Iron on covering

[malmaz]

I am building a Mick Reeves Gangster 63 with foam cored wings, my question is, what do you use to help the iron on film stick to the fibre glass bandage around the centre of the wing? I have built a few models and always have a problem in this area, is Prymol what you use? I will be using HK or 4 max covering. Thank you for reply's

Regards

Malmaz

Edited September 13, 2024 by malmaz

[Andy Stephenson]

This is what I use...

https://deluxematerials.co.uk/collections/emulsion-adhesives/products/cover-grip

 

[Alan Hilton]

Use pva on the bandage instead of polyester resin .Covering sticks to that well

[Keith Berriman]

I have had success with good quality 2" masking tape 

[Edgeflyer]

I wouldn't risk the strength of that joint by not using resin. Use the covergrip as advised above.

[stu knowles]

As above, Covering the glass with masking tape works well.  Iron on film stick to the tape well.

 

[Tim Flyer]

To join the wings I use standard fibreglass tape and epoxy. Once it is set and any bumps filled and sanded, I just paint diluted pva on the fibreglass bandage. Let the pva dry properly and it acts as a heat activated glue .  I use thin coats of diluted pva alternated with sanding to seal the wood grain before covering. 

[malmaz]

Thanks for all your advice and reply's , I think I might give the Cover Grip a try.

[Tom Gaskin 1]

I have used the PVA & bandage method on many models without issue. In fact that was the preferred method listed in all of the Chris Foss kits (I haven't built one of his kits for donkeys ages so don't know if it is still current)

 

Tom

[PatMc]

19 hours ago, Keith Berriman said:

I have had success with good quality 2" masking tape 

Ditto ! 👍

[Keith Billinge]

Another vote for Cover Grip. I like to put a bit round the edges of any model I'm going to cover and especially on things like the wing bandage. It's a really nice product.

 

[Engine Doctor]

The difficulty these days is finding good qualitymasking tape. Forget diy stores. Try a auto car factor and test the stickness before buying . Loads of stuff around and cheap... guess why... no adhesive. 

[Geoff S]

33 minutes ago, Engine Doctor said:

The difficulty these days is finding good qualitymasking tape. Forget diy stores. Try a auto car factor and test the stickness before buying . Loads of stuff around and cheap... guess why... no adhesive. 

 

Dependents what you mean by masking tape.  The paper stuff certainly varies in stickiness - sometimes the adhesive is stronger than the paper and it's impossible to get off the roll without tearing.  In any case, as masking tape it's just about useless (I use it mostly for temporarily holding things in place).  For actual masking edges for painting I've found Frog tape as sold in B&Q to be pretty good with little or no seepage.

[Engine Doctor]

Hi Geoff. I have tried Frog tape with little success, again coming unstuck after a few mins .

I forgot to put in my earlier post that Fine line tape is the best for masking giving very sharp lines  but no good  for  covering over. A good sticky paper type Masking tape is better . I found in my car bodywork days  that old stock masking  tape or tape that had been kept in a damp atmosphere would tear while peeling off the roll .

too many of todays offerings are just not fit for purpose and peel off after a few minutes  

Another way to get covering to stick to epoxy bandage is to sand smooth by filling the weave and being careful not to sand through the tape . Then give it a coat of Solarfilm Clear Coat . This stick to most sanded substrates and iron on coverings will stick to that like ..... well you know what 

[Rich Griff]

We're can you get clearcoat please ?

[Engine Doctor]

5 minutes ago, Rich Griff said:

We're can you get clearcoat please ?

Ah ! Thats the problem these days. Solarfilm still have stocks of it but wont sell to shops and wont post it. Just too lazy I guess as many firms now carry paint etc. You can collect if you fancy a trip to Lancashire ! I look out for cans at bootfairs or swapmeets and a friend picked me up a 1/2 litre at Old Warden a while back . Brilliant fuel proofer and covering adhesive as its heat sensetive.

[Gee Bee]

Only just read this thread as part of my 'Gangster' research, but thought it worth adding a technique to what has been discussed above

 

Without teaching granny how to suck eggs, I would recap the generalities of joining foam wing panels, but presuming the panels have been glued together as per the kit manufacturer/designer's recommendations. 

 

If you are using traditional fibre-glass bandage & resin to join the wings it is best to smooth the dried joint as best as possible.

 

I prefer using epoxy type resin as it is easier to sand & will not harm the foam substrate. Polyester resin is cheaper, but can attack the foam substrate & i find it harder to sand than epoxy. 

 

Traditional fibre-glass bandage has a woven edge that forms a ridge at the edge of the bandage. this can be sanded down once the applied bandage & resin has set without compromising the strength of the joint - but you need to be careful to avoid sanding into the bare veneer as that would weaken the wing structure.  

 

As an alternative - I tend to discard the fibre-glass bandages supplied & use woven roving glass-cloth, usually in a series of strips of varying width. This tends to leave less of a ridge to deal with at the edges of the resin/glass reinforcement.

 

You can then use lightweight filler to smooth out the edges,but again be very careful when sanding the filler not to sand into the veneer.

 

This joint reinforcement can then be covered with a layer of wet strength tissue, applied damp using thinned PVA. The tissue can overlap the resin/glass, lightweight filler & go partially  onto the bare veneer. Once the PVA has fully dried you should be able to iron you film down over the centre section & get decent adhesion.   

 

Previously, as mentioned in the posts of others above, the Solarfilm liquid products of 'Clearcoat' or 'Balsaloc' could be used to improve adhesion of covering films in the past , but these products are hard to find these days. But Deluxe Materials 'Cover Grip', also mentioned above, is a currently available commercial solution.