Colored Silkspan

I happen to be a fan of "see-through" wings covered in colored silkspan or silk. I have been using SIG PLY SPAN colored tissue. It works well, but it is flimsy. Some of my models have holes punched in the tissue: often from just over-active scrubbing the exhaust goo with 409.

I really need a source for heavier-weight colored silkspan, similar to SGM. Any ideas?

Double covering could be the answer. I've done this for years.

I love colored silkspan and have the same problem! Does double covering lessen the clarity of the see through finish? Also, how does it effect the weight situation?

Silkspan can be dyed. There's been some talk about it already, on this board. Use the Search function.

My opinion of Sig Plyspan is that it is not flimsy at all. It is comparable to the medium wt white regular stuff from Sig, which should be ample.

Check FAI Model Supply for Aero Span and Lite Span. I understand they take some dope to fill, but if you fill with clear, that won't weigh much. They also have the dye (spray on) for Polyspan, and it is supposed to work well. Look in the "Starline" section of the website for both Polyspan and the dye.
http://www.faimodelsupply.com/FAI6-COVER.htm

Ed Ruane has this on his website...looks good, gives details, can be done with white silk, silkspan, Polyspan, your choice. The photos take awhile to load, but are worth the wait. This looks like the easy way to do it, to me. http://tblf.virtualave.net/Tips.htm
Steve

Sig has several weights of "plyspan" with different names. The plyspan I have been using is about the same weight as the old SGM silkspan. I had a handle hangup and flew my Darter (McCoy 19) straight in into hard-packed dry earth. The only damage was a tear in the plyspan on the botton of the outboard wing. On reparing the tear, I found the broken-off 9 x 5 APC blade buried into the spar. So Plyspan is not tough enough to stop a broken-off APC prop blade.

Jim. SIG catalog no longer lists "PLY SPAN". They have 3 different weights of "Japanese Tissue" in colors. I'm thinking this stuff may be too light for a C/L stunter. Again, my PLY SPAN tissue still on hand is not heavy enough.

>Jim. SIG catalog no longer lists "PLY SPAN". They have 3
>different weights of "Japanese Tissue" in colors. I'm
>thinking this stuff may be too light for a C/L stunter.
>Again, my PLY SPAN tissue still on hand is not heavy enough.
>
>Floyd

Floyd,

If you go to the Sig web site (www.sigmfg.com) and look under covering materials and then Japanese tissue, you will find that they list three products: Lite Flte, Medium Flite, and Super Flite. The descriptions for each are the same (poor web site), but they are all different stock numbers and prices. They are *all* called "Plyspan" in the description. The Lite Flite is a light weight japanese tissue product and is used for free flight. It's pretty good tissue too, used in their small FF kits. The Medium Flite is only availabe in white. The Super Flite is available in white, orange, red, and yellow. My best guess is that the Super Flight is a heavier product and might be good for CL use. The description "Ply Span" is useless--all the products are listed as "Japanese Tissue-Esaki Plyspan".

Hope this helps...

Andrew. Yes, that helps a lot. I am suspicious of any tissue called Japanese Tissue. But if the heavy stuff is really sturdy, I'll order some from SIG.

Thanks for the info..

Floyd,

I remember reading somewhere that heavy Japanese Tissue is about the same weight as light silkspan. This may or may not be true.
In either case remember that tissue should still be applied dry, no matter what the weight.
Perhaps two layers may also be appropriate.
Maybe a call to SIG or one of the other tissue suppliers might be worthwhile.
Good luck with it. Keep us posted.

The Super Plyspan covers beautifully wet, I have done it many times with no problem. It handles very much like silkspan wet. It is tissue like in that it does not seem to stretch out much as silkspan does when wet but rather actually shrinks. The only downside to plyspan tissue is that it fades rather badly in sunlight. The blue they used to offer was the worst - really beautiful deep blue when first applied then gradually turning to a sick drab greenish brown before dissapearing altogether. I always try to remember to turn my plyspan covered models over occassionaly while in bright sunlight so they get "done" evenly.

Dave

Dave. I have only used the SIG PLY SPAN in yellow, which does seem to fade but not that much. My main complaint is that is is easily puncured. Seems like I am constantly putting patches on the stuff.

I like the SGM silkspan, but it only comes in white. I will try to dye the SGM. My attempts using Rit dye have not been very good. I have mixed analine dye with clear dope and sprayed that, but it doesn't come out very transparent.

>Dave. I have only used the SIG PLY SPAN in yellow, which
>does seem to fade but not that much. My main complaint is
>that is is easily puncured. Seems like I am constantly
>putting patches on the stuff.
>
>I like the SGM silkspan, but it only comes in white. I will
>try to dye the SGM. My attempts using Rit dye have not been
>very good. I have mixed analine dye with clear dope and
>sprayed that, but it doesn't come out very transparent.
>
>Floyd Carter

Be careful with the analines as they are quite toxic (read that poisonous). Try the acrylic dye used for casting resins- works quite well and is compatible with every type dope I've tried it in. I got the tip from GMA.
Jap tissue is great stuff, main drawback is the need to cover open structures in several pieces if you have compound curves. Doped properly, it is quite strong enough for small models. I have used it (single cover) on models the size of a Jr. Ringmaster with no problems.
Double covering with either silkspan or Jap tissue will greatly increase the strength and puncture resistance.