Low-heat coverings

I'd like to have opinions about the quality of low heat coverings like Econokote and Towerkote versus Monokote. Are the low-heat types okay for covering balsa? They sure cost a lot less than Monokote, and if they work okay I could save a lot of money.

What say you all?

Regards,

OK, this isn't a control line plane, but it is covered with Econocote, worked real nice, but... I have another airplane covered with the same stuff, from the exact same rolls, and the color on the blue and red is seperating from the clear mylar(small areas). I don't know if it is an issue with heat or what, but I haven't had any problem on this plane. I wanted to see how cheap/quick/light I could build an airplane after sticking my last flyable plane into the ground. This is based rather loosely on a GP apprentice, with a fully symmetrical 18% thick wing and a .40fp (best engine I've ever owned, it's been on everything from my first rc trainer, to a SIG Mustang control line plane). I've since changed the prop to an apc 11X5 and it is a very noticeable improvement over the MA 11X5.

Ok, enough of that, I'll try to get a good close up picture of the seperation I'm talking about tonight or Saturday sometimes, but on theis plane, the second plane I've use the econocote on, I've had no problems whatsoever.

I have Black Baron film on the wings of my ringmaster, and it has been covered since about 1988, it's starting to come loose on one of the wings, I think the Black Baron film is cheaper too, but there dosn't seem to be a big selection of colors.

Just as an ad-on, after reading Al Rabes stuff in another discussion about dihedral and cl planes, I'm thinking of building another one of these for c/l. The plane has 557 sq. inches of wing, and weighs 3.5 pounds with radio gear, I was afraid of building a low wing cl plane, but Al's doing it semi scale, so now I'm convinced it will work.

One gadget that helps a lot in doing any iron-ons is the Coverite thermometer. Little bi-metal wheel that sits on the shoe of the iron. And it comes with a list of the common coverings and the best temps to use with them. I have found that controlling the heat is key to good covering jobs. Done at the right temp, Econokote and the like work nicely. Although I have seen the color seperation Austin mentions, too, it hasn't been a big problem.

Just use up the 'ROLLS' in your stock and keep the heat gun and iron handy. Yea, Black Baron sages after some time so does Econocoat. Last plane had four colors--top,bottom of wing different and the fuselage and tail were all different--USING up the parts and pieces in the Ol' covering box stock--flew just great!!!
Dave S.

My Super Clown is covered entirely with Towercote. It has lasted two seasons and is starting to show a lot of wear and tear. I too am suffering with the seperation of the clear and color coat at the edges, primarily at the edges around the engine mounts. I have also found oil soak points, probably due to my lack of covering skills more than the sepage by the covering. So far my main problems have been with adhesion at the edges and I think if done properly this would not be an issue. I'll continue to use the cheap stuff on my sport planes.

as for oil soak, I have my own solution, but it doubles the time it takes to cover. I run a 1/2' strip on the LE and TE of all surfacce and around the tips, before covering, that way, all seams have a good overlap. I also do the same thing anywhere there is a 90 deg. angle, like where the body meets the wing, on one plane I used clear PVA/silicone glue, where the body meets the wing and used a wet finger to smear most of it off, just a little fillet right at the seam. Worked good and didn't add any weight, ok maybe a little, but not enough to care about. I've heard of running thin ca into the seams to seal them, but I made a mess just trying it, I've also heard of clear fingernail polish but have never tried it. After I'm done, I go over the seams with the iron real hot and press it down with a sock on my other hand.

Opinion: Best "low heat" covering is Polyspan.

I have used the cheaper kinds a lot since I like stuff to be cheap. They are nowhere near as good, though. They tear up more when you crash, and I think they do not add as much strength to the plane as monokote or that high priced baron stuff, which can be important on a ship originally designed for tight dope. And they melt too easily and then it gets all over your iron. Plus these products don't usually have the monokote smell which I have smelled for long enough now that it's almost as nostalgic as stinking dope. Also they do not look as deeply shiny as monokote, unless they have changed their formulas lately. But I have never had any real problem with the cheaper coverings, since I accept their inferiority in exchange for the lower cost.

Thanks, you guys. I know enough now to make an informed choice.

They're OK over bare foam (U-Key?). I wouldn't use them over open bays except on 1/2-As or smaller stunters (such as the Akromaster). Solarfilm is way better, though, for these applications.

I use them on Combat tails.

We seem to continually hear about new coverings, and they are always compared to MonoKote. As in cheaper. Lighter. Easier to use. Low heat, can be used over foam. Yadda, yadda, yadda...

My advice is first that of all the films, MonoKote is demonstrably the best. Not cheap. But it is the best. Old models covered in MonoKote still look good. Or if they don't can (generally) be brought back to a reasonable presentation with little more than a good cleaning.

My second piece of advice--and this has served me quite well over the years--is to give the other guys lots of opportunity to do your testing for you when it comes to new-and-improved covering films. Okay, we all do this to a certain extent and with a wide range of products. The trick with film is to let the test period be just about two years in duration.

So far, two-year-old models which are covered in film which is not MonoKote pretty much bite. From separation of the layers, to horrible sagging, to the UltraCoat (sic?) disadvantage, seeing the laps begin to pull apart, there seems to be no end to the problems. And they only rarely show up within a couple months.

Look, there are things I don't like about MonoKote. But when I hear Mary solving a fuel seepage problem with a 1/2"-wide strip around the perimeters of parts, and I NEVER see fuel seapage even with 1/8" or narrower MonoKote laps, I'll stick with a product that has never failed to deliver as promised.

Hmmm interesting. Several years ago on rec.models.rc, everyone was raving about Oracover (sold under a different name in the US) and how much better it was than Moneycoat. Never tried it myself, so I can't comment. Just as expensive as Moneycoat, so I didn't have any incentive to try it. Haven't built anything with a balsa wing in a long time, so no Moneycoat, either, except for a tail or two. Last foray into RC was gliders, and I used Micafilm for those, which I liked (very tough, no punctures), though it was relatively difficult to apply without wrinkles.

Yeah, I think Oracover is Ultracote, but I won't swear to it..

I've been covering using a Monokote iron, but since mine runs at 120V and electricity here is 240 volts, and I don't want to break out the transformer all the time, I bought a cheap lightweight clothes iron. I use a piece of flannel on the shoe to keep it from scratching the covering (I used socks on the Monokote iron). So far, I've just been covering Combat wings using laminating film, though, no pretty covering jobs.

While I don't think he intended to do so, Iskandar proved my point, and that is to wait a couple years to see if any new films, or merely old films released under a new name, actually work out in the long run.

Although not on the internet, I have over the years been made painfully aware of all the new and old/new films out there. One simply cannot fly any RC at all--and for a few years I flew quite a lot of it--without hearing glowing reports of the latest and greatest film covering material.

It gets worse. In at least two cases which I still vividly recall, I heard RC modelers--don't get the wrong idea, they could just as easily have been CL folk--tell me how much better Quadruple-X film was than MonoKote or even that Triple-X stuff they used to prefer even if it had some minor shortcomings but was really cheap and they hadn't been able to buy it for a year or so anyway.

At the time I had better and more current contacts in the hobby industry. It was known, without doubt, in both instances which took place several years apart, that the "superior" Quad-X film was EXACTLY the same stuff as the cheap even if slightly inferior Trip-X film. Same supplier. Same film composition. Same specs all the way through.

Different label. Different marketing. Different pricing. And yet these yahoos were ecstatic.

Go figure...

(No further details will be supplied. Things told to me in all confidence stay that way.)

I mention all of this merely to reinforce my previously given advice: At this time MonoKote is clearly the best covering film out there, especially for a Stunt model which can generally be expected to live long enough to appreciate the nature of MonoKote finishes.

There may well be a film superior to MonoKote coming to a hobby shop near you. But it won't be less than two years or so before we know how well this new film actually holds up.

Micafilm. What a terrific material, even if a little demanding as to technique and application. (Uh, "application" as in where and how it is used, not applying it to a model.) Every single one of my serious Stunt models, ranging from OTS to Classic to PA, have large panels of Micafilm incorporated, primarily over open bays. This stuff is tough, it is light, it is transparent, it looks cool. Even if one gets very tired of answering the "What's that?" "Is that silk?" "Is that dyed silkspan?" questions which follow these models all around the NW.

During my own RC Sailplane days, amongst other models I built and flew all three sizes of the Airtronics Sagitta: Sagitta 600, Sagitta 900 and even the limited-production, 14.5-foot span Sagitta XC (cross-country). All had the flying surfaces covered in transparent red Micafilm, the ubiquitous white (painted) fuselage. Beautiful models, although I sold both the 600 and the XC, deeming the 900 the best all-around glider of the three.

With CL models, I am less than dazzled by the all-blue ARF Nobler, but Will Reeb has shown us how treating the surfaces with bright yellow changes the entire character of the model.

Thus, a challenge: I think it would be possible, using a suitable template cut from poster board, to cut panels of MonoKote from the open bays on the ARF's wings, probably making the cutouts on the structure, say a 1/4" border around the bays.

Experience with my two ARF Flite Streaks indicates that the factory is not slamming the MonoKote home. So one could apply a coat or two of Balsarite to the exposed wood, don't forget the ribs, when dry slip a new panel of transparent yellow Micafilm underneath existing MonoKote. With all positioned one need only iron MonoKote to Micafilm--a 1/8" lap is all that is required, although 1/4" might be easier to manage--shrink the Micafilm, fiddle a bit with the MonoKote.

Instantly a spiffed-up ARF Nobler. Without removing all the factory-applied film and starting over.

At this time MonoKote is clearly the best covering film out there,

I don't really dispute this, I am just suggesting that when applied properly, the cheap stuff can be quite good. Some of us are happy with Fords, we can't all have an Aston Martin.

Moved text to different note.

I tried a few rolls of the tower cheapo stuff and the hobbyshack (now hobbypeople) cheapo stuff. It just didn't hold up compared to monocote or ultracote.

About the Oracover and Ultracote. I used both and they appeared to be identical. I couldn't tell a bit of difference in looks, feel, application or other properties. I think they are more user friendly in the shrinking dept than monocote but they don't have all the colors and my local HS doesn't carry anything but monocoat. I've had several planes go past 10 yrs of flying without covering issues on both brands.
Bill P.

Solarfilm is reasonably fuelproof, Ekonocote (Econokote?) and Tower film (which I bet are the exact same thing) I don't know. There was some alternative to Solarfilm I bought back in the 70s that wasn't fuelproof, and the instructions said to paint some polyurethane over the seams. Can't remember what it was called.

But I agree, for most things, Moneykote is better. Other things would include bare foam wings, such as what us Combat fliers build. For that, though, there are cheaper (and better, though Howard might beg to disagree) options than Solarfilm, such as laminating film, SLC covering, FasCal, etc., even if they are colorless. My usual method (for the big planes, not 1/2-As) was to cover the entire wing in giftwrap or florist's tissue, using wallpaper paste and white glue, then put laminating film over it. Made for a very stiff wing that never warps in a hot car, and lots of colors to choose from. Also practically impossible to dewarp if you get it wrong, though.

Just out of curiosity, who's tried Ultracote/Oracover, and if there is anything particularly wrong with it, what is wrong with it? It's not cheap by any means. What makes it worse than Monokote?

One point to be made, Ultracote/Oracover are the same product.

I really like Monocote the best, but Ultracote is easier to work around wing tips. Monocote has better colors, and the colors are brighter than Ultracote.

Monokote is the only iron on that will hold a set for years. I use it on free flights to establish washin or washout. The other stuff is too rubbery. If you catch the sales you can get it at a comparable price to the cheap stuff not on sale. After thirty years of using monokote I have built up quite a collection of scraps of various colors. The latest Super Clown has about 8 different colors, all Monokote.

John in the PRC

With a few models I have seen--all RC pieces--that were covered in Ultracoat (sic?) the seams (sometimes) begin to pull apart in, surprise, about a year or two.

While not a universal problem, I have seen it often enough to not be interested in switching from MonoKote. And, like a lot of things, it could be builder error, leaving the model(s) in cars or vans for extended periods of time, etc.

Still, all of us here in the NW owe the importer of U/C a big thanks. Because Nils Norling used black--yes, BLACK!--U/C on his Shark a couple years ago. That sucker would arrive at contests all pristine and cool looking. But plop it down in the sun and it would instantly get all saggy and crumpled and ugly.

"Low heat" has implications far beyond just being able to use any given film over foam.

>I think it's sold as Oracover in Europe, and due to some
>sort of business reason (Dan would know much more about this
>than I would, I presume) it's sold in the US as Ultracote. I
>think it's made in Europe, and was first sold there. I
>remember coming across some in a Paris hobby store (1997 or
>so, IIRC), where they had long rolls of it on a rack and
>were selling it by the metre (i.e. meter ).

Oracover is a german product, it was origionally imported by Hobby Lobby via Graupner and sold as Oracover by that firm.
An arrangement was made by Carl Goldberg Models to sell oracover in this country and I guess for some leagal or other reason the name was changed to ultracote. It is now imported by Horizon hobbies and frankly I like it, Like all products there is a learning curve, but not much is required for this product.it is just as durable as monokote and goes on a little easier but is in no way a cheap low temp film. It is a quality product and I've had planes covered with it for years and still look good. As an aside where else can you get checkerboard in Red/White Black/White Yellow/Black available in either 1/2 or 1 inch squares. And if you really want to impress your fellow flyer show up with one covered in Carbon fibre or cf/kevlar film. The gang will either think your rich or really high zoot. Now if they would only get the polka dot patterns that they have been promising for a few years. Dennis

I went looking for the carbon and kevlar patterned Ultracote/Oracover and found this page:

http://www.hobby-lobby.com/oracover.htm

Interesting. I guess it IS now a low-temp film. Though not cheap, of course. Couldn't find the colors, though. Oh wait, I found them:

http://horizon.hobbyshopnow.com/services/advanceresultsDetail.asp?display=pictures&strProd=ULTRACOTE&strSearchType=ALL&strInCategory=APC&strInManufacturer=ALL&PageNum=5&strSortBy=ProdNumAsc

And yeah, there are polka dots! And 2 inch squares, and 3 inch squares, and... good grief..

Incidentally, the debate rages on:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=78206
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&threadm=bmngup%24dq0i%241%40news3.infoave.net&rnum=4&prev=/groups%3Fq%3Dultracote%2Bmonokote%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8%26scoring%3Dd%26selm%3Dbmngup%2524dq0i%25241%2540news3.infoave.net%26rnum%3D4

How many of these low-temp films are actually Solarfilm?

Solarfilm (or its aliases) varies a lot in weight, depending on color. Red is a lot lighter than white, and the fluorescent colors are really heavy.

I use Ultra coat and Monocoat on all my aircraft.I have no problems with either.I have a AT-6 that is 9 years old covered with monocoat and a little bipe that is about the same age covered in Ultracoat.Ultracoat is not a new product.I have had great luck with both products .I think Monocoat has a more glossy finish but dont fly a plane covered with it in the cold.Anything we fly in the winter is covered in Ultracoat.Monocoat shatters in about -5deg celcius.The snow crystals of skis on take of well damage wing covering and when someone opens a flight box and the lid flips and hits there wing it makes a bad sound and the wing stars like shattered glass(looks real neat!)Ultacoat is not really effected by the freezing temps.Just my frozen version on the Monocoat verses Ulracoat,Its a Tie .There both winners in my book.

Towerkote and Econocote don't really feel very much like Solarfilm, at least to me. Solarfilm "feels" a little thinner and less resilient or rubbery, somehow. I'd not be surprised at all if Towercote and Econokote are the same thing, though.