New Car

[resullivan]

Me and my son are going to council in a couple of weeks, but had to build a new car. Council rules state all 4 must touch and no canting. Anyway, this will be our first attempt at fenders. So far they have turned out pretty good. I think for the next set the backs will be a little longer and a different shape. These are balsa and were shaped by hand sanding. Anyway, here is the car so far and the rear fenders which are finished:

 

[Chief]

Great Job! Looks really good! Best of luck to you both at your race!!!

 

[DEW36]

Looking good!! Good luck!!

 

[resullivan]

Thanks guys. I bought some monokote to use. For those that use it do you wrap it from the bottom just to cover the sides and then do a separate piece for the top? I would prefer not to glue the weight in (which I think I read somewhere that people that use monokote don't have to).

 

[GravityX]

Looking good! Can't wait to see the finished product.

 

[kpendle]

I have done monokote trim sheets on my cars. If you use it on the bottom I would say one piece to cover the bottom and sides. Because of the curve of the nose that will be the easiest to do and get it smooth. Then a second piece on top. I just trimmed mine close to the actual size I needed and used a single edged razor blade to trim it flush to the edges of the car. The top piece I made a little long and wrapped around the nose and back.

My best results I just used it on the sides and top and covered my weight pockets with foil tape. I did wrap it around the bottom just a little bit by the axle holes just in case it should peel or come loose.

The Monokote Trim Sheets I got were $2.79-$3.39 depending on the colors so it is inexpensive enough to experiment with.

One thing I did find is I had poor results putting it on a previously painted surface. I tried to reposition and of course it pulled the paint off. Also I used an iron to see if it would smooth it at all and over a painted surface it caused the bubbles to worsen.

This is just my experience as a novice Monokote Trim Sheet user with very limited experience.

Ken

 

[resullivan]

Where did you find it for that much? It was like $12 at the hobby store. That was a pretty big sheet of it though.

 

[kpendle]

You want to look for Trim Sheets which are 5"x36". Not the rolls which I believe are all heat activated. The trim sheets you peel the backing off and apply like a sticker. The rolls contain a lot more than you need for a car and require the heatgun and/or the iron.

You can see the colors and information on the Monokote site. Also they will list retailers

They are on Ebay and Amazon also if you want to get an idea of prices on them. If you can get them local you can save the shipping. Unless you get a few the shipping would increase the total cost.

The place I got mine at only had around 15-20 colors as I recall and they were not stocked the best but they had a sufficient selection. I got gold, chrome, black, orange, and a day-glo bright orange.

Ken

 

[Papa V Racing]

resullivan-

Car is looking good and can't wait to see the car when covered as well... Keep up the good work and make sure to get those photos posted when it is done ...

P V R

 

[resullivan]

Does super glue stick to monkote pretty good? I think the plan is going to be to cover the bottom with foil tape first then cover the top and sides with monokote (heat activated, we bought the iron). Then we plan on gluing the fenders on to the monokote.

 

[resullivan]

Here was my second practice attempt with the monokote. I sure am glad I didn't start with the car because the first attempt was a mess. This would probably be smoother but the piece of wood I practiced on was not smooth.

 

[resullivan]

Ok, got quite a bit done tonight. All we pretty much have left is to finish, paint, and attach the fenders. I just hope the superglue adheres to the monokote. Oh, BTW monokote does not adhere to foil tape.

 

[jator359]

Wow, looks great! After using a trim iron (rather than a full sized) I finish with a heat gun to smooth out and eliminate the micro bubbles. Timing's a little tricky though as a second or two over and the skin is ruined. I do it by feel--can't really quantify the timing.

 

[kpendle]

See the link below for some info from Oparennen. He glues his fenders onto Monokote. He superglues them to the Monokote and says they are easy to get off afterwards.

http://www.pinewoodderbyonline.com/post/show_single_post?pid=1277205012&postcount=11

The car looks really good. My daughter wants to build a car and race. Purple is the color she wants. That will be a good one for her to get an idea of the color and looks.

 

[resullivan]

Thanks for the advice everybody. I really like how the monokote has turned out.