Nu-Bee ARC
- Thread starter rockyboy
- Start date
bracesport
Legendary member
Jackson T
Elite member
How thick is the leading edge sheeting?
Nah, for the foam board version I'm just planning to do the Speedy Bee that inspired this Nu-Bee
Looks about 3/32 I think, although it many be 1/16 - I'm not worried about putting my thumb through it every time I pick it up which is nice
After staring at things for a little bit, I decided against servo wiring tubes. It's a very short distance to cover, with only two ribs in the way, and no easy way to attach a smooth tunnel.
So next I covered the bottom of one side of the wing, ailerons and all, after covering the sides of the aileron.
Then cut free the aileron and covered the servo hatch.
Here's the servo installed from the back side before coving that up...
And here's the top of the wing covered too - all done with one side, ready to go on to the next.
Of course this is when the roll of covering I was using ran out, and the only other roll of white covering I have is a tiny bit different in hue. *sigh*
I think I'm just going to go ahead with using it anyway. Hobby budget is pretty spent at the moment So one wing and the vertical stabilizer will be a tiny bit brighter white, but once I get the scallops painted on I don't think it will be that noticeable.
So next I covered the bottom of one side of the wing, ailerons and all, after covering the sides of the aileron.
Then cut free the aileron and covered the servo hatch.
Here's the servo installed from the back side before coving that up...
And here's the top of the wing covered too - all done with one side, ready to go on to the next.
Of course this is when the roll of covering I was using ran out, and the only other roll of white covering I have is a tiny bit different in hue. *sigh*
I think I'm just going to go ahead with using it anyway. Hobby budget is pretty spent at the moment
So one wing and the vertical stabilizer will be a tiny bit brighter white, but once I get the scallops painted on I don't think it will be that noticeable.
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bracesport
Legendary member
you can say it is two tone white!
Fuselage covering almost done - starting on the turtle deck
And here's the other side - elevator done, just need to finish up the vertical stabilizer. I love working with the pinned hinges cause the covering goes on as one whole piece over the flight and control surface - and once it's tacked in place, a quick slice with the razor blade separates the control surface and it's done!
So just a touch more covering and then it's time to start gluing some pieces together and figure out how to mask the scallops for some paint
And here's the other side - elevator done, just need to finish up the vertical stabilizer. I love working with the pinned hinges cause the covering goes on as one whole piece over the flight and control surface - and once it's tacked in place, a quick slice with the razor blade separates the control surface and it's done!
So just a touch more covering and then it's time to start gluing some pieces together and figure out how to mask the scallops for some paint
bracesport
Legendary member
a glorious chubster!
To keep the hatch aligned I drilled a pair of holes through the hatch and fuselage, and glued toothpicks into the fuselage. They will get trimmed off flush with the top of the hatch and some CA will strengthen the balsa on the hatch so the toothpicks don't make new holes by accident.
And to keep the hatch from flying up I'm using a dubro hatch latch (have had a couple bad experiences with magnets and hatches recently). The latch gets screwed to a plywood support plate that is glued to the hatch.
I'm putting the hatch off center to help with mounting the pilot - got to be thinking ahead!
And to keep the hatch from flying up I'm using a dubro hatch latch (have had a couple bad experiences with magnets and hatches recently). The latch gets screwed to a plywood support plate that is glued to the hatch.
I'm putting the hatch off center to help with mounting the pilot - got to be thinking ahead!
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Next I trimmed the wheel pants with a Dremel cut off wheel and sanded smooth. Installed a small plywood backplate for strength and rough installed the wheels.
Drilled and mounted the cowl and now she looks right!
Next up is masking off the scallops, cleaning with alcohol, and painting!
Drilled and mounted the cowl and now she looks right!
Next up is masking off the scallops, cleaning with alcohol, and painting!
TooJung2Die
Master member
Love it! That is one goofy looking airplane. Looks like something out of a cartoon.
bracesport
Legendary member
What kind of paint do you use on the shrink wrap?
Clean with alcohol and then use Valspar interior latex mixed up at Lowe's. Will do a test on a separate piece first to make sure it will stick.
Time for some testing - I stretched some covering over a quick wooden frame, put down a couple pieces of masking tape. and sprayed about half the covering (and both of the masking tape pieces) with clear polyurethane to seal the edges of the tape and prevent seepage of the paint. I set this aside for about 2 hours till it was dry to the touch.
Then I brushed on a coat of Valspar red I had mixed up at Lowes - less than $4 for a sample sized container!
And just to see what it looked like, I did a second coat over half of the first coat with a sponge. Didn't look too different honestly except covering the brush marks.
After letting that dry for about an hour - which wasn't long enough , I peeled up the masking tape. The spot next to the razor blade is where I started pulling the tape straight up, and it pulled away some of the clear coat too. The blotch in the curve next to the pencil eraser is where the paint on the tape was still wet and made a mess. But the area between the two pencils is where I peeled the tape away pulling it back over itself at a sharp 180 degree angle and the line is clean and crisp. This is the effect I want to get - but since this is the first time I'm painting over heat-shrink covering, I thought it might take a little practice to get it right
So, the plane is all masked and ready for painting, and I sprayed it all with a coat of the polyurethane to seal the tape edges. I'll let it dry overnight before loading up the spray gun!
Then I brushed on a coat of Valspar red I had mixed up at Lowes - less than $4 for a sample sized container!
And just to see what it looked like, I did a second coat over half of the first coat with a sponge. Didn't look too different honestly except covering the brush marks.
After letting that dry for about an hour - which wasn't long enough , I peeled up the masking tape. The spot next to the razor blade is where I started pulling the tape straight up, and it pulled away some of the clear coat too. The blotch in the curve next to the pencil eraser is where the paint on the tape was still wet and made a mess. But the area between the two pencils is where I peeled the tape away pulling it back over itself at a sharp 180 degree angle and the line is clean and crisp. This is the effect I want to get - but since this is the first time I'm painting over heat-shrink covering, I thought it might take a little practice to get it right
So, the plane is all masked and ready for painting, and I sprayed it all with a coat of the polyurethane to seal the tape edges. I'll let it dry overnight before loading up the spray gun!
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