Monocote vs. Ultracote
Per Berge
I've covered with Monocote so far, and like it pretty good. The Neon
colors were harder to work with (didn't shrink quite as well/uniformly
as the regular and metalic), but it's very sturdy. Only real problem
is that it does wrinkle after a while, and I don't like the need to
use this monocote liquid required to avoid air bubbles when putting
Monocote on top of Monocote.
A pilot at my field recommended Ultracote. His plane has a LOT of
stripes and graphics on, and it always looks 100% perfect, although he
files a lot.
I've noticed Ultracote seems to be a few bucks more than mono -- any
opinions?
Per Berge
p...@calweb.com
http://www.calweb.com/~per
Howard McCollister
Per Berge wrote:
>
> Monocote on top of Monocote.
>
> A pilot at my field recommended Ultracote. His plane has a LOT of
> stripes and graphics on, and it always looks 100% perfect, although he
> files a lot.
>
> I've noticed Ultracote seems to be a few bucks more than mono -- any
> opinions?
I've been using Monokote for 25 years. Got pretty good at covering with
it eventually. BUT....I just finished a SS90/120 and covered it with
Ultrocote Plus last night. I will never use Monokote again.
Howard McCollister
Bill Fulmer
--Snip--
> I've noticed Ultracote seems to be a few bucks more than mono -- any
> opinions?
I've used Monokote for many years, Per... and it's still the strongest
film covering available.
But recently it's been all but impossible to get two rolls that match in
color, and the adhesive seem so "gas off" more than ever...
I've switched to UltraCote.... More realistic looking... easier to
apply.... trim colors go on perfectly... and it's easy to repair if need
be...
Bill Fulmer
Brad Benson
p...@calweb.com (Per Berge) wrote:
] I've covered with Monocote so far, and like it pretty good. The Neon
] colors were harder to work with (didn't shrink quite as well/uniformly
] as the regular and metalic), but it's very sturdy. Only real problem
] is that it does wrinkle after a while, and I don't like the need to
] use this monocote liquid required to avoid air bubbles when putting
] Monocote on top of Monocote.
] A pilot at my field recommended Ultracote. His plane has a LOT of
] stripes and graphics on, and it always looks 100% perfect, although he
] files a lot.
I covered my planes with Monokote for years, and then tried Ultracote
on a SportMaster early this this and swore I'd never return to
Monokote.
Well, I spoke too soon. Ultracote goes on great, but maintaining it
turned out to be a nightmare. I had to get into the wing to adjust a
bellcrank for the aileron, and upon trying to patch the small hole
with a piece of Ultracote, I found it didn't stick well with less than
1/4" overlap all the way around. Worse, when shrunk, the adhesive
slipped and left a sticky, uneven edge. After repeating this four or
five times, I removed every last shred of Ultracote from the wing and
replaced it with Monokote.
Now I will still use Ultracote, but only on fully sheeted structures
where there will be little chance of needing to patch it in the future
or as trim. I used some chrome Ultracote on top of the newly
re-covered wing and it worked great.
I don't think Monokote is much harder to apply than Ultracote, and it
has a stronger adhesive in exchange for the gas bubbles that everyone
knows and loves.
Cheers,
Brad
Bill Watson
Bill Fulmer wrote:
>
> --Snip--
> > I've noticed Ultracote seems to be a few bucks more than mono -- any
> > opinions?
> > Per Berge
> > p...@calweb.com
> > http://www.calweb.com/~per
> >
>
> I've used Monokote for many years, Per... and it's still the strongest
> film covering available.
>
Depends on your definition of strong. I have several planes covered in
Monocote and there are some weeds at the end of our runway that have a
hard seed pod at the top. If you run off the end of the runway these
pods will pop a hole in monocote every time. Planes covered with
Ultracote or Ora cover are not damaged.
--
Bill Watson
bst...@direct.ca
I agree. Ultracote appears to be stronger, but IMHO Monocote looks
WAY nicer (until it starts to sag). If somebody would just combine the
two we'd have something...ULTRAMONOCOTE?
Blair.
Howard McCollister
Brad Benson wrote:
>
> Ultracote goes on great, but maintaining it
> turned out to be a nightmare. I had to get into the wing to adjust a
> bellcrank for the aileron, and upon trying to patch the small hole
> with a piece of Ultracote, I found it didn't stick well with less than
> 1/4" overlap all the way around. Worse, when shrunk, the adhesive
> slipped and left a sticky, uneven edge. After repeating this four or
> five times, I removed every last shred of Ultracote from the wing and
> replaced it with Monokote.
Jeez, seems like a pretty drastic move. I have been using Ultracote Plus
to patch Monokote. I think it works better than Monokote-on-Monokote or
Monokote Trim sheets.
H McCollister
Brett Jaffee
If you used Plus, seal the edges. It tends not to be very fuel proof in my
experience.
In article <3397C1...@uslink.net>, hm...@uslink.net wrote:
>Per Berge wrote:
>>
>
>> Monocote on top of Monocote.
>>
>> A pilot at my field recommended Ultracote. His plane has a LOT of
>> stripes and graphics on, and it always looks 100% perfect, although he
>> files a lot.
>>
>> I've noticed Ultracote seems to be a few bucks more than mono -- any
>> opinions?
>
>
>I've been using Monokote for 25 years. Got pretty good at covering with
>it eventually. BUT....I just finished a SS90/120 and covered it with
>Ultrocote Plus last night. I will never use Monokote again.
>
>Howard McCollister
__________________________________________________________________________
Brett Jaffee
http://www.earthlink.net/~jaffee
jaf...@earthlink.net
or hbac...@huey.csun.edu
__________________________________________________________________________
DAVE02
I use both. I like ultracote on wings and other open structures, due to
the better shrinking and monocote on fuse's and sheeted areas because it
sticks better. Of course if you need a color match this won't work.
Iskandar Taib
In article <3397a2bf.23177492@news>, Per Berge <p...@calweb.com> wrote:
>A pilot at my field recommended Ultracote. His plane has a LOT of
>stripes and graphics on, and it always looks 100% perfect, although he
>files a lot.
What, no file marks? ^O^
>I've noticed Ultracote seems to be a few bucks more than mono -- any
>opinions?
I've only tried Monokote so far - I can often find it surplus or at
swap meets. Otherwise its too expensive, considering the kinds of
planes I fly. It usually gets used for stabilizers and wingtips.
I use Solarfilm a lot, but it costs almost as much as Monokote these
days...
--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Iskandar Taib | The only thing worse than Peach ala
Internet: nt...@copper.ucs.indiana.edu | Frog is Frog ala Peach
Home page: http://bigwig.geology.indiana.edu/iskandar/isk2.html
Gregory L. Vereschagin
I had the same problem with slippage the first time I used Ultracote. The
adhesive is plenty strong if applied with a sufficiently high temperature
(above 300 degrees if I remember correctly). Ultracote adhesive does not
out-gas like Monokote so the higher temperatures do not create problems
with bubbles.
Greg
______
Snip...
>
> Well, I spoke too soon. Ultracote goes on great, but maintaining it
> turned out to be a nightmare. I had to get into the wing to adjust a
> bellcrank for the aileron, and upon trying to patch the small hole
> with a piece of Ultracote, I found it didn't stick well with less than
> 1/4" overlap all the way around. Worse, when shrunk, the adhesive
> slipped and left a sticky, uneven edge. After repeating this four or
> five times, I removed every last shred of Ultracote from the wing and
> replaced it with Monokote.
>
Michal Sabala
On my last airplane I used both MonoCote and UltraCote, i came to
following conclusions:
1. Ultracote is better
2. easier to strech and apply around curved surfaces
3. no bubling
4. can be heated, peeled off, and reapplied
5. the color is in the film instead of being on it
The only disadvantage I can think of is the fact that it's not as shiny
as MonoCote. Also when applied on open surfaces, between ribs, all you
need to do is to tack it on leading and trailing edges, and even it out
with the heat gun. That cannot be done with monocote, it will not shrink
as much.
good luck covering
Alabas
Windy City USA
ALaska2053
In article <c0.9w.2GNBQv$0...@picard.cds-inc.com>,
nospam...@cds-inc.com (Brad Benson) writes:
>I covered my planes with Monokote for years, and then tried Ultracote
>on a SportMaster early this this and swore I'd never return to
>Monokote.
>
>Well, I spoke too soon. Ultracote goes on great, but maintaining it
>turned out to be a nightmare. I had to get into the wing to adjust a
>bellcrank for the aileron, and upon trying to patch the small hole
>with a piece of Ultracote, I found it didn't stick well with less than
>1/4" overlap all the way around. Worse, when shrunk, the adhesive
>slipped and left a sticky, uneven edge. After repeating this four or
>five times, I removed every last shred of Ultracote from the wing and
>replaced it with Monokote.
>
>Now I will still use Ultracote, but only on fully sheeted structures
>where there will be little chance of needing to patch it in the future
>or as trim. I used some chrome Ultracote on top of the newly
>re-covered wing and it worked great.
>
>I don't think Monokote is much harder to apply than Ultracote, and it
>has a stronger adhesive in exchange for the gas bubbles that everyone
>knows and loves.
>
>Cheers,
>Brad
>
>
>
Ultracote has lot of glue on it. When the glue gets hot it will allow the
covering to slide around when it shrinks. I just finnished doing the GP
ultimate with lot of pieced stripes. One trick is to just get the
wrinkles out of the covering at the seams the use thin CA to hold the
seams together then give it a finally shrink with the heat gun. Use the
same technique with patches, overlap 1/4" and use a tiny bit of thin CA
then, give it the heat.
Andy.
\/\/\/\//\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\//\/\/\/\/\/\/\//\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\//\/
Andrew Laska KA1SLG
New Canaan R/C Society
AMA 132883
relax,it's only a hobby
dgam...@nbnet.nb.ca
> Michal Sabala <Ala...@Hotmail.com> writes:
> On my last airplane I used both MonoCote and UltraCote, i came to
> following conclusions:
Hmmm........
>
> 1. Ultracote is better
Nuts!..... depends on what YOU desire...
> 2. easier to strech and apply around curved surfaces
Yup.. if you need it...
> 3. no bubling
Yup....
> 4. can be heated, peeled off, and reapplied
...Why???...
> 5. the color is in the film instead of being on it
Didn't know this..
>
> The only disadvantage I can think of is the fact that it's not as shiny
> as MonoCote
Yes.
. Also when applied on open surfaces, between ribs, all you
> need to do is to tack it on leading and trailing edges, and even it out
> with the heat gun
???? been covering this way with Monokote for 27 years....
That cannot be done with monocote, it will not shrink
> as much.
Been doin it........
Ever try to keep the Ultra cote edges sealed down on a seaplane?
Poly just dosn't stick very well....
Each to his/her own........
Cheers !..... Dave
Carl & Pamela Layden
dgam...@nbnet.nb.ca wrote:
>>-- snip --
> That cannot be done with monocote, it will not shrink
> > as much.
>
> Been doin it........
>
> Ever try to keep the Ultra cote edges sealed down on a seaplane?
>
> Poly just dosn't stick very well....
>
> Each to his/her own........
>
> Cheers !..... Dave
Gee Dave I thought I was the only one who preferred Monokote to Ukote
but you missed a couple of points....\
--- monokote solids, ARE....as opposed to transluscent
--- monokote can be applied to fiberglass( with the correct method).
Carl Layden in Hampton, NB.
My first bipe was the Pitts!!!!
http://www3.nbnet.nb.ca/laydenc/
Remove N0~SP@M. from address
Robbie and Laura Reynolds
Carl & Pamela Layden wrote:
> Gee Dave I thought I was the only one who preferred Monokote to Ukote
> but you missed a couple of points....\
> --- monokote solids, ARE....as opposed to transluscent
>
> --- monokote can be applied to fiberglass( with the correct method).
>
I didn't realize that we were such a rare breed, with all the monokote
being sold. I don't care much for ultracote. It sticks, but it doesn't stay stuck.
Not only that, but I mark my wood with a ball point pen from time to time, and the
monokote covers the marks up (it's that truly solid color thing). Ultracote may
appear to cover an ink mark, but the ink will bleed through the ultracote dye
later, creating a big smudge.
I've tried ultracote several times, and it's ok. Nothing really wrong with it.
But I use monokote when I have a choice (on planes I'm not building for someone
else).
Robbie
--
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