Is there a replacement for Sig dope??

[Jim Oliver]

With Sig apparently out of the dope business, what is your plan?

[Robert Zambelli]

 Brodak.

[Will Hinton]

Randolph.  Always has been my first choice.  Second place is Cooper.

[Allan Perret]

Randolph.  Always has been my first choice.  Second place is Cooper.

I had already switched to Randolph because its cheaper.  I get it from Aircraft Spruce & Specialty.

Cooper ?

[Louis Rankin]

Top Flite!

[Steve Fitton]

Ummmm.  What do you mean Sig out of the dope business?

[Aaron Little]

Ummmm.  What do you mean Sig out of the dope business?

Looks like they are done making Dope.
I don't know all the details but I heard it earlier this week.

[Tom Niebuhr]

Ty,

"Testors"??

Thought they were ended years ago. How about some sarcasm??  You are showing your age.

[Balsa Butcher]

I'll probably go with Brodak colors and Randolph clear. May investigate Klass Kote as well.  

[Leester]

I guess Sig is down to only having thinner left, I just got 4 qts to make sure my projects get finnished.

[Jim Oliver]

Is there a good reason to choose Randolph over Certified?  Aircraft Spruce also has Certified.........

Thanks,
Jim

[Will Hinton]

Allan,
I googled Cooper and failed to find it available anymore.  The last Cooper dope I bought was 1990 when a local airport went out of business and I bought out their supply of Cooper nitrate.
It appears that option is now gone as well.  In recovering full scale Pipers, we found Cooper to be identical in results as Randolph and we simply made our decision based on the cost at the time of each recover job.
Soooo, it's still Randolph for me when I use dope.  HOWEVER, I love my Monokote/Krylon method, no matter what ridicule others may choose to heap on me.  Hey, it's my airplane, right?
Will

[Balsa Butcher]

I have found certified to be equivelent to Randolphs however I'm not sure they are making it anymore either. May be old stock. The last batch of Certified I bought was from Sacramento Sky Ranch and they were closing it out.  Also, I apologize for the comment about Krylon and monokote (since deleted). Was supposed to be "tongue in cheek" but didn't read that way. I have used this finishing method on sport models and it works well.

[Allan Perret]

Is there a good reason to choose Randolph over Certified?  Aircraft Spruce also has Certified.........

Thanks,
Jim

I have color charts from both.  Randolph shows 50 colors, Certified only 12 (and 4 of those are whites).  Because the smallest size available from Randolph is quarts, my plan is to use Randolph clears and base colors,  but use Brodak pints for trim colors.  Just use the same thinner (and retarder) from start to finish.

[Randy Powell]

Randolph's or Certified, as I have used for years. Colors are either Classic Colors (Certified), Randolph's or auto toners.

[George]

Hi Tom.  Yes, being a tad silly. Showing my age. I hated Testors, still do.  I turned 70 today. Can't believe I made it past 25. By all rights I should have been killed in 1972, but they missed. ha ha ha

I use Brodaks, but am slowly switching over to Randolphs as it is cheaper and both are the same stuff with some minor mods.

Happy Birthday, Ty!

What are the chances...I turned 69 today.

In the very early fifties I used Comet (esp. fuel proofer). Later switched to Aerogloss and Testors. Had a few compatibility problems, but liked them both. Didn't use a lot of SIG just because my LHS didn't carry it. Use Brodak now, but I think I'll try Randolphs too.

George

[John Lindberg]

I just spoke to Sig, they are not out of the dope business according to the lady that answered the phone, they are waiting on the ingrediants to make some more dope, they have been waiting for a month, wonder where  the ingrediants come from?  

[Steve Fitton]

Just cleaned out the local hobby shop for sig.  Regrettably, one of the other club guys (Welch?) got there first, so there was slim pickings....

[Garf]

According to Sig, they are just having supply problems right now. I seem to remember hearing that story somewhere else before, just before the company closed.

[Bill Little]

Going with what Sig I have left, then mail order Randolph from Aircraft Spruce.  Randolph does an excellent job, I used it for years!  It was just no longer available locally.  And, the nearest Hobby Shop stocked some Sig.  Would use Brodak, but the cost is too high.  No knock on Brodak at all, just the cost of doing business dictates the price, and I budget the various costs of doing this hobby.  If it costs me twice as much to buy the dope for the model, something else is left out!  Wish I could afford a PA 40UL, but then I couldn't afford to build a model to put it in....

Big Bear

[Eric Viglione]

For what little I use dope anymore, I'm buying Certified from Aircraft Spruce... They have Nitrate and Butyrate in toughening and non. They also have a good matching thinner. Cheaper when you buy larger volume too. I use KlassKote for basecoat and color... haven't found a clear to go over it I'm thrilled with yet... the KlassKote clear yellows in the sun a bit over white and I find hard to shoot without orange peel (prob not thinning enough, the stuff is starts out like molasses). KlassKote now offers a two part polly-u clear with U/V inhibitors I might have to try.
EricV

[Balsa Butcher]

I too am on the hunt for Sig dope. Called The Smith Bros. shop in Northridge CA to see if any was available. They didn't have any but were under the impression that a lack of some ingredient was halting production and that it would be available in the future. I hope the are right and the other report is wrong. 

[Jim Oliver]

FYI:

I called Sig this afternoon; the lady that I spoke with told me that the company from which Sig purchased the materials to make Sig dope has been unable to supply materials to Sig.  She stated that, according to her boss, this is a temporary situation and that Sig will be mixing/shipping dope as soon as materials are available.  

So, I'm not giving up just yet........

Cheers,
Jim

Edit to add: I called Hodges Hobbies today, too....was told their total stock is one pint can of Sig white, if you need some really badly.

[Steve Helmick]

A year or two ago, Certified sold out to Randolph. Randolph makes Certified now. Also Brodak and SIG!  Like our local aircraft supply store, SIG and Brodak mix the colors by adding pigments to clear. If Randolph has a problem getting a component (or cans!), then they are going to take care of #1 first, right?

Basically, the replacement is any of the others. Buy clear and add your own pigments from the auto paint store, if you want. The smart guys use the same thinner in all the brands (and Dupli-Color), and use them as one brand. If you can get the Dupli-Color lacquer thinner, that would be a good choice. If you do a "search" here, you should find the product number to ask for.    Steve

[billbyles]

Is there a good reason to choose Randolph over Certified?  Aircraft Spruce also has Certified.........

Thanks,
Jim

Hi Jim,

I use Randolph instead of Certified just because 1) Randolph has a huge variety of colors readily available whereas Certified has only a few basic colors and 2) I have found Randolph butyrate over the years to be somewhat more fuel-resistant than Certified.  For the initial coats of clear and buildup after covering Certified works just as well as Randolph.  It used to be that Certified was less expensive than Randolph, but a glance at the Aircraft Spruce & Specialty catalog shows them to be pretty even now with some Certified products more expensive than Randolph.

[billbyles]

A year or two ago, Certified sold out to Randolph. Randolph makes Certified now.

Consolidated Coatings, Inc. is the umbrella corporation that owns Poly-Fiber covering products, paints, and the STCs for the full-scale aircraft that have been added to their long list of approved STC'd aircraft; Consolidated also owns the Ceconite covering process with the commensurate STCs; Consolidated purchased Randolph paint products a few years ago; while Consolidated may well have added the Certified dope line I haven't heard that.

Also Brodak and SIG!  Like our local aircraft supply store, SIG and Brodak mix the colors by adding pigments to clear. If Randolph has a problem getting a component (or cans!), then they are going to take care of #1 first, right?

Basically, the replacement is any of the others. Buy clear and add your own pigments from the auto paint store, if you want. The smart (as in they are so smart that they become experimental chemists & invent their own products?) guys use the same thinner in all the brands (and Dupli-Color), and use them as one brand. If you can get the Dupli-Color lacquer thinner, that would be a good choice. If you do a "search" here, you should find the product number to ask for.    Steve

[Doug Moon]

A year or two ago, Certified sold out to Randolph. Randolph makes Certified now. Also Brodak and SIG! .....

I do not find these two brands to be the same in any way shape or form.  From my experience they are vastly different.  They also have quite a different shelf life.

Just my .02