Try-n-glide
Active member
LOL....we'll call it a "happy little accident" a la Bob Ross
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.Having some problems with the seams pulling when shrinking the trans red.
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
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.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.
Does the trim seal only work with Monokote? I've read that Monokote isn't as good as it used to be.
I definitely recommend getting all the covering in place before shrinking - that will help along your spar seam there a lot.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.