I have been meaning to do a thread on fully painted wings, stabs and some advanced painting methods for some time. I will show how I use a plotter (vinyl cutter) to create paint mask. All graphics will be painted. I will also show how to do some trick, double beveled graphics. I am currently doing a build on a CA Models Austral bipe. I will not be doing a build out thread as this has been done many times on RCU and will focus on light weight coverings, computer generated graphics and painting. U.S. readers may have seen some of my work in the NSRCA K-Factor. One of my planes was on the cover of a recent K-Factor. One thing to be aware of is I am not overly obsessed with weight. Yes I do as much in my power to control weight, but I am not looking to save 2 or 3 grams. One thing I do is fly extremely light weight batteries the allow me some latitude in weight gain from painting. I am currently flying F3A Unlimited 4,600's that are 8 oz. under Zippy Compacts (and they are light).

OK, let's get going. The first issue is what to cover the sub-strait (balsa) in to give the best and lightest surface. Light weight fiberglass has been around for many years and makes a very nice surface to paint on. The problem with fiberglass, is as the paint continues to cure and shrink, the glass weave will be visible (telegraph). In the worse case, you can even feel the weave. I have tried several different methods and have settled on silkspan as one of the easiest to apply that will give you a glass smooth finish. It's important to understand the issues you will deal with in silkspan versus glass cloth. In working with fiberglass, we have to fill the weave to create a smooth surface. With silkspan the issue is filling the wood grain under the silk.

A bit about silkspan. Silkspan has been around for years and has primarily been used on lightweight open frame models (free flight, etc.). Silksapn is not actually 'silk", rather a paper material that looks like tea bags. The big problem is availability. Sig and a couple of other companies have discontinued production. I am buying mine from Easy Build Models and the weight of material they sell is perfect for our use. I have some older ultra light material that is very hard to work with.

http://www.easybuiltmodels.com/parts.htm

On an average sized mono we are going to be adding just a few grams of silkspan. The real weight comes in later if we aren't careful. I apply silkspan with water based MinWax Polycrylic. Being water based, the odor is eliminated, but creates other issues to deal with.

http://www.minwax.com/wood-products/...tective-finish

A quart will do several planes. You want "clear gloss", More on that later.

I will be using all House of Kolor paints and clear. Their paints are not inexpensive, but are superior for the type of work I do.

http://www.coastairbrush.com/categories.asp?cat=745

Pictured is some of my work to give you an idea of what we will be doing.

Patrick (Pat) Harris NSRCA District 8 DVP