Chicken Hawk, 3ch RC biplane

Fuselage The fuselage received two coats of Sanding Sealer with light sanding using a 400 grit paper before each coat . After the first two coats I applied the orange Silk Span trim patterns. I wet the orange Silk Span with water from a spray bottle, positioned it carefully, and removed any trapped air bubbles. Once satisfied, I applied Sanding Sealer to the orange Silk Span to fix it in place. When dry, I ran another light sanding of the entire fuselage and applied the final coat of Sealer. Battery compartment cover. I added a "CH"emblem on the right side of the fuselage made out of black iron-on covering. I printed a template with the size and font I wanted and cut the lettering with a sharp hobby knife. Wings I followed the test covering process I did on the balsa frame and covered the wings with clear (white) Silk Span. Once the edges where dry, I followed with light sanding and a coat of Sealer. I added the orange color trim following the 1963 patterns. Just like the fus...

I decided to stay with the old-school theme and cover the Chicken Hawk with silk span. The last time I used silk span was probably around 35 years ago on a glider I built. The process I remember involved attaching the dry silk span sheet to the wing surface with lacquer thinner, then wetting the sheet to get it to stretch, and finally applying a couple of Sanding Sealer coats to the covered wing. We used Sanding Sealer instead of Dope, probably because of price and availability. After searching the web and checking with my fellow club members, I found that the recommended process is not much different today then it was a few decades ago. I started with a test frame in order to get some practice and make sure I have the right materials. In general, the recommended process involves applying a few coats of Dope on the balsa surface you want to cover, then attaching and stretching a sheet of silk span. The sheet is fixed into place with some more Dope or thinner. There are many variations ...