loose monocote

When I cover with monocote very little heat is needed to shrink the covering very tight, a good job, but the monocote becomes wrinkled over the winter. Just a little heat tightens it up and thats all I ever do to correct that. Can I cover better or is this natural and happen to you also?

Reply to
rcroger
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One tip I can give is to pull the Monokote tight as you apply it, especially over open surfaces. Another is to use something like Balsarite to seal the wood. Balsa is porous, and the air inside it expands and contracts and can push the Monokote up off the wood. My planes get wrinkled with age too, though, despite my best efforts.

Reply to
Morris Lee

Perfectly normal - wood airframes shrink and swell with seasonal temperature and humidity changes.

When the airframe shrinks in dry weather (heating season), the covering 'crawls around' on the airframe.

When the airframe swells in the Spring due to increased humidity, the covering is not where it was in the Fall, so it's a given rite of Spring to chase winkles outta the moneycoat with a heat gun.

Painted fabric coverings _seem_ to handle airframe shrink and swell better than polyester films, but you do see fabric covered models now and then with a bad case of baggy pants in the Spring.

The only covering I've found that doesn't get the sags is fabric spritzed with alcohol-thinned epoxy before painting. The Coverite Super Shrink on my Extra 230 never has sagged and is still drum-tight after six years. Cheers, Fred McClellan The House Of Balsa Dust home.mindspring.com/~the-plumber

Reply to
Fred McClellan

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