What do you guys use to paint the prop tips? How does the paint effect the balance?

oops.. duplicate post.. sorry.
I don't paint mine, I just stay well clear of them when they are turning.

DS.

I don't paint mine, I just stay well clear of them when they are turning. My NexSTAR had painted prop tips but that wore off very quickly in the tall grass, or for that matter, in just about any grass except the grass that was cut real short. The other planes have gray APC props on them and, as I said, I just keep well clear of them while they are turning.

DS.

Yeah just keep clear of them... I wouldn't bother painting mine unless maybe it was for scale appearance..

You will also find that painted tips wear off in grass... If you want painted tips buy a Master Airscrew prop they look good.. But many say they dont perform... Not sure what your flying but give that a try if anything.

MAS doesn't make the prop size I use on my P-51 and they do flex quite a bit. I don't fly off of grass so thats not an issue.

I found a great article here [link=http://www.fly-imaa.org/imaa/hfarticles/safety/v5-1-24.html]http://www.fly-imaa.org/imaa/hfarticles/safety/v5-1-24.html[/link]

I can understand a safety issue with props, after all, someone before me referred to them as high-speed rotating swords. I've had my shirt sliced open before I even felt the stupid prop hit the shirt! Did not hit me, but sure tore up the shirt.

With that said, I no longer reach over the top to remove the glow starter. Once I turn the engine over and it is running at idle, I walk around the plane and approach the engine from the rear. That's the way I learned and that's the way I do it.

If you normally reach over the top of a running engine, from the front, you are asking for trouble, painted or not.

I am not saying don't paint them, I'm just saying it's safer to go around and approach from the rear than it is to reach over the top. And, painting it won't remove the danger.

No arguement, just stating my opinioin and what I would do vs. what I would not do.

DS.

Although it's safer, approaching (props) from the rear is no guarantee of safety either. I just got 4 nice slices on two fingers via a "stealth" approach from the rear. Eternal vigilance & respect is needed -- I was on mental screen saver.

I paint mine, Mainly because it looks cool. I just did a very lite coat of paint. I actually sprayed alot of spray paint in a lid to something i no longer used, and got a brush and lightly coated it on to the same place on each side.

Hope this helps
Chad

I just painted my Funtana 40's prop dark blue. I have had not problems with painting. It's really up to you whether you want to paint any prop. If you are good with what you put on, and how much, you don't have any problems with the balance. I don't have any with mine. My APC one is just about perfect, but I don't worry about balancing if it's off just a little bit.

I paint my tip from the end, to about 1 1/4 inches in from the tip on the long side and then about 1 inch on the short one. I put mine at a diagonal way. If the prop is on the engine, the leading edge is higher that the trailing edge. But, that's just the way I put mine.

Hope this helps. Go for it

~Michael~

Can't stand the GWS orange props but like the way they perform so I paint them with auto chrome bumper paint and paint the tips yellow. They look like polished aluminum till I put them in the turf a couple of times

Like you said britbrat, vigilance and presence of mind is the key. A guy in our club, been flying 40 years, never cut himself, was helping a guy at our weekly float fly tune his engine....approached the plane and engine from the rear, just like he'd done for 40 years, and reached through the PUSHER prop to adjust the needle. Just wasn't thinking, he doesn't own any pushers himself. The APC sliced him pretty good on three fingers, but nothing permanent. He was harder on himself than anyone else could have been.

I paint the tips on mine; I stay way clear, but it's nice to see where the ends are when they're spinning. I find the balance changes minimal; if it throws it off enough, I just spray the light blade with clear until it's balanced again.

I paint, white, all of my props 1 inch from the tip, front & back. Then balance the prop.
I never reach over the prop to disconnect the glow starter.
I built a stand on the ground that my planes set in. I then strap the back to hold it down.
The stand holds the plane for starting and running. Then when ready to fly, un strap the back and go flying.

I paint some of my prop tips and I actually use paint to balance them. A little bit of clear Lustrecoat sprayed on the light side of the prop until it balances has worked well for me for years.

painting not only looks cool but at the idle after starting you can see exactly wher the tips are.

MY CLUBS SAFETY COMMETTIE RECOMMENDS AS I DO TO PAINT YOUR PROP TIPS. ROUGH UP THE PROP TIPS WITH A LIGHT SAND PAPER, CLEAN IT WITH ALCHOL, PRIME, PAINT, CLEAR COAT. THEN BALANCE YOUR PROP BY SANDING THE TRAILING EDGE.
AFTER ALL IVE SEEN PROPS BOTH MODEL AND FULL SIZE DISAPPEAR DEPENDING ON THE CONDITIONS AND LIGHT.
IVE ALSO SEEN ALOT OF STICHES ON 3 FINGERS CAUSE "I THOUGHT I KNEW WHERE THE PROP WAS" (NOT ME).
THE MILITARY PAINTS PROP TIPS FOR A REASON. SO THEY CAN BE SEEN AND PERHAPS SAVE A LIFE. SO PAINT EM AND PERHAPS SAVE SOME FINGERS

FWIW, I paint my prop tips either yellow or white. I use Testors enamel.

After painting both tips, I'll balance the prop. Sometimes, the difference in balance is so little that I can just add paint to the light tip.

Good advice about not to reaching over the prop, fastplane. Red Baron 77 and CCRC1 have good advice too.

The painted prop tips are a nice reminder of where they are....

Bob

I just dip them in a can of white paint that has about an inch or so of paint in it. Once it stops dripping I fling the excess off (out of doors) by holding the prop as if it were a paint brush I had just cleaned and I'm trying to shake the water out of it. Do one tip, loose the excess paint, do the other tip, put it aside to dry and finally recheck the balance. This is by far the easiest method I have ever used. No measuring, no taping, no priming, no overspray, no cleanup. If it's out of balance a little dab of paint will do it.