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-   -   Covering visibility help (https://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/beginners-85/9793129-covering-visibility-help.html)

SeamusG 06-20-2010 06:23 PM

RE: Covering visibility help
 
1 Attachment(s)
Iguess that part of a covering scheme is that it can be done. I'm having a "change of attitude" towards the complex Killer Kaos scheme posted earlier. How about something a tab bit simplier and easy to differentiate in the air ...

And same with a lite blue background ...


nh4clo4 06-20-2010 06:40 PM

RE: Covering visibility help
 
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I think it depends, this Tiger is Platinum Metallic, and dark green metallic, Iseem to be able to see it very well on clear and cloudy days, Ido keep it in close.
ED

ro347 06-20-2010 07:47 PM

RE: Covering visibility help
 
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Here is where we are at so far. The edges still need to be trimmed and ironed down, but it doesnt look bad at all! The design that is. The color - Im not to crazy about. :( Its gonna have to do.

ES CONTROL 06-20-2010 07:53 PM

RE: Covering visibility help
 
I Like White

SeamusG 06-20-2010 08:22 PM

RE: Covering visibility help
 
Nice progress. How did you apply the blue "shadows"? Are they under the green? Or butt jointed with the green?



ro347 06-20-2010 08:44 PM

RE: Covering visibility help
 


ORIGINAL: SeamusG

Nice progress. How did you apply the blue ''shadows''? Are they under the green? Or butt jointed with the green?



Thanks!
I cut strips out of Transaprent Violet Ultracote. With the adhesive side up on the green piece, I laid them down on the edges necessary using windex and squeeged everything smooth. Then using the waxed paper backing from the ultracote, I laid it over the covering in those areas and applied a little heat using an iron. You will still need to be careful when pulling the waxed paper off. Just enough heat to dry the windex and get a little tack going for the strips to stick. Trim shadow where necessary with an exacto as you go.

SeamusG 06-20-2010 09:17 PM

RE: Covering visibility help
 
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Emmm - and you posted this thread in the "beginners" forum - yea, sure ;)

I don't understand the "adhesive side up".

I think I heard you say that you laid the violet on the green (green adhesive side down and the violet adhesive side up) so that you could cut get a perfectly matched butt edge. If you did, did you do this before applying the green to the white base? I like the of floating the small trim pieces with liquid (yea, I know, Windex does not activate Ultracote adhesive so we don't need ta go into that issue), butting them against the green, squeegee out the liquid then heating them up. I tried that once but was unsuccessful in removing all of the moisture so when I hit it with real heat bubbles occurred. Gotta admit the the piece that I floated was much bigger than your trim strips.

Thanks for sharing.

Iadded some pearl blue to the otherwise boring top view ...

I'm thinking that some "over-n-under" trim pieces could be treated like you did - resulting in a single "trim"layer. In my case, cutting the blue over the red so that the blue doesn't overlap the red but lies in the red.



Charlie P. 06-20-2010 09:31 PM

RE: Covering visibility help
 
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I squeege out the Windex (I use a homebrew equivalent) and then let it sit overnight before heat ironing the pieces in place. The squeegie removes any bubbles and letting it sit seems to prevent unwanted sliding as the heat fixes it in place.

Second image shows black Monokote stripes laid over an orange solid rudder - I wiped the orange with Monokote Solvent and then placed the black over that and squeegied it with a credit card. Again, waiting overnight before I heat ironed the stripes in place.

SeamusG 06-20-2010 09:40 PM

RE: Covering visibility help
 
Hey Charlie - is all of your film Monokote? Does your home brew include ammonia (guessing that it's the magic activator)?

I tried using a Monokote solvent wash before applying Ultracote over Ultracote thinking that I could slide the trim piece before anything permanent occurred. The Ultracote adhesive immediately set up full strength. I didn't get a chance to slide the trim pieces anywhere.

I like your wall fuse rack. You do something similar for your wings?

ro347 06-20-2010 09:55 PM

RE: Covering visibility help
 


ORIGINAL: SeamusG

Emmm - and you posted this thread in the ''beginners'' forum - yea, sure ;)

I don't understand the ''adhesive side up''.

I think I heard you say that you laid the violet on the green (green adhesive side down and the violet adhesive side up) so that you could cut get a perfectly matched butt edge. If you did, did you do this before applying the green to the white base? I like the of floating the small trim pieces with liquid (yea, I know, Windex does not activate Ultracote adhesive so we don't need ta go into that issue), butting them against the green, squeegee out the liquid then heating them up. I tried that once but was unsuccessful in removing all of the moisture so when I hit it with real heat bubbles occurred. Gotta admit the the piece that I floated was much bigger than your trim strips.

Thanks for sharing.

I added some pearl blue to the otherwise boring top view ...

I'm thinking that some ''over-n-under'' trim pieces could be treated like you did - resulting in a single ''trim'' layer. In my case, cutting the blue over the red so that the blue doesn't overlap the red but lies in the red.



Im learning as I go...what cand I say!

I like the updated scheme you posted.

I did both teh green and purple adhesive side up while setting it all up. If you have glass surface to work on, you can do adhesive down.

Charlie P. 06-20-2010 10:39 PM

RE: Covering visibility help
 
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ORIGINAL: SeamusG

Hey Charlie - is all of your film Monokote? Does your home brew include ammonia (guessing that it's the magic activator)?

I tried using a Monokote solvent wash before applying Ultracote over Ultracote thinking that I could slide the trim piece before anything permanent occurred. The Ultracote adhesive immediately set up full strength. I didn't get a chance to slide the trim pieces anywhere.

I like your wall fuse rack. You do something similar for your wings?

Yes, those images are all Monokote. And the Monokote solvent is unforgiving. Monokote's color is in the adhesive and the solvent grabs it so no repositioning is possible. That's why I only use it for stripes. The homemade cleaner/decal transfer spray is 5 cups water, 1 cup 91% alcohol, 1/2 cup ammonia and 2 tsp laundry detergent. It's known as Jim Quinn's Cleaner hereabouts.

I hang my medium wings in the rafters with Nylon straps. The larger ones I make inverted "T" racks with 1" dowels covered in pipe insulation. Smaller wings I leave on the models.


SeamusG 06-20-2010 10:53 PM

RE: Covering visibility help
 
RO & Charlie - Thx for the info!



rcjetflyer0718-RCU 06-21-2010 08:27 PM

RE: Covering visibility help
 
I covered 1 plane in black, red, and chrome. It was a beautiful plane to look at, except when coming in for landing it disappeared, the wings leading edge was chrome. I got 3 1/2 flights out of it, last flight it disappeared on landing totaling it.

ro347 06-21-2010 10:43 PM

RE: Covering visibility help
 
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Finished product. Tail will be finished the same. Funtana decals to be added on ailerons.

Thanks guys!

SeamusG 06-22-2010 07:49 PM

RE: Covering visibility help
 
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Truth be known Idon't believe that there is noticeable differences in the 3 top wing covering approaches.

The reason behind this (IMHO)is that the white spaces between the LEred and black stripe and the black stripe and the yellow stripe neutralize the contrast. Today (nice blue sky with high thin clouds) when flying up-and-away (typical training mode) I really couldn't see anything other than the red LE, yellow tip patches and the white. Hey, it looks great on the ground and gets plenty of compliments but is it effective in flight? Not really. I'm not ready to fill in the white "voids" on either side of the black stripe but if I do I will post the results.

On landing, when the wings dip below the tree line the yellow wing tip patches stand out like landing lights. Pleasant surprise.



Charlie P. 06-22-2010 09:49 PM

RE: Covering visibility help
 

ORIGINAL: SeamusG

I really couldn't see anything other than the red LE, yellow tip patches and the white. Hey, it looks great on the ground and gets plenty of compliments but is it effective in flight? Not really.

You don't see the contrast in the air, per se. What the contrast allows is that you see the light colors against a dark background and you see the dark colors against a light background. So regardless of sky conditions you'll at least see something. The contrast should also be obviously different topside vs. bottom so you can tell at a given moment which aspect your model is in in relation to your viewing angle. (i.e. stripes on the underside vs. solid on the top, or whatever). You'll notice most serious pattern ships have large checkerboard undersides and stripey, colorful topsides.

ro347 06-23-2010 10:33 PM

RE: Covering visibility help
 
Ive decided to redo the wings. I wastn crazy about the color anyway. The Lime Green was darker than I was expecting. I think I will try the Fluorescent Lime. I figured the Lime Green was dark enough it might also get lost a little below the tree line.

My problem now is that I cant get the strips of Transparent violet up. Seems as if Transparent covering is much thinner and I cant pick at it to lift the edges. Any suggestions? Would really appreciate it.

ro347 06-23-2010 11:00 PM

RE: Covering visibility help
 
Well i got the strips off by heating them a little longer and picking them. The heat must have lifted the edges.

Now Ive just gotta get all of the remaining adhesive off. Grrrrrrr!!! I must love torturing myself!

SeamusG 06-24-2010 10:27 AM

RE: Covering visibility help
 
RO - where's the adhesive that's giving you heart burn? If it's on the white film I have used acetone on a Q-tip to remove it. With the Q-tip the amount of vapor is minimized and you don't get it on your skin. If it's on the wood - since it's clear - what's the concern?

It's gonna look great when you get it done.

ro347 06-24-2010 11:05 AM

RE: Covering visibility help
 


ORIGINAL: SeamusG

RO - where's the adhesive that's giving you heart burn? If it's on the white film I have used acetone on a Q-tip to remove it. With the Q-tip the amount of vapor is minimized and you don't get it on your skin. If it's on the wood - since it's clear - what's the concern?

It's gonna look great when you get it done.

Its all over the white base covering. I used an iron to heat the green and lift off, and it just left tons of adhesive behind. Im trying to work with acetone, but a real chore.

crossman 06-24-2010 11:49 AM

RE: Covering visibility help
 
Some time ago, I stumbled across this site with some tips on color schemes. It seems to go along with what I have done and some of the suggestions here.

http://www.jcrc.com/News/Articles/Ar...olorTheory.htm


ro347 06-24-2010 05:47 PM

RE: Covering visibility help
 
I went and got a bottle of Goo-Gone from home depot. Lets see how that works out later. I tried acetone earlier and that wasnt working out to well.

SeamusG 06-24-2010 06:11 PM

RE: Covering visibility help
 
I forgot that the green was all trim rather than a part of a panel with 1/4" overlap. Time is money - get more white! :)



ro347 06-24-2010 07:44 PM

RE: Covering visibility help
 


ORIGINAL: SeamusG

I forgot that the green was all trim rather than a part of a panel with 1/4'' overlap. Time is money - get more white! :)



Thats how I should have done it from the start! Unfortunately I had another scheme planned when I did the base covering. I should have this all cleared up and done by the end of the weekend.

Thanks for the support. Ill post pics once done. The "shadow" trim will be thicker this time around as it seems to give a more dramatic effect the thicker they are.

SeamusG 06-25-2010 12:07 AM

RE: Covering visibility help
 
crossman - thanks for the link. Since I'm a newbie pattern flier I am going to reconfigure the Killer Kaos' scheme to include the guidelines of the good Dr. Em, wonder where in CO he flies? Now that would be a hoot if he was a fellow club member of mine (over 300 active members).

With this information I am beginning to understand why changes to the LT-40 covering had little or no effect.

There is SOOOOOO much good information out here!


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