Fred check out Coverite Microlite, it comes in colors. If your silk comes out really tight you could coat it dry.

Nearly 18,000 views and two guys have tried it? What is so hard? Buid a Brodak 1/2 A ARF Clown and try it out.

A: It is a fun plane to own. ( Cox, Norvel, Brodak and AP Wasp all fit, saw off the nose and add a firewall for Cox reed engines, surely you have ONE of the above?)

B: It is quick and cheap. 35 ft Spiderwire lines and an 1/8" ply handle with 2" line spacing certainly won't break the budget.

C: If it sucks,you can strip it easily and do something else. Not like 6 months doping and polishing for appearance points were at stake.

Come on, where is your sense of adventure?

Although I posted a photo of my finished Berekely Lancer in the Build Section, I thought I'd also post it here.  Wing is finished with SLC over polyspan.  It came out beautiful.  I'm really getting to like this method for my sport planes with open bay wings.  Fuse and tail feathers were painted with Duplicolor Paint Shop and cleared with 2 part auto. 

Although I posted a photo of my finished Berekely Lancer in the Build Section, I thought I'd also post it here.  Wing is finished with SLC over polyspan.  It came out beautiful.  I'm really getting to like this method for my sport planes with open bay wings.  Fuse and tail feathers were painted with Duplicolor Paint Shop and cleared with 2 part auto. 

That is a beautiful finish.  Can you give more detail as to how you achieved it?  How did you prep the fuse and tail feathers?  Which 2 part auto clear did you use?

Thanks,

Vince

 How did you do the decals? That is a great looking model!

What prep did you do for the paint over SLC? 

Yes it does...

I usually hate cloth hinges but those blended in very well

Starting to get enough dry air days here to try my hand at a SLC over silk or poly wing

This Lancer inspired me to get things set up

Although you can paint directly over the SLC, I didn't want a ridge where the SLC ended so I covered the portion I was going to paint with carbon veil adhered with Eze-Kote.

Applied the CF veil, then several coats of Eze-kote, sanding between coats until smooth.  Primed with DC-540 primer with the rest of the parts to be painted, then color coats.  The ridge between the painted surface and the clear SLC film is at the red pinstripe line and not very noticeable.

What is EZ-Kote? I never heard of it. 

https://www.deluxematerials.co.uk/gb/rc-modelling/82-eze-kote-5060243900746.html

It's a pretty cool water based finishing resin.  It is not like Minwax Polycrylic.  The viscosity is thicker and it dries quite rapidly.  Sands well too.  It smells totally different from polycrylic, also.

There are some good videos of it in use on youtube. 

My Ringmaster is now over a year old and still sag free!  No hangar rash or noticeable damage from two (count them, two) inverted landings on asphalt. (Note that I am Designman, not Pilotman) 

And you continue to live in a climate like that??? Well, The Peoples' Republic of Califonikstan is crowded enough, but there is lots of room left near Tucson. Trostle left a magnificent house there. 

Jim... just a butt inski here...but WHY?

Maybe I am not paying close enough attention

BUT--- I thought the exercise was to do a Fast and very Strong covering method--- USING poly/tissue/silk and then--- one of the super lite plastic coverings Like SLC, or thin FasCal/ mica film

IMO MonoKote---  or similar--- has already all the strength and color needed by it self

That said...I think the initial covering (tissue/poly span/silkspan/silk) is put on traditionally nice and tight on the perimeter and only ever needs stuck down to the ribs on a polywog rid set like a Ringmaster....all other rib types should be left free so the SLC/////ect,...can shrink and stick to the first covering without adding torque to the ribs or balsa wing

I use a lot of Poly span and silk on wings.

I think Larry Renger found a way for US to NOT have to add weight with Dope and Use the Lite coverings  (SLC/Doculam/FadCal) as the shiny top cote and the added benefit ...by accident...was that the composite of the two coverings saved time, looked good...and structurally was tougher than traditional method using dope to fill the paper/tissue/cloth

Bottom line is...IMO MonoKote covering does all this by itself.... But that said--- no MonoKote can look or be as strong as a traditional silk n dope method or Larry Rengers discovery method

EDITED in after sending...Jim I DO NOT intend this to sound as harsh or judgement as it does....

Just curious how you arrived at following this method to think about using MonoKote over something else.... mostly because early on, I GOT the notion Larry was trying to show four things...Light weight, faster, looks good, stronger (an accidental by product IMO)

And BTW
NOT TO take away from Larry-- But I think Bobby Mears, INDEPENDENTLY--- found a very similar method so he could rapidly finish dozens of Nostalgia combat planes for the Combat Museum...IIRK He experimentee with fogging the back side of SLC/FasCal/Doculam with paints to simulate the Silk n Dope finish and found it was just as easy to do a polyspan heat shrunk and then the plastic and looked just like a silk n dope finish

Fully understand Jim....you are trading strength and durability for tightness and accepting the weight gain...

I might recommend Move on to Ultra kote as I think it holds it's tension better long term...I am in Texas with 130~150F on a 104F OAT day in the car is typical and the loosening of my films....all of them...is always an issue


OTOH I have read here that some think UltrKote is looser over time....not my personal experience but I only have 5 years experience/history to go by

Doping the ribs to smooth them out is good. Bonding the Polyspan to the ribs (when first covering) is bad because you want the material to slide around as it shrinks. Once shrunk, if you seal to the ribs using thinner would probably be OK and might improve torsional strength.  Do NOT dope the entire fabric covering as it adds weight and creates bubble areas in the top covering.

Old free-flighters may remember double covering large models. Silkspan lightly doped with an overlay of Japanese tissue bonded down to it. Easy to get a slick finish and remarkably strong.

For large models, Monokote over Polyspan would still be lighter than a conventional dope finish, easier, quicker, slicker (than I can do, anyway) and way stronger.

Very nice.  I like the transparent color.

I am finishing up two more models per Larry's method.  Have also flown the ones I have finished.   Makes for quick finishes that shine.   Also easy to wipe clean.

Hoooee! 32,000 + views! 

 There aren't that many CL fliers, are there? 

It works fantastic!  The weight, by an actual test sample, is 1.46 oz/sq.yard.  The structural rigidity it adds is amazing.  I have some technique to work on as far as flawless tips, but the ones I did aren't horrible.

Now I need to work on how to properly paint it.  I have a sample piece drying. It is Painters' Choice right on the steel wool buffed SLC.

Larry,
Works like a champ doesn't it?  Next time add some trim to the plyspan before covering it with SLC.  Use a spray adhesive and very lightly spray the back of the trim.  Stay away from the trim 3 feet and spray above it and allow the adhesive to lightly fall onto the trim.  Place the trim on the plyspan and lightly rub the trim in place (do not apply dope to the trim).  The SLC will hold the trim in place when ironed on.

Later,
Mikey

        Rebuilt an old silkspan covered Scorpion fast combat and covered it with SLC over Dacron. I used John Holiday's Mod Podge system to iron down the Dacron then used it to recoat the leading, trailing and tip edges for a belt and suspenders approach to ironing the SLC on. The yellow paint is an anxient can of Formula-U over sprayed with green RC car paint. The urethane stuck to the SLC quite well but don't have much hope for the  'candy' accent.

        Ara

Several years and a couple of trips to Tucson later, the Ringmaster still looks pretty good. Anyone else have information on how well this technique stands up to the ravages of time?

Larry I basically no longe fly so my Fleet are all now you basic hanger queens hoping my progeny will some day fly again

I have several RST foam wing with SLC....flown and castor slime many times...cleaned and in flyable condition

I have two balsa wings, Ring master, and a Magician Poly-span adhered with dope then heat shrink, then SLC from Phil...NO fill in dope...strong, no sag, look pretty good for my 5 meter stand off grading......grin...

I bet when I crap out ...my son, just for pure nostalgia will de gum the engine..and fly the sucker into a perfect Figure Nine....Just as I did reliving the adventures of my father and me for 1958

I use Baslarite on the rib edges when I cover with the Polyspan just for the reason you mentioned.  No issues doing it that way.

I have recently been experimenting with turbulators (or vortex generators). I find that I must sand the film with 600 grit then clean it with lacquer thinner or acetone before bonding the generators in place. Otherwise, they eventually pop off. 

Sand carefully, that film is THIN! 

Looks great.  Do you have plans.  Also you should do an article and publish it.

Jim's ship is really very, very nice.
I especially like the tail feathers.
Saw it fly at the Vintage Combat Festival and it was very impressive.