covering materials for planes

[Guest]

Has anyone got any experience of using silk to cover flying model planes? I was just wondering what it is like as a covering material and how practical it was.

Thanks

Antony

[Guest]

COO!

Haven't used silk for 30 yrs,but it was VERY strong(handy for carrying the bits home in).

Very easy to over use dope etc.and make for excess weight.

Still, a good material to work with.but get the weave in the right direction.

Rgds

Subman:angel:

[wonwinglo]

Antony silk finishes have the advantage of being very strong,but be warned they have many disadvantages and can be a trap for the unwary,firstly the pores are very wide and these sap up the dope like it was going out of fashion,one the dope is heavy,and two beware as it can warp your structure out of all proportion,a tip when using silk covering is to pre-treat the silk prior to doping to try and fill those pores,a lot of things from ground millet ( also used to dope up that famous Colditz glider ) to thinned glue size can be used,even highly thinned PVA adhesive,however once again these things do carry an heavy weight penalty.

Perhaps one of the best areas to use silk is on the fuselage of the model,it is superior to lock the grain together on balsa structures,best way is to dope the wood first,allow to dry,then lay the silk flat onto the wood and spray on water,then dope straight through the silk,it will then go cloudy but do not worry as a wipe with a thinners cloth ( lint free remember ) or another thin coat of dope and it will soon vanish and return to normal.

What you have to ask yourself is a/will the model take the extra weight and b/ is the effort worth it in view of perhaps better more modern materials which are much lighter ?

[Guest]

quote b/ is the effort worth it in view of perhaps better more modern materials which are much lighter ?



If it's a vintage model then yes, it is well worth it!

[Guest]

Thanks folk. Reason I asked was I saw something in the net a few days ago where someone had started to cover a model in silk but it was never finished. So I was just wondering how well it worked. Im a little far off doing anything like that as Im only just getting back into the hobby after a 30 year gap

Thanks for the help

Antony

[Guest]

if you want to go to modern plastic finishes I can recommend 'Doculam' it's a LOT cheaper than Solarfilm/Monocote etc. Requires a bit more heat but is great to use. I got an 'end of roll' from my local supplier for free and there was more than enough to cover my 44" span He 46. Can't get cheaper than that (unless they pay you to take it away!)

[Guest]

Diacov (produced by diatex.fr) has also a structure and colour like silk. Bought it at weymuller.fr some times ago for my Harbinger.

Chris

[Guest]

Sounds interesting Superpattex. Any pictures to show us ? For Kiwi`s tip , Doculam is available in UK from www.muro.co.uk, big rolls only but find out who uses it locally and try for the end of roll. Photo-finishers, picture framers etc.

[Guest]

As I said it looks like silk but much easier to handle.

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