1st Oratex panel

[ksatter26]

1st Oratex panel (underside of the fuselage) laid-out with glue applied. I also applied glue to the mating surfaces on the air-frame. Waiting 24 hours for the glue to dry (per the manual); then the application, forming, and shrinking fun begins. All a learning experience ... so I started with the less visible area.

[LA F2 Flyer]

Hi Kurt - I believe the 24 hour period is only for the granule glue used with the finishing tape. Once your glue becomes translucent and sort of hazy on the material it is good to proceed (either with adding the second layer of glue or fastening to the frame you are covering.

I think I spent maybe 30 minutes waiting for each coat of glue to dry before proceeding. I had a panel fastened to the plane in under an hour typically.

I hope this helps!

[LA F2 Flyer]

However, it will take days for the fabric glue to reach its design strength, depending on air temperature (I believe). So give it a week or so before you fly the plane.

[ksatter26]

1st panel is a learning experience. Selecting the underside of the fuselage was maybe not the best choice. Even with firewall forward removed and the fuselage elevated, it's iawkward crawling under to work the fabric.

At this point, all that remains is to shrink the overall covering to remove the slight slack on the material.

My super fancy heat gun with thermal readout and 3 blower speeds did not heat. I returned it and the new replacement works fine. It should be a real help on the curves edges of the tail surfaces.

The sky blue does look good.

[Badland-F5 Pilot]

1st panel is a learning experience. Selecting the underside of the fuselage was maybe not the best choice. Even with firewall forward removed and the fuselage elevated, it's iawkward crawling under to work the fabric.

At this point, all that remains is to shrink the overall covering to remove the slight slack on the material.

My super fancy heat gun with thermal readout and 3 blower speeds did not heat. I returned it and the new replacement works fine. It should be a real help on the curves edges of the tail surfaces.

The sky blue does look good.

Hum, I'm thinking I need to come up with a rotisserie for the plane (wings removed) when I get to the point of skinning.

Todd

[ksatter26]

I started to build one from PVC tubes while waiting for my kit. I built the bases and started on a truss-like structure to support the fuselage, but I abandoned the project when my kit was ready. Examining the fuselage and noting how light it was, I figured I wouldn't Ned the rotisserie.

It would be handy, but not a necessity.

Removing the gear would also make it easier to cover.

Like I said: a learning experience.

[Badland-F5 Pilot]

Yep. An I'm learning vicariously through your experiences

[LA F2 Flyer]

I was able to flip my fuselage upside down and set it on some sawhorses, which was ideal.

Kurt, like you, I wasn't really sure which panel to start with, having no experience with Oratex (or covering planes in general, beyond some RC planes back in the day). So I did the same as you, and started with the underside of the fuselage - no curves to deal with, and out of sight most of the time. It gave me the confidence to move forward, but working around the gear was a challenge. I found that it's better to leave excess material, if possible, then trim back after application. The nice thing is that the Oratex really shrinks quite a bit with heat, so it's very forgiving.

[ksatter26]

I was reluctant to remove the full gear setup. I did manage to get the beast lifted up enough so that I was fairly comfortable working underneath.

Did youdo the fuselage sides with one long sheet or did you break it up just behind the seatback?

[ksatter26]

1st panel basically done. I certainly did get better as I went along. Lessons learned:

(1) leave a nice margin of excess material around the frame. I really had very little problem with this as I only had one edge that could have been a little wider for gripping when activating the glue.

(2) The most difficult areas were the complex weldments at the gear struts attachment points. Mine are a little raggedy (even with the templates I made). I will tweak the templates to make doubblers over these 4 points.

(3) Gloves help to keep your fingers from getting "overly warm". For me it was just the left hand.

(4) Don't skimp on the glue. It doesn't have to be thick, but too thin makes the initial attachment a little weak. Applying higher temps to activate and set the glue still works well.

(5) BIGGEST LESSON ..' translating the temperatures in the Applications Manual leaves a lot to be desired. Early on I was so concerned about overheating that my tacking and shrinking temperatures were ENTIRELY too low. I found that with the small hobby iron (for tacking) a setting of about 240F worked best and for shrinking I got the best results with a temp of 340F and high blower setting. In BOTH cases make sure that you keep the iron/gun moving.

Overall I'm very pleased with the results. The material shrinks perfectly. I had a few areas of "Maggie's Drawers" that tightened up very nicely. I learned a lot (new skills) and hope to do even better on the more visible areas to come.

QUESTION: I have the TYKO flat heating iron suggested by Oratex. Shipped with my Oratex order I received a roll of silicon paper AND a TYKO iron mask. The instructions with the mask says I can use this on the TYCO as it acts as silicon paper. The instructions show both surfaces of the mask to be a mahogany brown color. One side is supposed to have an adhesive which will bind the mask to the iron. HOWEVER, mine has one smooth brown side and the other is honney-combed yellow surface. I don't want to ruin the mask so which side goes against the iron?

[Badland-F5 Pilot]

This is awesome information Kurt. I'm learning and maybe am a little less apprehensive about doing this when I get my kit. Thank you for including great detail, and that landing gear area on the bottom looks really great.

Thanks,
Todd

[LA F2 Flyer]

Hi Kurt - with the 1/3 naked look" I was able to cover the side panels with one piece on each side. Had I gone the full length, I would have had to trim for two pieces, since there is a sort of "bend" in the surface from front to back. You are also doing the 1/3 naked look, correct?

I never took the iron out of the box. I never returned it because I can use it to wax my snowboard down the line. I strictly used the heat gun, with temps up to 420 (as I recall) for the final shrinking.

Looking good so far! It's nice to get that first piece on, isn't it? It felt like a key milestone to me.