First, Build a Shed

[tracstarr]

I really am enjoying reading the covering process. It's making it a little less daunting for me. I'm also going to use Oratex, but have not decided on color(s) yet. I'm going to have to get a few samples to look at.

[efwd]

I can also provide silver and yellow if you let Carl know in your PM that he can provide me your address.
Eddie

[David47]

Eddie, Sent you a PM. Thanks for the offer.

[Shadowrider]

Rib lacing is complete. Two inch finishing tapes will cover the ribs and the Oratex tapes come pre-glued. However, a double coat of glue spread over the area will insure a good bond over the stitches and nylon tape. The nylon tape is 1" wide so the blue painter's tape can lay just outside the stitching holes but accuracy isn't that critical.

A thin coat of Oratex glue can dry pretty quickly and the blue painters tape won't pull a clean line once the glue starts to setup. Working one rib at a time, spreading a coat of glue all the way around the wing, followed immediately by the second coat, then pulling the tape leaves clean lines. Painting all of the ribs then trying to pull the tape would leave a more jagged glue line. The rotisserie got a nice workout.

I am curious, do you tape wider with blue tape than the finishing tape or narrower so you don’t have glue not being covered by tape and being exposed? If you put the blue tape narrower than finish tape so the finishing tape completely covers the glue? If you do that isn’t the edge of the finishing tape going to peel up where there was no glue?

[Cherrybark]

The Oratex finish tape comes pre-glued. I just want better adhesion over the reinforcing tape that is under the rib lacing. Also the flat, waxed lacing thread that lays down so beautifully, isn't strictly approved by Oratex. Before stitching I scraped both sides of the thread a couple of times with a thumb nail then ran it two or three times between tightly gripped folds of an alcohol soaked rag. There was no obvious was build up while stitching.

The blue tape goes just outside the rib lacing holes (burned with a soldering iron). The 2" wide tapes easily cover the maybe 1 1/4" glue strip. Tapes are easily applied with a little extra time spent pressing the tape against either side of the lacing. The pre-glued edges look nice and secure. Contrary to another thread, the edges of the Oratex tapes are coated with color - not raw. At least the red ones are.

I used "straight" finishing tapes but "pinked" are available. No idea how easy dealing with those little pinked triangles might be.

[aviator79]

Contrary to another thread, the edges of the Oratex tapes are coated with color - not raw.

I think I referred to them as "raw" in another thread. I just meant that they had no additional topcoat to blend them into the fabric underneath, not that they didn't have color at the edges. I also wasn't trying disparage Oratex. After doing a wing in Poly Fiber, I'm honestly not sure which way I'd go if I had it to do over again. If Oratex had a little bit more in-service history, it would probably tip me that direction, so I hope I didn't come across as overly critical. I'm probably just trying to convince myself that I made the right decision.

[Cherrybark]

Ah these pesky forum posts. They can be as bad as emails. My "raw edges" comment did sound kind of snotty and I apologize. I had read your post as non-colored and off I went!

And you are absolutely correct. A big downside of the Oratex systems is lack of paint coats to "soften" the edges along the finishing tapes and joints. Here is a situation where that can be a problem. When applying the top fabric to the wing, I used the straight factory edge of the fabric to make a straight, clean line overlapping onto the underside of the trailing edge. Neat as a pin. However, it is very tough to get a clean, straight line where the fabric overlaps the bottom fabric on the leading edge. You can cut the Oratex fabric exactly to size, but you risk shrinkage and a wavy line while you use heat to bond the glue. So the factory recommends you leave a few inches of "gripping" fabric and do the following:

1. Use masking tape to make a clean glue line on the already attached bottom fabric. Remove the tape before the glue dries!
2. Apply glue to the top fabric so it will more than overlap the masked glue line on the bottom fabric.
3. Attach the fabric, using heat and pressure to bond the glues.
4. The glued surface of the top fabric will not have a good bond to the masked area on the already applied bottom fabric so you can fold the fabric back, make a sharp crease, and cut neatly along the line.
5. Finish by heating and pressing the clean edge of the fabric.

Sounds easy enough and the factory guy doing the YouTube video is an artist. In practice, I had a very hard time getting a straight cut along the creased fabric. The line on my first wing is jagged enough that I masked and applied a couple of coats of glue so it would melt and "caulk" the imperfections in the line. With experience, the second wing went much better. Of course, with so many stages of the project, you are often approaching major jobs as a fresh faced kid.

I'm happy with the Oratex, particularly in light of my complete lack of painting skills and equipment. With care you can do a very nice covering job. But there are downsides to the process.

[aviator79]

For what it's worth, there are certainly steps in Poly Fiber that the manual and the pros make look/sound easy, but the finesse required takes more than a practice kit or two to develop. I guess there's a reason we do this solely for recreation and education. Sometimes more the former than the latter

[efwd]

The triangle edges on my pinked tapes were pretty harmless. Not to say I haven't found some that needed addtl attention..
With regard to the edges not having color. My yellow fabric, once cut, does have a white edge. So, when I cut the holes out for the rudder hinges I had to apply yellow paint on the edges to dress it up a bit. I think that the tapes, being made from the thinner fabric, don't show that same white edge. I bought some sample fabric from the thinner line and when I cut it it doesn't show white.
Eddie

[Cherrybark]

Might send a letter to the editor of the local paper, letting them know I've found another use besides lining the cockatoo's cage. This pattern matches the sides of the fuselage. Should you go this route, be sure to flip the paper when cutting alternate sides.