First Build...Making all the mistakes
- Thread starter Icedog
- Start date
My first attempt at laying out the camo pattern was a bit of a fail. "Blue" painters tape is far too sticky for this. It actually pulled the paint/primer/surfacer clean off the wing is a few spots so I had to rethink....low-tack is the way to go...but the commonly available widths don't work for the layout so I bought a selection of auto vinyl layout tapes. This is 1/16" laying out the outlines. I'll use the low-tack to fill in the areas not to be painted. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to shoot the brown and later in the week do some panel lining and highlighting. Underside of the wing will be a blue-gray.
Couldn't wait...that's a problem sometime...but I needed to know if this tape was going to be an issue....masked up the left wing half and threw some brown down. Good news is the tape worked out pretty well. A couple small flecks but way better that the blue painters tape.
Other than the obvious fact that the brown is gloss-something I'll address with a scuff and a coat of matte clear....I'm pretty happy with the sharp lines and no bleed under.
Couldn't wait...that's a problem sometime...but I needed to know if this tape was going to be an issue....masked up the left wing half and threw some brown down. Good news is the tape worked out pretty well. A couple small flecks but way better that the blue painters tape.
Other than the obvious fact that the brown is gloss-something I'll address with a scuff and a coat of matte clear....I'm pretty happy with the sharp lines and no bleed under.
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Finished the major paint on the wing and fuselage this AM. Wing looks good. After scuffing both colors blend well. Fuselage is another story altogether. Major issues with the masking pulling paint off all the way to the paper. I know the primer I used didn't bite very well so I guess I shouldn't be surprised...certainly disappointed. I'll have to try some brush touch-up and see if I can blend it before I give everything a coat of matte clear.
That is a very neat. You have obviously put in some time and effort.
Just remember that no matter how satisfying the paint job it is unlikely to make the plane fly any better.
Very true and until I spend some time with a trainer it won't fly at all. Right now I'm enjoying the building process but it will end up on the wall of my garage until I build a trainer (which will not be painted) and spend some time with the basics. The swappable Spitfire is supposed to be a very user-friendly aircraft but probably not the best for learning on.
Been MIA for a while....quarantined with the covid and restricted to my loft. Sick for a couple days but still testing positive so my access to other parts of the house is limited. I did get into the garage today to finish-off the base white for the D-day striping. I'm really getting a bit frustrated with the masking pulling of the paint. I wish I had saved more of the scrap foam so I could test mulitple primers to see what's actually going to work but I didn't so I keep plugging along.
First airbrush was a bust and haven't had a chance to work with the second one yet. For that past month the winds here have been 20 mph virtually all the time. Have to paint with the garage door closed and the cars outside. Then open the doors to let the fumes out...making the best of a frustrating situation....onward and upward.
First airbrush was a bust and haven't had a chance to work with the second one yet. For that past month the winds here have been 20 mph virtually all the time. Have to paint with the garage door closed and the cars outside. Then open the doors to let the fumes out...making the best of a frustrating situation....onward and upward.
Ratcheeroo
Legendary member
I usually do a light coat of Minwax Poly before paint, will probably help with your paint peeling with the masking tape
Ratcheeroo
Legendary member
Oddly enough I followed that entire procedure...scuffed off the gloss with a paint-prep pad and brushed on Minwax. Minwax must have a dozen different versions of thier poly...could be I didn't use the right one. I used two different base coats....Mr. Surfacer from Mr. Hobby and a white general primer from Hobby Lobby and they both lifted in spots. Generally small spots but some pretty large. Cleary a little more experimentation is required...
Ratcheeroo
Legendary member
The stuff I use is the Spar Urethane in a green can
On my next "painted" build I will look for that. As has been gently suggested to me this is not exactly a beginner's plane so once I finish it up I'm going for a trainer, which won't be painted, so I can crash/learn on something more appropriate....
Awesome build for your first go!
Tks....enjoying the building/painting process.
Ratcheeroo
Legendary member
My first build was the FT Alpha, furthest away from a beginner plane as you can get. Build what you like, everybody has a different path to getting in the air. remember its just foamboard, you can build/repair it again. You are going to find there are a lot of different opinions out there on a good trainer plane, my suggestion would be pick something larger, bigger planes are easier to start with . My first successful flight came on the FT Racer, after trying a few of the so-called beginner/trainer planes. Remember the motto " Build , Fly, Crash, Repeat"
Mr NCT
Site Moderator
I'm with @Ratcheeroo on that. I put a dent in my barn with my first plane, a mighty mini LongEZ, but it was only an afternoon's build an $1 of foam board. What you're flying has to make you grin or why do it.
WillL84
Active member
My first was/is my Legacy V2
Ratcheeroo
Legendary member
Now that would be a good first plane , wish I had started with something like that.
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