Conference vmszoo::rc

    DAN,  What heat setting did you use? Did the directions specify
    that the sanding sealer and dope was needed to improve the film's
    bonding?  If yes I'm disapointed. I have two rolls on white and
    yellow I'll be using on my Scat Cat. Probably start covering latter
    this week. How is the weight?
    
    						Tom

    I started to use the new ultracoat on my Scat Cat the other night.
    It works weel as good if not better than Monocote. One thing I
    have noticed that is different is that with the Ultracoat once you
    have heated an area the adhesive tends to stay tacky for a considerable
    period of time. It's almost like the adhesive is a rubber based
    product. The finish although shinny is somewhat of a mat finish.
    It doesn't have as must of a wet look that the monocote has. I
    have yellow and white.  I will be buying more. I like it enough
    to continue using it. I will still also use monocote. As a matter
    of fact the Scat Cat is basic white on the entire bottom. Solid
    yellow wing on the right and yellow(Ultracoat),Metalic green 
    and red monocote on the left wing panel. The fuse will be Yellow
    Ultracoat with accent stripes of metalic green and red. Should be
    able to see it ok.
    
    							Tom

I just started to cover the wing of my "Sophisticated Lady" with Ultracote last
night. It took me over an hour just to get my (20 year) old sealing iron working
correctly. Using a surface mount thermometer (for a wood stove) I could only get
the iron up to about 200�F, barely enough to activate the adhesive. I took the
control apart and discovered a pair of Allen wrench type set screws inside the
shaft of the temperature control. The outer one apparently was used to lock the
setting of the inner one, which in turn was used to adjust the thermostat of the
iron. While plugged into a wattmeter, I adjusted the inner set screw until I
could see the thermostat cycling on and off when the temperature got up to about
350�F. After that, everything worked fine. 

Since this is my first plane, I'd appreciate any comments on my procedure. First
I tacked the periphery of the Ultracote to the leading and trailing edges and 
outer ribs of the wing panel being covered. I did this at about 250�. Then I 
raised the temperature to about 300� and went over the edges again, sealing all 
of the covering around the edges, etc. Finally, I turned the iron up to about 
350� and shrunk the covering and sealed the film to the ribs, spars and edges 
again. Questions:

1. Should I start the shrinking operation from the center of the panel and work 
   my way to the edges or the other way around?

2. I have a hot air gun borrowed from the lab. Should I use this for shrinking
   instead of the iron or will it be too hot?

3. When going back to add Ultracote over Ultracote for trim etc. what should the
   temperature setting be? Should it only be hot enough to seal the adhesive or
   should it be hot enough to actually shrink the second layer of covering?

4. They advertise that Ultracote will not separate from the color layer and will
   not blister. However, I noticed that blisters did form over the bare balsa on
   the trailing edge. These shrunk and disappeared as soon as they cooled down 
   but I doubt that the adhesive held. Will this be a problem? Will blisters 
   form over the first layer of covering or was that just a result of the air in
   the pores of the balsa expanding?

Dave 

    I discovered a technique similar to yours for working with Ultracoat,
    but I can't tell you temperature. I use a Thunder Tiger iron with
    temp ranges labeled from 1 to 3. Here's what works for me on covering
    open areas like wings.
    
    1. At low temp, about 1.5 on scale, tack down the corners, pulling
    everything tight as possible first.
    
    2. Still at low temp, start sealing the sheeted areas moving from
    the center out. I tend to jump around because wrinkles invariably
    start to form, and by jumping around I can spread out the wrinkles
    so none are very big.
    
    3. If a wrinkle can't be worked out at low heat, increase heat to
    about 2.5, then rub the iron VERY LIGHTLY over the wrinkle. It almost
    always takes out the wrinkle without forming a permanent crease.
    
    4. I don't seal the covering to the cap strips. I've found there's
    no need for it (except for the edge of the sheet of covering). It's
    better to let the covering adjust itself over the cap strips when
    you do the shrinking.
    
    5. I then use high heat, 2.5 to 3, to permanently seal around the
    edges, especially where the covering has very little wood to anchor
    to, like on a cap strip.
    
    6. I use a heat gun to shrink the covering. To help prevent warping,
    I do one area on the top, followed by the same area on the bottom,
    moving down the wing this way. You control the heat by how close
    the gun gets to the surface.
    
    When putting covering over itself, if it's only trim and doesn't
    form the primary covering, I'd use low heat. That's sufficient to
    activate the adhesive, but won't cause it to shrink and pull the
    covering under it. 
     
    The above gave me very nice results on the last wing I covered.
    By the way, it's been mentioned before that the wing ribs should
    have small holes in them to allow the air to move around when it
    gets hot and pressure rises. Ideally, there should be a path from
    every compartment right out of the wing. That makes it easier to
    cover, and less likely to stretch when sitting in a hot car.
    
    Dave
    

    
    	You guys gotta tell me something about this Ultracote stuff...
    
    	I've used Monocote in the past.  Easy to apply, harder to trim,
    and very strong.  However, I've not been happy with the way it sags
    after a few months.  Always takes shrinking it up a few times over
    a year or more before it will stay put.  Is this Ultracote thing
    any better about this stuff?
    

    RE .9 Yes I find that Ultracote doesn't tend to sag much after
    initial shrinking. I have a Stick that I covered with it last year.
    It has never been touched after initial covering, and I can only
    find one very small sag.
    
    Regarding trim. What I do to avoid blisters where trim is applied
    is I DON'T apply a second layer as trim. What I do is BEFORE applying
    anything, I layout what I want the trim to look like. Then I cut
    out all the pieces and tack them together with the iron on a piece
    of glass. The covering won't stick to the glass. I use about 1/4"
    overlap at the seams. Then I apply the pre-trimmed sheet to the
    airframe. The only thing is, you must be very carefull with the
    heatgun when shinking around the seam, so that it doesn't seperate.
    I know this may sound like a real pain, but it really isn't hard
    at all. Also I tend to have large areas of contrasting colors
    in my layouts, so I like to avoid the extra weight of two layers
    of covering. If I'm just going to put down a small trim strip
    I don't use the iron, or heatgun at all, I simply brush a little
    acetone on the adhesive side of the covering, then apply it like
    a decal. I have only ever tried the acetone trick on monocote,
    but I don't see why it won't work with the Ultracote, just
    be sure to try it on scrap pieces first.
    
    Wayne Field

    I know we've had this discussion before regarding UltraCote.  My
    opinion, for what its worth is this :

    Black Baron is too "soft", i.e. low temperature, a film.  Although
    it covers around corners very well, the film leaves adhesive
    behind as it shrinks.  If you "lap" one piece over another, the
    top piece will shrink back and leave a 1/16 to 1/8 inch (or so)
    band of colored adhesive on the top if the lower piece of film.
    This make the joint VERY obvious, and can really ruin your day.
    Stay away from Black Baron.

    MonoCote is too "hard", i.e. high temperature, a film.  No
    problems like with Black Baron here, but much harder to work
    around corners.

    Both Black Baron and MonoCote suffer from two common problems.  One
    is that they are both made with "gassy" adhesives.  This means that
    they bubble up over any large span of balsa or 'glass, and the
    bubbles don't really go away when the film cools.  The other
    problem is that they both leave adhesives, with the color of the
    film, behind if you lift the film (you also end up with colored
    adhesive on your iron, since some always seems to "squeeze" out at
    the edges of the film).

    UltraCote doesn't have any of these problems.  Its only detracting
    feature is that it does not come in as wide and assortment of
    colors as do MonoCote and Black Baron ( but CG is supposedly
    improving the choices available).  I like UltraCote best, of all
    the films.  When you want to put trim on by layering, simply run
    the iron a little cooler than when you are shrinking convering.
    It doesn't really bubble, and any bubbles that do occcur go away
    when the film cools off.

Well, I got the wing of the "Lady" covered last night. All in all, things went
smoothly (pun intended). I used my iron to shrink the first couple of panels as
soon as they were installed but I waited to finish covering the outboard panels
before attempting to shrink them since they needed to have some washout added. I
used a heat gun to shrink these panels since I thought I would have to heat a
larger area at a time than the iron would cover. As it turned out, trying to
shrink the film in place with the wing twisted to the correct washout didn't
work too well so I went ahead and did all of the shrinking first and then went
back to adjust the washout. It didn't help too much that in the middle of doing
all this, a lightning stroke knocked out our power for a few minutes. Not only
did the iron and heat gun not work, but I was stuck in the dark in a crowded
basement with no way to safely find my way out. Finally, after the lights came
back on, and with a little help from my son, I twisted the wing tip until there
were diagonal wrinkles in the Ultracote. Then I went over them with the heat gun
until it was smooth again. I then went over the other side to relieve the
stresses added by twisting. After twisting and checking a few times, the washout
seemed to be just right. 

One problem did show up. As the air inside the wing heated up, the skin blew up
like a balloon. I had previously drilled 1/16" holes in all the ribs to let the
air equalize but I think I should have also cut a hole in the film to let the
air in and out. Perhaps a hole in the wing tip block would be safer and wouldn't
weaken the film. When I was done, the film was sealed only to the edges of the
wing structure, both on top and bottom. and it looked nice but I figured that it
would add rigidity to the washout if I sealed the Ultracote to the tops and
bottoms of the ribs as well, so that's what I did. 

Tonight, it's on to the fuselage and tail section. I suppose I also ought to
send in my AMA application or I won't be registered/insured by the time I'm
ready to take my maiden flight. BTW, is there a regulation that I CAN'T fly if
I'm not registered or is that only a very strong recommentation? Also, If I show
up at the CMRCM field in Westboro for some training flights, will they not let
me fly unless I'm registered? 

Dave 

    Re: 132.12  Problems with Black Baron
    
    I've now covered three planes wiht Black Baron film and I am very
    impressed with theis stuff.  As for the problem with separation
    at seams try this trick:  Contrary to popular opinion I shrink BB
    with a heat gun not the iron, except near a seam.  Protect the seam
    with a piece of cardboard held about 1/4" away from the seam, shrinking
    up to the seam from both sides.  If small wrinkles remain at the
    seam (very rare) do your final shrinking with an iron set at about
    250 degrees.  As with all plastic coverings, ALWAYS clean the seam,
    i.e. the top protective coating,with denatured alcohol prior to
    tacking down the overlapping piece.  I always overlap seams about
    1/4" but cleaning really makes a difference!
    
    I recently covered a Sig cast foam wing (the same one the Duraplane
    uses) with BB directly on the film.  The perimeter was tacked down
    at 260 degrees and the rest shrunk with the heat gun.  Looks great,
    no bubbles, no raised foam.
                                                
    
    Scott Cox

    I've used Monocote and Ultracote and I like the way Ultracote
    goes on better. I have two negative comments about it, though.
    
    1. Limited colors, as already mentioned, but also very poor
       color stability between lots. I had some left-over red
       from my last job and I bought another roll of red that
       would be enough for my new plane, and I was shocked to see
       that one of them was bright, orangey-red, and the other was
       dark magenta. Both were "red" and they only have one "red".
    
    2. Warning about white: It yellows with age. My 1-year-old
       Kavalier has a white fuse and it's now yellowish except
       the areas under the wing saddle. I haven't tried to clean
       it or whiten it, any ideas about what might work? Since
       my new plane will now be white with red trim instead of
       red with white trim (because of the red problem mentioned
       above) I'm worried it will yellow  too.
    
    Dave

    I had the same color matching problem that Dave H mentioned.  Be
    careful when getting Ultracote to check the color match if you need
    more than one roll.  I will not mail order it because of this.
    	Also, you need to vent the wing as well as drilling holes in
    the ribs.  The best place to do this is where the wing sits in the
    saddle.  Drill a hole through the sheeting avoiding any structural
    members.  THen you can go at it with the heat gun without blowing
    the wing up.  This problem will happen in a hot car as well if the
    wing is not vented.
    
    By the way, I also think Ularacote is the Best film right now.
    
    CHarlie
    

I've started covering my Super Sportster 20, and found I had a full
roll of red Monokote left, as well as about 1/4 roll of red Ultracote.
Since (1) The colors matched pretty well, (2) I don't like to waste
stuff, and (3) it would take half an evening to go to the hobby shop
to get more covering, I decided to do the bottom of the wing with
Ultracote, and the rest of the plane with the Monokote. 

Well, doing a side-by-side study of the two coverings, I have to say
I've changed my opinion about Ultracote. It's definitely harder to put
on. It expands at low-moderate temperature, and shrinks at very high
temperature. While doing the wing tip with the air gun I found the 4"
adjacent to the wing tip had expanded and sagged due to the warm air
blowing across it. To shrink it back I had to get it very hot, and
then the area next to it would expand, and I found I had to work my
way all the way back down the wing. This happened several times. This
effect has also caused my currently-flying plane (about 1 year old) to
develop wrinkles on the fuse and tail feathers that I haven't been
able to get out. 

Ultracote's adhesive gets tacky at barely warm temperatures. After
shrinking the main section of the wing, the edges that are sticking
out all around have a very strong tendency to fold under and stick
to themselves. It is not hard to un-stick them by applying more heat
(Monokote is worse for this, if you stick two adhesive sides together
it usually will pull the color and adhesive off one of the sides when
you try to pull them apart). But it's an annoyance because it keeps
happening very often with Ultracote.

I also prefer Monokote's peel-off plastic backing to Ultracote's paper
backing. The paper backing isn't stuck on at all, so it falls off
and allows you to get dust and dirt on the adhesive while you're
trying to measure and cut it.

I would say that it took almost twice as long to apply the Ultracote
as the Monokote, and I'm less satisfied with the results.

Another small item is that Monokote has a higher gloss finish than
Ultracote.

I think I'll be going back to Monokote for most of my covering. I will
continue to use Ultracote for trim since it doesn't shrink much until
you get it real hot and it out-gasses less.

Dave Hughes

    So, is anyone still using Ultracote??
    
    I have a number of rolls that I bought years ago for $3/each at
    a hobby shop that was going out of business.  The last time I busted up
    the Drifter wing, I recovered it with Ultracote and it came out OK, but
    needed some re-shrinking now and then..
    
    This time when I rebuilt the wing, I again covered it..  This time with
    white ultracote..  The job came out OK...  I wasn't real happy with the
    job, but it came out OK..  
    
    So, yesterday, after flying at lunch, I left the wing in the back of my
    car...   After work, I come out and find that the Ultracote had
    basically unshrunk.  It was sagging generally a mess.
    
    I tried to reshrink it last night, and although it is better, it is
    still pretty ugly.  So, what did I do wrong??  Or did the covering 
    lose some of its shrink after being stored in a cool, dark closet for 
    4 years?
    
    I have 4-5 more rolls of this stuff...  Anyone want to buy them for 
    $3 each?? (to fund a roll of monocote white??)
    
    thanks,
    jeff
    

    I have been having some covering shrinkage problems this year. First a
    roll of tr yellow monocoat that wouldn't shrink, then a roll of
    something that I don't have the label for but has waxed paper as the
    backing that wouldn't stick, I then went to the hobby shop last
    saturday for a roll of white for my latest GL fuselage and ended up
    with Sig Supercoat. This stuff wasn't too bad but it is low temp and
    after a week of lunchtime flying, it needed to have the bubbles shrunk
    back out of it last night. I don't know which "coat" the waxed paper
    backed stuff was but it wouldn't even stick to itself.

    The old Ultraecote has a waxed paper backing to it.  
    
    Lately have have been extremely happy with Super-coverite...  If I
    didn't use a power pod (and thus have to worry about glow-glop) it
    would be an alternative.
    
    Oh, another data point for yesterday was that the Spirit wing was
    right next to the Drifter wing...  No sags..
    
    So, either Dan does that much better job at covering than I do (which 
    isn't entirely false...  he did do a nice job), or it is something to
    do with the materials/application of them.
    
    thanks,
    jeff
    

    I use BlackBaron and never have had a problem. Always seems to stay 
    stuck where you put it , and have no noticed any sagging .
    
    Regards ,
    
    Bob D.

    Jeff,
    	I'll buy any white Ultracote that you want to part with.  I like
    the stuff much better than Monocote.  Send me mail if you still want to
    sell it.
    
    Charlie