Tape instead of paint?

[CMS_1961]

Just my two cents----I prefer tape!! I tape right over the paper. Got it to a science where it takes me just a few minutes to cover the entire 20 by 30 sheet with few errors. If you need extra strength for some reason you can tape the inside with clear tape as well, just avoid where you are going to hot glue!! I made an AXON this way and flew it for years!! All my FT wings are covered with tape (outside only) and they are strong and acrobatic as well.

Tape really adds no weight unless you layer it up for some reason. It is easier to deal with and adds much more strength to the plane. I have never used the new brown waterproof DTFB and I don't think I ever will. I hear/read all the issues with painting and taping--seems like it is not worth the extra trouble. Who really goes flying in the rain anyway?? The brown stuff for water planes is the only real use I see for it.

With the tape I am confident unless I fly in to water, my plane is water proof enough. I hope Flitetest will sell the white DTFB by the box again--I would buy it!!

 

[DauntlessDave]

Just my two cents as well (first post!). I had not heard about sanding the WR board, so I didn't do that and was not entirely happy about the results. The yellow took 4 light coats to cover (rustoleum) and there was a fair amount of flaking. The black went on in one. BUT, the paint added a lot of weight and impacted the performance negatively. The explorer went from being a great slow flyer, cruising at half throttle, to needing much more speed to stay airborne and cruising at 3/4 throttle. When I maidened it without paint I LOVED the way it flew, and I wish I had done something other than putting on 4 coats of heavy paint.

 

[rrc1962]

I tried covering the FT WP foam board with sign vinyl and it basically just fell off. Didn't stick at all. I think the wax-like coating on the brown foam board makes it challenging to do much with. Bummer because I like buying the FT kits, but I like making them look nice too.

 

[FoamyDM]

This article s a great on about various methods of coating DTFB. Includes strength to weight ratios. Great article. It cover packing tape well.

https://www.flitetest.com/articles/super-strong-waterproof-foam-core

 

[sprzout]

So...

I just painted a Duster made out of DTFB, and did some testing on scrap WR foam board from my Sea Duck.

I got the WR foam board to take paint nicely because I applied a coat of Rustoleum Primer, and THEN painted over the primer. Does it make it heavier? Yes. I won't try to dissuade you of that notion - you ARE adding weight. That said, I didn't need to sand either the regular foam board or the water resistant when I applied the primer; the primer adhered nicely to both.

I did get "paper lift", but it was not the foam board paper - when I made my plans, I printed them out in tiled sheets, and used spray tack adhesive to stick the paper to the foam board. The printed plans absorbed the primer, and started curling that paper up; it was really only in 2-3 spots on the tail and elevator, so I just peeled it off and then hit the areas with primer - no problem. Then I was able to come back over with 2 coats of white (my primer was gray primer) and then airbrushed on some orange to resemble Dusty Crophopper from Planes.

Everything coated nicely, even considering several areas were posterboard and not foam.

Our local flying club's president built a Simple Cub after seeing my Sea Duck, and opted to coat it in yellow tape. It came out looking great, but he said, "I'll NEVER do that again!" Apparently, it took him several hours of applying it, and smoothing it out, doing everything he could to get it to look just right. It was a heckuva job, and it looked spot on - but he said that if he'd known that primer and paint would have worked (and been faster), he would've gone that route, weight be damned.

Both have pluses and minuses - I know which ones I'd prefer to do for certain projects!

 

[mikeporterinmd]

The "Experimental Airlines" video explains how to use colored packing tape. There are some great hints in that video that make the process easy - assuming you tape prior to assembly.

Mike

 

[JDill]

I started out taping all my Flitetest builds so that they would be water/dew proof, with the benefit of added strength. Now I alternate between taping and painting, depending on the plane. In general I tend to tape the smaller planes (Mini Trainer, Mini Arrow) and paint the larger ones (Viggen, Sea Duck). Or sometimes the design is not as easy to tape so I paint it (Mini Vector).

In my opinion the weight of either has been negligible to performance. Especially considering the advantages of appearance, strength, moisture resistance, or visibility.

Taping is more work and can give great results, but you have to develop a knack for it. Painting is easier but messy and stinky, so you have to have a good place to do it.

I have no experience yet with the brown water resistant foam board so I don't know what I would prefer to do with that...

My latest build was the Simple Cub and it was done with white, red, and black tape, then a mash-up of decals I had leftover from other planes.

 

[Forster]

Using "self-etching" auto primer (after sealing the edges with poly) seems to work great on the waterproof foam board. Then just hit it with Krylon. I'm considering "staining" the next one by adding some color to the poly. We'll see how it goes.