Monokote Hinges

In the photo's below you will see different colors being used, this is simply for visual clarification, for normal application use the same color as being cover.
The first thing to know is you should use medium heat throughout the entire process. Once finished you can gradually raise heat to final seal the hinges and seams. The reason for the low heat is to prevent excessive bubbling of the multiple layers of Monokote

Prepare surfaces to be covered to be smooth and dust free, then cover (such as the wing, flaps, stab, elevator, rudder and fin)

Seal all corners and edges

Cut a full length piece. The width of the strip will vary depending on the thickness of your surfaces. for an example, if you Stab & Elevators are 1/8 thick, I would cut 3/4" strips.

Here the black is shown only for a visual of the opposite side piece. Over lap the adhesive sides together with an over lap of 1/4". Then start to join by lightly heating at one end.

Continue lightly heating with the edge of the iron until you reach opposite end of strip. * for best results use the Monokote trim tool.*

Now turn iron to normal position and using the flat part of the point seal the joined strips.

Once Joined, Trim off the edge with a straight edge and cut hinges approximately 5/8" - 3/4" wide. * Not using a straight edge will end up with messy hinges.*

In the event you haven't already attached your joiner wire, Do so now.

Once installed, make sure the glue is properly dried, then cover with a small strip of covering and start hinging.

When adding the hinges be sure not to over lap them unevenly. For the best result when placing the hinges on, bend each hinge with iron as your installing the, this will prove to helpful when actually joining the two surfaces. * Use sets of three as shown in the next few photos.*

After adding the first set of three hinges, move to the opposite end and add another set of three, this will be helpful in centering the other sets of three. In the case shown here addition\al hinges were added to the center set simply because there was not enough space to equally space another set.

Once you have completed the one side and start the joining phase, you will see the helpfulness of bending the hinge.

Making sure your two surfaces are even, tack one hinge with your iron. the next hinge to be heated is the opposite end hinge.

Flip over and repeat only on the end hinges.

After the ends have been sealed in place and your satisfied with the hinge line, move onto the rest of the hinges making sure they remain even and taught.

Once all the hinges are completed move onto the next step, protecting the hinges. There are two ways to do this, One way is to cut a strip just wide enough to cover one side of the hinge and the other way is to cut a wider strip to cover both sides. (As shown here in purple)

Place the strip equally over the hinges and iron one side, once the first side is completed bend slightly as if you were moving the control surface and iron opposite side, * the reason for this is to give extra material for the next step.*

Once both sides are sealed, using a new Exacto blade and a straight edge, carefully score the covering down the center of the hinge line to separated. Once they are separated use the top side of your iron to start sealing the inner hinge line. *This is very important and will help prolong the life of your Monokote hinges.

Once you have this section completed you can now slowly start to increase the temperature of your iron for a more secure bond and seal

This is how I do Monokote hinges on the models I make for myself.
Monokote Hinges photos zip folder

Disclaimer: The information above is how we do Monokote hinges on the models we do for our personal use and is not intended to be instructions for the installation of, or suggestion to use Monokote Hinges. we are not affiliated with the production, manufacturing distribution or sales of the Monokote product, therefore we are not responsible for any damage or failures caused by or from the use of Monokote hinges. Anyone that uses iron on hinges does so at their own risk and responsibility.