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Building Tips and technical articles. => Paint and finishing => Topic started by: Tim Wescott on October 25, 2011, 04:33:47 PM

Title: Shipping Tape is Heat Shrink
Post by: Tim Wescott on October 25, 2011, 04:33:47 PM: I went to repair some broken covering on my Skyray. Just on the wingtip, and the whole plane has kind of gone beyond ugly anyway, so I used clear shipping tape.

It was a bit wrinkled when I was done, since flat tape doesn't like compound curves much. Ick. And besides, it's out on a wingtip and I was worried about airflow getting messed up. So I figured "what the heck", and I hit it with my heat gun.

It shrank! Nice and tight! It even pulled out the wrinkles, which had to involve the glue softening up a bit. Now I have some ugly clear shipping tape over an ugly wound in my black Mystery Covering Material, but the contour is just what it should be.
Title: Re: Shipping Tape is Heat Shrink
Post by: Russell Shaffer on October 25, 2011, 09:32:32 PM: I assume this is the 2 inch wide stuff? Do you have a brand name?
Title: Re: Shipping Tape is Heat Shrink
Post by: Tim Wescott on October 25, 2011, 09:43:30 PM: "Scotch Mailing and Storage Tape" It's the big reel that you use with a dispenser, but the little "consumer" dealie-bobs probably work, too.
Title: Re: Shipping Tape is Heat Shrink
Post by: Avaiojet on October 26, 2011, 07:26:52 AM: Wow! A breat through.
Title: Re: Shipping Tape is Heat Shrink
Post by: Tim Wescott on October 26, 2011, 08:50:31 AM: Quote from: Avaiojet on October 26, 2011, 07:26:52 AM
Wow! A breat through.
No, this was a patch up. The break through happened when the wing hit the ground ;).
Title: Re: Shipping Tape is Heat Shrink
Post by: Avaiojet on October 26, 2011, 02:17:28 PM: Tim,

I like inovation. You could bring a roll of that stuff to the circle, patch, shrink when you get home.

Perfect. Duct tape collects fuel.

Good going.

CB
Title: Re: Shipping Tape is Heat Shrink
Post by: Clint Ormosen on October 27, 2011, 01:13:27 AM: Quote from: Avaiojet on October 26, 2011, 02:17:28 PM

Perfect. Duct tape collects fuel.

..........and is ugly.
Title: Re: Shipping Tape is Heat Shrink
Post by: Peter Nevai on October 27, 2011, 12:51:20 PM: 9 out of 10 connoisseurs prefer Duck Tape
Title: Re: Shipping Tape is Heat Shrink
Post by: Will Hinton on October 27, 2011, 01:40:08 PM: "..........and is ugly."

Red Green would be heartbroken if he read this!
Title: Re: Shipping Tape is Heat Shrink
Post by: Mark Scarborough on October 27, 2011, 01:50:20 PM: Red Green doesnt fly airplanes,, so we may be safe there,,

Tim, keep in mind that tape works very well to make instant hinges in the field too. I bounced the Gee Bee in Puyallup one year and popped the rudder hinges, borrowed some packing tape from the combat guys ( they seem to have good emergency repair stock for some reason :!) and rehinged the rudder, patched the holes in the covering from the prop blade penetrations, and then sealed off the exposed wood on the nose to protect from fuel damage,, worked great, won the contest,,
Title: Re: Shipping Tape is Heat Shrink
Post by: Avaiojet on October 27, 2011, 05:22:02 PM: Quote
I bounced the Gee Bee

Mark,

What Gee Bee?

CB
Title: Re: Shipping Tape is Heat Shrink
Post by: Mark Scarborough on October 28, 2011, 12:55:25 PM: some time back I built a profile Gee Bee Y model, profile.
I based it upon the P-40 wing from the Brodak profile,,
it flew very well, and served me until this spring when I had a leadout failure inside the wing and lost the plane.

heres one thread on ONE of the repairs it underwent,,
http://stunthanger.com/smf/index.php?topic=5895.0

here is another on it,, the original
http://stunthanger.com/smf/index.php?topic=5513.0