Source for Silkspan

[Mike Griffin]

I cannot find a source for medium and heavy weight silkspan.  Anybody know of a source?

Thanks

Mike

[john gunn]

try SIG, ask for SGM silkspan,it is the strongest of all silkspan products

[Mike Griffin]

John I appreciate the reply.  SIG is where I always bought it in the past but they do not have it anymore.  All the sources I had in the past seem to have dropped it from inventory.  I have plenty of Polyspan but was wanting some silkspan...

Thanks again

Mike

[Bill Hummel]

Mike, heavy seems unobtainable, but Brodak has the medium weight.

[Mike Griffin]

Thank you Bill.  It looks as if Silkspan is going to disappear from the market.

Mike

[GGeezer]

Hi Mike,
I know what happened to the disappearing medium and heavy silkspan... its hiding in my basement! I seem to have acquired a raft of the stuff from modellers in the area who have passed on.
How much do you need?

Orv.

[Mike Griffin]

HI Orv

I will send you a private message

Mike

[john gunn]

I used silkspan to cover the wood grain, now what can be used as a replacement

[FLOYD CARTER]

Medium weight silkspan is fine for covering over wood.  The heavy is mostly used for open bays, where more puncture resistance is needed.  You can use medium for open bays, but you have to be more careful to avoid hangar-rash.

One trick, which I used long ago, was to double-cover.  Takes more time, but the result is bullet-proof.

My last model used polyspan.  I had good results (follow the directions!)

Floyd

[RC Storick]

I used silkspan to cover the wood grain, now what can be used as a replacement

You can cover wood with 0.02 carbon fiber and do wings with Polyspan as mentioned. Works well. Be sure to have enough dope on both before sanding.

[Mike Griffin]

Thanks for all the input.  I just hate to see silkspan go extinct...

Mike

[Steve Helmick]

You can cover wood with 0.02 carbon fiber and do wings with Polyspan as mentioned. Works well. Be sure to have enough dope on both before sanding.

The CF "veil" is actually .2 oz/sq. yard (or meter, sometimes), but I've also seen .3 oz and .5 oz. Any of them are really pretty light, when compared to the weight of silkspan, silk, etc. The amount of clear it takes to 'fill' the CF is probably more. If you want/need it for strength and stiffness, use very thin epoxy to apply it, and don't sand into the fibers. If you want it as a base/filler, then use dope and have at it with the sandpaper.   Steve

[Lyle Spiegel]

Has anyone tried the "new" silkspan from Brodak? How did it work vs k&s or SIG ?

[Lyle Spiegel]

Has anyone tried the "new" silkspan from Brodak? How did it work vs k&s or SIG ?

[pipemakermike]

one possible source is Mike Woodhouse in the UK.  He seems to stock some very nice tissues and is a really good guy to deal with:-

http://www.freeflightsupplies.co.uk/

I have also used tissue from Starspan, another UK company.  before I used this material I did some tests (covered and doped a square frame and dropped a 1/2" diameter ballbearing on it from different heights till is broke) and I think that it was nearly double the strength of modelspan (the UK version of silkspan)  I covered my Go-Devil with it.

[Bill Hummel]

Guys, I'm using the "new" silkspan on a couple projects.  A little more "fussy" to deal with, but not bad.  I find an additional coat or two of dope on the raw wood helps stick the silkspan better.  Other than that, it seems to work just like the "old" silkspan.  What's the big deal?

[pipemakermike]

The Starspan material available from:-
http://www.starspan.co.uk/
is very easy to apply.  You just soak it in water, squeeze the excess out, lay is on the area to be covered and pull the worst of the wrinkles out. It shrinks up well and taks dope well.  The only comment I have is that the colors make the texture look a little coarse although the finish is very smooth.

[Brett Buck]

Should all us tea drinkers get checked for cancer?


MM

  Heh! The bag is a lot less toxic than the contents.

    Brett

[Howard Rush]

Might be a spoonful of coffee,
Might be a spoonful of tea.
Just a little spoon of the Jive Combat Team
Good enough for me.

[john e. holliday]

Wonder how many bags of tea it took for the poor rats to get cancer in the lab?

[Dave_Trible]

I've used a lot of carbon and have to say its sure expensive to use just as a filler and sand most of it off.   When then the silkspan panic hit I got about 60 sheets of the light weight version.  It's pretty lousy for open bays but is perfect for covering/ filling the wood grain.  I'm using Plyspan or Lite-Flight Plyspan for open bays.  Doesn't take near as much dope and is a lot tougher than silkspan.

Dave

[Larry Renger]

87.2% of data is fake!   

[55chevr]

"There are lies, damn lies and than there are statistics."

                                                                        Samuel Clements

[John Park]

Folks:
Another vote for the English 'StarSpan' tissue: I've used the lightweight grade on several of my small free-flight rubber models, and agree that (a) it's easy to apply, especially if you put it on damp, (b) the colours seem resistant to fading, and (c) being polyester-based, it's tougher than the old 'Modelspan' that I've always understood to be the same as your Silkspan.  The only thing I can't say is whether it goes brittle with age, as Modelspan used to after ten or twelve years - my free-flighters don't last that long!

All the best
John

[Joseph Patterson]

    Mike, I believe Andy Chase Sr. at Hobby Towne in Baton Rouge has a stock pile of the good silk span. Give him a call if you are interested.
          (225)928-1534  -  8484 Airline Hwy.
      Doug 

[Terry Tucker]

Hobby Town in Monroe, LA  ph 318-325-5862 has silkspan.  This hobby shop will be moving from Monroe to Shreveport, LA in April.  This is the second time I have struck gold by just asking a local hobby shop I was visiting if they still had any silkspan in stock.  Many of the shops still seem to have some of the stuff on hand.  I hope this helps some of you guys who have not been able to find any.  It is very difficult to find a suppy on line, and yet the local shops still have it in stock.  You would think they would list it on e-bay or something.