Five Momme Silk and a Little Silkspan

Gang --

Today is covering day, and it has been 35 years since I last covered a ship. I am not uncomfortable with the silk on the wings, but there may be some things I have forgotten. My big, strong, handsome wife will be handling the other end of the silk. Any last minute tips?

Covering the (profile) fuselage with silkspan is a little harder. Where is the best place for seams? Overlap a little or butt them?

I prefer butt joints, but that is just a preference. If you overlap, I would suggest lightly sanding the edge of the first layer of silkspan to mask the "hard" edge at the overlap point. Just like you feather the top layer to blend it in.

Perhaps someone else knows a better way.

Since you mentioned 5 momme silk, I assume you may have gotten it from Thai silks", how is it? I've been thinking of ordering some for an OTS ship. Nothing like a translucent silk finish!

George Bain

George --

Yeah, I got it from Thai silks, but I have since found a couple of other sources that have about the same offerings. Don't have a clue as to how it will work, as it looks like I won't get it on today. Looking at the silk through a magnifier, it looks quite uniform and clean.

The nice thing is I wasn't sure if I wanted 8 momme or 5 momme, so I bought a couple of yards of both. My big, strong, handsome wife promised to make me a shirt and maybe even a pair of underwear out of the 8 momme.

I didn't get the pun at first. "Thai" silks? Silk Ties? Get it? You gotta love those people!

By the way, don't tell Leonard we are using silk. He's agin it.

If you are going to paint over the silkspan, there is something to be said for tearing the edges rather than cutting them, as overlaps are much easier to sand down. If you want to butt-joint then put the silkspan down dry and just stick it down around the edges. When the dope is thoroughly dry then watershrink the silkspan and when dry, dope it down. That will give you a smoother finish than doping id down directly. Silk goes around corners much easier than silkspan. I usually use silkspan on the flat parts of the fuselage and silk on the curved parts.