Iron-on coverings? Opinions?

Robbins said:

i should have not used tacking in my phrase concerning wrinkles that cant be removed. What i was trying to refer to was after the shrink process. Repositioning is very hard after that whereas with ultracote you can get away with it a little bit. So indeed we are in agreement bunky, i just had a brain lapse...again

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Agreed there. Rip that crap off and start again! It's all gravey, man!

Just remember....... Don't sweat petty things, and don't pet sweaty things.

sweetpea said:

Monokote for me. Ultracote is dull to me. The colors and shine are better. Yes, its harder to get it without wrinkles but Ultracote isn't forgiving to too much heat and will get wavy on the edges. I also prefer monokote when you lay colors on top of each other.

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i like using the top flite trim tool also. And you gotta have a pecker also!

I got a pecker, but it hurts to cover it in *cote...

I use only Monokote, better sheen. It is a little harder to learn how to use, but once you have the technique you will love how much better it looks. JMO

If I could get Monokote from 1988 I'd go with that in a heartbeat! Today's product isn't quite the same but it is still remarkably shiny and durable.

Have you ever started covering a plane useing a roll of a older covering and you run to the store and get more of that color. You get back to shop to find a tad bit color difference even tho it sposed to be the same.

Yup. Which is the only reason why I buy the 25' rolls. Don't want to get in my groove, and have to stop and go to the store.

Bartman said:

If I could get Monokote from 1988 I'd go with that in a heartbeat! Today's product isn't quite the same but it is still remarkably shiny and durable.

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Heard this before. I don't claim to be an expert, only covered about a dozen or so planes.

But when I returned to the hobby I had three rolls of monocote laying around that I had purchased in the early 90's. I used up those rolls covering a GP Extra 300. The next plane I covered I went out and bought some more monocote, used that to cover a ultimate, I didn't find any difference between the old and new! Maybe I just got old stock...

For you scale guys... before you cover, "APPLY STIX IT" to all surfaces to accept the covering. Then simply iron on sig koverall. It trims well and is super easy to work with.

To finish it, get some nitrate dope and go light with it. Spray 2 parts dope to 1 part thinner. Let dry and it shrinks drum tight (think snare drum)

Then paint! I even heard of folks using anything ranging from acrylic to urethane to latex. Don't know if you need butrate for some finishes.

I learned to cover using silkspan and butrate dope. Super stinky and tough to work with til you get enough practice. Sure made excellent finishes though. Was brittle, don't drop a thumb screw on your WI g unless you want a Crack and a hole to follow... We're sure lucky to have mono and ultra now!

Every batch of covering no matter the brand is going to have slight variances of color tint. Like Bunky mentioned buy larger rolls to avoid this. Also certain colors are worse than others. Anything metallic, yellow, red, or transparent you will never find two rolls exactly the same.