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Surfing around the web I came across some info talking about covering models with laminating film!

A few of the smaller model guys are using some stuff called "Doculam". This comes on rolls of 250 feet! For like £25 That works out at £1 for 10 feet!!

It has adhesive on one side, it heat shrinks, it takes paint (including water-based acrylics for us electric bods) it is available in gloss and matt finishes and it comes in different thicknesses.

Here is an Amazon USA link offering a 500ft roll of 35micron thickness 27" wide for $54. The issue seems to be it seems to be difficult to find in the UK though. But having said that I think Doculam is just a trade name? It is a PET based plastic film with adhesive on it - maybe a different brand is available here in the UK?

It could be a very cost effective alternative for us? Any thought, ideas or experiences?

BEB

Edited By Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 02/07/2016 00:23:21

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I've used Mylar and Melinex on c/l combat models (but cant remember the thickness, maybe 20 - 25 mic*) stuck on with pva, balsaloc or evo-stick.

It can be bought from places that sell packaging products - common use is the tear-top of plastic sandwich cartons etc.

One thing to remember, if you do cover with this stuff, you have to have a structure that's capable of taking the immense stress of shrinkage of even the thinnest stuff...... it makes nylon / dope covered structures seem 'floppy'.

Minor puncture resistance is good though once punctured it reacts like any other film.

It can also be tissue and doped or painted though you need to tape sheets down to a board and give em a wipe over with 800grit.

*FF glider guys use it at about 10 - 15 mic

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I've used 75mic laminating film on my P2k glider wing. It stiffened the wing and cured an uncontrollable rolling tendency at speed.

I found it easy to apply but it does not shrink with heat and does not go around compound shapes like wingtips. I had to make slits in the film to cover the curled up tips on the P2K.

Great stuff on foam, but I doubt if you could use it on an open structure.

Got mine on Fleabay and still have 300 feet left. laugh

Edited By ron evans on 02/07/2016 09:40:52

Edited By ron evans on 02/07/2016 09:41:41

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Here's something I posted recently on another forum :

I have two or three vintage models in the building pipeline that I'd like to tissue cover. A few months back I used a redundant tailplane as a test piece to try tissue over laminating film. I think the film is around 35microns, it was bought from an Ebay seller who doesn't seem to be on there anymore.
To maintain a harmonious home life I decided to try an odour free alternative to dope. As I happened to have some Rustins acrylic floor coating left over from a DIY job I tried it with the results as shown below - not perfect but not bad either for a first try of a new technique.

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The film was applied like Solarfilm etc except that it will stand higher temps than SF. I applied the tissue in four half span panels bottom pair first. The dampened tissue was draped in place then a coat of Rustins brushed on whilst it was still damp. A second coat of Rustins finished it off & the elevator was hinged using Blenderm.
SWMBO still complained that there was a smell from the "odour free" Rustins so as the tin is at least a decade or so old with little left in it I've bought some of Wilco's Quick Dry clear satin varnish which I'll probably be used on the first real thing when it's ready.

A couple of points: the mis-match in tissue colour on the elevator is because I was using up some old tissue, some of which had faded in sunlight. The tailplane had originaly been covered with Solarfilm & there was no significant difference in weight with the new covering. The other tailplane is the replacement for the test piece, it's flat plate & as can be seen a bit smaller.

At the time of purchase there didn't seem to be any lower weight matte film but I want to use tissue over it to get a near authentic vintage look anyway. I haven't tried applying any paint but I'm told that it will still take OK.

The former RM thermal glider columnist, George Stringwell, has written several descriptions of his tissue over film techniques using this film online. You can find loads of info in the Vintage section of RCG where George's username is "Sundancer". George is very skillful in his methods & the finish & decor of his models is always superb. He has at least one scale WW1 model that doesn't use tissue with the finish is direcly painted on the film.

Worth having a search through the RCG vintage section & Googling "tissue over film" to find other vintage model on line build blogs etc.

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Hi PatMac, nice job on the wing, you seem to have got the film drum tight before tissue covering, how did it go around the wingtips.

I've seen George Stringwells' models up close and the covering is a work of art. I think he uses mylar film without adhesive backing.

Laminating film doesn't normally shrink with heat, I would think it would make a mess of a piece A4 going through heated rollers if it did.

I've used Wilco water based poly with glass over foam and it works well but not tried it on tissue. Must try it next time.

Edited By ron evans on 02/07/2016 12:03:43

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Hi Ron, mylar film won't stick without an adhesive. I covered my KK Chief with tissue over mylar using thinned Evostick as the adhesive (the old formula stuff that's no longer available thanks to the glue sniffers).
George definitely now uses laminating film which does have heat activated adhesive. He's posted as much in RCG, in fact he was/is offering for sale lengths of the surplus he holds. Originaly he probably used plain mylar sourced from Mike Woodhouse [freeflight supplies.co.uk] but I don't think he's used it since discovering laminating film.

The film does shrink when heat is applied though not as much as most of the covering films we're used to but it can take much higher temps with no ill effects. It has greater shrinkage than Litespan & Fibafilm is also tougher & more puncture resistant than the former. Perhaps in the intended use the applied heat is only enough to activate the adhesive with little or no shrinkage taking place.

I cut and overlapped the film in a few places when covering the top of the tips but the film's so thin it's virtually invisible & after it's tissue covered it is invisible. When sufficient heat to activate the adhesive is applied the film sticks to itself better than any covering film that I've used but is completely non-tacky when cool.

Actually I may have overestimated the thickness of my film, I think this 27 micron gloss film is what I got but this 27 micron matt is what I'd have bought had it been available at the time.

Edited By PatMc on 02/07/2016 21:29:53

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img_0895.jpgThanks for the info PatMc, most interesting. Although the 75mic film I've used was fine for the job in hand, it might be a bit thick for a built up structure.

The biggest problem is the amount you have to buy, I've given lots away to clubmates and still have over 300 feet left. Perhaps we should set up a laminating film exchange to swap different thicknesses.

A coincidence you mentioning Fibafilm, as today I had to patch a tear in the covering ( hanger rash ) on my favorite electric hack. It's over 15 years old and the Fibafilm has held the light structure together well, and it still looks ok, despite once spending a week stuck up a tree after a flyaway frown

Edited By ron evans on 02/07/2016 22:26:37

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  • 1 year later...

Hello PatMc,

Many thanks for the inspiration regarding laminating film for covering. I managed to find some BOSS matt 24 micron laminating film which works a dream. Very easy to apply, and no problems around corners, and shrinks very well. I got 660 feet by a foot wide for just on £30 including postage. I havn't tried painting it yet, but will try your idea of tissue and floor sealer. The Boss number for the varnish is FSM 120. Also available in gloss. I have just bought 2.5 litres of Screwfix water based varnish for £20. Hope this works OK, but decided to try it as a couple of people have been using it to varnish art products. Thanks again for the posting.

Malcolm.

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Hi,

I recovered one model with this - an open structure wing - a Webbit. That was straight forward and a sucess, but I never tried painting it etc. The covering is still in place and fine, but TBH I haven't flown the model a lot so its not seen heavy use. The second go was another model where the open fuslage covering went well - but the wing warped when I tried to tighten the covering - I found it quiet tricky to control that process as well as I can with conventional film.

Overall I have a fairly positive view of it - and will try it again I'm sure - but I found there is a bit of a learning curve, like everything in our hobby I suspect!

BEB

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