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Tom Hunt’s Innennachtjager (loosely translated—Indoor Night Fighter), a 5.5 ounce Indoor RC twin-electric-motor aircraft design with a 32-inch wing span and a 144-square-inch wing area. The model is covered with Tom’s Modelair-Tech ClearFilm, a lightweight Mylar material that has a built-in adhesive, no backing material (a real convenience!), can be readily spray painted, and shrinks easily when moderate heat is applied. Best of all, it is quite inexpensive. |
Q-24: I recently found a clear Mylar material that is sold by the roll and is very inexpensive. I’ve included a sample piece so you can try it yourself. I’ve weighed this material and it appears lighter than nearly all covering material on the market. Because I don’t own a modeling iron, I’m unable to check how this material "shrinks up." I hope you can evaluate it for me.
A-24: Normally I wouldn’t have time to evaluate all of the products the readers might come up with. This modeler provided me a sample piece of a thin and lightweight clear Mylar covering material. Since he didn’t own a modeler's iron, I have to assume he is a newcomer to our hobby.
The Mylar material provided did not have a built-in adhesive, so the first thing you would have to consider is applying your own adhesive. The common approach is to use a product called Balsarite made by Coverite and available from Tower Hobbies (catalog number COVR2515). You brush it on the wood structure of your aircraft, apply the covering material over it, then apply heat from an iron to get the covering to adhere to the structure. This adds additional weight to your model.
What the reader didn’t realize is that adding the adhesive adds weight and increases the cost. In the end he has a covering material roughly comparable to a commercially available iron-on covering in both cost and weight.
I suggest trying Doculam and/or ClearFilm, an excellent, clear iron-on material. These are available from Tom Hunt at Modelair-Tech (www.modelairtech.com/electronics.html ). Tom's ClearFilm (catalog number COV-001) is lightweight and comes in 25-inch-wide rolls that are 10 feet in length. The adhesive is built into the covering and heat from your iron attaches it to the aircraft structure. Apply more heat to shrink it up and provide a neat finish that can even be painted. Best of all, ClearFilm does not have any backing material.