lamarkeiko

My Feedback: (1)

I'm leaning toward doing a Sig Mid-Star 40 for my winter build. I would like to have a good visable pattern on the wing bottom to help maintain orientation. I was thinking of doing a 2" checkerboard in black and white or red and white. Will 2" be large enough, or would the checkers just blend into one color from a flying distance. Are there color combinations that may be better? Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks
Lamar

eddieC

My Feedback: (2)

Checkerboards are cool, I love 'em, but they blend in. For orientation at a normal distance, 3" or 4" stripes front-to-back with a similar gap of white in between works well. Black, red, and I have used neon pink or green left over from another build and they show up very well. 

sebo

I have created 4 big checker boxes on the bottom of each wing on a couple of planes.......shows up really well.

RICKSTUBBZ

On a 40 sized plane I would say a minimum of 2" for your checker board.
If you fly really high - they will still blend in[:-].
Yep color contrast does make a big difference. Obviously black & white is about as much contrast as you can get.

Good luck with your project[8D]

sensei

I agree, checkers are very cool, I put them on my last airplane.

Bob

MajorTomski

are you aware that Ultracoat comes in rolls of two inch

http://hangar-9.com/Products/Default...ProdID=HANU944

And Four inch

http://hangar-9.com/Products/Ultraco...Size=72&Page=2

red and white squares?



Might make the job a little easier.

sensei

Oh yes, but then you would miss all those days of layout, cutting, placement, and edge sealing. LOL

Bob

Top_Gunn

My Feedback: (6)

A checkerboard pattern is not ideal for orientation. On a plane that size, two large squares of contrasting color on the bottom of each wing panel or a couple of wide stripes on each side would work better. If you do go with the checkerboard, which does look good, go big, as others have said.

daveopam

My Feedback: (9)

Bigger the better. 4" would be my pick. Having done a few keep this in mind. I am picky and maybe you are not. But it is not easy getting the pattern to line up. I want my checkers to be in line with each other across the span of the wing, and also start and stop at the same place on both wings. So if you are picky, plan ahead a little.

David

daveopam

My Feedback: (9)

As an example. Notice in the 2nd pick the top of the rudder. This was not any fun getting it to line up.[:@]

This is 2" BTW. the first plane is a 52" span the second a 67" span. I used the same for both, but would use the 4" for the underside of the wing if I had it to do over. The 2" worked great just doing the tips.

david

Edwin

My Feedback: (2)

Oh yeah! 4". I did that on the bottom side of my biplane wings. Very cool.
Edwin

lamarkeiko

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks everyone for the input. I was already thinking of using Ultracote for my covering, and there are sure a lot of colors to choose from. I would think the flourescent pink should give good contrast and visibility. I think I'll work on a pattern other than squares, since there is a general opinion of the squares blending together. If I do decide to go with the squares, I'll use 4". How is working with Ultracote compared to Monocote. I have not had the greatest success in the past with Monocote. And sebo, could you give me a little more information on what 4 big checker boxes look like.

Lamar

OldScaleGuy

My Feedback: (2)

On this one i used Ultracote 2" on the bottom of the wing and individual 1" squares on the tail surfaces.

KitBuilder

I use the TLAR method... but everyone has thier own idea of what that is
I made mine smaller as they went back to keep proportion... I did get a little carried away though.

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

Without getting into the mono ultra debate all I will say is your going to like the ultra a lot. I once used the 1 inch red and white checkers on a 40 size bipe and it was wasted on me, way too small. I think the 2 inch would have been way better. Looked great close up though. Most 40 size bipes are too small to use anything bigger then the 2 inch.

lkruse

My Feedback: (42)

Did a Sig "Mid-Star" in yellow with red trim and put 2" red and yellow checkerboard UltraCot on the bottom of the wing. Turns a lovely pink in the air. Bigger is better!

alcarafa

THE BIGGER ...THE BETTER .

IN THE AIR YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SEE THE DIFFERENCE WITH 2 inches size

daveopam

My Feedback: (9)

Lamar , when you talk about pink being a good contrast. remember it needs to contrast the other side of the plane and the sky. If you go light on top go dark on bottom and vise versa. A good choice with hot pink is navy blue. A bad choice would be yellow. Also keep in mind. You look at the top of the plane in flight more than the bottom. It goes against logic, but flying in a circle you see the top of the plane in both turns and a lot of times on the down leg of the circle. The only time you see the bottom is when it's right over your head or during some aerobatics.

david

oliveDrab

I would recommend Ultracote and never recommend Monokote. Follow the instructions that come with Ultracote and you'll be pleased with the final result. Make sure you apply Ultracote with the correct temperature settings. Apply it at 220 degrees F, then you can shrink it later at a temperature > 300 degrees F. I believe the instructions say that 350 degrees F is the highest temperature you can apply to Ultracote when attempting to shrink it. Beyond that it doesn't shrink anymore.

Invest in a temperature gauge. I use one of those round ones that you can lay flat on the bottom of your iron.

sebo

Pink is the worst color I have ever used on an airplane.........it turns gray in the air. Had a P51 with basic pink and a black and white checker board underside of the wing.....
I had problems seeing it.

THE PINK LADY

bikerbc

I have used the Ultra Cote 2 " black and white Checkers on several planes and they show up great....Ultra Cote comes in different sized squares from 1" up to 4" and in different colours...Red and white ,red and black , blue and white etc , etc, The bigger squares you go the more material you are going to waste trying to line everything up....Not that big of a deal but Checkers do use up the material...You cant just cut a piece , it has to line up and the colours need to line up...The bigger you go with the squares the more material it takes....I have always settled with the 2" black and white...Then I always have scraps for patching...For some reason the checkerboard always reminds me of racing...

cordell staker

Cordell Likes Ultracote, contrast, and big

speedracerntrixie

My Feedback: (29)

I like 'em nice and big.

Bozarth

My Feedback: (15)

I would recommend Monokote. Better finish. Less elastic. Less shrinkage which means less distortion of straight edges. Higher gloss. Monokote is harder to apply, but worth it in my book.

Kurt

N1EDM

My Feedback: (2)

If you are concerned about seeing the checkerboard when it's some distance away from you (rather than just when it's in close) a friend and I noticed a plane at our Club that showed up really nicely. When he landed, we measured his checkerboard size and it was about 3". Yup, very distinctive even at a distance if that's what's important to you...

Just my $.02

Bob