ARF Nobler fuselage covering

Just got one of the first ARF Noblers in New Zealand. One "slight" problem. The covering on one side of the fuselage is VERY wrinkled. Having had bad experiences with Monocote in the past I am not quite sure what to do about it. Any suggestions, before I rip it off and cover it with something else?

Lars

I had similar problem, Lars. I've replied to your email.

KenD

Lars,
If the monocote is not stuck to itself or hard creased, you can take a heat gun (or the wife's hair dryer) on medium heat and pull the wrinkles out. The manufacturing process was to stick down the monocote but not to shrink it tight. If you look at the building manual, it will direct you to reshrink the covering over the entire airframe befor the plane is flown. The monocote jobs I have seen on most ARF Noblers have been average at best.
I pulled my covering off and I am in the process of a silk and dope finish. The monocote does come off real easy. I do not believe there were to many spots where the monocote was completely bonded to the balsa wood.
I hope this helps

Lars,
Don't give up on the covering. I didn't like monocote at first and it was mainly from my lack of techique working with the stuff. 99% of my problems were from not getting the iron heat set at the right temp. It took a few planes to figure it out but once you have this behind you good covering jobs are easy with the stuff.

Thanks for your comments. I'll have a go again tonite. What's the max temp you can use?

Lars,
I don't have a temp gauge, just numbers on the dial. To calibrate my iron I originally took some scrap pieces and did experiments to see how hot it needed to be for a melt through. I like it as hot as I can get it without having a melt through. My first step is to tack the edges at lower heat just to get the covering placed (probably what they do to the Nobler arf). Then I turn the heat up and do the final and permanent edge tack and followup with the shrinking. Once you get the hang of it the frustration level drops about 100% and it becomes fun.

Bill

Thanks for your advice Bill. I have a temp gauge on my iron, I think I'll experiment a bit. I did check the Top Flite web site it didn't say that much about temps.

Lars, the data I have here (from my Coverite thermometer) say to
tack monokote at 215-240 F (101-116 C), medium shrink it at 230-270 (110-132), and maximum shrink it at 270-350 (132-176).
Kelvin