Hello everyone, just had a question. I got a Hellcat A/C model from my Grandma for Christmas and it’s one of those huge scale Balsa wood models. The instructions vaguely explain what dope is. They said I should cover the ribs with it before I cover the framework with tissue paper. Does anyone have a particular brand of dope that works well? Also does anybody have a great technique for covered the framework with tissue paper? The model is a Guillow’s balsa wood “flying scale model” of a hellcat. Any help would be appreiciated, thank you![:)]
well white glue works but check your local hobby store they sell the stuff you need to build your balsa model.
You’ll need a hobby shop that sells flying models. The Dope is a really nasty paint product. For attaching the tissue to the balsa you’ll probably want the clear Dope. Don’t try using it on plastic BTW, it’ll eat it up.
Regards, Rick
is it going to be flying ? if it isnt, i suggest simple white glue. its cheaper, and dope is really really nasty. dope is suggested because the model was designed for flight.
Yeah, what they said.
If you look at the micro mark catalog (methinks - it’s been a number of years since I did one of these) they have a heat shrink skin. essentialy you iron (just remember to put a cotton t-shirt between the iron and plastic fabric) it on the ribs then use a hair dryer to tighten the fabric - beats using dope and costs about the same.
wibhi has reminded me that R/C airplane stores ar the place to go for balso covering solutions. there is an innundating choice of coverings and stuff. a word of warning though, they are designed for flying R/C aircraft so they may be a little pricey and are designed to be very light.
“Aerogloss” is the clear dope you need. It’s available at any hobby shop that deals
with R/C flying models. Put a coat of dope on the ribs, lay the tissue on it and smooth it
out as best you can. When the dope is dry, use a spray bottle with water and dampen the tissue to shrink it. Then lay a couple of coats of dope over the whole thing. Then you can use colored dope for the finish. As wibhi2 said, the heat shrinkable stuff is WAY
easier to use and comes in any color you can think of. Though I’ve never done it myself,
I’ve thought of covering one of those Guillows kits with aluminum such as Flitemetal.
http://www.flitemetal.com Of course, it would be for display only.
Ray
Pactra also makes “dope” type paints for wood models, or at least they used to. You may have a problem finding the old “DOPE” because it was nasty stuff. Most of it was lacquer, buterate, or bananna oil based, and very toxic.
Check with your local hobby shop and see if there is a modern alternative for painting the silkspun tissue, or as suggested above, an alternative covering material.
You can apply the tissue paper with a mixture of white glue and water. I do not remember the ratio of GLUE TO WATER but you may be able to get that information from a hobby shop that specializes in flying models. Have fun, rangerj
I know this can be just as nasty (but not nearly AS nasty) as dope but you could also go out and buy a couple cans of the cheapest aerosol hairspray you can find. I think Final Net is the stuff I used. Anywho, after applying the tissue, spray on the hairspray and that will work as a pretty good sealant for the tissue. After several coats you’ll see a nice sheen starting to form. Once I got a nice little sheen going on then I applied a coat of dope. That kept it a bit lighter and it limited my exposure to the dope.
I’ve cleared off my bench to begin my winter project which will be Guillow’s beautiful Stearman biplane. My wife got it for me for Christmas of '03. While I was going to finish it using the tissue, after reading all the posts above I think I will use some blue and yellow heat shrink!
Eric
Yepper!! I grew up using AeroGloss (which could explain quite a few things [D)]) but we used it on our Control line airplanes. It is specifically designed to be fuel (not fool) proof.
If you do decide to use it, thin out the first coat to make it more absorbent into the “silkspan” paper covering. Start out by laying it over the wing and paint the dope across the leading edge. As that dries you can pull it down across the ribs and paint the dope right through the paper to make it stick until you get to the trailing edge. Water wil make it shrink up after the dope is dry. You can leave it that way or clear dope the entire surface for more strength. Use clear as was suggested for the first (thin), and the second (unthinned) coat. From there you can actually sand it lightly and apply color coats. If this model will never see flight or exposure to hot fuel, you can spray paint it. Some people just like the look of clear doped paper though.
Hands down, the best way is to use the plastic heat shrinkable coverings: Monokote is just one brand name. Again, as was said above, it comes in just about any color you want and is really not all that hard to use. I use it on my R/C gliders, and even my very first attempt using a houshold iron came out quite well. It is on the pricey side, but if you value your health it’s worth it.
Good luck, let us know what you decided on (and show us a pic when it’s finished).
stinger
Thank you everyone for all the help! I guess I should have said I plan on making it a non-flying model. I guess I’ll use white glue as dope and soak the silkskin in white-gluey water and spread the silkskin on the ribs. Then I’ll cover it in a thin layer of carpender’s glue (because you can sand it) and I’ll sand it to shape. I might do the carpender’s glue several times to get the tissue paper hard. Does this sound like it’ll work? And can I really use normal acyrlic paint out of my airbrush to paint it? Thanks for all the extremely helpful info for a newbie. Thank you!
Ryan - Glue it to the ribs first, naking sure to pull it as tight as possible before the glue dries. Then, BEFORE applying any glue to the open areas (between ribs or stringers) spray it with water and let it dry. This will cause it to shrink tight between the glued areas. Then you might be able to apply your thinned out glue over the whole thing.
I’ve never used the white glue method myself, so I can’t guarantee the results. Try it over maybe just a couple of ribs first, then if it doesn’t work, you can just sand it off and try something different.
Let us know how it turns out.
stinger