vintage covering options advice please

[alex nicol]

I'm considering a vintage control line project from my youth namely a KK Spectre, powered by a PAW 19

Back in the day it'd have been covered with a mix of lightweight and heavyweight tissue which would be doped on to the airframe using a 50/50 mix of dope and cellulose thinners and given a further coats of 100% dope, are these products still available and what would be best to use for a fuel proofer.( Diesel fuel)

My Building skills are OK reasonably competent building from plan. That said I've generally used oracover/profilm type coverings and haven't touched dope/thinners/tissue for over 45 years

[ken anderson.]

hello Alex, yes the dope and tissue are still available.a couple of months ago I decided to build a model and to keep it same as it was designed I used dope and tissue.the dope I got from Slec,and the tissue came from rapid radio control.the smell of the dope brought back memories from the 1960's for me.

ken anderson..ne..1..dope and tissue dept.

[leccyflyer]

Nice choice Alex - my pal built the Spectre back in the days that we were trying out control line -also with a PAW engine. At the time we thought it was gigantic, but when I got a plan pack many years later I was surprised by how small the Spectre is. That orange and black scheme on the KK boxart is a must and Ken's rendition there is a classic.

[David Davis]

Light weight tissue is available in several coloursfrom Sussex Model Centre here: **LINK**

SMC also stock dopes: **LINK**

Mike Woodhouse of Free Flight Supplies also stocks tissue and dope: **LINK**

Apparently quite a few people these days use tissue over mylar or doculam which makes the tissue much more puncture proof but I've never used it myself. As for fuel proofer, since you'll be using a diesel, polyeurathane varnish should work as should any commercially available fuel proofer.

[alex nicol]

Gents,

Thanks for your responses, it sounds as if it's all pretty much as it was now as it was back then. I'll stick some pics up when it gets off the ground.

Leccyflyer,

Your size comment made me smile, I had exactly the same perception of the Spectre being massive back then, mind you I'd swear mars bars were a lot bigger then too.

Cheers

Alex

[John Lee]

Retromodeller is another good source.

[Pete Collins]

I built a Spectre back in the day - also with a paw 19 and what did i cover it with? Metallic green Monokote! Plastic covering has been around for a lot longer than some people think.

[Bob Cotsford]

Posted by Pete Collins on 12/09/2020 10:16:41:

I built a Spectre back in the day - also with a paw 19 and what did i cover it with? Metallic green Monokote! Plastic covering has been around for a lot longer than some people think.

Mid to late '60s was when I discovered that covering a combat wing with the new Solarfilm and powering it with a diesel lead to a very wrinkly finish! Before and after that one I covered my C/L models with lightweight nylon rather than tissue on open structure wings as they bounced better that way

[leccyflyer]

Likewise, I covered my control liners with doped coloured mylon, which gave a very robust bag to carry the bits home in, on my pushbike.

[PatMc]

Tissue over doculam (AKA laminating film) is tear proof as film & can be as light as doped tissue. The tissue can be applied with either dope or water based clear varnish, if dope is used it will need fewer coats than tissue alone. Lightweight tissue would be strong enough for the Spectre.

Edited By PatMc on 12/09/2020 14:42:21

[paul d]

As your using a diesel ( good on you, its all I use)then regular cellulose dope is fuel proof as is enamel paint.

[J D 8]

Just give the engine bay a coating of epoxy for protection in those hard to get to spots. A clean down with soapy water after the flying session for the rest.