25 yr old solarfim still works!

On Sat, 22 Dec 2007 14:00:48 -0800, I said, "Pick a card, any card" and "patrick mitchel" instead replied:

Some people redefine frugal.

Well done!

-- Ray

I've used decades-old Monokote on many occasions, and it always works. Looking through my Monokote collection, I see several different label styles, including the old one that boasts about the revolutionary new covering system.

patrick mitchel wrote:

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I have never been able to make Solar Film apply properly and look good, except for one roll of metallic red. That was many, many years ago and I'm still stumped as to why it worked, but none of the other rolls I tried to use was applied successfully. Probably way too much heat, I suspect.

Glad your adhesive hadn't dried out.

I have some really old rolls of Super Monokote that has lost some of the solvents in its adhesive. This makes it a real bear to apply.

A good friend of mine, Syd Clement, of Bridgeton, NJ. Tipped me off about how to restore old dried out Monokote. Simply paint a bit of Coverite Ironex on the adhesive side. I don't know if this would work with any other brand of covering, but it works with Super Monokote and today's Monokote very well.

Ed Cregger

Ed; Thanks for the tip about coverite ironex, I don't have a huge stock of the stuff, but when I looked at the price of the stuff , my first thought was f**k that! It's been 20 yrs since I flew and I'm not gonna blow that kinda money. Then to walk into a hobby shop and see all the RTF stuff. Bleagh! Half the fun is in the building. Having to relearn the covering techniques is humbling as well! Good way to start the gnu year! Pat

Paint the coverite on the wood, not the covering. Solarfilm was always the easiest to apply for me.

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I'm talking about Coverite Ironex solvent, used to clean the metal surfaces of our covering irons, not Balsarite.

The Ironex is applied to the back of the covering.

Balsarite is applied to the model.

My first plastic covering was Super Monokote, which is a high temperature covering. I knew that Solarfilm was a lower temperature covering than Monokote when I tried it, but apparently I didn't get the iron cool enough. This was before the little spring surface thermometers were available, so there was no way for me to check the iron temp. Turns out that I had to take the iron apart in order to adjust it that low (Sealector Iron).

Ed Cregger

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I'm talking about Coverite Ironex solvent, used to clean the metal surfaces of our covering irons, not Balsarite.

The Ironex is applied to the back of the covering.

Balsarite is applied to the model.

My first plastic covering was Super Monokote, which is a high temperature covering. I knew that Solarfilm was a lower temperature covering than Monokote when I tried it, but apparently I didn't get the iron cool enough. This was before the little spring surface thermometers were available, so there was no way for me to check the iron temp. Turns out that I had to take the iron apart in order to adjust it that low (Sealector Iron).

Ed Cregger

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I see that bellsouth (AT&T now) has carried forward some of bellsouth's habits of going into the double posting mode upon occasion. Some things never change, I suppose.

Ed Cregger