Scale Aviator International Magazine Issue 3 | Page 94

heat gun to help remove the material. With a little
heat, the covering came off easily.
You will have to use an Xacto knife to get the
corners and tight spots, but with enough heat the
covering will lift and come off. Always pull the
covering back towards itself and cut areas so you
can remove large pieces.
After the wing covering was removed I wiped it
down lightly with lacquer thinner to remove any
residue adhesive. Then a light sanding with 400
grit sand paper using it carefully really smoothed
the surface.
The leading edge of the sample wing was damaged
as you can see from the red circle in Photo #4

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I sprayed the backside of the .010” (.25mm)
sheeting first and then the top of the wing. I let
both of these surfaces dry until I could touch them
with my finger and they were just slightly tacky.
Basically the adhesive was almost dry. I laid the
sheet on to the exposed wing carefully starting
from the front and slowly pulling it towards the rear.
Once the material was applied, I weighted it down
and left it to dry overnight. Photo #5.
I repaired what I could, but without cutting in a new
piece, this was going to be as good as it gets.
The sheeting covered the ding nicely and I found
that you really do not need to spend a lot of time
repairing these as long as a rib is not crushed and
the damage is not too large.
I had intended to wrap the leading edge with this
material, but that proved a bit difficult and I would

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recommend the .007” (178mm) thinner material to
wrap the leading edge.
After drying thoroughly, the sheeting had bonded
firmly and the wing started to look pretty good.
This photo shows the covered wing, and the other
wing panel with even more damage marked with
the red circles. Photo #6
The sheeted wing above the stripped wing shows
the material applied. Note that I also covered the
aileron with the material and the flap underneath
the aircraft.
Once I had applied Fliteskin to the top and bottom
of both wings, I glued the material as far as it would
go over the leading edge. I trimmed it at that point
and then filled it in with balsa and ZAP PT 40 resin
coating for a hard sealed surface. Now it is time
to prime the wings. The wings primed easily and
no additional surface preparation was required
with the exception of wiping them down of any
adhesive or other material.

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