How To Cover a Model Airplane with Tissue 

Just coming back to the hobby after 70 years, yes 70 years. 87 next week! Have been building an old stock Mercury Tiger Moth and converting it to RC as a trip down memory lane. It is amazing how many different ways there are now for covering a plane. I really appreciated this video as it is so clear and the method is close to what I remember. Thank you.

i used to build these type planes when i was a kid back in the early 1960's it's fun watching you do it. i still have a couple of vintage kits in my closet that i should build or give away. thnx for the show.

A young guy building stick and tissue models! Bravo!!!

Nice work and very clean . I have been building these type of kits since I was 10 yrs old I am now 70 .Over the years I have tried MANY different types of making the tissue tight , and what I stumbled across was to use ( SPRAY STARCH ) like what is used on shirts . Not only does this shrink tight but it also makes the tissue harder . This CAN be doped or covered with banana oil . Works for me and have covered at least 60 planes and have won many contests using this method. Once again, you do good work . DUKE

This all takes me back to when I was about 14 or so , its great to watch and see it still goes on today . 😎 p.s I am now 65 .👍🏻

I used to cut the tissue to the approximate size. Then soak it in water lay it on the wood then brush dope on all the struts and ribs. It would soak through the tissue to the wood and when it was dry the tissue would tighten right up.

There is a grain to the tissue. The plans usually state which direction to place the grain of the tissue.

Great to see young blood in the game. Nice work.

By far the best explanation on tissuing a frame. It took my years to figure this stuff out on my own. So many wasted frames via trial and error...

I made a few balsa models as a kid back in the 70's and sure wish I had the internet to help me back then. You make the job quite simple using this method.

Wallpaper glue works as well, and seal it with waterbased floor lacker

I have been modeling for 20 years. My beloved category are radio control models, tethered. This is a group of models, unfortunately, going away. Detriment. At least with us in Poland. But I remember school times when I fell in love with small constructions like yours. You could do them everywhere. A piece of desk next to the books was enough. It's great that "peanuts" because we say so on such planes come back thanks to you and this channel. Great. Best wishes. I would love to test such a construction now with my daughter 😊.

Awesome tips. Thanks.

Well done!

Very Cool Video!!! Thanks for the tips!!

Found this helpful i am ordering the 109 on monday

Great, concise video, thank you.

Pretty interesting process, dude! :D

Brilliant! I happen to own a coronation mug, now it's time to get the rest of the gear... Thanks very much for the video; very helpful indeed!

Exellent and very informative,than you.

Thanks

Exactly the tutorial i was looking for. Thank you.

informative video very well narrated

Just wanted to say I'm building your spitfire model and it's great! These videos are super useful.

Excellent well done

To make for a drum tight wing skin wet tissue before laying on wing. This method will eliminate all tissure wrinkles. When dry the wing skin will be incredibly tight.

I make car models but this helps me a lot. Amazing job

Great video thanks. What sort of paints do you use on the tissue? Brushed or sprayed?

great help!

Man Thank u ! other tutorials on this i saw were confusing and long this helped ALOT !

...sometimes we ironed the paper between two sheets of say... newspaper; heat on low. Make sure you know the "grain" runs on the paper. Your models look great, naice to see young people interested in this old hobby, maybe we fly thogether after the covid... Cheers from Normandy.

Cool!

thank's lot,enjoy

Very easy metod👍👍👍

Hi great tips . However , I would like to know can I paint the tissue with acrylic paint after covering. Thanks.

Nice Work 👍

Very interesting. I doing covering my Cessna 150 with this metod. Thanks😃

Tissue plane seems cool and practical.

It’s semi clear so you can see cracks in the structure of the wing if there is damage post assembly!

I've covered many models and I've only recently found out about using a glue stick. Seems everyon'e's doing it this way these days. I must give it a try. I don't weigh down components when water shrinking. If they're going to warp, they will warp. It's worth noting that, even with the spacers, the underside of the wing will dry out at a far slower rate than the top, stressing the wing. I stick a pin into usually the wing tip and hang it by a thread so that it dries evenly.

how did you do the wing tips?

Which kind of model benefits from building in washout? Would this be appropriate in your range of scale rubber planes? Thanks.

May I use just water to shrink the tissue? Here it is very difficult to impossible to find those specific products. BTW great job!

I do origami and I make my folding paper using non-bleeding tissue paper. If the modell is very compley I use only 1 layer paper after I applied some light CMC on it. It makes it a tiny bit heavier, but also much much more durable. Have considered applying it before?

thanks for that vid... i can do the putting it onto the frame, but i dont know what the heck that pva mix thing is... what are some alternatives? can i just use normal balsa glue? and is there a way to where i dont have to mix water/easydope 10 times?

tissue covering ...................now there's an almost lost art :)

I give my parents credit for letting me cover with actual dope, in the house.

When I used tissue to cover airplanes glue sticks had never been invented and the dope smell could make you high! It was surprising what a strong surface this could make. Nice to see that some modelers are still using tissue.

Doing a douglas dc3 by guillows now, and not happy with how the "full scales plans" arent quite big enough to layout plane, and also the formers have pre punched spots to put stringers on but you are supposed to notch them all to the layout and they are in the wrong spot

Videos like this are SO helpful. Thank you.

Ok, I'm less than a minute in and already I can see this young man takes a serious, straight-forward yet light-hearted approach to his subject manner. WERY well done. Immediately L & S 'ed . I look forward to more as I share this vid and others with my grand sons, one of whom is just CERTAIN he wants to join the Air Force (Like his grandpa ;=) !! ) and "Fly Fighter Jets" ;=)) !! Other one wants to be a trucker. I've done BOTH jobs. _HHhhhmmmm ... ... ... !_

Hey that very nice in my time i was apply some clear dope and it make it littler then paint ut with some color dope paint it was fun but like your job amaizing

Can hair spray be used like dope?

I found using steam works great for stretching.

Hola bien día!! Si podrás hacer un tutorial para un f14 tomcat? Porfavor!!

I guess using tissues/silk paper will be similar to real life planes wrapped in stretched canvas. Preety good actually.

Awesome this convinced my dad to allow me to get more kits when I did it better than he can cause of this vid

Can you please clarify something for me. Some people seal the frame prior to application of the tissue. In this video, it looks like you sand it smooth and then apply the tissue. Let me know what you think. Thanks.

Anyone know how to cover in card stock?

Is it neccesary to have a stringer right at the leading edge? Can the paper skin curve about the leading edge in the unsupported region?

Would there be different ways to hold the parts while they dry with all the different shapes?

Thanks for these tips! The glue stick would have really been effective!

Better than what I did think I used too much water and didn't cut away excess paper.

What if you haven't got that many paint pots??

Make a stuka

Can you make a home made eazy dope paste. And how and what is in it

Great to see your technique; however you did not mention the type of tissue paper.

Hello, Could we paint the cover ?

Hello. First off all, congrats for the chanel...Great work. Is it possible to airbrush a micro aeroplane like the one in your video (covered with tissue paper)? My fear is that the paint will form wrinkles.... Regards from Spain

You don't mention the grain of the tissue, if you run the grain from leading edge to trailing edge it will sag between the ribs. You need to run the grain from the root of the wing to the tip.

Hi'I would write about this Technic of covering, I build Aircraft by 15 years, I covered my First in 2006. I apply dr tissue with cellulosic glue in 60% nitro solvent. Is so light ang good to use. White glue, in Italy Vinavil is so havy and aggressive for the Balsa wood and it don't go inside the wood. Is so important that Balsa " eat" the parts of glue. Personally I use UHU hart for covrnring and tend the paper tessue. For applicazioni of the tessue: 60% glue and 30% nitro solvent, For have a good tension: 50% glue and 50% Nitro solvent, the First and second hand is 50&50 and the rest of hands (4hands) are 70%glue and 30% Nitro solvent. Remember that the paper must be umid when you apply and next 24h you can use the mix of glue for the tension.. The final is like a drum! So light and good to see. Good bye and good job by Italy 😀. Sorry for my rusty and bad english

How do you cover a wing with an aerofoil that has a curved underside, as featured on the KK Ajax model aeroplane?

I found this channel by accident after being subscribed to projectair for quite a while .... Any chance of a video of painting tissue planes with acrylics and an airbrush? It's giving me a headache on the airacobra I'm restoring/reskinning

Background sound was dope (no pun). Might find something like that for an ASMR

Haven’t tried this yet, but look forward to it - very well narrated and filmed! Good explanation!

Thank you for your instructions, all the way from Sweden!

You've got ANOTHER channel, how did I miss that?????

😁👍

Wish these videos were around in the 90s. Could have been really useful for me when i was a kid trying to build one of these. I bought five. I could only build the frame and that was about it if pieces were broken already.

Mostly flat surfaces are easy. Now show us how to cover a cylindrical shaped fuselage!

Starting to think the music was taken from a space sci-fi movie. A light touch with experience become skill and yours is showing. Subbed, but I don't see a link to the Co. for kits and such.

Why didn't I think to check RU-vid 15 years ago when I was building my kits?

Man I tried to shrink one and I just used water. Looked great when i hit it with the heat gun. Then about 20 minutes later it looked exactly the way it did before I shrunk it. Guess I needed some glue in the water

What are the advantages of doping the covering?

Swagulous.

need to tighten the film, not paper

Wow, great tutorial!

I use to spray the tissue with water and use my wife's blow dry it to shrink the paper.

Very strange hum on the video which doesn't enhance it at all. Didn't mention putting in the wash out on the wing tip. Naughty!

🎉😢😮😅😊😂