I meant when "lightly rapped". ----- Original Message ----- From: "Harley Michaelis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Daryl Perkins" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, October 10, 2004 1:38 PM Subject: Re: [RCSE] monokote.... AHHHHHH!!!!!!
> I don't consider myself an expert on film covering, but have discovered a > few things that work, so I'll pass them on. > > An early lesson to use only Monokote. It has a nice aroma and when shrunk up > has a neat "ping" sound when lightly wrapped. It can end up tight as a drum > and tends to stay tight, but if wrinkles form over time, there is usually > some additional shrinkability to help get them smoothed out again if you > minimize wrinkles before trying to shrink them out. > > After fussing with vacuum bagged rudders and stabs for a time, I abandoned > them in favor of built-up structures. Combined, the weight is about 1-1/2 > oz. less than bagged, unless a too flimsy layup that easily dents is used. > With built up, there is a wood LE to better resist dings than a foam LE with > light glass over it. Since there can be a spar in the structure, there is a > place to put a piece of flat surgical rubber to form a friction grip with > the support wire as it slides on. (See File 2 of the Genie pages at > http://genie.rchomepage.com/.) > > As to the application of the Monokote, the demo's and illustrations used by > the Top Flite people where they are heating, pulling and stretching the > stuff to get it smooth around the tip of a substantial wing with straight > LE's just don't work for delicate stabs. You'd need 3-4 hands, anyway. > > Instead, I lay a stab half inverted on the inverted Monokote roll and mark > around the clear protective cover 3/8" to 1/2" beyond the stab perimeter > using a ballpoint pen. This does not mark, but gives an indentation where to > cut the piece. I scissor that out and remove the clear cover. > > With light shining through, using a little Teflon coated travel iron I got > at K-Mart for $7, I tack to the vertical edges (not the top) working around > the perimeter of the stab, pulling to get the bulk of the MK free of > wrinkles. When satisfied with that, I scissor away all but 1/8" or so of the > MK and seal that continuously along the vertical edges. > > The next step is to wrap that 1/8" around the structure to seal it at the > bottom. If the structure has prominent curves, it will not seal down flat. > To get it flat in those areas, you can (1) slit it in several places and > overlap the edges, leaving small bumps or (2) cut little wedges out so the > edges will lay side by side. > > The reason for sealing the MK on the bottom is that the bottom piece will > then adhere better since MK sticks best to itself. > > Having applied MK to the top of the structure and with it still unshrunk, > lay the structure upright on the inverted MK roll. Mark a bit beyond the > stab perimeter and scissor out the piece. Remove the clear cover. Hold the > work up to the light to position and tack the bottom piece in place.You can > next (1) trim and seal or (2) seal and trim. > > I get along better with (2), using the iron to work outward toward the > perimeter, along the LE or TE and then the other way, getting rid of as much > looseness in the film as possible, but without shrinking the open areas. In > doing this, it is too much trouble to bring the bottom up 1/2 way along the > LE for a 2-tone effect, so instead, it can be trimmed evenly near the > bottom. For that trimming either scissor it off evenly as possible, or work > over a Fiskars mat with a sharp #11 blade, but without cutting into the top > film piece. > > Before doing any shrinking, be sure the bottom is sealed well to the top MK > piece and adjacent balsa of the structure. > > Do not use a heat gun to shrink the bottom. It will loosen the seal where > the bottom pieces overlaps the bottom. If you have a heat gun, use it on top > so no scratches will be made by the iron. In using the iron on the bottom, > Don't drag it across the film. Do the open areas in increments, side by side > to minimize scratches and keep the iron away from where away the bottom film > overlaps the wrapped around top film. Don't tighten one side at a time and > introduce built in warps. Do it gradually, top then, bottom, etc. > > Go the LT/S supplemental file, File 10, page 2 to see what the rsults can > look like, based on the above techniques. > > Oh. . .incidentally, That rudder butts the fin with no gap, rounding or > beveling for deflection. That same flat surgical rubber used for securing > the stabs, makes great hinges. They go in under a little tension and during > deflection they stretch a bit to allow the rudder to pivot on its edges. Go > back to File 2 to read about that. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Daryl Perkins" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Sunday, October 10, 2004 10:09 AM > Subject: [RCSE] monokote.... AHHHHHH!!!!!! > > > > Yes, it's true. I suck. > > > > I'm playing with stab size on the Insanity 3.7. Super > > long tail moment, so I can get away with a fairly > > small stab. Anyway..... I have a set of old Paul Trist > > stabs... but they were yellow.... Insanity is white > > with black carbon fin, black carbon canopy, and red > > rudder. Soooooo... the transparent yellow stabs just > > weren't going to work for me. Where is that monokote > > iron? I used it about 7 years ago.... where the heck > > is it? After about an hour of searching.... there it > > is. Ohhhh, it's kinda beat up.... but hey, it gets > > hottt. > > > > OK, ok.... I rip the covering off the yellow things, > > and start trying to cover those things back up with > > some old white monokote that I must have stolen from > > Phil about 8 years ago..... Hey... this isn't as easy > > as I recall.... > > > > Let's just say.... they're not pretty. OK, I can fix > > that.....where is the hobby shop in Havasu?....After a > > little research, I go out to buy a heat gun to shrink > > all the wrinkles out.... Hey... this is working!.... > > ok ok...after burning a hole through the right > > stab.....My g/f had a good time ripping the covering > > back off so i can start again. > > > > If I had just gotten out the vacuum bagging equipment, > > I'd be done and flying right now..... > > > > How DO you guys do it? > > > > One more try, and I'm flying it no matter how bad it > > looks! > > > > ;-) > > > > D > > > > > > > > _______________________________ > > Do you Yahoo!? > > Declare Yourself - Register online to vote today! > > http://vote.yahoo.com > > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" > and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that > subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with > MIME turned off. > > > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. 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