Willy Nillies Sport 250 - build along

[Try-n-glide]

LOL....we'll call it a "happy little accident" a la Bob Ross

 

[Willy Nillies]

You guys crack me up! Good day for a laugh. Lord knows I've made plenty o mistakes!

Sincerely,
Doug (and Becky<-She don't make as many mistakes as me, that I know of! )
WillyNillies.com

 

[Try-n-glide]

Some more progress today. Having some problems with the seams pulling when shrinking the trans red. Need to brush up on my covering skills, but generally the covering Willy Nillies sells on the site seems to be good quality and easy to work with.

Based on the progress rate of the plane, and the possible length of our nationwide Coronacation I may end up needing to build another plane.

 

[Willy Nillies]

Oh Boy that is going to look nice!

RockyBoy is the covering seam expert. He posted in one of his threads how he does it. I can't remember which one it is???

Sincerely
Doug and Becky
WIllyNillies.com

 

[Try-n-glide]

Oh I forgot - any of you guys build your own canopy for your 250 series? I was considering just building a solid balsa hump, or the other option maybe is I have a role of clear laminating film, maybe build a frame and laminate it.

 

[Willy Nillies]

The balsa one included in the kit turns out pretty nice if you are so inclined....

Some builders have been using a Sig MFG 5" bubble canopy and 5" canopy from Park Flyer Plastics. We plan to offer bubble canopies eventually once we get some extra time.

Sincerely,
Doug and Becky
WillyNillies.com

 

[TooJung2Die]

Having some problems with the seams pulling when shrinking the trans red.

You're not the only one. There seems to be a trend. I had the same problem using transparent Hobby King film and the metallic translucent SolarFilm. I never have slipping seams when covering with opaque colors. Increase the overlap and keep the heat away from the seam when shrinking works for me.

 

[Try-n-glide]

The balsa one included in the kit turns out pretty nice if you are so inclined....

Some builders have been using a Sig MFG 5" bubble canopy and 5" canopy from Park Flyer Plastics. We plan to offer bubble canopies eventually once we get some extra time.

Sincerely,
Doug and Becky
WillyNillies.com

Ahh!! For some reason I thought those were wing tip extensions for tapered tips. I see how it works now.

 

[rockyboy]

The other thing that helps if your seams are pulling apart is if you can find that nasty smelling "Monokote trim seal" bottle - that is the foulest smelling liquid ever, but if you lay out the covering pieces on glass (or similar surface) so there is about 1/4-3/8" overlap and then run a cotton swab of that stuff in between the seam it will become a permanent bond. Then pick up your new multi-color piece of covering and apply as normal.

I did a pretty decent walk through of this technique and some other covering tricks in my All Star & Barnstormer Biplane threads I think

https://forum.flitetest.com/index.php?threads/ace-all-star-biplane.60170/
https://forum.flitetest.com/index.php?threads/willy-nillies-barnstormer-biplane.60873

I also did a podcast episode with FreeFall RC where we talked a lot about covering techniques too

Let me know if you have questions - happy to help!

 

[TooJung2Die]

Does the trim seal only work with Monokote? I've read that Monokote isn't as good as it used to be.

 

[Turbojoe]

Just my covering effort when I fear "pull off". I always cover well into the next area and iron the initial color down to a rib or the connecting area. Sometimes I'm lucky. Sometimes I'm not. It all depends on the temp and covering I use....

Joe

 

[Born2bwire]

You're not the only one. There seems to be a trend. I had the same problem using transparent Hobby King film and the metallic translucent SolarFilm. I never have slipping seams when covering with opaque colors. Increase the overlap and keep the heat away from the seam when shrinking works for me.

My recollection is that all of these lightweight coverings require lower temps than regular Monokote and Ultracote. Parklite starts shrinking at 280F compared to 300F for Ultracote. The very lightweight coatings are even lower, AeroFilm was 250F. The shrinkage is controlled by the temperature. If you shrink at 300F, and you later need to shrink out new wrinkles you'll have to go to 320F. At some point you'll run out of shrinkage. If you start too high, it'll pull away to a large degree.

 

[chris398mx]

My recollection is that all of these lightweight coverings require lower temps than regular Monokote and Ultracote. Parklite starts shrinking at 280F compared to 300F for Ultracote. The very lightweight coatings are even lower, AeroFilm was 250F. The shrinkage is controlled by the temperature. If you shrink at 300F, and you later need to shrink out new wrinkles you'll have to go to 320F. At some point you'll run out of shrinkage. If you start too high, it'll pull away to a large degree.

Good to know .... going to try my had a covering a Willy Nillies Hummer 250 for the first time in almost 30 years.

 

[rockyboy]

Does the trim seal only work with Monokote? I've read that Monokote isn't as good as it used to be.

Trim seal has worked on all the coverings I've tried so far, including the lightweight ones. But if you can get away with designing the seams to be over balsa pieces and don't shrink too hot/long that's a lot easier (and less smelly)

 

[Willy Nillies]

If you have access to a temp gauge it helps alot.

Our covering

• Adhesion to wood begins at 284 to 302 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Shrinkage onset begins at 320 to 356 degrees Fahrenheit.

Sincerely,
Doug and Becky
WillyNillies.com

 

[Try-n-glide]

Thanks Doug. My iron must run hot. Set it at 250. I’m going to adjust my technique. Here you can see I just skimmed by without pulling away when I shrunk it. I really need to keep away from the joint when I shrink. Luckily the wing is the only area I have to worry about this.

perhaps I should have laid down the white and red both, then shrunk the whole thing at once? The white on top of the joint may help stabilize it overall.

 

[TooJung2Die]

That's the same results I see when using transparent. Whenever possible, I leave the film excess overhang until after the film has been shrunk then trim the excess. Sometimes it's easier to pull out a stubborn wrinkle than shrink it out. Leaving excess allows you to do that. Unfortunately when doing two or more colors you can't leave any excess where the films overlap.

 

[rockyboy]

Thanks Doug. My iron must run hot. Set it at 250. I’m going to adjust my technique. Here you can see I just skimmed by without pulling away when I shrunk it. I really need to keep away from the joint when I shrink. Luckily the wing is the only area I have to worry about this.
View attachment 162403
perhaps I should have laid down the white and red both, then shrunk the whole thing at once? The white on top of the joint may help stabilize it overall.

I definitely recommend getting all the covering in place before shrinking - that will help along your spar seam there a lot.

 

[Try-n-glide]

Wing covering getting close!

Unplanned excursions to add custom decals to the tail (shameless idea theft from Rockyboy), and an engine cowl. If this thing is fast on 3s imagine how fast it will be with a picture of a lightning bolt.

 

[Willy Nillies]

Looks Great!!! Yes, they are very fast on 3S with the throttle firewalled!

Sincerely,
Doug and Becky
WillyNillies.com