User Manual
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Allow the water to dry out of the wood before applying the first full coat of clear dope. Apply 3 or more coats of clear dope.
Sand with 220 3M Tri-M-Ite or other no-load paper. Keep in mind that extra coats of dope will add weight. Sig Lite Coat
clear dope may be used in place of Supercoat Clear if desired. It has low shrink characteristics and is less likely to warp.
Three coats of clear should provide a good base for color. Sand lightly when dry with 220 grit 3-M Tri-M-Ite no-load paper.
The color dope may be brushed or sprayed.
Supercoat Color Dope should be thinned with 10% or more Supercoat Thinner for brushing. This helps prevent brush
marks and gives smoother coats. Flow on wet coats and avoid rebrushing back over an area already painted. For
spraying, thin dope about 50 - 50. Add more thinner if the dope does not go on evenly.
If high humidity causes the dope to "blush" or turn white, the test way to handle this problem is to wait until the humidity
situation improves and apply another coat of dope. This will eliminate the blush. If it is necessary to dope during high
humidity, Sig Retarder may be used in place of part of the Supercoat Thinner (amount depends on the humidity) to reduce
the tendency to blush.
Painting the entire model white is recommended for a good color base, particularly when white is part of the color scheme.
Color coats can be sanded with 360 Tri-M-Ite or 400 or finer wet paper. When using masking tape for trimming, seal the
edge with a coat of clear dope to prevent the color dope from bleeding under the edge. Don't leave the masking tape on
any longer than necessary. The longer it is on, the harder it sticks.
Complete the job with several sprayed coats of clear over the color scheme. This seals the colors and adds gloss. For best
results, it is not a good idea to try to mix different brands of paint. Use SIG products from the start.
A CURE FOR FUSELAGE WARPING
You may have noticed when a piece of balsa is doped on one side and not the other, it will curl. The same
thing can happen on the fuselage sides, under the wing opening, particularly when you put on a number of
coats. (The rest of the fuselage will not show this effect to any extent because it is four sided and cannot
distort.) The effect isn't noticable until after full cure of the dope and aging, which may take several months.
To prevent this from happening, give the inside fuselage a coat of dope every time you give the outside a
coat. This has an added advantage in making the cabin area fuel proof. In addition, when the hardwood
servo mounts are installed, have them a little over-long so that the cabin sides are bulged slightly outward.
Finishing The Plastic
The plastic parts should be sanded to remove the gloss before they are painted. Don't use coarse sandpaper, which can
cut deep scratches. These scratches may open up during doping (which softens the plastic) and become more noticeable.
Instead use something like 220 3-M Tri-M-Ite no load silicon paper to start and polish down with 360 Tri-M-Ite or 400 wet
paper before color doping.
The plastic cowling and wheel covers may be painted with Sig Supercoat Dope. Care should be used not to apply heavy,
wet coats of dope. Put on light coats and allow them to dry thoroughly before applying a second coat. A spray gun is a
good method of getting a good finish with a minimum amount of dope. Be especially careful with spray cans not to wet the
plastic too much. Spray several light dusting coats with adequate drying time allowed. Plastic may also be painted with Sig
Plastinamel, Sig Skybrite, K&B Super Poxy, Hobbypoxy or DuPont Dulux Enamel.
CANOPY: We recommend Sig Plastinamel or Sig Skybrite for painting the framing outlines on the canopy. Dope is very
difficult to use on canopy plastic because of its warping action. Epoxy paint can be used, but it does not stick on the plastic
quite as well as Plastinamel or Skybrite. Sanding the gloss off the plastic will help adhesion. Other enamels and plastic
paints can be used, but test in advance on scrap. Glue the canopy on right after the paint is dry.
Decals
Decals are not furnished in the kit. See Sig catalog for special Kougar decals. The water-slide type will not adhere well to
plastic film covering. For plastic-film covered Kougars, get Stik-Tite pressure sensitive decals. Stik-Tites can be used on
any surface but are slightly thicker than water
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slide decals