Poor Solartex Application

[Andy J]

Have made a bit of a mess of the solartex covering the dowel leading edge of my 1/4 scale Tiger Moth as the application is far from neat or smooth. Is there any way I can fill or sand the worse areas before I apply the leading edge trim tape?

[Nigel R]

A picture is worth a thousand words here, I would say.

[Andy J]

[ken anderson.]

hello andy,

get the heat gun and iron fired up, I would have thought they would be able to sort it for you...if not(which I doubt) you'll have to remove the covering and start again.

ken anderson...ne..1 gun and iron dept.

[Andy J]

Ken

Just turned up the iron to 145C and the ripples are slowly going but it far from smooth.

[ken anderson.]

andy not too much heat...or you will destroy the covering...try the heat gun first..... you should see it improve as your going...then the iron.....

ken anderson...ne..1..too much heat dept.

[Mike T]

If that's silver Solartex, then a hot iron with sock (to prevent bruising) will seal the worst of those open edges on the wing tapes and probably most of the wrinkles. A hot air gun will pull out the rest, with a soft cloth (or the iron sock) in your other hand to smooth down and ensure adhesion.

(I don't like the silver 'tex tbh. If I'm doing 'silver' fabric now, I'll use natural or white 'tex and paint it.)

[Andy J]

I am using a sock on the iron but will give it a go with a hot air gun. Wish I had just gone for a nylon and dope now as the Solartex covering has not been a cheap solution.

[ken anderson.]

cheaper covering it in £20 notes.. ...tex will take a lot of abuse with the iron/gun...keep at it..

ken anderson...ne..1.abuse dept.

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

You probably only have your iron's word that it's at 145 degrees, You can adjust the temperature with some scrap covering to achieve the best shrinking temperature.

I'm afraid I'd have to disagree with Ken on this occasion though - it's very easy to overheat covering with a heat gun and while I do use one on occasions, an iron gives much more control.

Martin Harris...lu..2...sorry ken dept.

Edited By Martin Harris on 03/02/2020 17:52:39

[ken anderson.]

martin is correct either(gun or iron) will kill the tex if you go too daft...which i'm sure you wont(will you)..

ken anderson...ne...1 ...daft dept.

[Andy J]

Will get my kitchen digital temperature probe back in operation (battery flat) before I attempt to use my heat gun as it is designed to burn off paint rather than shrink covering.

[Andy J]

What temperature do you think I should go for when using a hot air gun? Solartex instructions state 130 -150C.

[fly boy3]

Hi Andy, could be a bit late, but if you google a utube video of Solarfilm by Dereck Hardman, you will be suprised at his work. The film is also about Solartex and covering built up and foam wings. Not a thermometer in sight lol. Cheers

[Andrew Calcutt]

Rip it off mate and do it again,that is a mess!

[Don Fry]

Don't use a paintbstipper gun. It does way more than the melt temperature of Solartex.

I see a huge amount of work in the wing.

But I can't see that covering shrinking onto it,

A suggestion, given you plan to use tape over the stitching, do the main panels, and then the tips. The join can be under a tape. Easier.

If you look at the literature, no one suggests a heat gun. No control of temperature ( shrink)

Edit, the main panels are expensive, but (relatively) easy. The tip is cheap, but ( relatively ) difficult. Hide the join under the tape.

2nd edit, read the instructions, when it goes on the wing, it looks like a fit that need a bit of a shrink, with a few cross grain wrinkles.

Edited By Don Fry on 03/02/2020 19:20:56

Edited By Don Fry on 03/02/2020 19:25:59

[paul d]

I agree with Andrew, strip it and start again. I've just covered a model with polyester silk ( from hobby craft) it's as cheap as chips, £2.50 buys you a metre length, 90cm wide. I applied it using covergrip, goes round double curvetures wonderfully, shrinks with a little heat and three coats of thinned dope seals it.

[extra slim]

Are you sure you didn’t get your rolls of solartex and duct tape mixed up??.. .. sorry mate, couldn’t resist..

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

You could make life much easier by deleting the tapes over the riblets - there weren't any to the best of my knowledge. They look rather over-wide to me as well although this could be an optical illusion due to the additional riblet tapes - I don't know the scale but on full size they are likely to be around 2 inches wide, which would translate to around a third of an inch [or @ 8 of those euro mm things] at 1/6 scale. Their function is to cover and reinforce the stitching round the ribs below.

When you do the main covering, you need to get the Solartex as tight as possible at the adhesion stage - there are limits to how much it shrinks.

If you do decide to start from scratch again, do be sure that you have sufficient Solartex - it's no longer made so conserve it as much as possible.

Edited By Martin Harris on 03/02/2020 22:52:47

[Andy J]

Semi fixed the issue using a combination of a heat gun and iron, so thanks to those who recommended this approach. Used a temperature of 150C which shrank the solartex back even in those areas where the covering had stuck to subsurface structure, so well pleased.

[ASH.]

LOL.. Sorry Andy but that is the worst covering job I've ever seen!

I can't understand how you managed to get it like that, I suspect either the surface was uneven or the first layer was not stuck down properly and subsequent layers added to the problem.

Glad you have managed to put it right. Show us some pics.

Ps. I have little patience with covering jobs and end up doing it multiple times.