Covering Round Fuselage with Domestic Tissue

[scigs30]

This is not a Guillows build but a Sterling/DPC Pt-17 build. This is a typical Guillows type build except it is laser cut and very light balsa, like the new laser cut kits from Guillows. I like Esaki tissue but with light balsa I prefer using Domestic tissue. My covering techniques are the same regardless if I am using Esaki or Domestic tissue. Esaki tissue is lighter, more expensive, shrinks more, less colors and has more wet strength than domestic. Domestic is cheap, comes in a lot of colors and not as aggressive with shrinking so structures don't warp or form stress wrinkles. If I were to use Esaki tissue on this build I would have had to pre shrink the tissue first or I would have ended up with some issues. Over the years I have seen great builders use Domestic tissue on all their builds and yes they cover wet, even though a lot of people will tell you it cannot be done. I personally like to attach my tissue with 50/50 Elmers/water mixture but this technique works with glue sticks or dope/thinner. First thing to covering wet you have to decided how much you can cover with one piece of tissue. Sometimes I can use one piece for each side and sometimes I have to break it up depending on the structure. On this build the front top portion curved way too much so I covered that with once piece. Also the bottom area becomes flat so the tissue will not be able to conform without issues so that is also covered on its own, but for the most part each side was covered with one piece of tissue. If you were to cover this with dry tissue, you have to use multiple strips and of course the overlapping seams would show. I first apply the glue to the perimeter of the fuselage where I want the tissue to attach. I place the piece of tissue on a towel and mist with water then carefully pick up and apply to the side of the fuselage. You know it is wet enough when the tissue conforms to the fuselage. If you get it soaking wet, it will just fall apart so be careful and if not wet enough it will no conform to the roundness of the fuselage. When laying it on the fuselage, just make sure that it is laying flat and leave it alone. If you start messing with it too soon it will rip, of course this is less of an issue if using Esaki. When I start noticing the tissue is drying a little I begin to gently tugging on the tissue being careful not to tear the tissue. Do not try to rub the tissue over the balsa to tighten or else it will fall apart, so all you can do is lightly tug on it. Trust me it tightens just fine with gentle tugging. The thinned down Elmers may be tougher than a Glue Stick but that is what I am used to. But I have seen the glue stick work just fine. Since the paper is wet and the glue is wet you have plenty of time to pull out the wrinkles. Also if you are not happy with how things are going, just rip the tissue off since it is not dry and try again. After the tissue is dry, I trim the tissue and finish the rest of the fuselage. After I am done covering, I lightly spray the tissue with Alcohol to get it tight as a drum, but as you can see from the pictures it is pretty tight before that. Never drench the tissue or will loosen and cause wrinkles. This takes practice so take out some unfinished builds and give it a try.

[scigs30]

Some more pictures

[BassettsAllSorts]

Hi Scigs

Fantastic information thank you very much. I do want to try covering wet at some stage.

The finished pictures are great!

Tom

[Phugoid]

Nice work Scigs,

Do you reckon that the stuff in the Guillows kits is domestic?

I've used Domestic as I think it is supplied in Some peck its I've built and although the strength wasn't great compared to esaki it was ok but it was much better than the stuff I got in my Cessna 180 kit.

What do you think?

Andrew

[scigs30]

I love the Guillows white tissue, and yes that is Domestic tissue. The white tissue in the larger Guillows kits is Silkspan and that is also great stuff but not for small freeflight. The red tissue that came with my Guillows Fokker DR.1 was also good stuff. I have also used the grey with good results. I think all the domestic tissue is pretty much the same, as long as it does not bleed when wet.

[Phugoid]

Mmmm, I found the grey and white stuff in thye Cessna kit to be somewhat differrent....

Kittyfritters seems to get on with the white stuff too - it's probably just me!

Cheers

Andrew

[kittyfritters]

Yes, I cover wet whenever possible. I just comes out better. The Guillow's domestic tissue is not bad. The silkspan, supplied with the larger kits is fantastic. When covering wet I lay out my cutting board, a deep cookie sheet or large, rectangular cake pan to hold the water, a terrycloth towel, my glue stick, hobby knife and a sanding block with some 220 grit on it. I cut a piece of tissue or silkspan with enough overage to work easily, dip it in the water, pull it out and lay it on the towel. I fold the towel over it, gently, without pressing, and apply the glue stick to the frame I want to cover. With the glue stick on, I open the towel and take out the tissue. After sitting in the towel it will be wet enough to work but not sopping and easy to tear. Apply the tissue and gently pull out the wrinkles. When covering an under cambered wing or something radically curved, like a pylon on an old timer, silkspan can be pinned in place to hold the curve while drying. Silkspan and Esaki tissue have enough wet strength that a single piece can easily be stretched around a curved object like a wheel pant or cowling, and, if you are very careful, that may even be done with domestic tissue.



When the tissue is dry, trim with the sanding block , or, in the case of something like the cowling above, a razor blade.



All covering, trim and markings on the Beaver prototype above are domestic tissue.

A note about domestic tissue, not all of it is colorfast when wet. Check for color fastness before using a particular tissue.

[scigs30]

Here is an example of covering parts of the wing wet were dried tissue would not work. The wing tips have to be covered with their own piece of tissue, but because of the curves it would require multiple pieces of dried tissue for a wrinkle free finish, so that's were wet tissue only requires one piece. The top wing has a major issue in the center section and there is no way dry tissue would work here. The problem with covering the center section is it the ribs curve way too much can the T.E is not built up to match so there would be too much slack in the tissue. When you try to shrink it, wrinkles would for sure develope because of the excess slack. This is the same issue we face with some of the Guillows designs such as the front of the Cessna 180 wing.

[scigs30]

Even covering wet, the center section still has to be covered in sections to prevent any major wrinkles.

[scigs30]

The final finish before brushing on dope. I don't really want to post the build here since it is not a Guillows plane but the covering techniques are the same, so I will post a link to were you can see it finished.

[scigs30]

Thats all I have for covering, the rest of the build is located here.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthre ... st20151344

[BassettsAllSorts]

Hi Scigs

That looks fantastic and thank you for the information. I'll have to pluck up the courage to try wet covering at some point.

I'm recovering from a spinal angiogram today and I feel battered so seeing such a good model has cheered me up a bit.

That covering job is absolutely brilliant a superb model.

Tom

[sawingman]

Scigs, that’s a great covering job. Your completed models are my goals. Thanks for sharing your tips. When you dope the applied tissue are you using full strength nitrate or multiple coats of 50/50.

[scigs30]

I always thin 50/50, full strength is way too heavy