank you,
Jim

[fred cesquim]

Fred,

How do you prep the ultracote for paint?

Thank you,
Jim

hello Jim
just sand with 1200 grit wet sandpaper.
but if you have to overlay 2 colors, you better apply primer before the first color to improve adhesion
and then, clear coat over the entire plane