I like to use black grip tape from the hardware store for the wing walks. Adds a bit more scale fidelity. Great videos on EPO painting. I like the post it idea for masking.
I have found that pulling up Frog Tape while it's still a little wet works best for me. It seems every time that I let it dry, there is at least one spot that sticks to the tape and when I lift it, it take out a nice patch of paint. But lighter coats are the real secret to success in painting and using Frog Tape.
Just found this video as I'm doing a repaint of Freewing's 90mm F-15. Making it into an "E" version sans conformal tanks. I was hesistant at first but your instructional was very informative. I'm using Tamiya's dark gray paint for the main color. Still trying to figure out a good primer, have a suggestion?
Frog tape is great and I use mine sparingly. Have you heard of the clear coat trick. It is where after the tape is down and before the colored paint, spray clear. Easier to let clear bleed than colored. Great video.
I have heard of this trick. With the right materials application, it’s not necessary, but does help ensure no bleeding. Also works by spraying the base color down as well.
Thanks for everything you do for us. Love your channel. I'm just getting back into the hobby. Love to build as well as fly because when I started flying 30 years ago you either built one or bought someone elses. Just bought an Arrows F4U and its begging for a paint job{my opinion} I'm currently studying your videos.
Thanks man! I typically do use a clear coat, especially for a flat weathered finish. In the case of this T-6 though, I didn't actually apply one. All of the paints used were gloss and a clear would have reduced the sheen of the silver. I like to use a lacquer clear typically, but have used plastic model clears in the past too.
Exactly what I needed! I was gearing myself up for a full strip-down and repaint of my FMS B-25, but this confirmed what I'd wanted to know... how to do a good job, but less involved. Thanks for the great tips on how to keep it simple!
Awesome tutorial, thanks for uploading it. Quick question: Do you reduce the tack of the Frog tape by attaching to your t-shirt first? I had heard about that with other masking tapes.
Thanks! Yeah, I will usually put the tape on my shirt before putting it on the surface just to ensure no paint lifts. It's not always necessary though.
I followed your Vid on the P-51D. I should have just used 1.5oz fiberglass and Eze-Kote. Getting the existing panel lines to fade is nearly impossible. After coat 8 (sanded every 2 coats in-between with 220 and a block) on the fuse I lightly sanded with 320 then primed. Ewwwwwwww I can still see the indent of every line. Going to try fiberglass on the wing instead.
That can be a challenge. I’ve found that sanding between each coat with 180 grit helps combat that while also doing additional filling as needed. What happens is that the filler will sometimes sink into the panel lines if not built up enough, so a second round of filler can help too before poly.
Thanks for the video. Just wondering, when taking off the decals I find that the paint where the decal was is not the same color when repainted. What do you do to ensure that the location of where you removed the decal looks the same throughout the wing?
Thanks Chris. I've just stumbled across this video and really found it useful. One thing though; every time I've tried the Rustoleum 2* paints I have trouble with them never drying. I had to leave a woodwork project for two months before the paint hardened off properly. Most recently I painted a Light weight PLA 3D printed model with the white 2* and after a week it still wasn't set so I ended up scraping it off and starting again. Have you ever struck this with those paints? Cheers.
Nope, the paint works great! Most foam warbirds these days are made of EPO foam which is extremely resilient stuff. It'll handle most solvents in fact! EPS foam is another story and you do have to be quite careful with it. I always say though, test it first just to be sure, but so far I've not found a paint that melts EPO foam when applied to it, even lacquers.
Thanks for the video. I bought a low tack artist tape from Hobby Lobby that does a really good job of NOT pulling paint off foam aircraft. I can't comment on the use of commercial tapes like "frog" since I've never tried it. You apparently had good luck with it. Congratulations - job well done.
Another great way to mask lines with absolutely no risk of paint pull is to buy a couple chamois from the store, cut the strips in needed sizes, wet them and squeeze them out really well and they will stick to the foam great and even contour with dips and recessed lines. Then just paint as normal, wait a couple minutes for the paint dry about 75ish % and remove the chamois strips and wallah…perfect lines and NO PAINT PULL 😮 😁
Thinking about painting my beginner abused carbon cub rtf in purple, neon green and black. I will be the only member at my club with that paint scheme!
I’ve done a few videos on that, check my pimp my foamy playlist (ru-vid.com/group/PLwbLS16akD_41Tj_LEh58dNeZNrmJLuzh ). I like to leverage an airbrush for camouflage. Here are a couple vid that discuss that specifically: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-cPgLHeoG030.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-nL1R734vwxk.html
Good tip! Instead of that, I use frog tape and will usually place it in my shirt before placing it down on the model. And then when lifting up, it’s important to peel the tape back over itself when pulling it up.
Now you know why I didn't cover up my pedal lines I just wanted quick and dirty. Definitely the pain for me was all the vast amount of decals that were applied, like my f104 had so many and they all pulled the paint off.
This is the 2nd video i've randomly come accross from you. Both were great. I've subscribe, I'm looking to own rc planes an Uncle own in full size in real life. I have some Piper Cubs, C\Getting an FMS Ranger (Cessna) in a few days. Next is a Dehavind Gypsy.Tiger Moth and an RCAf Chipmonk. They seem to be only available in large scale gas models. I'd like an electric version if you know of one ohter than the stunt vesron. Any health woulg be greatly apreiciated.
Thanks for the sub! Which ones are you looking for specifically? The chipmunk and tigermoth? At one time dynam made an electric tigermoth. That would be worth searching for. Otherwise, there’s a balsa version that was just released from bitgo hobby (bit.ly/BitgoHby) I’m not sure about the chipmunk though. There are some balsa airframes out there. What size are you looking for?
@@Thercgeek Yeah the Yigermoth and the Chipmonk. I think something in the 30 plus range. The one I'll never get was he rebuilt/restored a Fairly SwordFish. His was probably the onlyone flying in Canada and it was the only one in the world built without government sponcership. My cousin is the Lead pilet of Canada's Harvard demonstration team. I know there's a sport Chipmonk out there... But the canapy is different and it's got the wheel covers. But beggers can't be choosers.
Dear Chris. Thank you for sharing this information on the paint and prep and sticker removal. Itcouldnt be more timely for me. I just picked up an EC1500 done by the previous owner in the Blue Angels Fat Albert livery. Although nice , its not what i want it to represent. Your video has given me alot of information and inspiration to redo the livery in a Canadian Military SAR livery. If it works well then i will be confident to to the same to my Avios C130 currently in Coast Guard colors. BUT Going to simple military gray. Thanks again Bob
Chris thanks so much for taking the time to direct me to the EC 1500 repaint. It is bang on for my plans and of immense help. I'll try and post before and afters of mine once completed. Just awaiting Callie's stickers to arrive and now get the paints needed. Love the tip about the granite , it does look much closer to the scale color. Cheers Bob
Yeah, I typically will spray a clear on a model when it’s done. Just takes one coat usually for flat and for gloss depends on how glossy the end goal is.
Hi there! Is it really safe to apply Rust Oleum spray paint directly onto the EPO foam and it won't eat them up? I have read other views that it's not foam safe.
Yes, epo foam is very resilient to solvents and propellants. I’ve even used lacquers on it. Just be careful not to apply it too wet to avoid swelling the foam beads. The type of foam the others are thinking of is eps foam (beer cooler and packing). Eps is completely different and not resilient to solvents at all.
@@Thercgeek Cool! That's what I feel too which the older gen foams. Thanks for the advice! Btw, does that Rust Oleum metallic paint you used on your model will be fully cured to touch when dried, unlike some rattle can chrome finished paints which feels rubbery and will fade after handling?
The correct fs number would be fs31136, insignia red which is actually a fairly dark shade of red. The rustoleum 2x red works, but is a little light. Tamiya ts-08 Italian red is a little closer. Otherwise, model master has insignia red in a bottle.
Hi! I love your videos. You are a natural teacher, a very rare bird, indeed! I noticed you using white primer on your EPO model. I am planning a winter build of a Short Solent flying boat. They were traditionally white/cream in colour. Unfortunately, over the last few years it has become impossible to get white depron sheet, and I have grey (large) depron to use for the build. Do you have any advice on how I would proceed with 'killing' the grey, and getting a nice white finish, please? Once again, thank you, take care,you and yours, Den, Cymru (Wales)
Thanks for your informative vid, im on repainting and repair on a P40 that i bought very cheap was looking for some tips and now i have found them, great tip on post it notes, never really crossed my mind to use them until now! Great job by the way!! 👌😁 Nick.
Hey Chris, GREAT WORK as usual!! Man what would we do without you? Got to meet you at AMA in Pomona. That was a noble effort on your part to be there. Too bad the show was so pathetic. I felt bad for those who spent the time and money to have a booth there. Hopefully someone will revive a once great show to it's former glory. Awesome stuff man. I love your channel! Cheers from Dan, your #1 Fan!
Yep yours looks awesome but for me.....frog tape cost me two days because it keeps peeling my paint off. I even tried putting it on my clothes first and using a heat gun. It driving me nuts
Oh no! I've heard that the yellow frog tape is even better than the green and less likely to pull tape. Otherwise, when I've experienced heavy paint lifting from tapes, I have resorted to using post-it notes and that usually does the trick.
You can use pretty much any kind of primer. I like to use the dupli-color filler primer. It’s good stuff! Clear coat can be whatever you choose too. I’ve been liking the rustoleum 2x clears of late. They’re pretty nice and give a nice sheen.
Another great production Chris. My most important question (and probably for all viewers), is what is your typical drying time between pulling tape? It's hard to determine with all the fast-forwards - ha! I find I can be too early and get bleeds, or be too late and pull paint. Your tips?
Actually, it's best to pull the tape off once the paint is dry. You don't want to rush it mostly to avoid potentially getting finger prints/imperfections in the finish. If paint is pulling up on the areas you just painted, that's usually an adhesion issue and typically comes down to the prep and/or paint incompatibilities. That's where using all the same paint types helps and also pulling up the tape back over itself too should help reduce that.
Awesome vid. Thanks so much. I want to do this on exactly the same aircraft. Your video a great deal. Don’t know if we get frog tape in South Africa but will work something out. Want to do mine in South Africa Air Force colours.
Thanks! Sounds like a great project! Whatever tape you find, be sure that it is low tack (the blue painters tape will lift the paint) and test it first on an inconspicuous area just to make sure.
I’ve not found a good method for removing water transfers. Sometimes they can be lifted up with masking tape. If that doesn’t work, then I will typically just sand them and work directly over them.
It doesn’t really change the durability when you just paint over the stock paint. When I do a full refinish, it’s a bit better since I use minwax polycrylic in that process which hardens up the airframe some. That said, it only adds so much durability since it’s still foam underneath.
@@Thercgeek I was referring to the paint durability.....as it seems with most painted Foamies, the paint almost falls off with the slighest bump or scrape....
I did get water on some of it during wet sanding and I didn't like how the tape acted when wet actually. But, it got pretty wet, not just the edges. It does work well dry, but the key is to press the edges down well. They should change color slightly and that shows there's a good seal.
being a new modeler we find means and methods hard to find, so we just stumble upon them, like this.. you can use minwax wipe on poly and rust-oleum oil base enamel directly on FOAM, we discovered this while painting an Arrow foam Corsair. I happened to get some oil base paints on the foam packing and realized that not only does it not dissolve the foam, it bonds very well to the foam. The cheap paint that came on the plane peeled off with some Blue tape after I had painted with some latex water base paints; We even poured some paint thinner on the foam and it pooled on the foam but Did Not Dissolve the foam. Yes, you can coat your Foam plane with oil base poly, paint etc, resulting in a Hard structural skin.
Yep! Epo foam is extremely resilient to solvents. I’ve even used lacquer paints directly on it. It’s a completely different type of foam to the eps which is what the packing material is made from.
@@Thercgeek I have not kept up with all the foam types, so don't know epo from eps or bfd, etc. I'd be surprised if the guys at Arrow used different foams for the packing and the planes. Anyway both the plane and the packing foams are compatible with oil based solvents, as long as it's not Acetone. If arrow had used an oil based paint instead of cheap water base it would have bonded better, and the blue tape would not have pulled it off so easily. thanks for posting you video good work
@@Thercgeek it's pretty obvious that the Arrow model I have is the same foam as the packing foam, soft with large cells; not at all like the more dense and harder epo foam these models need a thick coating with a oil based poly and enamel to add a structural skin fortunately any added weight is well supported by the significant wing area. but since I only started doing models a few months ago, I have a lot to learn.
Actually, epo foam is the softer type with the larger foam beads. The bare foam has a semi translucent look to it. If this is an Arrows RC airplane, then it’s made of epo foam. Eps is the beer cooler type of foam with smaller denser beads.
Oh no! I’ve really only had success with the frog tape. I’d recommend sanding the affected areas to try and blend it again and then mask with post it notes. Those are my go to when all else fails for paint adhesion on epo foam.
@@Thercgeek I would do that later on when I learn flying. I'm a beginner. Let me learn landings without hitting the wings or nose on the ground. Thanks for the suggestions man. Take care and be safe.
That's a tough one, it would take a lot of sun exposure to have that happen and I don't think there's a clear that can protect from that. I've not experienced that with any of the paints I've used. Mostly you can get yellowing occur from certain clear coats which can change the tint of the paint over time. They key is to use a non-yellowing clear coat to avoid that.
Looks beautiful. I was wondering your opinion on putting min wax on foam planes . I just got the e flight Maule and I’m thinking about putting in on the plane. What do you think?
Yeah, polycrylic works on foam without any issues. I use it as a protective base coat on foam model refinishes. What specifically are you looking for? As a clear coat, it should work. Just be careful not to apply it too heavily, otherwise it will run.
@@Thercgeek got it. I’m remodeling a 1960 extra 96”, you can imaged hips, dents, fixes everywhere, but the plane just deserves it. It is balsa wood covered everywhere. I managed to remove the old paint with weeks of sanding. Now I’m planning on acrylic >primer+sand>base coat>decals>clear coat. do you think I’m missing something? Thank you very much!!!
@@Thercgeek no, turned out that it had primer and a couple of paint coats from decades ago. I’ve sanded most of it out, patched the dents and will start the acrylic process tomorrow. Its a huge plane! Lots of work
Stellar job 👍🏻👍🏻🙃🙃 Excellent video thanks. My biggest hurdle at giving this a crack was what paint to use. Rust-olium is readily available at my local hardware store which is awesome. Thanks again 👍🏻👍🏻
Great Job! Did you ever consider painting for others? I know I would pay you. I think there are others out there that don't want to even think about attempting to paint their own plane. I have got to believe there is a need for a painting service. Once again GREAT JOB!
Thank you! I have people ask from time to time, but unfortunately I just don’t have the time to do custom work for folks. I have a hard enough time getting my own projects done, haha!
Hi Chris. Can you let me know if you use anything as a primer to stop the foam from being damaged by the expelent from using spray paint. This normally happens on unprotected areas where the decals have been removed.
In the case here, I simply sprayed the white primer over it and didn't have any issue with it reacting at all. I used rustoleum 2x white. Minwax polycrylic is a good undercoat if you want to to go that direction. I use that when I do a complete refinish on a foam airframe.
Hey there! Great video and technique. Just curious what a good matte clear coat spray is that you would recommend after final painting and detailing that won’t gator the foam or yellow it? The best I’ve been able to find is a satin water based polycrylic by varathane. Any help would be great!! Thx
I've heard good things about the varathane, but I've not used it. I usually go for a non-yellowing lacquer clear coat. I've been using the same stuff for the last 10 years, haha! I'm right now searching for a replacement as I'm almost out. The thing with the lacquer is to dust it on as opposed to putting it on wet. Doesn't need to be a super heavy coat, just enough to even out the sheen.
@@Thercgeek thank you sir I appreciate that I have one other question do you know of someone if not yourself who knows how to make templates to make a foamy plane I am trying to build the De Havilland DH-89 Dragon Rapide out of foam but no luck on my end these guys use programs of some kind and I try watching but my level of intelligence doesn't let me get to understand what they are doing
Yes, I’ve done my own designs and am planning to show some of that in the channel. Have you looked online for any plans? Id recommend starting there as you can probably just use a set of old school plans but use foam instead of wood (something like this outerzone.co.uk/plan_details.asp?ID=5140 ). Ultimately scratch building something like that starts with a decent drawing of the subject. You can build from there figuring it out as you go, but it takes time and patience. Now when you say foam, what type of foam are you speaking of? I’m thinking depron which is a really nice and easy to work with building material.
That’s where using an existing plan for a balsa model works. That said, the fuselage is pretty boxy, so if you were to cut the top/bottom and side profiles out of depron first, you could then use some square bulkheads to start forming the shape and then add additional material in the corners to allow for sanding and contouring. I actually have a depron scratch build planned and that will be my approach with it. Not planning to do much design work up front, just sort it out as I go.
The RC Geek Actually, I’m pretty obsessed with building/assembling and flying RC planes. I live in south florida and I’m looking for a mentor to help me progress. I’ve already collected and built over 20 models in 75 days. If you’re interested, id like to have the opportunity to possibly having a one on one class with you. I’m open to compensating you for the privilege. I belong to the Palm Beach RC Club. We have a great airfield with a 600 foot paved runway. I’ve met some nice people, but no one seems to have your experience and or teaching ability. You’re an excellent communicator and very talented. Let me know if you have an interest. Thanks, Richard
Hi Richard, Thanks for the kind words! I would love to help, but being that I'm in SoCal, that may be difficult to do in person. There are some really talented builders and flyers in Florida actually, though I can't say that I know any specifically in the Palm Beach area unfortunately. Have you been out to the Top Gun Scale Contest? It's in Lakeland in May and is worth the trip if you've never been. Some really amazing builders and flyers out there!
I've not used them, but I don't think it would be a problem using them. Definitely try it first on an inconspicuous area though before going all in on the airplane.
krylon worked like a charm, they make a foam primer which i used, after sanding some foam was exposed, i sprayed krylon anyway and there was only one side effect. i got popcorn effect when paint was sprayed too heavy, i got this with the primer also. i just sanded it down and when with lighter coats after that. It looks amazing. Thank you for the vids.
