ajreynolds

No worries, those of us who have been enlightened won't hold it against the old slimers set in their ways.    Thanks for the tips by the way.  I look forward to seeing the plans in about a month.  The "Special" issue with the Spitfire plans has just arrived here in the States.   Andy  

So, has anyone started on this one yet?  I'm still waiting for the issue to arrive here in the US.  I'm particularly interested in the electric conversions that have been mentioned.  Any suggestions on changes made to lighten up would be appreciated.   Andy  

I live in the USA and last year I subscribed to RCM&E.  At the time the annual subscription price was $60 US, about twice the price of most US magazines, but well worth it as the UK model magazines are much better.  My subscription ran out a couple of months ago and I found the annual price is now $99 US!  That's more than a 50% increase.  I'm sorry to say that I am not renewing my subscription and will only be picking up the occasional issue from the newsstand.  If the subscription price was brought back to a reasonable amount, I might consider subscribing again.   Andy  

I heard from Solarfilm today.  The sample I sent them to test wasn't up to their standards, so they are sending me a replacement roll.  I also heard from Bill Stevens at Stevens Aeromodel.  Based on the description of the problem, he is also sending me a replacement roll.  I didn't expect to get two replacements, but I won't complain.   Both companies have provided excellent, fast support.  I'm very pleased with both of them.  I suspect that when I receive my replacements, I'll find that I have no more problems.   Andy  

I tried the lacquer thinner.  As expected, it didn't help.  It did melt the adhesive off the back of the film though.   I can't find Prymol on the Stevens website, or anywhere else in the USA.  I've sent an email to Stevens asking if he carries it and I'm just not finding it.   Andy  

Well, one problem I have with having to use Prymol is that I have never had to use anything extra with other types of films to get good bonding to the frame and overlaps.  The other problem is that, after searching the web, I simply can't find a vendor here in the USA.  Maybe it's sold under a different name like AeroFilm.  From what I've read, Prymol contains toluene, which is flammable and toxic.  It's doubtful I would be able to have it shipped from England.  It would probably be much to expensive to ship one little can anyway.    I've got some lacquer thinner that contains toluene.  Maybe I'll try that tonight just to see if it makes a difference or if it simply melts through the film...   Andy  

I've also received confirmation from Solarfilm Ltd that Stevens sells authentic Solarfilm and that the lot number on the cardboard roll matches silver Solarfilm, so I do have the real thing.  Now I guess I just have to wait and see what they say when they test the sample I sent.   Andy  

I heard from Bill Stevens of Stevens Aeromodel this morning.  AeroFilm is Solarfilm.  Peter, perhaps you're thinking of AeroKote, which is by SIG.  In any case, he recommended roughing the film at the edge where I'm going to overlap with some 00 steel wool.  I tried that, but no joy.  Bill is going to try a sample today to see if it may be a bad batch.  I've also sent a sample to Solarfilm to test, but that will take several days to arrive in the mail.    I've searched, but can't find Prymol here in the USA.  Even if I could, I wouldn't want to spend the extra money unless I was sure it would fix the problem.   Andy  

Mine was not in a Solarfilm wrapper, but that doesn't prove anything.  Just like Coverite Microlite is So-Lite repackaged in a Coverite wrapper.  The vendor claims that the AeroFilm product is Solarfilm and the specs match Solarfilm's.  I'm waiting for confirmation from them about this.  I don't know of any other sources of Solarfilm in the USA.   I have no desire to give Solarfilm bad press, I was simply looking for some help with a problem I had.  I really like their So-Lite product, but was looking for something more opaque for this project.  I have been in contact with Solarfilm and will be sending them a sample this morning.  Hopefully that will turn up some information, whether it's my film that's defective or I am.   Andy  

I went back and tried again.  Took the hot sock off my iron so the scrap would sit directly on the iron.  At about 210F, the scrap wrinkled slowly, just like in the instructions and the video.  When I tried to stick it down at that temperature though, it peeled right back off of the balsa.  Trying to stick an overlap together is hopeless.   I like the weight savings of Solarfilm over other regular weight films, but if it's this hard to get a decent result, it's not worth the effort.    Andy  

I purchased the film back in March of this year, but there's no telling how long the vendor had it on the shelf of course.   I believe I have authentic Solarfilm.  I purchased it from Stevens AeroModel here in the USA.  They are a very reputable dealer.  They market it under their own name of AeroFILM, but the website says it is Solarfilm.  It didn't include an instruction sheet with it, but it did have a label saying "Made in England".   Andy  

Thanks for the responses.  I've tried the trick as shown in the instructions to get the temperature, but couldn't get it to work right.  As soon as I put the film on my iron, the edges curl a little bit and the rest of the square gets lifted off the surface of the iron.  Maybe I'll try again tonight, I'm pretty frustrated with it though.    As far as the Prymol, do you have to use it when doing overlaps?  I've never had to use anything extra to do overlaps with other brands of covering.    Tony, it's definitely not stuck.  Any tension at all peels it off of the other layer of film.  I'm sure it would pull apart even if I tried to shrink it.   Andy  

Greetings all.  I'm starting to cover a plane with silver SolarFilm for the first time, but am having problems with adhesion.  I've used So-Lite, Monokote, and Ultracote before, without any problems like this, but the Solarfilm just doesn't want to work.  The instructions say adhesion is around 210F and shrink is around 250F.  I found that I couldn't get it to stick to the balsa until I turned up to around 280F.  I haven't been able to find any temperature, low or high, that makes it stick well to itself at an overlap, it just pulls right off.  Yes, I did remove the backing...   Does anyone have any tips for using this?  I've posted on RC Groups, but without much response.  I figure since SolarFilm is a UK product and isn't used extensively here in the USA, I might have better luck posting over here on a UK site.   Any advise at all would be greatly appreciated.   Thanks, Andy  

Thanks Dave,   I'll have to consider a duct of some sort I think.  At our field here in San Diego, we can hit the 90's and above on a hot mid summer day.    Andy  

Greetings all,   I've been looking over the Beretta as a possible build and had a question.  From what I can see, there doesn't appear to be any provision for cooling of the battery and ESC.  These can heat up quite a bit with the current draw of an EDF, especially on a hot day.  Has anyone dealt with this issue?   Thanks, Andy