About 2 months ago, I was gifted an original Gentle Lady sailplane, from an estate that was donated to our club. Thing was in fairly nice condition, but I noticed that there were some splits in the covering over the vertical stabilizer, and what looked like some possible damage on one side of the elevator. I tried to take a better peek at the insides, and the stabilizer started moving around.
I decided I was going to just take the old orange covering that was originally applied, and upon doing so, discovered that the split was actually caused where the vertical stabilizer had broken (clean break, easily repairable, just a spot of glue to hold it together and fix it), and the damage to the elevator was a break from a crash that the previous owner had repaired, somewhat poorly.
I ended up stripping off all of the orange from the elevator and stabilizer, and trying to re-cover everything.
My father had bought a box of covering a while back at an RC swap meet - $25 for a box full of covering, and in it, there was a roll of stuff called Toughlon. It was relatively the same orange as what had been on the plane before; he offered the roll to me to cover the plane, with the best of intentions.
Well, as we know, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Toughlon is a covering film with a VERY low adhesion temperature. Its range is anywhere from 136 degrees Fahrenheit to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. The irons I have range anywhere from 115 F to 450 F, and tended to run hot at the lower temps, reading at 140 F on the lowest setting. Because of this, it didn't want to stick properly at the lower temps. Upping the temp got it to stick, but as soon as I'd try to get it to shrink with a heat gun application or even the iron, it would peel up at the edges.
I went back to some of the older guys in my club who have been building and flying for many years, and they instantly told me, "Don't use that stuff. Most of it is old garbage. Try Ultracote."
A roll of Ultracote at the local hobby shop set me back $18, but it was WELL worth it. I was able to find almost the exact same color as the original orange, and the Ultracote had a much wider range for application and shrinking than the Toughlon stuff did. I was able to put the coating on with no problems, and it stayed stuck.
Lessons I learned:
1) Cheap/free isn't necessarily the best way to go.
2) Old covering is usually not a good thing to try to use. It might be worth it to spend the money and buy a new roll from the hobby store instead of trying to use someone else's rejects when it comes to consumables like covering, as there's probably a good reason why they didn't want it!
3) When in doubt, ask the guys who have been building this stuff for forever. Odds are they've learned techniques or have used the good stuff, so you don't have to slog through the garbage and suffer. Most are willing to help you!
I decided I was going to just take the old orange covering that was originally applied, and upon doing so, discovered that the split was actually caused where the vertical stabilizer had broken (clean break, easily repairable, just a spot of glue to hold it together and fix it), and the damage to the elevator was a break from a crash that the previous owner had repaired, somewhat poorly.
I ended up stripping off all of the orange from the elevator and stabilizer, and trying to re-cover everything.
My father had bought a box of covering a while back at an RC swap meet - $25 for a box full of covering, and in it, there was a roll of stuff called Toughlon. It was relatively the same orange as what had been on the plane before; he offered the roll to me to cover the plane, with the best of intentions.
Well, as we know, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Toughlon is a covering film with a VERY low adhesion temperature. Its range is anywhere from 136 degrees Fahrenheit to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. The irons I have range anywhere from 115 F to 450 F, and tended to run hot at the lower temps, reading at 140 F on the lowest setting. Because of this, it didn't want to stick properly at the lower temps. Upping the temp got it to stick, but as soon as I'd try to get it to shrink with a heat gun application or even the iron, it would peel up at the edges.
I went back to some of the older guys in my club who have been building and flying for many years, and they instantly told me, "Don't use that stuff. Most of it is old garbage. Try Ultracote."
A roll of Ultracote at the local hobby shop set me back $18, but it was WELL worth it. I was able to find almost the exact same color as the original orange, and the Ultracote had a much wider range for application and shrinking than the Toughlon stuff did. I was able to put the coating on with no problems, and it stayed stuck.
Lessons I learned:
1) Cheap/free isn't necessarily the best way to go.
2) Old covering is usually not a good thing to try to use. It might be worth it to spend the money and buy a new roll from the hobby store instead of trying to use someone else's rejects when it comes to consumables like covering, as there's probably a good reason why they didn't want it!
3) When in doubt, ask the guys who have been building this stuff for forever. Odds are they've learned techniques or have used the good stuff, so you don't have to slog through the garbage and suffer. Most are willing to help you!
