chrome solarfilm covered Cessna 170

[akofly]

Here, my Cessna 170 i have had for a few years . Built it but never covered it. I got a roll of chrome solarfilm for an R/C project and first thing that struck me was how light it was compared to the colored stuff. So the 170 finally got covered and it looks great in its new clothes. Should be a reasonable flyer cause the wood was light to begin with. Now where did i put those wing struts? More to come. Daryl

[Wildpig]

Nice looking cover. The Cessna 170's quite often came from the factory natural aluminum, with some painted stripes.

Is solarfilm applied with an iron like monokote?

[akofly]

Chrome Solarfilm is applied with an iron but on a lower heat than ordinary film. Its not supposed to be applied to open framework but it goes on ok if your careful. If the heat is too high slight pearling can happen

[Bill Gaylord]

I haven't tried chrome solarfilm, but chrome Monokote would be a nightmare to shrink on a plane this size, although it really looks like chrome. The solarfilm looks good though too. The new Parklite silver is not as chromy in appearance, but it shrinks really well compared with other chrome and silver coverings I've used. I'm thinking about building one of these using it, as they do look nice with the bare metal look. Always liked the 170, and then there's always the Luscombe Silvaire also.

[Pauli72]

That bare aluminum finish would also look really cool on planes like Spirit of St. Louis, or any of the WW II series that were flown without paint/camo ( P-38, P-47, P-51...even the B-29, or late B-17's).

[akofly]

yeah, there's a lot of planes that could use this covering and even fly ( with a small wieght penalty). Another thing with film covered models is thier durability. I have covered a couple of other guillows kits with film also. A piper cub i built for a friend who owns a real one and a Cessna 150 in the colors of a local flying school. I'll see if i can borrow them back and get some pics and post them. Daryl