Current state of the art for covering

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THend
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Current state of the art for covering

Post by THend »

Well, the Purple Growler went out in the trash today. That Mako served me well, but finally sustained enough damage to send it to the dump.[:X]

So, I have some Makos on the build table, and figured I'd ask what the latest covering technology is for the Open B class.

My last batch of planes were covered with RSN applied with WBP. Just wondering what is popular or working great these days.

TH[:D]
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o1moregil
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Post by o1moregil »

Terry I have covered 3 of my Makos with red packing tape from fastpacks.com and 3m spray , weight is less them 3 lbs (40lbs blue foam, hs81mgs, and norvels), I covered my 4th mako with neon green RSN (this is my 1st ever with RSN and it came out very nice), the 4th Mako is almost done just waiting on a .25fx to mount.

Since im running bladders on these beast's I am having problems with the packing tape in the bladder secction, I need to look for a better way of fuel proofing this area, I have had a cupple bladders pop and ruin my covering. Yes I know there just combat planes, but they need to look good 2[8D][:D]

I think Gary from Livermore is also using paking tape on his Makos
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boiler
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Post by boiler »

If you are happy with the cost and time to put on RSN, I would suggest you stay with it. I started with it but found colored packing tape to be cheaper, lighter, and faster. It is not as durable.
THend
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Post by THend »

Thanks for the info...

RSN seems to be standing the test of time...

th
TheKid
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Post by TheKid »

So heres my thought...
We used RSN for a looooooonnnnnnggggg time. And while it was very s* * * *y, it was difficult to fix.

We switched to tape a few years ago and i can not stop raving about the difference. With tape, we have had on multiple occasions when a plane breaks and we can just tape it up at the feild, instead of taking it home to patch it.

Most guys use tape, but i guess its all about what you're comfortable with.
ZenManiac
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Post by ZenManiac »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by o1moregil</i>
<br />Terry I have covered 3 of my Makos with red packing tape from fastpacks.com and 3m spray<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
<font size="2">I used to use the FastPacks tape, but had some problems with poor sticking (especially on EPP, and particularly the yellow tape), even with Super 77. Now I swear by Scotch 373 tape. It's thicker and stickier than the FastPacks tape.

Just my $0.02.</font id="size2">
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o1moregil
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Post by o1moregil »

[/quote]
Now I swear by Scotch 373 tape. It's thicker and stickier than the FastPacks tape.

Just my $0.02.[/size=2]
[/quote]

yes there is a big diffrence in the adhisive of the scoth brand vs. fastpacks, I covered a wing with the brown colored one, and I did like how it stuck to the foam, I didn't like the color though[xx(],

Dave are you getting the scotch tape in diffrent colors?
ZenManiac
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Post by ZenManiac »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by o1moregil</i>
<br />Dave are you getting the scotch tape in diffrent colors?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
<font size="2">Gil,

According to the 3M site http://products3.3m.com/catalog/us/en00 ... utput_html, here are the colors: Available in clear, tan, white, red, yellow, green, blue, and orange. Nice colors, and they're much less translucent than the FastPack tapes.
Image

I did a bunch of Google searches about a year ago to find distributors, but couldn't find any that would sell single rolls retail. Finally found Grainger Industrial Supply http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/wwg/start.shtml. My local Grainger distributor would sell me individual rolls because I work for the State of WI, and they're a customer (I didn't have to show an ID, just a credit card). The Scotch cost a couple of bucks more per roll than the FastPack tapes, but worth it to me.

I wonder if you could special order through OfficeMax or Office Depot or Office SomethingOrOther? They don't stock it, but maybe they can get it. Or maybe if there's enough interest, one of the combat kit guys could order in quantity and sell individual rolls.

I'll bet 3M doesn't make it just to stock their warehouse...someone must be selling it. [;)]

Hope this helps!

[sorry about the width of the message, due to the length of the links above]</font id="size2">
sgilkey
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Post by sgilkey »

wow, I knew we had an issue on the Calendar posts since we all have to misspell Saterday and look like illiterates, to avoid the dreaded "terd" astericks (speaking of illiterate, what actually IS the plural of asterix), now we have to spell s* * * *y "sterdy"??? Thankfully we can still type "nerdy" normally when referring to Roid or others....
sgilkey
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Post by sgilkey »

ps the coolest RSN i ever saw was the self-adhesive stuff Terry Harner sent me. That stuff was GREAT! Still flying the two planes we covered with it in 2004?!?!
THend
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Post by THend »

Trust me, I still have some, but it has become "unobtanium" and it waits for scale birds to be built. Of course, it would help if I was building scale birds!
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boiler
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Post by boiler »

Get the bugs out of the scale rules Terry. I hate building two different planes for two classes. Take it easy on a Geezer. I'm starting on 3 2548 zeros tomorrow. Hope to have them done for a November and a December meet. I need to patch a couple of 2610 planes for next season but would gladly switch to a 48 inch plane if the rules changed in 2610. If they don't , I will repair the Kates. I also plan on future P-39 and maybe a return to a new fleet of P-40 planes. I scrapped the experimental over weight and tail heavy ones after the NATS.
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Post by montague »

Fwiw, I happen to think that Uline brand tape actually sticks better than the 3M stuff, which is why I get all my tape from them. You have to buy a case of tape at a time though. Still, I find that I go through it over time, so it's worth it to me.
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