New to FT/MY Stuff

cyclone3350

Master member
Hi to all. Have built lots and lots of stuff over the years. I would not have been successful if it wasn't for the ideas I have found on various forums. Thought I give back by posting some of the things I have done. I think the one that might be of interest to FT crowd was how I melted a bunch of aircraft parts into a Skyrider glider. Let me know if anyone is interested and were I should post. I also have tons of projects I have done with foam boards, pink foam and depron.
 

Ketchup

4s mini mustang
Welcome to the forums! I would definitely like to see some of your projects. You could make a separate thread for it or you could post it in one of our threads that were made for this. Threads like the “what did you do RC today” and “anybody else scratch building tonight” are places where you can post projects and stuff if you want to post about it but don’t want to make a new thread. Heck, you could post your planes there even if you already made a thread for it lol.
 

tesseract

Master member
Hi to all. Have built lots and lots of stuff over the years. I would not have been successful if it wasn't for the ideas I have found on various forums. Thought I give back by posting some of the things I have done. I think the one that might be of interest to FT crowd was how I melted a bunch of aircraft parts into a Skyrider glider. Let me know if anyone is interested and were I should post. I also have tons of projects I have done with foam boards, pink foam and depron.
Welcome! Remember the whole forum is here (including me!) so if you need any help just ask. :)(y)
 

Timmy

Legendary member
Welcome. You can do what Ketchup said. I wanna see your projects with the pick foam :giggle:
 

cyclone3350

Master member
I am going to post all my projects here. Tonight I will detail as to how I decorate with decal paper. Here is a sample.
 

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cyclone3350

Master member
This is something I use when masking and spraying on smaller models are just too complicated. I will go through what I use and how I do it. Keep in mind, that there could be some substitutions for some of the materials. The Pros: It is very forgiving and mistakes can be re done over. It will just about melt into every nook and cranny of the surface and look like it was painted. It is also extremely light in weight. The Cons: It is a little costly and time consuming. In the methods described, I would think you might be able to use adhesive trim, colored packing tape or auto vinyl wrap. I haven't tried these, but I seen others use these with great success. Here are some of the basics as pictured. Testors inkjet decal or Bare Metal Foil decal. White or clear. I prefer the white as it is a little thicker and easer to work with, and either brand mentioned will yield the same results. Bare Metal is 8 1/2 x 11. Testors is half letter size. Distilled white vinegar, and the Solvaset is just an option. Testors Decal bonder is a must for me. I heard others use various spray on clear coats, but the Bonder has work almost flawlessly. I use a Paasche VL airbrush, so various WB paints are my favorite. The water, denatured alcohol, and clear ammonia free window cleaner are mixed with equal parts each and about 10 drops of glycerin per quart. This is what I use for a reducer for all my WB products. I have used Krylon all in one fusion rattle can if one doesn't want to airbrush. Viva paper towels are almost cloth like and less prone to shredding. A piece of foam, Like that from a meat tray, beveled edge, makes for a great squeegee. The spray adhesive and Drafting Velum is an option I will get into. The final pic is that of various WB products I have used for surface prep. This was the wordy part. The rest will pics and some descriptions.
 

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cyclone3350

Master member
Step 1: I pin the Decal Paper to something and start spraying. Like all spray jobs, Start with at least one light coat, followed by several medium coats. With WB paints, start with several light coats. The surface is smooth and shiny and has a water repelling effect. Just go lightly at first, it'll work. To speed up the drying, any covering heat gun does the trick. This paper takes the heat very well. Once the color is on, three medium coats of Bonder. It will dry very quickly with the heat gun, otherwise, it takes a while. Dry each coat before going to the next. Don't worry if it looks grainy or orange peel, it levels out once applied and dried. The next step is when I use the Drafting Velum. I am old school and was a draftsman before CAD was introduced. I do all my designs on a board and that is why I have it in rolls. You can use any paper that is see through, or buy it in individual sheets from Michaels or Hobby Lobby. I did this before the wings and tail was attached, but you get the Idea. Tape the paper where you want it. sketch the outline and any patterns. If using straight lines, dot the end points and straight edge when removed. Cut and recheck your work. I started with solid yellow and did the fuse in multiple sections. The paper will let you know how big section you can do. On this one, the turtle deck was done as a right right and left half. two sections for the front and one for the cockpit area. I then spray on the 77 adhesive and mount on a poster board. I made two sets each. One copy for the yellow and then cut out the second copy marked R for the individual red. I then brush on either the Easy Cote or the WB top coat to the depron and let dry.. This will act as a glue when U put on the decals. The poster board is now you pattern and start cutting. I use the vinegar to soak the decals in. If you painted over clear paper and used thin coats of paint, use warm water. Slide onto place, with downward pressure from the paper towel, soak up the excess and when secure, squeegee with the foam. Let dry for an hour before adding the red. The vinegar really softens it up and when it dries, it settles nicely into the surface. If you had thin decals and used the warm water, brush on the vinegar over the top and let dry. Solvaset will really settle decals. I use only on many layered painted ones. When U brush this over top, it will crinkle like paint remover, just let it dry overnight. DON'T PANICK AND TRY MESS WITH IT! Spray on a clear coat for further protection, future floor wax is what many plastic modelers use. I did not use any on the Ultimate Bipe. The picture you see was taken tonight and the plane is 4 years old. If U see some edge peeling later on during use, just wet a brush with top coat or even water thin white glue and slide underneath the peeling and blot. Damn that was a lot of words. I hope this helps.
 

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cyclone3350

Master member
Examples of how the decals are used as paint and how they melt into the surface. Notice how it shows the fabric weave and rib stitching. All the red white and blue are decals. The Gee Bee red is all decal over white depron. The lightning and flames is just fancy airbrushing on decal paper.
 

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cyclone3350

Master member
I figured out how to upload videos. Her are a couple I hope you enjoy. We fly at a public forest preserve and club wanted to do something to increase membership. So I came up with this crazy Idea. It took all day to make this banner and I misspelled the URL address. Oh well, It did draw spectators.
 

cyclone3350

Master member
I bought this rubberized CA glue from BobSmith Industries for reasons that I will explain later. I believe this glue is certified by the DOD (Department Of Defense) for carbon fiber field repairs on small drones. I also understand that it certified by the FAA for minor repairs on aircraft deicing boots. Boots are inflatable leading devices on propeller driven planes that inflate to remove ice build up. This is my first time trying it, so here is a video that I just made as test on what is normally thought of as an impossible repair.
Let me know what you think.
 

cyclone3350

Master member
OK, I went back downstairs to close up shop. I gave the ski a really good wack and a bend and sure enough it broke. Except for thing, it broke 3/4 of an inch in front the repair! In other words, the glue joint turned out to be stronger than the plastic itself. Cool Stuff!
 

cyclone3350

Master member
Thought I talk about another technique that I use for dressing up foam. Tissue paper. If you used skins, then this works pretty much the same way, but it is light. I have also used this as a way to make for a super light indoor flyer by applying to an open foam frame. For the tissue, I've used the kind that I found in CVS or Walmart and is used for gift wrapping. The materials are as listed: tissue paper, 3m 77 spray adhesive, MinWax Polycrlic WB (semi-gloss) urethane or Krlylon Satin Acrlic Clear spray, a wide flat soft bristle artist brush and a covering heat gun. The FT Scout biplane is done entirely this way except for the crosses. They are Monokote trim sheets. The Scout was made from dollar store white paper foam board. For multi colors, mask off and spray only were you want to color, and spray a light even coat. Don't over do it, it doesn't take much. Before going on to the next color, mask off your previous colors. If it doesn't go on the way you want to, then use the heat gun to soften the glue and gently pull off any errors. Once done, brush on the Polycrylic, and with the heat gun, shrink dry any crinkles that occurred when you brushed on the Pollycrlic. Use your fingers help smooth out this process. Two to three coats is all you need. Another way to do this and avoid the crinkles, is to use the Krylon. The acrylic is foam safe, but the propellent is not, so be careful of spraying directly to untreated depron. The grey and blue on the Helio Courier and the green on the Edge is paper with the natural white depron. With the wings and tail on the Dwarf, I shrunk the paper after gluing. To tighten, spray with 50/50 water rubbing alcohol.(I use an empty travel size hair spray pump) I then sprayed it with two very light coats of Krylon. The fuse on the Dwarf is built with depron formers and 1/16 sq. balsa. There, I used a glue stick to apply the paper and then finish as mentioned. The Dwarf is 16" WS and an AUW of 22g/.75oz. I fly it in my 100' x 50' backyard on calm summer nights. It also uses the E-Flite 1s micro receiver from an smashed E-Flight UMX. BTW, if you use tissue for an open frame, use the type for FF rubber models. SIG MFG is a great supplier. Try this on a piece of scrap, as this takes a little practice.
 

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cyclone3350

Master member
Back in 2014, a coworker first introduced me to Flite Test and their use of foam boards for RC. After viewing the video of the Simple Storch, I decided to see if could do a more scale version of one. These are my first two that I built back then. The FI 156 and the Piper L 4. The Storch was an absolutely awesome flyer. For some reason, the L 4 was not. Unfortunately, the Storch was sacrificed to the tree Gods. I guess this was to satisfy their hunger for RC planes and leave the bigger more expensive ones alone.. And Now..... a cool but true story from history. The last dog fight in Europe was between a FI 156D Storch and a Piper L-4 Grasshopper. Read on for the full story.
 

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cyclone3350

Master member
The Last Dog Fight

On April 12, 1945, Lt Duane Francis and his Observer Lt. Bill Martin, set out in their L-4 to locate any armored divisions that could slow down the Allied advance into Berlin. While out patrol, they spotted a German sidecar motorcycle. These were usually attached to artillery or tank units, so they decided to follow it. Shortly thereafter, a FI 156 Storch, unaware of the L-4, flew below them. Lt Francis opened his side door and window, and with the control stick between his knees, put the aircraft into a side slip. He and his observer opened fire with their 45 caliber side arms. The Storch made a low altitude steep bank turn causing one wing to strike the ground and crash into an open field. Lt Francis landed his L-4 near the wreckage and gave chase to the pilot who hid into some bushes. Lt Martin saw that the German observer was injured and gave first aid. His injury was a single gunshot wound through his foot. The wounded observer shouted to his pilot “The war is over. We will be home in two weeks. Just give up”. He did, and was handed over to US soldiers who saw the battle while driving nearby in their jeep. This story remained unknown until famous WW2 author, Cornelius Ryan, discovered it during some research and put in it one his books. When WW2 buffs saw this, many letters were written to the Army to confirm if it was true. An Army clerk was assigned to respond. While going through the old files, he found a misplaced letter of recommendation for Lt Francis’s actions. 17 years has passed since that day, and Lt Francis was finally awarded his Distinguished Flying Cross. Fighter planes were developed as a direct result of observation planes shooting at each other with pistols during WW1. I just love the irony to this story. With all the aeronautical advances that has occurred since then, the last battle over the skies of Europe, ended with two observations planes shooting at each other with pistols. That L-4 was later sold as surplus and recently discovered in a hangar in Spain. It is now restored and on display in Madrid.
 

cyclone3350

Master member
Tonight I think i will get into mixing Guillows plastic spare parts and depron. You can buy these pieces directly from Guillows and they are cheap. For the main example I will show how I took the plastic parts from their 28" Mustang and made a 30" pattern plane. I had the Mustang that I converted and later smacked up. With the plans, I was able to trace the outlines of the cowling and canopy and make cardboard patterns. From there, I went literally to the drawing board and started sketching around the patterns until I had something I think could work. Then I went to an making an usable drawing. As you can see, it is not very detailed, but enough for my purposes.
 

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