Dope before kote??? (That rhymes.)

Friends,
OK I promise that this will be my last question on monokote. This is just my first attempt at it and I want to get it right the first time. I have searched ssw and found a few dead links that might have had some info. I did find John Millers doc. Very good. But I did not find the answer to my question with the search. Here is my question.

Should I put a coat of clear thinned dope around the joints and engine mount for a little extra protection? Should some fuel seep in over time.
Or will the dope cause problems with kote?
Sorry for all the simple questions.

Thanks
Paul

LAST EDITED ON Aug-11-04 AT 12:15 PM (CDT)
 
>Friends,
>OK I promise that this will be my last question on monokote.
>This is just my first attempt at it and I want to get it
>right the first time. I have searched ssw and found a few
>dead links that might have had some info. I did find John
>Millers doc. Very good. But I did not find the answer to my
>question with the search. Here is my question.
>
>Should I put a coat of clear thinned dope around the joints
>and engine mount for a little extra protection? Should some
>fuel seep in over time.
>Or will the dope cause problems with kote?
>Sorry for all the simple questions.
>
>Thanks
>Paul
>
>I am a retread, - I did C/L in my youth and did not know
>what I was doing then other then having fun. And not much
>has changed.

Ron B.
F4Fguy

Paul:

As they say,"your results may vary",but my experience is that you'll get better protection,better adhesion,and much less gassing off under the heat of application,with Balsarite(original formula). One coat,knock off the "boogers" with 280-320 open coat paper,and start ironing. Just remember;it's as true for film as it is for dope;the final finish is only as good as the woodwork underneath.

This is what I do or have done. I use *kote on the flying surfaces and paint the fuse (Lusterkote and or Rustoleum). To seal the engine cutout I paint a coat of thinned 5 min. epoxy. You can thin it with denatured alcohol and use a displosable brush. I think it's a pain to *kote the inside of the motor area and its note seen anyway. If you like you can paint it black (or any color) before you epoxy seal it. Then *kote the rest of the fuse. Its been my experience that *kote will stick to dope and epoxy with no problems. Others may have different opinions. Hope this helps. Good luck.

I add fuel-proofing with slow-drying epoxy. Two coats.

First coat, sanded where appropriate and prior to finishing in MonoKote.

MonoKote down I will apply second coat of slow-drying epoxy, slight overlap to film.

I see no point in, nor an advantage to, sealing with dope.

Also see little reason to apply film to nose of profile models, assuming that is style of model you are finishing.

Paul,

I like to brush on at least one coat of dope over any structure that I plan on covering with MonoKote. It isn't much more work, it might help avoid fuel soaking, and it hasn't caused any covering problems that I can see. It seems to harden up the surface a little and may help minimize the hanger rash....

Just did the Babyclown that way, doping all of the wood in the wing, then sanding again before covering. The only problem I had was I started with the iron set too high. The film goes on easier and look A LOT BETTER if you use a low temperature. I'm blamin' it all on the daim bramage from the dope fumes....

Good luck with the 'Ray!