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Post by Junior on Nov 11, 2005 4:19:03 GMT -7
Hey all,
A quick intro for ya...
I am Junior. I came to this site a while back and I recognized a few names from F-lines. Because I respected those names, I chose this site for my posting. I am a fairly new pilot. While I've been into the hobby for about 4 yrs, I have only built and flown one plane. A tower hobbies .40 trainer. It had a good life, and may once again fly some day. I've been working on my second plane, a 4*40 for about 2 1/2 yrs.
That leads me right into my problem. I LOVE to build the framework of planes, but I really hate the application of the skin and the final assembly processes. This may be because I find it tedious, or it may be because if I finnish it up, it would then be ready to fly. This is when I'd find out that I REALLY SCREWED UP something big time and I'd have to bring it home in pieces.... I'm not sure what the real answer is, soooo.... That leads me in to my question....
How do I convince my 'better half' (read that "wife, master and all knowing") to apply the skin for me??
Any thoughts on this would be great.
Good on ya
Junior
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Post by Britbrat on Nov 11, 2005 6:08:19 GMT -7
Oh boy!!! Junior, yer in deep do-do. That would mean having yer favorite Dragon in constant & close proximity to yer assets -- she would know how many birds you have & probably how much you are spending on them.  This is a bad thing.  Unless she's a flier, models & wives should be kept separate -- like church & state (a really good analogy), elstwise there will be sure-fire interference & regulation.  Do it yourself -- it's a matter of survival.  |
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Post by Grug - American Neanderthal on Nov 11, 2005 13:03:09 GMT -7
Heheh, I have a hard enough time convincing mine to cook for me...even if she is cooking for herself anyway.  So I am unqualified to give advice on persuading the better halves. I do know that the more practice you have in covering the easier it gets, and that is the annoying thing with a lot of stuff, it takes practice to get good at doing what you dont care to do so its easy and gets done quicker. There is always ARFs, but whats the fun in that. |
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Post by Patch on Nov 11, 2005 16:20:14 GMT -7
I absolutely hate covering too. Don't count on the wife doing it for you. read, read, and read on covering. Then have a few drinks and do it. Let's post some covering tips here folks. When coming to wing tips, I slit the covering about every 2 mil and overlap it. The good thing about a covering job is that if you fly it into the sun, you can hardly notice.
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Post by ctdahle on Nov 12, 2005 17:24:19 GMT -7
My covering jobs got better and faster once I quit trying to cover whole panels and surfaces with single pieces of covering. Now I use lots of pieces and lots of colors.
One of the things that has really made covering easier for me is that I bought a large self healing Fiskars cutting mat and a steel yardstick for a straight edge.
I make a point of covering all the little fiddly places first, the ends of the control surfaces, the tips of the wing and stab.
Resist the temptation to "wrap" covering around the ailerons, the wing, the stab. Cut up seperate pieces for everything.
Make sure that wherever you make a color change there is structure underneath, a rib, a spar.
Start covering from the rear of the airplane and make sure that all lap joints face aft so that air and oil don't seep under the edges.
When you are all done covering, carefully and gently wipe the plane down with acetone, being sure to wipe AWAY from all seams. A surprising amount of adhesive seeps out of the seams and gets gummed up all over the plane. A wipedown with Acetone then really shines things up.
Get a roll of 3M clear packing tape and overlay the wingtips and underside of the outermost rib bays. There is not a lot of structure in the tips of a four star and if you drag a tip, you'll almost certainly tear a hole in the covering otherwise. For that matter, flying from a rocky field, I found that the wing continually gets torn up from gravel kicked up by the wheels. A layer of packing tape in line with the wheels will go on my next one. (on the otherhand, the underside of my first fourstar ended up looking like it had been used for shotgunnery practice, but the holes didn't much affect flight performance.)
After I finish, I give new planes a couple of coats of turtlewax. Makes 'em real purty.
As for getting your wife to cover them for you, I have no suggestions.
I build in the garage, but the last time I had a plane to cover, I sent my wife and the little ones to her mom's for the day. I need lots of space, so I use the dining room table to lay out the cutting mat and do all the cutting. I cover sitting on the livingroom floor. Working over the carpet makes it easier to avoid dinging and damaging the model.
A final tip. Completely finish all mechanical aspects of the plane before you cover. Install the radio, engine, fuel tank and lines, control horns, landing gear, pushrods, everthing so that if you mis route a pushrod, or put a screwdriver through the elevator, you can repair the damage before you cover.
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