Builder's Corner
By Mark Kallio
 
So, you want to know how to put on that pin-striping. I'll let you in on a secret, this has to be one of the easiest things to do, once you get the hang of it. To start out. you must make sure the MonoKote is laying FLAT on the glass before you make your cut. I usually use a piece of MonoKote 48" long and at least 6" wide. This will insure that the film won't shift on me while I'm cutting on it. Smaller strips of MonoKote may be used to cut your pin-stripes out of, but you have to tape them at each end and 3-4 times along their length. 

Remember the see-through straight edges I recommended, these work great for measuring the width of the stripe but don't use them as a cutting guide, that's what the 48" Aluminum straight edge is for. One final hint on cutting pin strips, you must cut the MonoKote with a continuous cut.... no stopping from start to finish. Now for attaching the pin stripes to the model. First wipe down the area with acetone to remove any finger prints/oil off the covering. You can now either measure the distance between the stripes or eyeball them. If you do measure, the marks along the surface should not be greater than 12 inches apart as the MonoKote drifts easily. Tack one end of the pin stripe down with your cold iron. Lifting up on the other end of the pin stripe, slowly place it down on the model making sure it's going on straight. If it isn't, lift up the crooked portion and reposition until your satisfied with the placement. A hint here is once a section looks good, run your finger over it. This will adhere the pin stripe to the MonoKote to a certain extent. Now get your cold trim iron and gently go over the top of the pin stripe. Watch out if it starts to stretch. What we're trying to do is to attach the stripe to the underlying MonoKote before it starts to shrink. Next, go over it one more time slowly with the cold trim iron. Finally, go over the pin stripe with your hot trim iron to seal it to the MonoKote. Be sure the stripe is where you want it, , just take your time working out from the center of the MonoKote out to it's edges. Poke the air bubbles with your Xacto knife (yes there will be plenty) and go over again using a slightly hotter iron. On open areas trace out where the graphic is going to be placed and then get a sharp needle and poke a ton of holes inside the lines (you can do this over solid sheeted surfaces as well, but there will still be bubbles). Attach the graphic to the model, stand back and admire........ One final pass around the perimeter of the letter/graphic with your "hot" trim iron will seal and roll down the edges and provide you with great protection from the thing lifting up latter. Oh, I almost forgot......... Once you've started the sealing process, you're committed!!!!!!!!! There ain't no second chances here as you'll never get the MonoKote pieces apart (without destroying the models finish).

Well, that just about wraps things up. I'd like to point out that what I have described is what works for me. There are things that I have left out intentionally because there just isn't enough space to cover this subject in anything less than 50 pages. With that in mind, I would like to recommend the book Tom's Techniques an as excellent reference book. Although some of the techniques vary quite radically from mine, I think between the two, anyone can cover models with MonoKote. In the end, it is your model and you are the one that has to be pleased with it. Use the techniques that you feel most comfortable with and good luck on that next project! 

The following is from Dave Tatosian...

I've done quite a bit of trim involving "cutting in" large sections of different colors on the same panel. I lay up a "panel" before putting it on the plane - I've found it to be more reliable than using trim solvent. Here's what I do:

  • I make a template of the surface to be covered - I use multiple sheets of 11x17 transparent vellum with light blue grid lines taped together to construct a sheet large enough for the panel. I make one of these templates for the top side of a wing half, another for the underside of the same wing. Because these are transparent, I'll flip them over to use for the other wing.
  • On that template I draw the different film color sections - remembering to draw in the 1/4" overlaps between film sections (and always plan the dark sections over the light ones). I use different color pens to outline each film color just for clarity sake. I make sure to leave a few inches of extra film all around the perimeter of the panel to be covered - except in those special cases (like fitting a fuse skin to the tail feathers - in that case I cut the film to the exact edges that the skin will end).
  • Now using that first template as a guide, I make separate templates for each section of film. I keep the original template intact - you'll see in a couple of steps.
  • Use the separate templates to cut out the film - making sure to lay the template down right-side-up and on the correct side of the film (otherwise you'll end up with film that's wrong-side-out!)
  • I now take the film pieces, strip the backing off, and lay them up on the first template. I place them glue-side-down so the "look" is what you'll actually be seeing once the wing (or fuse) is covered, making sure that the overlaps are in the correct order (dark always on top of light) and that all sections are smoothed.
  • Using my trim iron, I then tack the sections together - just applying a spot of heat for a second or two (depends on the film). I start by tacking the corners, then placing a tack equidistant to each corner, then a point between the corners and the center tack, and so on, until I have a tack roughly every inch around the film section. The vellum is hard and smooth enough that the glue won't stick to it and the tacked up panel can be pulled from the vellum quite easily.
  • Now I lay the whole panel down on my glass top, and use the trim iron to securely seal all of the panel sections together. Working from the center of each overlap to the edge, taking time to work out any trapped air. It's not a difficult process but it does take patience (like just about everything involved in covering).
  • Repeat the above process for the other wing panel: the first template all of the pattern pieces are flipped over and the film sections are cut (again, being careful not to end up with reversed pieces of film).
  • I then lay the wing skin down on the wing, orient it carefully, and then attach it in the regular fashion. The only difference here is when I go to shrink the skin, I guard the "overlaps" from the heat gun with a strip of heavy cardboard (high temp directly on a joint may cause it to slide apart) and shrink the rest of the film.
  • And save the templates - if you ever crash the plane you'll find the templates handy! I file them with the planes for the plane so I don't lose them.
I've done 4 birds with lots of "rays", circles, stripes, etc., and they've all come out looking great, and the joints are as solid as the rest of the trim. I've done both open wings and solid fuses using the same process, and find it's actually easier than trying to cut and fit pieces to the structure separately.

I've only used trim solvent to attach AMA numbers or small overlaid stars (too small to "cut-in" to the panel). For something that small the solvent is quite handy. For anything larger I prefer the "cut-in" process, as you don't have too worry much about bubbles, and you definitely end up with a lighter covering if you don't have whole sections of film laid over a base color. Hope you find this description helpful! Regards, 

Dave Tatosian
tatosian@eng.pko.dec.com

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