[scratchman]

I have built several scale models in the last 3 years but since I have only just earned my wings none of them have flown.
I took the latest one to our clubs last meeting for a show and tell and one of the members advised me that because I had covered with fabric (solartex) I would experience a lot of difficulty cleaning up after a flight.
He advised me to spray the fabric with urethane. I have a problem with that because I am finding that small wrinkles appear and if the surface is covered with urethane I cannot iron them out because it bubbles and sticks to the iron.
Is there a product available to solve this problem of protecting the covering from fuel yet still leaving it possible to get rid of wrinkles?

Thanks, Brian

[Noin]

I am a little confused. Solartex is an iron covering correct? Have you added any paint at all or is it just the covering colors used to make the color pattern for your plane? If I am thinking of the right stuff, Solartex is a fabric type of iron on precolored. I have not heard of anyone having to coat it afterwards for clean up purposes. I have heard of people painting designs and scale details over it for asthetic purposes but not because it is hard to clean up after. What do the instructions that come with the covering say? I have a dope and fabric plane that the weave of the fabric is still slightly visible and I do not have any trouble cleaning it. Since Solartex is design to mimic a fabric covered plane then i would think it does not need to be top coated with anything.

[nony]

I think someone was being overly concerned about a problem that doesn't exist. I have a few fabric covered planes and they are no different to clean that ultracote covered ones.....

[Concordefan]

I dont know why somebody would want to put any type of paint/coating on fabric covering!, forget the part of cleaning but it will incerase the whole dry weight of the model itself and this would lose good performance in the air!, it will always fly on heavy side and in case of dead stick it will decent more rapidly then aircraft covered with fabric but without any paint/coating on it...Like Noin said there is no need to put paint or coating over the precolored fabrics, as for cleaning it, that soulden't be any problem as wayne mentioned....

What area's of you model have been coated over?, i hope its not whole model!!..

Cheers
Sammy

[Ken Currell]

Originally Posted by scratchman

........
I have a problem with that because I am finding that small wrinkles appear and if the surface is covered with urethane I cannot iron them out because it bubbles and sticks to the iron.

Is there a product available to solve this problem of protecting the covering from fuel yet still leaving it possible to get rid of wrinkles?

Thanks, Brian

The covering is already fuel proof. Since it seems that you haven't put any paint on it you don't have a problem.

To make life easier for yourself get an exhaust delector to try and direct the exhaust away from the aircraft. It will reduce the amount of oil you have to clean off the plane.

Cheers

[scratchman]

Once again, thanks for the responses.
Solartex is an English product, prepainted and ready to stick from heat applied either by iron or heat gun, I have found that ironing is by far the best.
I have not coated any of the aircraft I have built, I experimented on scrap material sprayed with urethane.
I think I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that I know nothing about the workings of this program, so may I ask, how does one contact any particular person who responds to a posting of a new topic?

Brian

[Ken Currell]

Hi Brian

If you want to respond to someone privately click on the button marked PM below the message. To respond with a PM you must enter a subject.

If you want to respond so that all can see what you have to say then click on the button marked Post Reply. To respond to a post you don't need to enter a subject.

When the window opens up you will see a host of Buttons that allow you to do different things to the text.

To the left side you will see the Emoticons :P :P

If you wish to add photos they must not be any larger than 150 k.

You can add them by clicking on the box marked Add an attachment.

There is also a button marked SPELLCHECK which will help with catching typos. On my machine the SPELLCHECK sometimes makes thing worse so I always check to see what my message actually looks like after I post it.

You can always correct your errors by clicking on the EDIT button.

Hope this helps you.

[jake_027]

I'm not familiar with Solartex, but I did cover my Smith Miniplane with 21st Century iron on covering (prefinished - no need to paint) and I noticed some staining from the oil residue that came from the muffler. I was never able to completely clean it off even using alcohol. This in part was more noticeable because the covering was white, however, i never had that problem with monokote covered planes.

[Vulcan1]

Brian,
I agree with the guys on this about not using urethane on your covering. For cleaning I also mix up some dishwashing soap in a spray bottle. Spray it down and don't be chinsy and wipe it off with paper towel. Most guys have there favorite solution but I find this is just as cheap. Use a roll of (soft) paper towel and it won't scratch the finish.
For another tip about getting residue on your covering iron you can go to Wallymart and pick up a couple of pairs of kids socks(white) and use it for covering the iron. Cotton are the best as anything with a blend will also melt and stick to it. For cleaning the iron I use paint thinner on paper towel.
Hope some of this helps.
John

[cf-drg]

I only use Solar/worldtex for my aircraft (all scale ones) I love it because it will go around corners better than most of the others and the fact you can paint it..... "BUT" it will get dirty (if its not painted or sealed) and it is a bit harder to clean than the others... If you clean it right after every flight it will be fine but if you leave it dirty and let the muck dry on there with the oil... It is tough stuff to clean..... The dirt gets into the weave ( more of a deeper weave than coverite) and just doesn't want to come out...
As far as taking the wrinckles out, I use a heat gun for that so there's no problem with burning the paint....