hi, im pretty new to this hobby and have built a extra 300s by great planes, im at the stage were the plane needs to be covered, ive bought the solarfilm and a travel iron, the guy in the model shop tried to explain the proccess for covering the plane but to be honest i was in a rush and a bit stressed out and didnt seem to take any of the important stuff in, as you do!, i have a few questions before i start, (1) i have no prymol, is there a substitute what i could use?, (2) how much does this solarfilm shrink? a lot or a little, any advice would be a great help

thanks

bill

Prymol -- what's that? I've used Solarfilm for most of my models over the past 15 years, and have never used Prymol. If it's something to improve adhesion, I normally use Balsaloc if I really need it (like on balsa that's had fuel on it). But normally I use nothing.

I believe there's a sticky about covering at the head of one of these forums. But the best advice I can give you is to try it on a spare bit of material and balsa first. I use a travel iron, rather than a dedicated covering iron, and find that it has to be on quite a low setting -- but you'll only learn that by trial-and-error. If I remember right, there's tips about what heat to use on the Solarfilm web site.

Also, you can only really find out how much it shrinks by trying it. Though I would say that you should pull it reasonably tight and wrinkle-free before you start ironing it down -- don't expect to be able to iron out all the wrinkles in a piece that's too loose in the first place. Tack it down at the edges (apply the iron at points, say, half an inch apart) around the perimeter first. Then join up the tacks so that it's solidly attached all round the perimeter. Then gently iron the middle so that it shrinks to remove the wrinkles.

thanks aben, thats fantastic info,,yes the prymol is used via the solarfilm instructions on the wrapper, it is supposed to give a better sealed joint on leading edges ect, i was thinking if i used a little methylated spirits or is that a bad idea?, ive got the gist of it and you have confirmed what the guy in the model shop said, thanks it has come back to me now, anymore usefull tips will be very useful,,,,many thanks

If you are using solite, solarfilm or any of its other 'variants' you don't need any other type of sealant... Just heat.

Here is the 'For the Solite challenged' thread.. Solite is just a lighter/thinner covering made by the same company that makes Solarfilm. The same techniques are used on both.

Here is another great thread on Solarfilm.. 'So-Lite myths exposed'

Its a little intimidating the first time you try... but you'll soon see how easy it is.

~Brian