Scorp11157
New member
I have been building Ft models for some time and have enjoyed every min. of it . I originally started with the DTFB and as we all know this stuff works awesome....... until you get it wet. But the perks to the white were it was easy to design a finishing scheme to it as white goes with everything . As of my birthday last year my wife was nice enough to get me a big box of the waterproof board to build with from Flite Test.. I can not rave enough about this product. ( its rigidity, light weight, strong, ) my only complaint is its BROWN.were all model builders here and we love to individualize our models . I have only seen one good example of embracing the Brown in a finish scheme and that is the alpha/bravo/charlie designs from mesa foam fighters
(SOURCE
hoto Borrowed from flite test website)We as builders are limited to our choices on what we can do to make our models unique. A lot of paints eat our foam, some covering offer too much added weight , we need ease of repair in a crash , and now with brown foam we essentially need to cover all seen surfaces.
I started with painting ..... Picture is of my NerdNic P39
By Far this is the most versatile way to personalize your foamy. it gives you the most latitude on design choices. But if you are like me and most of us out there we get excited to see our creations in the air in a hurry. (To sum up I scratch built the P39 in about 7 to 10 hours. but the prep and paint job took over 20 hours to complete) This of course doesn't do anything for your nerves when it is in the air
. The downside to painting is it takes the most time, it is not as durable as we would like, and it is not easily repairable .So I set out to find a different way to cover and still be able to achieve beautiful results . You would be surprised in searching the web there are not a lot of solutions present that meet all requirements of ease of application, durability , and least weight. Not to mention economical as lets face it we are cheap
For the heck of it I tried cheap dollar store duct tape , flys well . Looks ugly ( friends call it a deranged flying christmas Gift) adds to much weight in my opinion
I finally settled in out what is not a new technique and i can not take credit for the idea being original( originaly offered by experimental airlines as a basic concept) but in my test, works out to have limitless design possibilities, adds minimal weight ( my FT Cruiser only had an added weight of 21 grams , and my Ft Arrow only 7 grams ). Very durable , Easy and quick to apply and best of all cheap 3.63 a roll of 110 yards( enough to completely cover 10 foam boards with a 3 mil overlap ) with a discount on 6 roll purchase. https://www.tapeplanet.com/2-inch-x-110-yard-Colored-Carton-Sealing-Tape-s/242.htm is the source I found for the best value. And my luck they were located 15 min from me in casselberry FL so i was able to pick up from the warehouse. (disclaimer: I am not affiliated with this company nor am i being compensated for this . just like to spotlight those who have good ethics and business practices to our community )
Just a few of the designs so far:
I believe the possibilities are endless , some tips from what i have learned so far.
1. cover and design planes flat after they have been cut out for best results. if you have built an FT plane before just looking at it flat you should know what is what
2. Start with lightest color first on your design for best look on over lap lines ( might want to double up white so it pops when you add contrast color
3 .make overlap at leading edge fold twice the norm as the tape stretches but you don't want tape to split there
4. Plan ahead so you know where you will be gluing such things as canopy formers and tails in place and omit tape there. Glue will stick to this tape but it will be your weakest link as the tape will give before the foam.
5. you can cut intricate designs out, you don't need to use tape as 2 inch stripes, put down wax paper and cut designs in tape
6.you can get interesting color effects as tape is semi translucent crossing red over blue with give you an interesting variant of purple at the intersection
7.dont be too critical of imperfections as all blends in once you are finished covering
My challenge to anyone out there who finds this post interesting . post some of your designs here. I am curious to see the creativity of others in the hobby and what we can come up with . Hope this is useful to anyone looking for a design alternative
