Foam board and iron on film????

by Trauma50 | October 27, 2013 | (8) Posted in Tips

I wanted a durable covering that would not add lots of weight?? Tape? Have you held a full roll of any reinforcing tape in you hand?  heavy? Contact film, heavy again.

I thought, iron on film? Would it stick? Would it warp the tail pices?  A trial was in order.

 At medium heat I found it stuck well, it did not warp the tail, and it was light, and a bonus was it strengthened the foam. No air bubbles trapped under the film like on balsa.( I believe the air gets pushed thru the paper/foam.) In a major crash it would make a great self-contained bag to carry the pieces from the field in.

No messy paint, over spray on things you did not intend to paint. It's water proof, and can be cut into any design you want. It worked well on the poster board too. I used the tape down method on the turtle deck, but instead of tape. I just tact the over lap, I left on one side, then glued it down.

Another mod I did was to move the servos forward of the CG. Using push rods. I HATE to add weight to a plane to get it to balance correctly. I don't used the removable power pod in my FT planes, choosing in stead to glue them in place. The FT Racer is a great plane, it tracks true, with no bad habits.

 

COMMENTS

Trauma50 on November 19, 2013
I cut the flames out first, then laid them on the wing over lapping the black, then ironed them on.
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rcflyer729 on November 13, 2013
nice job
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Kiowa Mech on November 1, 2013
where did you get the covering?
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Trauma50 on November 1, 2013
The covering is from Hobby King, And yes it's like monokote. But much cheaper. It will stick to the foam board with out any prep. I will be doing this for all my future builds with foam board. The only draw back is it takes the speed, out of "speed build" I think it added about 2 hrs to the project. On the plus side it takes the wear and tear out of landing with out landing gear. If you guy's have any other questions? Please ask away. Regards, Joe
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Exhodus on November 3, 2013
Nice! I've been just wondering if this is doable or not, now you answered my question, thanks :)
Did you use a hobby iron? I guess a simple hair dryer wouldn't do right?
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Arend on November 1, 2013
I so wanted to try that! When you say iron on foam you mean monokote or something similar right?
Cheers Arend
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Trauma50 on November 3, 2013
Yes, I used a hobby iron, I don't think a heat gun, or a hair dryer would do the job of sticking it to the foam? They are just used to shrink the covering over areas were there's no contact with the frame of the model. In the old days when I starting building RC planes, a clothes iron did the job, but my arm would be killing by the time I was done cause it was so heavy and awkward. Just test it on some scrap foam to get the right temp.
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rcspaceflight on November 18, 2013
Great solution. I usually use packing tape. A local craft store sells some no name stuff that is very thin and light. I know Scotch brand tape claims to be 30 times stronger than other packing tape brands. I'm pretty sure the stuff I use is that 30 times weaker stuff. It still makes a water proof surface and does add a lot of strength to foam. Although it can be hard to get it on smoothly without any air bubbles.
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Trauma50 on November 19, 2013
New mods to the plane since building. Bigger motor, faster plane. I also cut the rudder off, not really needed.
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solarflash on November 1, 2013
What brand of covering did you use? Anything special? I have been thinking of trying this and coating the foam with a coat of Balsarite before applying the film, but have not done so yet. BalsaRite is used on balsa (duh) to get extra insurance for the film to stick,
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Clayton on November 15, 2013
did you cover, then cut or the other way around?
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pdxflyer on November 8, 2013
I used colored tape i got on line and it worked out real well.

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coffeebean56 on November 25, 2014
My Coverite 21st Century Iron lists the Recommended Iron Temps on the box for attaching to foam: MonoKote; No, Multikote; 175-200, Solartex;175-200, and EconoKote is 225. The Iron has a solid-state temp control to hald temp within 3 degrees.
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Trauma50 on November 25, 2014
Test it at different setting with some scrap foam and covering. The cool thing is no bubbles under the covering. The air squeezes threw the paper on the foam. Unlike with balsa. Joe
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Foam board and iron on film????