So, I put some dents into my nice doped wing.  The picture makes them look better than they really are.  This is silkspan over an open bay, painted with Sig & Certified butyrate dope, bottom to top.

Is there a way to take the dents out?

My finishes are not anything to write home about, or anywhere else for that matter, but I have "sort of" removed some dings by injecting a very small amount of water under the ding then using a monokote iron to heat it.  Got the idea from removing benchmarks in raw balsa before covering.  Dings in polyspan respond to heat as well, as does MonoKote.  Plan "B" is a well-placed decal over the Boo Boo.

Ken

There is no "under" under the ding -- it's over an open bay.

Plan "B"

Ken

I have racked my brain for another solution that does not end up looking worse than the ding.  I assume you have tried damp heat.  Maybe some tauting clear in the dent to soften it up followed by a blast from a MonoKote gun.  Too bad it is not pollyspan.  Anyway, Top -  Put a little "No Step" sticker over it.  Bottom - ignore it.

Moist heat was the first thing I was going to try without feedback.

So, I put some dents into my nice doped wing.  The picture makes them look better than they really are.  This is silkspan over an open bay, painted with Sig & Certified butyrate dope, bottom to top.

Is there a way to take the dents out?

Tim - Overall where is this.  The picture leads you to believe it is at the flap joint on the outboard bottom.  And, a little off subject, what is the screw for.  I am always fascinated by innovative ways to adjust flaps.

Ken

I have one in the side of my current build where my son picked it up over an open bay.  I've decided to live with it or put a sticker over it.  Whenever I try to fix a minor problem, I almost always create a major problem.

Very late reply...just brush or blow on a coat of clear dope-will shrink right up.

Dave

Dope shrinks until it's too brittle to do anything but crumble-sometime that's for years.  A little heat application,  perhaps just setting the airplane in the sun or a hot car for a few hours will pull out many dents and wrinkles.  When it becomes too dry to shrink much an application of a little fresh dope will reinvigorate the old dope some and make it shrink more.  You can also give new life to old covering the same way.  A coat of well-retarded and thinned clear will soften the finish and give it another life in most cases.

Dave