First, Build a Shed

[bholland]

Carl, it looks really nice! I painted the primer on my wings today so I am about ready to cover. I am sure I will be calling you with lots of questions

[Cherrybark]

This pre-glue step will be repeated for the 1" tapes covering the false ribs. I didn't order sufficient 1" tape. After the fuselage is covered I'll know what additional materials might be required. Any left over wider tape can be cleanly cut down to 1" using a long straightedge and a rotary cutter. Or left over fabric can be used to make the tapes. Both of these options will leave a thin white line where the color coat would be missing. A red sharpie pen is a close enough match but I'm more in the puddle jumper rather than the show category and probably wouldn't bother. All in all, ordering a 1" roll of tape is easier and, with luck, can be supplied from Lars' Alaska office rather than shipped from Germany.

[Cherrybark]

My rotisserie doesn't seem ridiculously tall and, when inverted, the top of the rudder just has a few inches of clearance from the garage floor. Still, it took a simple scaffold of cinder blocks and 2 x 8's to be tall enough to fabric the bottom. Covering the bottom took three days.

• Lay a wide piece of fabric on the bottom, clamp one side, trace a cutting line down the other side.
• Transfer the fabric to a 4' x 8' table top for cutting.
• Get nervous and measure the fuselage width down a series of reference points. Then transfer these points to the fabric and draw connecting lines as a sanity check on the rough cutting line.
• Cut the fabric and relax when the test fit looks good.
• Scotchbrite the airframe, wipe clean, then paint double coats of glue on both tubes and fabric.
• Wait overnight then use heat and pressure to secure the fabric around the perimeter of the bottom. Cut slits where necessary.
• Come back the third day and heat shrink

[efwd]

Oh the memories.
Looks good Carl

[Flybyjim]

Your plane is looking nice Carl, adrenalin runs high when your about to make those cuts into large pieces of fabric. Thanks for sharing your progress.

[David47]

Carl, that red is stunning. Do you know the Oratex colour name ?

[Cherrybark]

David,

The fabric is Oratex Fokker Red. They have a limited set of colors and I believe this is still the only red. The USA distributor, Lars in Alaska, quickly mailed free samples of various colors. No idea who might handle the fabric in Aus.

I decided on red after seeing a picture of Gary's (Colospace) smiling face, holding a freshly covered rudder or elevator in his thread.

[colospace]

Yes it certainly brings back memories (seems so long ago). Looking real nice Carl.
One of the beauties of Oratex is that, once you've shrunk it tight, you not only have the satisfaction that the taut fabric brings to any build, but also the feeling of completeness that having the final finish brings.
Finish tapes still to go obviously, but I found that to be a no brainer except around some of the smaller tail surface radii.

[David47]

Thanks Carl. I guess the Fokker red is based on the WW1 colours of the Red Baron ... another good reason to use it, although I'm using Poly Fibre per the factory kit so I'd have to try and match.

[Cherrybark]

I'll be happy to mail you a swatch from the many scraps that are piling up. That might help get a reasonable match in the paint system you are planning to use.

PM your address if you are interested.