Using Colored Packing Tape for Foamboard Planes instead of Paint?

SlingShot

Maneuvering With Purpose
Does everyone wrap the colored tape over the edges of the FB? Or leave it exposed/hot glue sealed?

It definitely doesnt stretch around curves very well, leaving some wrinkles and messy edges, but I cant imagine leaving the white foam showing and ruining the color scheme

No wrapping. Actually, I just cover the whole sheet of foamboard with tape and then cut out the pieces. Just hot glue on the edges.
 

marcotheboy

New member
I made this FT Spitfire out of 6mm depron and wrapped it in green and brown packing tape. The tape makes the depron much stronger. It has survived many crashes.
spitfire_depron.jpg
 

sprzout

Knower of useless information
Mentor
I've THOUGHT about tape, but it seems like a LOT of work vs a rattle can of Rustoleum and an airbrush, at least for me...I have a VERY hard time trying to get tape to lay down in nice straight lines, edge to edge.
 

Merv

Site Moderator
Staff member
I made this FT Spitfire out of 6mm depron and wrapped it in green and brown packing tape. The tape makes the depron much stronger. It has survived many crashes.
Great looking plane

I've THOUGHT about tape, but it seems like a LOT of work vs a rattle can of Rustoleum and an airbrush, at least for me...I have a VERY hard time trying to get tape to lay down in nice straight lines, edge to edge.
I find it easier to tape than paint. With wings I find it much easier to tape them while flat, before you make the fold. I guess it is just what you are used to doing.
 
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Kloww

New member
This is my recently finished packing tape Arrow. I used the colored packing tape everywhere I could while it was still flat. Made some mistakes in the build but still flies like a missile
FTarrow.jpg
 
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Hai-Lee

Old and Bold RC PILOT
I used to tape all of my FB planes and the finish was great and the added weight was minimal, BUT!

After a while I noticed that there was a degree of separation of the foam/paper and the whole bird seemed to soften. My son had his stored in a somewhat damp shed and ALL of them are not able to be flown safely, (stored for almost a year). In the same shed he has a few painted birds and they are all exactly the way they were stored and all in perfect flying condition, (no warps, lifting paper, or other degradation).

Tape works and does add a little strength but it is not a long lived solution and can be extremely difficult to make a repair where the repair is not extremely visible. If you use tape all is good except the lifespan of the model whereas painting done properly can give very long lived models, (crashes and hangar rash excluded).

I personally love the extra rigidity that the paint imparts for so little added weight!

Try both for yourself!

Have fun!
 

Hai-Lee

Old and Bold RC PILOT
@FoamyDM Actually I think it might be an effect of the tape glue/adhesive leaching through the paper causing the paper internal bonds to soften and the paper to loose some of its strength or cohesiveness. I noticed a similar effect by using packing tape on hinge lines before sealing and painting.

I have started to seal the FB with minwax before applying the tape and so far the results have been good with the planes maintaining their strength for much longer, (crashes of course still cause the same damage).

Have fun!
 
M

MCNC

Guest
Very useful info in this thread! Great input for those of us about to tape.
 

Merv

Site Moderator
Staff member
never knew that ...@merv, live and learn ....sorry caroline.
The . before the @ is a no-no @daxian & .@daxian are not the same thing. When you press the @ key and start to type the name, there should be a drop down appear with all of the names in it, select the name from the list. The name with not become underlined until you post it. If the name is not underlined after you post it, you did something wrong.
 

chrisvdv

Active member
@daxian I get my vinyl from Hobbycraft ( https://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/ ) I don't buy online as I like to check the actual colours and thicknesses for myself. There is another vinyl roll product they sell which is too thick which I think is used for covering furnature etc.

You can also get it from Auto vinyl wrapping shops. They usually have a lot of offcuts you can get for very cheap or even for free.

I have a shop that let me have it for free and more often these pieces are quite large with a variety in colours and textures.
 

Piotrsko

Master member
I applied the tape before cutting the pieces and sealed the edges with hot glue. I have no idea how long it will last because this is the first time I’ve used tape, but I really like the way it turned out.
View attachment 138259
Well my ZAGI went 15 years before the glue on the tape dried out and stopped sticking. A bit of MEK solvent revived the glue, but I just replaced the tape with new. As for wear.... its a zagi. Wear is expected.
 

Dbogan

Member
packing tape for me as well. Not sure how much waterproofing it gives me, but it's stronger than bare foam and lighter than paint. The more you use it the better you get and learn some tricks to keep the wrinkles off. Not all my planes are as covered as this one, sometimes its just stripes for orientation.

View attachment 89327

and here's some that were done a little different, the spit is completely covered, but the little stick and corsair only have orientation stripes.

View attachment 89328
Do you remove paper before using tape or tape over paper?