Not ‘Monokote’ Covering $0.03/Sq Ft

[JohnT]

We've all seen the prices that the various coverings are commanding. NOT cheap! How would you like to cover your aircraft for around $0.03/Sq Ft? Using laminating film as a covering came up in the Glider Forum and it was suggested that I make a post about the technique. @Konrad has some past experience with this material and will hopefully be popping in.
Caveats:
It may not be the same color pallette that you may be used to
It requires higher iron temps to apply
It is not as nice as commercial coverings for removing the wrinkles

That said, I've used this method for covering on my Olympic II, parts of my Gentle Lady, a wing and something as small as Lightning Bug DLG (came out around 100-125Gm?).

Try ‘Rolling Your Own’, 'Monokote' that is.

• You need a roll of 1.5mm Laminating Film (it does come in other weights, I've seen 1.7mm referenced by other users). www.laminator.com was my source. Two years ago I paid around $30 for a 25”x500’ roll, delivered. That's 12,500 Square Feet of Covering Goodness!
• Cut a large piece film from the roll and tape, adhesive side*, up to a piece of cardboard/paneling/plywood/OSB, etc., large enough to allow overspray.
• Apply Two light, mist coats of spray-paint, with plenty of drying time in-between.
• You can make patterns from poster board, weighted down with lead, shifting down as you spray.
• Don’t roll it up afterwards.
• Apply to model, painted side down, using your Monokote Iron. I had to turn the heat up a bit.
• Practice, practice, practice. It’s CHEAP! Cheap spray paint works fine.
• This will give you a translucent to solid color – transparency probably not possible.

*Just like commercial coverings, there is a shiny side and a dull side. The dull side is the adhesive side and YES, your are painting over the adhesive. The paint essentially becomes your new adhesive. There is not clear film layer to remove as you unroll it.

How much does this stuff weigh, anyway?
• Typical Monokote 5.5Gms/Sq Ft
• Clear Laminating Film 3Gms/Sq Ft
• Painted Laminating Film 4.7Gms/Sq Ft (great variation depending on your painting technique/level of opaqueness)
• SoLite Film 1.8Gms/Sq Ft

How about some examples?

This is my Lightning Bug DLG (https://outerzone.co.uk/plan_details.asp?ID=10430) 34" wingspan. Typical weights are 100-112Gm. As you can see, mine came in at 96Gms with a Buzzard Models Micro Rx, 2Gm servos and a Nano Tech 3,7v 300mAh 1S Lipo. I spritzed the wing balsa with spray paint before covering and applied the laminating film (LF) left clear. All the wood was left natural ... er, uh, I may have applied some sealer. I'd have to go back and look

The above was my Fuse v2.0. This is v1.0, with LF on the tail empennage.

This is my Olympic II. The fuse is sealed and spray painted with Rustoleum Black Hammertone. The bottom of the wings is covered with LF, sprayed blue, the leading edge has white commercial Monokote and the top is covered clear. Tail empennage is treated in a similar fashion, with the blue LF applied to the rudder, white Monokote to the elevator and vertical stabilizer.

This is my 'Franken Lady' (fuse was destroyed and replaced with a pod/CF boom). Pod is painted with Rustoleum Black Hammertone; the repaired wing patch is the same blue as on the Olympic II, above; the horizontal stabilizer/elevator are covered with the same blue; the vertical stabilizer/rudder are finished clear.

I almost forgot. Here's a Drifter wing, that I received from another former club member, along with a Gentle Lady and a Sophisticated Lady. Took a bit to figure out what it was, as it was just dumped at the clubhouse with my name on it. <grin>

It 'came with' the Sophisticated Lady' and I thought they were mates at first. This was the condition it was in:

And this is my original GL Wing, the Drifter Wing, repaired, painted yellow and covered with clear LF, and the Sophisticated Lady Wing.

@Konrad feel free to jump in with your experience with LF.

All this said, I recently bought a Hangar 9 Cub (nine foot wing span) from a club member that has left the sport. I DID buy a roll of Hangar 9 Yellow covering to refinish the fuse on that. <grin>

John

 

[Wayne]

Thanks for sharing. I had not seen the coloring method before and am now eager to give it a try as a I have a few planes I need to cover very soon. Since they are EPP, I might do a little testing first to make sure they still stick well without melting the foam.

Thanks!

 

[JohnT]

This can be applied to EPP ... with care. Since it does require a little higher heat, do check a safe place on the foam. I played with a Styrofoam style cooler that is from the newer style foam and was able to apply LF to it.
@Konrad mentioned applying dies to LF and I am very interested in his imput on that method. Is it easier or harder? Does it give a better or lighter coloring? Will the price of gas go up? Why is peanut butter so darn good?!

John

 

[Konrad]

Signing On.

It's been about 20 years since I last did any LF covering. I think I did these on some Mountain Models sport ships and many Tom Hunt "Stick Series". I'll see if I have any notes on this.

I recall paint chemistry made a difference. For your "cheap paint" what are you using, Lacquer, acrylic enamel, urethane etc. Now unlike SoLite I found that the color rarely delaminates from the film. I love Solite but it is not as robust, ether as to color/adhesive binding or puncture resistance.

I think the lightest commercial covering was basically what you are doing. I recall R.A. micro Lite was a painted color film.

My coloring dye did require a specific chemistry to bind with the adhesive. This could be used for some unusual transparent effects.

By the way I've never loved Moneycoat and in the 90's there was a formulation changed that made Topflight MonoKote all but worthless! I still love many of the Solar film films and german Oracover films (AKA Hanger 9 Ultracoat and such).

Do you have adhesive issue (heat and bonding) using various "brands" of film against each other?

 

[JohnT]

I've used Rustoleum

I can't say that I've done enough comparison covering to really say one way or another. I started with Monokote in on my first build (Olympic 99) in the mid 70's. My brother and I built one glow model (Falcon 56) in the late 70's. Jump to about 25 years ago and built my Gentle Lady (now the Franken Lady) and to two years ago when I really got back into the hobby and finished my Olympic II, which had been languishing on the board, 1/2 built for years. Too much time between events to make any comparison.

Or, were you referring to paint adhesion? I've honestly just grabbed whatever can I have on hand that is the color I want and gone to town.
VanSickle New Holland Yellow is an alkyl oil based paint (close to Cub Yellow)
Rustoleum - oil based paints
ColorPlace - enamel vs acrylic enamel?

if anyone IS interested in trying LF, I just received an email from laminator.com with an offer for 15% off:

St. Patrick’s Day Sale​

SAVE 15% On All School Roll Laminating Films & Laminating Pouches Use Coupon Code "LUCKY15" at Checkout for Savings!

 

[Konrad]

I'm more concerned with how does the contamination with paint of the LF adhesive effect the bond strength with the balsa frame work. Also to a lesser extent how does the paint react over sheeted surfaces (bubbles).

 

[thenated0g]

Not 1:1 example but i have done something like this on a lot of my foam wings. But mine is a fiberglass tape - paint - laminate sandwich. I put the paint on the tape and than laminate over the top. I have never had a problem with delamination. You do get some bubbles but they are usually large and obvious. I just poke a hole or two and go back over with an iron to remove.

I have seen some videos on youtube where people use paint as glue between two pieces of foam and its crazy strong.

 

[JohnT]

I'm more concerned with how does the contamination with paint of the LF adhesive effect the bond strength with the balsa frame work. Also to a lesser extent how does the paint react over sheeted surfaces (bubbles).

Here's something of an answer to both of those questions . . .

The Lightning Bug DLG is two years old. Have not touched the covering on it. Now, that's adhesion to painted balsa, as opposed to painted LF adhesion to bare balsa. You can see that the LF is still holding strong to the sheeted surfaces and still looks good. Any crud in there is due to my lack of meticulous prep of my work area, resulting in balsa dust getting trapped inside. I took this picture minutes ago.

This is the Drifter Wing after about a year. Now, to be fair, it's been hanging in the basement, as I'll have to build the rest of the glider still. More clear to painted balsa.

This is the Olympic II tail after two years. Clear and painted blue, bare balsa, ribs and solid surface. Wings look just as nice. Some wrinkles present in the tail, both to LF & Monokote, but probably due more to installer error.

This is the Gentle Lady (Franken Lady). The translucent patch is painted LF applied to bare balsa, to compare with 25 (approx.) year old monokote (blue and white, seperately).

It's not the 'Be all, End all', however, it's functional. It's cheap. It's durable.

I DID have adhesion issues with applying painted monokote to a a vintage foam wing. It has something like an EPP leading edge and the old, cheap cooler, crumbly style foam for the majority of the wing. Very unsatisfactory results. Ended up pulling it all off and applying packing tape, as has been done for years.

John

 

[Konrad]

Looking good! Your coverings look better than most of mine.

I've never done the painted structure followed by clear or transparent film. I painted an airframe once with nitrate dope only to have it blister when the iron passed over it using Monokote. So I don't paint my structures with paint.

You look to be getting good results. Again it would help to know paint chemistry and iron heat settings.

Packing tape is a new covering to my mind. I think Jef Raskin is credited with its use for our foam models in the late 80's early 90's with the Anabat.

 

[Wayne]

I'll be playing with this on some scrap EPP to see what it does. I typically spray a VERY LIGHT coat of contact cement on my EPP cores just before I cover them, this pretty much doubles the adhesion. This is a must for any planes you plan to abuse.

Also, I am typically using 3 or 5 mil film, not the 1.5 or 1.7. These thicker films do have a LOT more adhesive on them. Typically 25 to 33% of the thickness of the films is the adhesive. (According to one of our suppliers many years ago that actually listed the film and adhesive thicknesses.)

 

[JohnT]

Looking good! Your coverings look better than most of mine.

I've never done the painted structure followed by clear or transparent film. I painted an airframe once with nitrate dope only to have it blister when the iron passed over it using Monokote. So I don't paint my structures with paint.

I just rehabbed an 'Easy Fly 40'. Removed the old Monokote from the fuse, sanding sealer sealed it. Painted it with White Rustoleum and hoped for the best with fuel resistance. Figured if i DID have an issue, I'd sand and repaint. I've had it up for several flights now, with lots of exhaust on it and it's holding up fine. The reason I brought this up, I applied new monokote to the horizontal stab/elevator, blending it up onto the vertical stab. Hit the painted fuse momentarily with the iron and it bubbled up/discolored a bit. That's a mulit-coat applicatioin vs. the 'spritz' on the Drifter and Lightning Bug wings - no issue there. If I could have gotten all of the twenty year old (approx.) Monokote residue off, I may have been just as well off to clean up the fuse and cover it clear. Or, I could have painted film and applied that.

You look to be getting good results. Again it would help to know paint chemistry and iron heat settings.

Packing tape is a new covering to my mind. I think Jef Raskin is credited with its use for our foam models in the late 80's early 90's with the Anabat.

I looked and looked on the cans and could find no further info that what I posted above. Google search was about as fruitless. The iron I used is old, has a replacement temp knob of a piece of bent sheet steel with some heat shrink on it and temp settings are anybodies guess - I do have to set it hotter than I do for Monokote.

John

 

[JohnT]

I mentioned packing tape over foam on an old foam wing above. Lo and Behold but what should pop up in my YouTube Feed this morning? A Nick Chitty build with that very thing.

 

[Konrad]

...
I looked and looked on the cans and could find no further info that what I posted above. Google search was about as fruitless. The iron I used is old, has a replacement temp knob of a piece of bent sheet steel with some heat shrink on it and temp settings are anybodies guess - I do have to set it hotter than I do for Monokote.

John

Thanks.
Generally all I would need is the company and brand name, as I could usually find what I need in the MSDS pamphlets.

That too is my experience that the iron's heat has to be set higher than the high temp used with Topflight's Monokote. That is why I found LF unsuitable for foam (polystyrene) wings and parts.

 

[Wayne]

Yes, when folks are using LF as a shrink film replacement they are suing it on wood usually. I was shocked the first time I saw this some years ago. But seems to work pretty well. It does take high heat to shrink.

 

[Konrad]

Just brought this down from my attic. It is a Tom Hunt Elipstik. I covered this in Doculam. The art work such as it is was done with a Red Sharpie on the adhesive. I purposely left the streaks to mimics the lip prints we often get from our sweet hearts. Ok, Ok, I know I'm more of an engineer than an Artist!

I can't find any examples of variegated dye work in the attic. But I recall the process I learned (in the AMA magazine 20 years ago) was to use Rit Dye (the one formulated for synthetics fabrics (Dye More?)). The trick was to heat the solution to 55°c and agitate it. I found that with the lower heat covering this was an issue as the heat could start the shrinking process. With the high heat LF this actually worked ok.

 

[JohnT]

Just brought this down from my attic. It is a Tom Hunt Elipstik. I covered this in Doculam. The art work such as it is was done with a Red Sharpie on the adhesive. I purposely left the streaks to mimics the lip prints we often get from our sweet hearts. Ok, Ok, I know I'm more of an engineer than an Artist!

I ran across a reference to the Elipstik last year and thought it might make a fun slope ship. Not to be found anywhere though. How does it fly? You could say your advertising for 'Kiss'.

I can't find any examples of variegated dye work in the attic. But I recall the process I learned (in the AMA magazine 20 years ago) was to use Rit Dye (the one formulated for synthetics fabrics (Dye More?)). The trick was to heat the solution to 55°c and agitate it. I found that with the lower heat covering this was an issue as the heat could start the shrinking process. With the high heat LF this actually worked ok.

Made me Google "american modelers association magazine variegated dye laminating film covering". No Joy. Wonder if AMA would have something in the archives?

For anyone interested in trying this, in the search above, I ran across a YouTube video demonstrating the process.

John

 

[Konrad]

Tom Hunt sold a lot of his kits through a company called ModelAir-Tech. He had a series of models where he limited himself to using only sticks. This was a design challenge nothing more. I think these sticks were 1/8 x 3/8. The models weren't great nor were they intended to be great. Now one did stand out, and that was the Elipstik. It was a low aspect ratio flying wing, that was light and flew well on a brushed Speed 400.

Like anything I'm sure it will slope. But I suspect the performance will mimic that of a parasail.

Mine is powered by a direct drive Speed 400 on 2 cell 1300 mAh driving a Gunther prop. As a result of the very light wing loading it was a kick to fly. I think I usually flew mine in a 20m x 20m x 20 box. It was so slow I could even to rolling circles! This was before the turn of the millennium and the advent of the Crack Yak foam models.

 

[Hank GB Z]

If i recall correctly the other reason you used the Doculam film on the Elipstik was that it would hold the warps out of the frame. I believe the first time i saw the air frame you had it soaking in a bucket of ammonia to try to get the air frame to relax. I only bring this up to show other qualities of the covering material. Also Don Snowden had pretty good luck painting the glue side of the doculam and then ironing it on to the air frame. Takes some practice to get an even color finish though.

Hank

Just brought this down from my attic. It is a Tom Hunt Elipstik. I covered this in Doculam. The art work such as it is was done with a Red Sharpie on the adhesive. I purposely left the streaks to mimics the lip prints we often get from our sweet hearts. Ok, Ok, I know I'm more of an engineer than an Artist!

I can't find any examples of variegated dye work in the attic. But I recall the process I learned (in the AMA magazine 20 years ago) was to use Rit Dye (the one formulated for synthetics fabrics (Dye More?)). The trick was to heat the solution to 55°c and agitate it. I found that with the lower heat covering this was an issue as the heat could start the shrinking process. With the high heat LF this actually worked ok.

View attachment 14691

 

[Konrad]

I know I soaked the little Dynaflite Talon's fuselage. But now that I think about it. I also soaked this wing to try to keep the airfoil a flat bottom. The bow (forces) from the top airfoil pieces did cause the bottom to airfoil pieces to curve. I soaked the structure trying to keep it to print.

Do you recall the paint Don used?

 

[Konrad]

I ran across a reference to the Elipstik last year and thought it might make a fun slope ship. Not to be found anywhere though. How does it fly? You could say your advertising for 'Kiss'.



Made me Google "american modelers association magazine variegated dye laminating film covering". No Joy. Wonder if AMA would have something in the archives?

For anyone interested in trying this, in the search above, I ran across a YouTube video demonstrating the process.

John

I think the AMA stands for Academy of Model Aeronautics. Their magazine is called Model Aviation.