Ozcover?

Have any of you used Ozcover? How did you attach it? what paint sticks to it? is it heat shrinkable? How welldoes it go on compound curves? Heavy? How did you like it?

I've not used it on an airplane yet, but did try some samples. It sticks down with heat. (Be sure the dull side is down!) I buffed the surface a little with 0000 steel wool and cleaned it with acetone. Both Rustoleum and Lustrecoat stuck very well. The film itself is very thin so the weight from the film will be minimal. The paint will add more weight than the film. I did not try compound curves, but it should work much like Monokote.
Steve
The older I get, the better I used to fly!

>I've not used it on an airplane yet, but did try some
>samples. It sticks down with heat. (Be sure the dull side
>is down!) I buffed the surface a little with 0000 steel
>wool and cleaned it with acetone. Both Rustoleum and
>Lustrecoat stuck very well. The film itself is very thin so
>the weight from the film will be minimal. The paint will
>add more weight than the film. I did not try compound
>curves, but it should work much like Monokote.
>Steve
>The older I get, the better I used to fly!

It's "pre-glued"? I don't need some sort of brush on heat activated glue?

It has its own adhesive applied when you get it. Check this website for more info.

http://www.saturnhobbies.net/

Steve
The older I get, the better I used to fly!

Sorry about the bad picture. This is covered with Ozcover and Brodak dope. Ozcover comes in three weight grades, this is in light. This model was first row at Brodak's a few years ago. Ozcover goes around compound curves easily and seals down well. Just be sure to use a heata gun and Monokote mit to seal it down well to all balsa surfaces.

My absolute favorite covering. Prep your wood, if it is contest grade, with a couple of coats of nitrate to stiffen the wood. Polycrylic would be better. Iron it on. Scuff it with 600 sandpaper, lightly. Paint it with whatever. I've used Butyrate and auto enamel with equally great success. I used medium and I'm getting ready to order another couple of rolls. Very light and very strong stuff. Easy to work with.

I used Ozcover on my Sportster, and in a few places on my upcoming Hughes H-1, and really like it. I did not prep the wood, other than sanding.

There are a few tricks I picked up from John Grigsby about covering that will really help with iron-on coverings. We first applied the Ozcover with an iron with a sock. The most important thing seems to be to take your time and go slowly. When first applying, only do all the edge surfaces; such as leading edge, trailing edge, spar, and tips. Ozcover will stretch and go around tips very nicely. Once the entire wing, fuse, etc is covered, shrink it with a heat gun. At this stage we will leave the plane outside in the sun a few hours at a time and let it "bake" for a few days. This heating and cooling of the covering will virtually eliminate the wrinkles which often appear later on. Now do a final all overall shrinking with the heat gun and use the iron to tack down any areas that may have come up.

Ozcover is designed to be painted and doesn't need to be scuffed before painting. It is ready to paint as is, and doesn't need any primer either. I use rattle can primer only on any seams and the fillets, to help fill them in. Ozcover is THE best iron-on material I've used for covering sheeted areas. It covers very easily without getting all the air bubbles normally associated with iron-on coverings.

Hi Steve,

I read that OzCover needs to be at least cleaned with thinner or acetone before painting and that it does need a primer. Has this changed?

BTW: The Saito 40 venturies are terrific, tell Doug thanks and a big thanks to you also..

I don't know if this is a similar material or not. It is called SEAL-LAMIN. After 30 years away from the hobby, I've just recently started building again. I used to have a fleet of Combat Cats. I removed 3 of them from the attic and the material was still drum tight and the brushed on, doped trim was still sticking OK. This box of Seal-Lamin was also in the attic and appears to work fine. It has glue on one side that is heat activated and I work is with the same Iron and heat gun as for Money Coat. It has no backing and as you put it on and the glue activates it turns clear. I find that the iron works best at a very high setting, just short of the balsa charring, YMMV. I did a google search for this stuff and it is still made but there is a wide disparity in price. I am waiting to see the guy that used to do laminating for me when I had my graphics business. I'm sure he can find the best price. Below are some pictures of it being used to cover a small profile with a Demon wing. I wonder if Ozcover is the same thing only repackaged. Any price info on Ozcover that can be shared?

LAST EDITED ON Apr-09-04 AT 06:16 PM (CDT)
 
Don't know. OzCover comes in a much wider roll than the box shown. It, too, has no backing. It looks milky until heated, and is then crystal clear. I've always wondered why the combat crown never really seemed to pick up on it.

As far as painting goes, I understand the new stuff doesn't need any prep, but the stuff I had was about four years old and the manufacturer did recommend acetone before painting. Others told me to scuff and I had wonderful results with 600 sandpaper (lightly), a coat of auto spray can primer, 600 sandpaper, and paint.

LAST EDITED ON Apr-09-04 AT 06:24 PM (CDT)
 
This stuff should be wiped with acetone before painting, not so much to prepare the surface as to prevent "fish eye" etc. from finger prints andoil etc. I tried lightly scuffing it once and as soon as the 600 grit made contact with a rib it split and let go big time. SEAL-LAMIN comes in wider sizes. When I got this roll it filled my needs for the combat cats. This roll is 11 1/8 inch wide.

This sounds a lot like what John Thompson and most of the NW Combat guys use, but called "FasCal" by John, who sells it. I think I've seen some guys put a bit of paint trim on it, after using fine steel wool or Scotchbrite to scuff. The story is that its intended use is covering menu's for restaurants. There used to be an importer of Saturn Hobbies R~C kits and OzCover in the Everett, WA area, but the website doesn't work, at least not tonight. I looked at the weights for the three grades, the lightest was the only one that seemed reasonable to me, and then if you didn't paint it. Club member Mike Potter covered a profile carrier model with it, then painted it with epoxy or polyurethane, for fuel resistance. He said dope was not one of the paints recommended (too brittle, we figured). Steve