My old El Diablo that I finished in 2015 with K&S light weight silk started developing rips. The silk is very thin and I had a clear finish except for the leading edge which had the yellow flames. After doing a couple patches I finally decided it was time to do a recover. The basic airframe is solid, no oil soaked areas. So simple just pull off the old silk and put on new thicker stuff. Well as I stared to remove the old silk I found something interesting. The silk on the top of the wing was much more brittle than the bottom and any silk under the colored paint was the original color and very strong. I had finished the ship with Butyrate dope and then gave it one coat of death paint clear. I though the death paint was UV blocker but it wasn't. Seems silk is very susceptible to UV and Butyrate clear too. To remove it you could just pop the surface and it would scatter like glass. I have removed the easy stuff, the bottom came off very clean and easy since it had more strength. The top came off in pieces and I still need to get it off the fixed flap area an some around the leading edge. I did find that using a heat gun can soften the dope a bit to allow pulling it off in bigger pieces. Some of the smaller ones will need maybe some thinner and sand paper.

I have some red mica film that I might use as it seems UV resistant and light. Will just use an acrylic to add the flames on the leading edge.

Best,    DennisT

Well, got it all off only to a few hours much easier than I thought it would. Heat gun and #11 blade we are down to wood. Now, since it was covered and finished with Butyrate using nitrate to stick down anything new is a no. The next step is light sanding and a little touch up, Then decision time,,,silkspan paper, 6mm silk, polysan??? I have all three.

Since this wing needs some stiffening from the covering the mica film is out (strong but a bit stretchy). With the big scallop wing tips, it might be a lot of work with the polyspan. Silk could be good since it will be painted not clear finish this time, but I have some really good silkspan and I know that works. Still thinking about it.

Best,    DennisT

As I am getting all the old silk removed, I noticed that along the trailing edge there was a little oil beneath the silk. When the ship was originally completed in 2015, I used a top spray clear coat of death paint. I was doing a light coat to keep the weight down and apparently didn't get enough on the trailing edge area. The rest of the fixed flap is good. I am soaking this up with talc and thinner and will pay closer attention on this refinish. Sometimes going to light is like it wasn't worth doing at all.

Since I'm going to paint the wing, I decided to go with GM grade silkspan that I have on hand. Contemplating covering the fixed flaps separate from the main wing. The El Diablo has these large scalloped fixed flaps doing a one-piece cover could be more work then doing it in two pieces. Doing a double cover over the trailing edge could add some stiffness which is always a good thing.

Miami Blue dope is on the way from Brodak Will start covering this week. Will probably us Diamond Clear top coat this time.

Best,     DennisT