GrahamWh Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 (edited) Hello all, I have just bought a Peter Rake 36" DR1 Belair kit from Slec, and am having a bit of trouble deciding on what to cover it with. I have still not decided on a colour scheme, and suppose that a tissue covering would allow me to decide and paint it later. I have covered models in tissue before, but only smaller ones. Would tissue be okay with this 36" model, expected to need 150w to pull it and with an AUW of over possibly approaching 2Lb? What is the largest size of model that is safe with tissue? Thanks guys. DR-1 Fokker Triplane - Small electric scale range (belairdigital.co.uk) Edited January 21 by GrahamWh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outrunner Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 I would cover in laminating film then cover in tissue. Should be even lighter than doped tissue as there is no need to put lots of dope on to seal the tissue. I cover over the film with tissue using thinned water based varnish. Unlike tissue alone it's virtually puncture proof. I built a Peter Rake 36" Currie Wot years ago before I discovered laminating film. I covered the model in Solite film. I stupidly sold it. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 There used to be, and might still be, heavy weight Models Span tissue. With the dope I doubt it is any lighter than a film and ordinary weight tissue. It is strong and dues to its coarser texture gives a nearer scale surface texture. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Davis 2 Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 I agree with the advice proffered above, cover the model in doculam first then apply tissue over the top. This will produce a covering which will be very hard to puncture. As for model size, once I get a few repairs and "projects" out of the way, I'm thinking of building a Junior 60 and covering that in film and coloured tissue. The Junior 60 was my first successful r/c model so I have a sentimental attachment to the design. It has a 63" wingspan. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeQ Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 (edited) Hi i would definitely recommend tissue over some form of mylar. Never used doculam but i have seen club mates larger models, like Junior 60, covered in doculam and tissue. Very smart. One thing though, I had the impression it might be a bit on the thick or heavy side for 36”? Not sure what the other guys think? 10micron mylar from Freeflight supplies (Mike Woodhouse) might be a better choice? I’d use Non shrinking or 20% max shrinking dope. I would also stick to the light grades of tissue too. Unfortunately lightweight Jap Esaki tisssue isn’t availabke anymore although Woodhouse may have sourced an alternative by now? One of the big advantages of tissue over film (mylar or doculam) is that the tissue doesn’t go brittle after a few years. cheers mike PS. Do a search for printing camo schemes on tissue on google and Youtube. A lot of the scale Freeflight guys come up with amazing results using a printer! HippocketAeronautics forum would also be a great place for advice on same (although it lost a lot of content due to a crash recently) Edited January 22 by MikeQ 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Gaskin 1 Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 George Stringwell is another advocate for the Mylar/Tissue route. Years ago I followed his guide to cover the open structure of a 2 metre 'Silver Cloud' glider that is still going strong today. Mike Woodhouse's website is a jolly good place to start. Tom 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outrunner Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 When I built my 36" Tomboy I used Mylar from Mike Woodhouse, it was about 15 micron and covered in tissue again using thinned water based varnish, no need for smelly dope and difficult brush cleaning. My Junior 60 I originally covered in Solartex but after storing in the loft for a few years the fuselage became banana shaped so I stripped off the tex and covered in 35 micron laminating film followed by tissue once again using water based varnish. Not sure f there is much to be gained by the lighter film unless you are building a very light indoor model as in my experience tissue over 35 micron film is lighter than traditional tissue as there is no need to start with sanding sealer then just a couple of very light coats of water based varnish and then it's done. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Davis Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 You may find Mark Robinson's video on covering with doculam interesting Mike.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pe2M8UhD8g 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamWh Posted January 22 Author Share Posted January 22 Well thank you everyone - a wealth of information in your kind replies. I have ordered some doculam and tissue. The video is impressive David - if this model covers well with the stuff I can see myself buying a roll of it. I never knew you could print onto tissue MikeQ - amazing. Thanks again everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeQ Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 6 hours ago, GrahamWh said: Well thank you everyone - a wealth of information in your kind replies. I have ordered some doculam and tissue. The video is impressive David - if this model covers well with the stuff I can see myself buying a roll of it. I never knew you could print onto tissue MikeQ - amazing. Thanks again everyone. Hi. Yeah, theres plenty of youtubes etc out there. I’m not much of a scale bod myself but can appreciate the results. like this guy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John T Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 I've been using tissue over Doculam for a few years now. A few days ago I noticed that one edge of tissue had cracked and was delaminating slightly from the Doculam at a dihedral join on one of my models . I'd used Wilco Satin Varnish rather than cellulose dope to bond the tissue to the Doculam on this model. Now this model has been flown a lot over the last few years in conditions varying between damp or freezing to 30 degrees C plus hot sunshine, but I've not noticed this on any of my other models where I've used cellulose dope to attach the tissue to the Doculam. I'm wondering whether you get a stronger bond with traditional dope. The underlying Doculam seems fine so it's really just a cosmetic issue, but it's a bit untidy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamWh Posted February 4 Author Share Posted February 4 Thanks for the link Mike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Griff Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 When I was in Tesco about 3 weeks ago looking at thiet brown paper, which seemed thin and tore easily, I spotted a pack of red tissue paper...maybe absorbant "snot" type but looked like our sort of tissue paper. A smallish inexpensive sealed pack. Will buy one to try next time I'm in there..... Will be checking out the works brown paper in the sale so will look for tissue also. By the way, wh Smith's sale, our local branch Is now NOT closing down ? Is your local branch closing down ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyGnome Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 When I was re-covering my SE5, I tried all sorts of tissue - proper modelling stuff, craft tissue, tissue to wrap presents etc.. Without a doubt, the best, by far, was the proper modelling stuff. Easiest to apply, wrinkle free, good shrinkage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leccyflyer Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 56 minutes ago, GrumpyGnome said: When I was re-covering my SE5, I tried all sorts of tissue - proper modelling stuff, craft tissue, tissue to wrap presents etc.. Without a doubt, the best, by far, was the proper modelling stuff. Easiest to apply, wrinkle free, good shrinkage. I'm currently covering a Durafly Spitfire XXIV with tissue to provide a better base than the highly alligatored skin. In doing so I've tried a number of different tissues and the wet strength of the tissue has varied dramatically, so much so that I've discarded some older modelling tissue which just falls apart when wet. The pukka Deluxe Materials Eze Tissue is a bit heavier but the wet strength is superb and I was very impressed with my previous uses over laminating film. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Cripps Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 Another vote for Eze Tissue from me. I've just covered a Tomboy in tissue over doculam and really struggled to find a tissue with decent wet strength until I tried EZE Tissue. Only downside is that you have to use a water-based dope as proper cellulose can wash out the colouring dyes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyGnome Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 In the end I finished off my stash of heavyweight tissue from MSL.... not enough to complete it, and other things have taken priority. I now have a pack of DeLuxe Mats tissue to go over the lam film on my rebuilt P47 but waiting fir it to be a little warmer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.