Plan Protector Product

[PatRobinson]

Hi Guys,
I was at a Hobby Lobby craft store and spotted a roll of clear plastic & the box said book cover.  What caught my eye is it said it was repositionable and it won't harm any document.  it is 18" wide by 9 ft long.  The package says  "clear cover" self adhesive covering. On the backing paper it says "Magic Cover" and Kittrich Corp., La Mirada, CA. It was $2.99 a roll.

I tested it gluing down a coupe of popsicle sticks with CA and epoxy glues with a lot more area than a glue drip would create.  Both sticks pulled away cleanly from the plastic which was tough enough to pull away without tearing
and slick enough to release fairly easily.

I have an older set of plans and the paper has become quite brittle and is subject to flaking away so I decided to apply this cover to the whole plan to preserve it and the adhesive is so gentle it didn't damage this fragile plan.

On sturdier plans you can safely lift the cover and smooth it out as you apply.
This would also be the perfect thing to protect a fuselage jig.

I have tried lots of different plastics, mylars, clear shelf liner and etc. to protect plans over the years but this the best I have found  because it sticks down easily and you can easily and safely peel off the glued dripped cover and roll up your unstained plans.
Anyway, I thought I would share this find with everyone and I hope it helps.
                                               
                                                             Pat Robinson   

[john e. holliday]

Thanks, I will check on this.  Have fun, DOC Holliday

[Dan McEntee]

   You give a clue as to what this soundslike it may be usefull for, saving old plans. I'm thinking of piecing a fragile plan together on theis stuff, then passing it through a copier to make another good "original." I have heard of guys putting fragile plans between pieces of mylar and doing this, but that sound kind of slippery. Maybe even cover both sides of the fragile plan. i'll have to see if i can find some of this stuff.
   Thanks,
   Dan McEntee

[rob biddle]

  Thanks Pat, that sounds like pretty cool stuff! I like the idea of not dribbling glue on my wing jig.
 
 In regards to Dan's post. I have an old Hearn's cadet plan that is quite fragile (50 odd years old). Took it rather apprehensively to the local plan copier. I thought that their scanner would eat it but the lady behind the counter actually put it in a mylar bag before feeding it into the scanner.
This works great.
 I folded the original up (this plan has been folded for the last 50 years) and put it out of harms way. I've got a brand new rolled up copy hanging out in my regular plans stash. 

 Cheers, Rob.

[PatRobinson]

Hi Guys,
I thought I would talk a bit about the techniques I have found to work for me when using this product :
(1.) Lay plans out a large flat surface and lightly tape down to avoid sliding around.
(2.) Cut cover slightly oversize to the plans width.
(3.) Peel back about a 1/2" of backing paper fold it back over itself and press it down to crease the backing paper. It is this folded over backing that you will use as a "handle" to remove the backing as you work your way across the plan.
(4.) I work from left to right, so I align the 1/2" of cover (without backing) on the left edge of the plans while making sure that the cover will also be parallel with the bottom edge of the plans.
(5.) Starting in the middle of the 1/2" X 18" uncovered adhesive strip apply it to the left side of the plans.  The technique I have found to work best is to press from left to right toward the backing in the center and then repeat moving toward the top and bottom of the cover. The reason this works best is it avoids trapping air and creating bubbles or creases in the cover. If you do get a bubble or crease just lift the cover and press down again- no problem.  On my fragile plans I only uncovered 1/4" of backing at a time and worked carefully because I didn't want to relift the cover from that delicate paper.
(6.) I overlapped the cover edge about a 1/4" when applying the next row of cover when covering the whole plan.
(7.) Trim off any excess overhanging the plans

That's it, it is pretty easy stuff to use as long as you avoid bubbles and creases.  I hope this will be of some help to you guys. By the way you can order online from Hobby Lobby craft stores. I think that "Hobby Lobby International" is the R/C modeling division of the craft stores according to my local store manager so if you see a lot of R/C planes you are at the wrong website.
                                                           Pat Robinson