Nu-Bee ARC

rockyboy

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First coat of red. Messed up and got a run right on the leading edge! Grrr....
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Second coat... That run is still harshing my mellow. Going to let this dry overnight, sand, and try to airbrush the fix rather that put a 3rd coat over everything.

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rockyboy

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I had to remind myself that this is a fun fly airplane, not a scale masters entry, so I need to learn from my mistakes, fix them best as I can, and move on - not redo everything chasing perfection.

With that in mind, here she is after the masking is off and I did some clean up of seepage on the wheel pants. You can see a lot of spots there was seeping under the masking or overspray that made it under a gap.
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With the polyurethane coat keeping the paint down on the main red parts, it was very simple to use a little alcohol swab to wipe the paint off the untreated covering.

Now she looks like this!

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Now I am going to let it cure overnight before shooting a clear coat over everything to protect it before moving on with additional finish work.

I also might wait on the additional finish work and install all the electronics and fly her first - then come back for the additional pin striping and graphics... :unsure:
 
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rockyboy

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I did get some pinstripe brushes the other day, but haven't tried them out yet. On-brand pinstripe enamel paints and "flow enhancers" aren't cheap, so I am planning to try first with some black semi-gloss latex enamel I have on the shelf already. Not sure if I'll be able to get decent results or not with it, but figure it'll only cost me time to try it out on my test covering piece.

I also got a chance to go flying Sunday, and took the NuBee with me. I was a little nervous after needing to add 3 ounces of weight on the firewall, and a half ounce inside the cowling to balance her out right. Makes for a heavy feeling plane - I think it totaled 3.6 pounds but need to double check that number. I checked the wing loading and found it on the edge between "sport plane" and "warbird" which helped calm the nerves a little bit. That wide wing chord helps a lot!

And she flew! I didn't get video, but she had enough presence (weight) on the ground and in the air that it tracked very well! Smooth takeoff into a little bit of an alarming climb but then leveled out well. Did a couple circuits and then tried a stall test a couple mistakes high. She nosed down slightly and straight forward without dropping a wing. I felt the throws were all a little aggressive and jangling my nerves a bit much, so brought her in for a very smooth landing - she really didn't mind the 6-8mph cross wind at all. I toned down the throws in the radio a bit and went for a second flight. Again she handled very well, and I did a couple loops and a roll on that flight - the throws were still a bit high for my taste, but she was very nimble in the air and I think I might have a new favorite fun-fly plane! :D Landed smoothly again and was packed back up. I want to mechanically reduce the throws so I preserve the control resolution on the servos before flying her again.

So next is finishing the finish! I plan to do black pinstriping along the edges of all the red/white color transitions, and apply a vinyl GeeBee script on the tail, some dice on the sides (or maybe a black cat - like the firecracker logo) , and a couple race numbers. Maybe even before our club meeting on Thursday this week so I can show her off! :D
 
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rockyboy

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Pinstriping with latex paint works just fine!

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I need more practice as the paint job looks better the further back you stand.

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Not sure if the sharp edges of vinyl cut decals are going to look proper with the sometimes shakey pinstripe curves but I'm going to give it a try tomorrow!
 
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rockyboy

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I've had good luck making pinstripes with rolls of pinstripe vinyl. It's available in multiple colors and widths.

I've had good luck with that on straight lines or gentle curves (picked up a good selection of rolls from an estate sale last year), but I didn't think I could get it to bend enough to get around the scallops. Have you been able to get it do to tight curves? Honestly, I don't even remember if I tried or just assumed it wouldn't work... :unsure:
 

rockyboy

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Doh! Just looking at the picture this morning I realized I forgot to change the "Dreamer" under the Gee Bee script! :ROFLMAO:

Going to have to scrape that off.