Finally - as time goes by -

COLOR !! The yellow is bright. And the paint really stinks. Fans help, but still it fogs up. Its cold as hell.. get the van stuck in a snow drift.. I don't care.. Its getting color !!

Edit: Notice the cool landing gear cuffs - where the gear goes to the fuse ? Those are not stock parts- had to make those - so I could add some more weight ! And it is scale of course....

And notice the canopy - remember the seams? ... you can now see the panel line in action... and fake fasteners. Reasonably happy with it now.

Now- must scuff and sand getting ready to clear coat.... scuff with 400 grit. Must clear coat within 24 hours. Wet sanding ..

Looking good. You will LOVE the way it flys. I have the level 3 PW scheme.

Mine has 1/4" ply rails re-enforcing the drilled rails around the gear. The plane lands VERY light but without re-enforcing just bouncing in the trailer can crack it so you were very wise to add that CF re-enforcement.

Wet sanding.. 400 grit.. tired of the mess !

Notice the wheelpants - one is sanded - one is not... now onto clear coat number one.... light coat to seal in the color.

OK - first sealing coat of clear is on.... now to start taping the basic color scheme..

Had a visit from the taping fairy ...

Taping for 3 days after work !! Using fine line tape to set edges... quality stuff....

Notice the middle picture - the various pieces of tape are measured from the edge so both sides are the same.

This is the time the color lines are finalized..... and patterns are tweaked into the final shape. Take your time...

Oh - time..... this is taking plenty of that ! But fun none the less !!!

OK - a week has gone by - back to Bobs garage.. still cold.. wet....

But - look at the color match on the yellow - thats monokote of both colors on the actual paint.... almost perfect.

Had to tweak the blue metallic too.... the flash is distorting the color due to the metallic reflecting the flash...

Paint the basecoat blue.. let it dry for an hour or so.. start peeeling the tape. Man - that took over an hour and a half with 2 of us. There was a ton of taping let me tell you ! Tape removal went well.... now add the sealing clear coat over both colors.. not too heavy as I am going to try another one of my "ideas" .... lol

And back to my house.. down into the dungen as she now calls it .....

But - by golly - it's blue and yeller ! now have to sand down the clear -- and try my latest idea....

great job!!! the cocpit looks great!

Originally Posted by high alpha

Looking good!You are going to have to turn the ignition upside down and cut a hole in the top of the dome to recess it.The way it is now it will rub on the top of the cowl.You will also gain extra cooling for the ignition wich in my opinion is needed.Just food for though,hope this helps

Trent

Thanks for the tip - the ignition clears the cowl - but, is this unit sensitive to heat ?

A few more pics of the first color / clear coats.

Now we are in "Real time" .. as these were just taken last night in the shop. Can't sand the clear for a few days until it is really well cured. The cold slows it down some.

So - the next few days will be doing the final measurements for the various graphics. I will get them ordered next week. My next hair-brained idea is to clear over the graphics to seal them into the paint.

Have any of you tried that? I tested some samples and they seem fine. I was worried about the solvents attacking the graphics, but it seems to be fine?
Thoughts ?

And today - I get to make a rare visit to the local hobby shop. I need one roll of red monokote.

Yep - it's that time . . to start to cover the wings. I love to do that... well, when it comes out nice ! lol I've been searching and reading up on monokote techniques. Seems the trick is to get it super tight and stretched before ironing it down.

I have been buiding scale lately - so my covering practice is a little low these days. I will keep you posted. Whats the best link to super monokote application style you guys know of?

OK - the posting is going to slow WAY down now on my part - you just read about 6 months of work I posted in 2 days...

Good Day !

JIM

Nice work, I had one and it's still one of my favorite airplanes.

Originally Posted by IFLYRC

Thanks for the tip - the ignition clears the cowl - but, is this unit sensitive to heat ?

IMO,yes.I have always mounted mine inverted on the dome using standoffs.You can see the one I built at www.aircraftinternational.com.

Jim it sure looks great.lots of work id say.........i realllllly like the blue and yellow this will look sweet in the air...and still say that 3W is the top of line of all planes!!!

Thanks for the kind words and advice guys..

Picked up the red Monokote I needed today. Cleaning up the shop a bit and then it's time to cover !

Also verified all my graphic sizes against the actual plane.. would hate to get them and find out they don't fit right !! lol My graphics guy takes a week or two.. so more painting is at least a week, most likely two away.

Oh, and dug out my variety of props.. I still need to get a 5" 2 blade Extra style spinner - Toledo is coming... maybe there.

Notice the plane pics here - Remember I said the color scheme will change and evolve from the original design ? I was going to flow the yellow from the cowl all the way to the tail on the original design.

But, when I looked at the yellow on the bottom of the actual plane.. the louvers REALLY stood out. So, I changed it around to make that area blue. A darker color will help "hide" the holes in the bottom of the plane....

So.. on to the wings....

Great work on the cockpit. I always think that is a area that most guys tend to leave out but leaves such a nice touch when done properly!