Christchurch and District Model Flying Club
 

Covering foam with tissue or glasscloth

By many authors

You will need some water-based polyurethane varnish (eg Ronseal quick drying clear matt from B&Q) and a 1/2” soft brush, as well as tissue. I have recently been using Ben Buckle’s heavyweight tissue form Ch4, but in the past have used the lightweight stuff that used to come with KK kits, and some Jap tissue from Mike Woodhouse free flight supplies. I find the heavyweight tissue the easiest to work with.

Sand off the sheen from depron. Paint the varnish onto the foam and allow to dry. Sand and clean the surface gently to remove nibs, raised grain, dust etc, then lay a pre-cut piece of tissue onto the foam. Use the brush to work the varnish into the tissue starting with a strip along the centre line, then working outwards. I find that this way the inevitable wrinkles can be eased out of the covering. Completely wet out the tissue so there are no dry patches and allow to dry overnight. There should not be any shrinkage or warping and I have not needed to weight down wings or tail surfaces.

You might have to go over the edges once or twice, but you really don’t need another coat of varnish.

For glasscloth (use the lightest you can find—use it for waterproofing hulls etc) I use the same procedure, but give it a second or even a third coat of varnish to make sure the grain is filled. You can go further, with lightweight fillers mixed with the varnish if you fancy experimenting.A



Avro Lincoln in depron, covered with tissue using the methods outlined above

 

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