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Building Tips and technical articles. => Paint and finishing => Topic started by: Mike Griffin on November 19, 2017, 03:56:25 PM
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Just wanted to show the difference inappearance. I covered this wing with yellow Japanese tissue. I am going to iron on transparent Ultracote over it for strength and shininess. Here is the difference in appearance. One half of wing is cover with the transparent Ultracote and the other isn't.
Mike
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Looks good Mike. I've got one like that as well.
This Gieseke Nobler uses Japanese tissue covered with thin lamination film.
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Brent I really like the looks of that. I might do something similar.
Mike
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This is what I use. It has a cloudy look to it until it is ironed down. Works as well as SLC.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Clear-Super-Flite-Top-Mylar-Model-Covering-10-x-25-Alt-to-Monokote-Ultracoat
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Hello,
My name is Matt Piatkowski. I fly stunt in Toronto, Canada.
Please see the attachment: this is my eParrot with wing (~580 sq.in) covered by a single layer of 1.5 mil. Doculam only.
Contrary to M-cote, U-cote and other popular R/C style "cotes", Doculam is lighter, adds some torsional and bending stiffness to the wing and never goes slack or wrinkle on hot summer days. My only concern is long term durability.
At this moment, nobody on this forum can tell me from his own experience if a single layer of 1.5 mil. Doculam will survive, say, 200 pattern flights using the model with medium or large wing.
Have you guys noticed any air bubbles underneath U-cote, lamination film or/and SLC after ironing it on top of the Jap. tissue?
I would love to use medium colored Silkspan on my next large (700 sq. in.) wing and iron Doculam on top of it for shine and additional strength but I am concerned that pockets of trapped air may look ugly.
Perhaps the Jap.tissue, Silkspan and, say, Polyspan retain enough porosity after doping them to balsa and in the open cells area that the air can escape "into the wing" while the M-cote, U-cote, SLC and such are being ironed?
Your comments will be appreciated,
Matt
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Have you guys noticed any air bubbles underneath U-cote, lamination film or/and SLC after ironing it on top of the Jap. tissue?
Matt
It can look ugly and yield trapped air bubbles if, (edited: especially if the paper or other substrate is sealed with dope, oil based/water based poly-u, ect) you try to apply the lamination film traditionally like you would with monokote. If it's sealed, you will likely need to start in the middle of the wing somewhere along a rib and work your way out/in. Work one bay at a time, don't backtrack and it will come out looking ok. Keep a pin handy, though as the eventual bubble is inevitable. Wingtips take some practice with this film and it might require a few cuts to make the turns, but you can do most shapes with one piece (and a few slits.)
If you look close at this picture, you can see how it turned out for me. It looks fine, but I could probably produce better results now that I have experience.
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The covering under the mylar is only put down at the perimeter. I have had no bubbles working from the edges to the middle. Now if the covering is sealed before the mylar you will have problems. On one of my planes the color under the mylar is poly-ester cloth from the fabric store. Before and after mylar.
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Not to sound to uninformed,but what the heck is Doculam and where do you get it?
Rich
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Stuff like this:
https://www.amazon.com/TruLam-Standard-500-Feet-Laminating-01-275-1C/dp/B00KW8IY8U/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1515456435&sr=8-3&keywords=1.5+mil+laminating+film (https://www.amazon.com/TruLam-Standard-500-Feet-Laminating-01-275-1C/dp/B00KW8IY8U/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1515456435&sr=8-3&keywords=1.5+mil+laminating+film)
You can get it cheaper from other places, this is just a quick example I pulled up. Use it more or less like any other iron on film. Doesn't shrink as much, but after you get used to working with it, it's a cheap alternative to the 'Cotes. And it might seem expensive at $43, but you're getting 1,000 feet! Doculam is a trade name for one manufacturer, but people use it for almost any laminating film. Kinda like Xerox is used generically for all copying.
Mark
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thx for the info Mark
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This is what I am using as well as the SLC from Corehouse.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Clear-Super-Flite-Mylar-Model-Covering-6-x-25-Alt-to-Monokote-Ultracoat-/252184975362?hash=item3ab7655802