[marco2236]

I picked up my 3/4 oz glass cloth and resin for my project today from Hi-Flight, but the salesperson didnt know how I could cover the control surfaces since they are supposed to be covered with Mono-Kote to keep the ribbed look. He did mention using Coverite 21st Century Fabric, but I wasnt about to pay $20+ for a full roll when all I will need is about 2 Sq feet of the stuff.

Should I just use a film covering on the ailerons/flaps/rudder/elevators and paint them to match?

Any comments welcome, and if someone reading this has some of that Coverite, could I buy some off them?

[michel gravelle]

Hi Mark

You cann,t cover open bay area,s with fiberglass .

Youre best bet is what you are asking for , and that is to ask a fellow member for the small quanity that you need . You could also use Koveral , but you would have to set youreself up with the dope . Coverite is youre best solution

Michel

[Max]

Originally Posted by michel gravelle

Hi Mark

You cann,t cover open bay area,s with fiberglass .

Youre best best is what you are asking for ow and that is to ask a feloow member for the small quanity that you need . You could also use Koveral , but you would have to set youreself up with the dope . Coverite is youre best solution

Michel

I second that!

A fabric based iron-on covering is easy to put on and looks great. The best part is, it is easily painted, which is what you will have to do with the rest of the plane anyway.

Good luck (and show us pictures of your project!)

[etotheo]

Originally Posted by marco2236

I picked up my 3/4 oz glass cloth and resin for my project today from Hi-Flight, but the salesperson didnt know how I could cover the control surfaces since they are supposed to be covered with Mono-Kote to keep the ribbed look. He did mention using Coverite 21st Century Fabric, but I wasnt about to pay $20+ for a full roll when all I will need is about 2 Sq feet of the stuff.

Should I just use a film covering on the ailerons/flaps/rudder/elevators and paint them to match?

Any comments welcome, and if someone reading this has some of that Coverite, could I buy some off them?

I'm in the exact same predicament with my H-1 Racer. Need the rear control surfaces to have the classic cloth look with the ribs showing (starved horse).

Not sure what construction type your control surfaces are, but mine are solid 1/8" balsa. So I'm going to try the glass route with a Varithane water-based product instead of epoxy. Not sure if it will come out lighter or not. Maybe I will try the some epoxy laminating resin...

If it doesn't turn out the way I wanted I'll scrap it. There was a fellow modeler that saw my build thread here in RCCanada that's based in the same city that nicely offered a small piece of the Coverite fabric iron-on stuff. So I may still go that route. Good luck with yours.

[marco2236]

thanks for the input everyone!

Another way I could go about it is to "plank" all the surfaces then glass, but this would take the "starved horse"() look away!

[etotheo]

Originally Posted by marco2236

thanks for the input everyone!

Another way I could go about it is to "plank" all the surfaces then glass, but this would take the "starved horse"() look away!

I think you could still achieve the starved horse look if you plank. Just use narrower planks (what ever the width is between ribs) with a strip of 1/8" (you decide) balsa 'flipped' on it's end so it's protruding above the other planking. Then sand to shape. This should imitate the ribs...

[marco2236]

Thats kinda what I was thinking!! thanks etotheo

[Guest]

If you plank it, Then all you have to do is sand a valley between the ribs. Its not as hard as it sounds. I used to do this to plastic models for more realism and they didnt have any ribs at all. Should be easy with a larger model that does have ribs.

Trev

[hifly2104]

I remember a Gee Bee from Spirit of Yesteryear (Henry Haffka Plans) that used that method on the tail surfaces wasn't to hard to do and looked like open ribs.

[Guest]

My personal opinion is, if you want the look of open structure with fabric, spend the 20 bucks and cover them with coverall (actually, I recommend solartex, coverall is crap IMO).
20 Bux doesn't go very far in this day and age, but using a specific product for it's intended purpose is worth the money. It will be lighter in the end than planking and glass the surfaces will be, it will look better as the fabric will look natural and have the weave in it. It will be 10X faster, and it will be easier to do.
Just my 2 cents