| Yes, Solite and Litefilm are
the one and the same. The only difference I've noticed is the
instructions that come with them are slightly different.
Let's take my Wing-E and let's use one of
the transparent blue sections for an example. I did the transparent blue
first, but it really doesn't matter which one I talk about as they're
all virtually identical. I make sure I have one straight edge of
covering, and I use that for the inboard rib edge. That is, I use it for
the edge that will fold down onto a mid-wing rib and where the white
will overlap. I cut out enough for about an inch to two inches overhang.
This may seem excessive, but I like having some to hang onto.
As you cut it (sharp/new #11 or razor blade) from the covering roll, it
will naturally be on it's back. That is, the covering's shiny side will
be down, backing up. Either tear a corner or use scotch tape to get the
backing off, making sure the covering stays FLAT on your building board.
If it lifts, even a little, it can double back on itself very easily.
Peel the backing back using your free hand to flatten the covering. When
it's all of, you're left with the bare covering sitting shiny side down
just next to your wing. Roughly line up the straight edge with where it
will be on the Wing-E rib. I don't mean to place the plane on top of the
covering, but instead to put it next to it. It's as if you had peeled
the covering off the wing and layed it shiny side down above the wing on
the board. I hope that makes sense.
Grab the covering by the edge furthest away from the Wing-E and pull it
down over the wing. Initially, it takes some getting used to to get the
idea as to how much to lift it up without either sticking to itself or
pulling right off the board. If, at any point during this transition,
the entire chunk of covering leaves the board, consider yourself hooped.
If you can salvage large pieces, do it, but otherwise the static cling
takes hold. Pull the edge down over the wing until it's past the
trailing edge of the wing the approximate inch or two for the overhang
you cut. Don't worry about 100% perfect alignment, as you can still
adjust it, even if this is over another layer of solite. Keeping things
straight and only pulling on a corner to adjust the covering makes
sliding it into position dead simple.
Iron down the straight edge, as that's the edge you're aligning, and at
that point you can carefully lift the Wing-E from the board. Keep it
flat and watch for the overhang to grab itself. Prevent that if you can,
but if it does happen, it's not a biggie, as it's just the overhang.
Pull the side opposite the straight edge taught and iron it down in the
center, then work to either outside corner. Work your way along the
leading and trailing edges, but do NOT try desperately to iron out
wrinkles, as you'll likely just make them permanent fold lines. All of
my tacking and ironing is done at a bare minimum of temperatures. My
iron ranges from off to 1 to 4 for settings, with a variable knob for
all settings in between. Solite likes "1" on my old tower
iron. Don't worry about shrinking it with the iron, as that's where the
heat gun comes in. Once all edges are tacked, worry about the spots
where perhaps you had a wrinkle that made it to the edge. Using your heat gun
sparingly work the wrinkle while pulling the overhang down to hold your tack line
along the edge. Turn the wing over on the board, and trim the overhang.
Iron all that stuff down as you see fit and you're ready to do the other
side of the wing.
Note that I haven't yet shrunk the main mass of covering in between all
the edges.
Cover the opposite side of the wing. For Example, if you just covered
the bottom of the left wing, now cover the top of the left wing. Once
you've covered the other side via the same technique and trimmed and
ironed down the edges, you're ready to shrink.
Fire up the heat gun! Work quickly from end to end, and try to avoid the
areas where different colors of covering come together. Do
NOT hold the heat gun over one spot closer than 3 inches or longer than
a few seconds, or you'll be swearing at me and patching a hole.
The solite shrinks better than any other covering I've ever used, so
rest assured even the most nasty wrinkles and excesses of covering will
probably come out.
Seams depend on the location.
Generally, large chunks of aircraft can be covered once you're comfortable
with the covering. I try to make my seams at less obvious locations such
that you really have to look in order to see them. Places such as corners
of the fuselage or the leading/trailing edge of the wing and/or tail
feathers work perfectly.
To use an aileron as an example: I cut the piece generously larger than
the aileron itself. Strip the backing per above and iron down the covering
on the flat part of the aileron. Once ironed down, trim the edges down to
about 3/16" or 1/4" all the way around. Cut away corners that
will fold onto themselves when you start folding the covering around the
bends, and start slapping the folds down. You can overlap from the other
side. One thing you always want to avoid is butting up one piece of
covering against another, as you can be sure the covering on one side will
pull back when you shrink, leaving you with a gap.
Layering can absolutely be done. My Cessna was done with white solite
everywhere and then I added the blue trim overtop of it.
| Here's a trick for
cutting out simple patterns and basic designs like the angled part
of the fuselage striping on my Cessna: Steal a flat flat flat
(that's flat as in no bumps. Flat, got it?) glass cutting board
from the kitchen. Peel the backing off the solite and put it
adhesive side down on the cutting board. It may take a try or two
to not get any wrinkles, but it comes off the glass relatively
easy. It sticks to glass good enough that you can now go knife
nuts and cut out whatever you want. Be warned that the more
complex you make your cut outs the more likely it is that the
covering will tear when you yank it off the cutting board. Also, a
dull blade can make the difference between a nice straight cut and
a horribly ugly tear. |
|
Hint
| White will
sometimes stick so badly it's ruined |
| Silver will
hardly ever stick badly enough that it's ruined |
| Dark blue will
always stick really bad to itself |
| Dark green will
always stick really bad to itself |
| Transparent blue
will most often be able to be pulled apart |
|
|
Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here's a drawing showing my
typical overlapping techniques and where I ideally put seams on things
like a fuselage or wing. Otherwise, if you're putting seams in areas like
where colors change, make sure you put the darker color on top, otherwise
it can show through the lighter color.
|
