I am helping my 13-yr old finish his airplane. It's been a long time since I've worked with Monokote. I know how to prep surface, and cover the wing, curves, etc.
The question is about applying color trim (especially large pieces, that cover 15-25% of the wing, like starburst).
I've consulted a couple of books written by former Toledo show winners in Monokote categories - Tom Ingram and Faye Stilley. They both advocate splicing the entire color scheme on glass (with a small overlap, like 3/16") and then applying the resulting "skin" to the wing or fuselage. I'm hesitant to go this route for three reasons: (1) fear that the seams will pull apart when shrinking the skin; (2) not sure if the spliced skin will give the same structural strength to the built-up wing as a one-piece covering; (3) this is a pretty advanced technique for a kid who is doing his first big Monokote job.
Then there was a discussion a few years ago where "Dirty" Dan was advocating applying the trim using a Windex spray and squeegeeing out the excess. I've tried something like that, and the trim lays down nicely when everything is wet, but then there is little to no adhesion once the Windex evaporated.
The Tom's Technique book mentions a method of applying trim "dry", but says you need to make a bunch of little pin holes in the underlying covering before ironing the trim in place to prevent gas bubbles from being trapped. I've looked at the covering on a Brodak SV-11 ARF, and sure enough there are lots of little bubbles visible on the trim.
Last but not least, there is the Monokote solvent. It says to brush it on the underlying Monokote (say, wing), apply trim, and squeegee out the excess. I've never used it, but it seems like the easiest way to go.
Question to all the Monokote experts out there - how do you apply trim?
Topic: Monokote trim over monokote - methods, tips and tricks (Read 3889 times)