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Transparent Film


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I have a Belgian friend/trainee pilot called Franz. Together we built a Junior 60 and he went on to build a Peter Russell STOL. http://https://outerzone.co.uk/plan_details.asp?ID=9889 I said that the model would look good finished in "transparent film," so that people could see the quality of the construction beneath. What I should have said was, "Translucent coloured film" rather than transparent.

His son has gone and bought him several metres of completely transparent film with no added colour whatsoever! If Franz were to cover his model in this material it would surely be difficult to see in the air.

However, is there any reason why the film could not be used as a backing like doculam or mylar with coloured tissue doped over the top?

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I once covered a lightweight 100" glider with Solarfilm Litespan. It looked really good so I fine trimmed the model on my local slope site in light wind conditions. When I was quite satisfied with it's glide performance I tried a gentle loop followed by a fast (relatively) pass then suddenly the wings began to flutter alarmingly. Despite appearing nice & taut the Litespan was just too flexible so I decided to dope tissue on top hoping to add the tissue's stiffening to the Litespan's puncture resistance. This worked for a while but over a couple of months the tissue gradually became unstuck at the edges & rucked up (unlike my subsequent successful experiences of tissue over doculam).

Finally I stripped all of the covering off, re-covered with doped tissue then Solarfilmed on top. When shrinking the film I carefully made certain that it was adhering to the tissue over the whole surface, not just at the high points, like ribs etc or simply touching the tissue. The result this time was a very stiff covering material with none of the subsequent loosening of the film due to temperature changes. It also has a slight surface texture from the tissue, taking away some of the "sweet paper cellophane" like shiny appearance.   

Since then I've used this technique on several high aspect ratio winged gliders & motor gliders including a scale ASK 14 & RelaxE, both are about 2,8m span. 

 

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ASK14.jpg.c52248e9394b61f7b19ca3bb05f2a0b5.jpg

 

P1020703.thumb.JPG.9722d5333a1f4fb780f391e93bd4ab1f.JPG

 

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.... or how about doing something like this where the balsa is coloured before covering with clear film?

 

 

On 05/03/2021 at 19:34, Dan Workman said:

Great fun Ron, i'll put a few links to it flying. 

I fitted a motor to the 1st prototype which went well too. I keep it in the car and fly whenever i get the chance

20210125_144257.jpg

 

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W h smith's have a 3 for 2 offer for the rolls of self adhesive laminating film at the moment which I presume is the stuff used ?

 

Will be trying it on a test piece first. Does it heat shrink at all ?

 

They only seem to do the clear stuff, is coloured shrinking dope available theses days ?

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I can't see rolls available in Smiths. You need a roll not pouches. Look online - I got 100m by about 80cm for about £20.  Check the thickness in microns before you buy...... I think the stuff I have is around 40. More microns = more weight ?

 

It works just like other heatshrink films (e.g. solarfilm) but you'll need to experiment to find the right temperature. Like other films, you'll need to 'key' it if you want to paint it.

 

Not sure if coloured dope is available but I'd avoid it anyway - hideously heavy stuff!

 

GG

Edited by GrumpyGnome
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Got back from town about an hour ago...

 

W H Smith's caernarfon have a 3 for 2 deal on 

 

W h Smith self adhesive covering film ( clear, 45cms X 5m ) normally at £3.99, £7.98 for 3.

 

Don't know thickness or weight but if it turns out tooo heavy/unsuitable, I will laminate some of the scruffy plans I have, and make a covered wing jig.

 

The eBay one seems much cheaper but I don't need 100 metres, yet.

 

Pity coloured type is not available, red, yellow, blue and white would be good.

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  • 8 months later...

Update on laminating film. I covered a small frame in matt laminating film. It looks a lot like tissue and rskes paint very well. I put it in the green house at the beginning of last year. Idea was to see if it would loosen with high temperatures or become degraded by UV . Checked it the other day and it's still tight as a drum with no signs of lifting or degrading. Looks a good un. 

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3 hours ago, Graeme White said:

Does laminating film stick to itself well? As in when sheets need to overlap as at 30cm wide there may be a few joins on bigger models?

 

Also very much like the idea of a thin tissue and varnish over the top, think that would look smart.

You can overlap it if needed but like any other film covering just watch for bubbles.

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17 hours ago, Brian Sweeting 1 said:

Haven't  tried it myself but a small caveat to Engine Doctors' greenhouse test, UV does not penetrate glass.

 

Impressed by the test however as it sure will have seen a good range of temperatures.

Hi Brian.  Cant agree completely. Not all greenhouse glass is equal. You  can certainly buy UV blocking glass or Acrylic/ polycarbonate but regular glass as per our green house allows approx 70% UV A and 3% UV B .  The reason  many plastic items degrade quickly ,ie  plastic bags turn to confetti along with plastic handles on tool loosing the shiny surface that turn to a crumbly texture. Our models only spend short periods out in the open so the UV test is relatively unimportant although I did have a canopy on a Kyosh Majestic turn to eggshell some years ago.

 

Graham . The overlaps on the matt variety once ironed down are virtually impossible to pick apart . Can't speak for the clear variety as have not tried it but the matt type ressembles doped tissue already . You can also buy it in 60cm wide rolls , same width as covering film but probably have to buy a 100 meter roll.

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56 minutes ago, Engine Doctor said:

Graham . The overlaps on the matt variety once ironed down are virtually impossible to pick apart . Can't speak for the clear variety as have not tried it 

The overlaps of the gloss are also virtually invisible &  near impossible to pick apart.

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