So, Iam getting relatively good with my Blade SRnow, but I still occassionally nick a blade when flying in small spaces.

What is the purpose of the saran wrap, white covering of the stock, wooden SRblades? Is it just cheaper than painting them or is it a durability thing?

Ihave a pair that nicked the covering, so Ihave stripped off the plastic and Iam going to paint a set and see how they fly.

Also, Ihear a lot of debate about how tight your blade grips (the nuts) should grip the blades. Iseem to like them where it takes gentle pressure to push the blades out straight from the stored position, but yet the heli has no trouble spinning them out exactly where they go. Iwould think too tight would not allow them to spin to their natural position while too loose would allow for slop and vibration. Is this right?

C

You are right. Moderate pressure to move, as in gravity is not enough to move them when turned so as to see if it will, but JUST tight enough that it won't is how it comes from the box.
I'n not experienced enough to provid eadvice on the blades but this : I'd imagine any paint is probably to heavy, and I have kept mine looking good by using Ultracote or any other iron -on covering. It's been fine so far. Doug

x2 for the ultracote. I did mine in yellow. looks nice in the air. Also, I think the covering helps hold the wood together. I would think paint would be too much weight.

I just stripped the original film off when it would crack and cover with ultracote.

How thick are you going to put the paint on and also it won't add a whole lot to the strenght anyway. The covering stops the blades from fraying or distorting. Gel coat will give some strenght and it will smooth out the rough spots of the wood but will be heavier than paint. Besides a little extra weight on the blades will give some gyroscope action and make things just a bit more steady

Gauicanada,

I was just going to rattle can spray them white. Normally, my blade strikes are really light, just a nick to the tips because I normally get it shut down before it happens.

Yes, the wood that the blades are made of appears to be balsa, it is very light and grainy. Iwas just going to put 2-3 coats of thin spray paint on them and mount them back on the heli.

Idon't feel like buying more tools and supplies to ultracote blades. I can buy them for $12 a set or get a set of cheapies from Hong Kong off ebay if that is the case.

Iwill have them painted and dry by later today and let everyone know how they do.

Chris

This is getting a littlle, okay, a lot funny.

Yes.
That is exactly what the covering is for, protecting the blades from "light" tip strikes plus to help keep the blades from warping due to temperature.humidity, etc.
Then don't. A household iron works fine , and most hobby people have an x-acto knife or can buy a box of single edge razors for a dollar.
There won't be a lot of suspenseful hand-wringing.
We already know. They will look hideous without a bunch of primer and sanding and multiple coats of paint, which addds a ton of weight. You'll have a pair of blades that look like crap with no resistance to weather,lwarping or "light tip strikes". Can't wait.
Again, widely known and a good idea in this case.
The classic movie 'Bull Durham' comes to mind-The veteran catcher to the young,talented but dim-witted pitcher :"Don't think. You''ll hurt the ballclub".
Buy some blades.[ Doug

Doug
Does ultracoat come in "tubes" that fit over the blades? (If not, how do you attach it, and is there a seem?)
Also, how do you seal the ends of the blades?
Are there any tricks to getting the ultracoat to stay smooth as is shrinks, or is it pretty straight forward?

Thanks

Doug,

Irealize that it is hard to read voice inflection inthe written word, but this is now the 2nd post Ihave seen you write where you sound a little pompous and arrogant.

Iwas simply asking a question about why they coat the blades like they do. All the other blade series choppers have plastic blades, so it was a simple discussion.

And, to be honest, 3 coats of rattle can white and they look fine. Yeah, you can see a little bit of the grain, but the idea was for blades to use while learning to fly, she is not going to be entered in a car show. If that thin layer of plastic truly protects the blades from the extreme forces generated by the SR, then apparently Iunderestimated the strength and power of ultracote.

So, in short, if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all. It shuts down learning and keeps people from asking questions because they fear they are asking the "stupid" question.Or, just don't post in my threads.

Thanks,

Chris

There is a seam Jester, but it's darn near invisible. You'd have fun I bet.
You Tube has some good videos that show how to apply iron-ons, and they are all pretty close to the same. Check out a video and then maybe use an old blade or piece of wood and practice, that's a good way to learn. The glue activates with heat, and the degree it can be stretched around corners wil amaze you. Any buddies who build planes will have spare covering to just give you I'll bet, heck borrow their iron, I lend my stuff out all the time.
Sorry, what shuts down learning is asking for advise, getting it from some people who know the answer, then blowing them off. Here you go then :Painting your blades is a ridiculous (I didnt say stupid-you did) idea, but by all means go right ahead.
The "other post"was meant to jar the guy into getting help before he wasted a few hundred dollars and to instilla little reality, so he can get the same endorphin release the rest of us get when he conquers his apprehension and does what he needs to do to suceed.
Don't like it? Go paint your blades. Doug

Doug,

Let me help you with some perspective.

Itook the advice from the previous poster. Guicanada ask a question about paint, so Ianswered his question. As for stupid, if you can not see how your tone reflects your contemp for people, then you are failing to self evaluate.

As for jarring the other poster into "reality", have you forgotten how frustrating it was to get a new heli, wreck it, or not be able to figure out how to get it to fly right? What the guy needed was help, what you gave him was a good reason to get out of the hobby.

Maybe you are flying big nitro helis, or have been in the hobby for 10 years, but if you don't have the patience to speak with beginners and tolerate some dumb questions, then just don't post.

Chris

My answers were to the point and there was nothing rude about them I thought. In your case I thought I'd spare you a waste of time and money,just as I would if you'd posted "can i play with a lighter when I'm soaked in gasoline ?"
As a matter of fact I'm new to helicopters too, and what I've learned came from experts. I do not and did not require they stick their tongue in my ear while reaching around me gingerly and reading their advice softly from a piece of flowered and perfumed pink paper, maybe that's what you'd like though and that's okay.
I 've taught a zillion people to solo airplanes without so much as one case of mutual gratification but hey...different, uh, strokes I guess.
How'd you get so sensitive ?
I have some ideas. I'm not sensing your needs with sufficient sensitivity.
One more time, gently : Painting rotor blades is a very bad idea. It doesn't make you a bad person. You, you're still a winner, and ,and you can't help the feelings you have,the needs you have
BUSH/ROVE/CHENEY they are the reason you painted the blades. Doug

Chris...This has been fun but I apologize for you reading me wrong and for me not being more understanding.
I'm not the cad you imagine, ask around....Even sent some hard to find parts for my cost or free to victims of Horizons SR parts nightmare.
PM/E-Mail your address and I'll send you a surprise, and it's not a bomb, wont stalk you, wont sacrifice a goat in your yard etc. Doug
P.S. I wasn't doing helis back then but I was around them a time or two, and back in the day ALL the heli folks covered their blades with MonoKote/Ultracote ,etc.
Now the guys really into it though ? They finished them just like we did scale planes....fiberglassed with polyester resin, a bunch of primer,then paint, they looked like GLASS. Imagine tipping over and mauling a tip on a blade you worked that hard on...agggggh ! Doug

Doug,

You still fail to miss the point by an entire mile. Idid not find any of this fun at all. Maybe you did.

Now, you are just being patronizing. I don't need your pink paper or your perfume, Ijust expect you to act like a human being. Instead, you insist on being cute.

So, keep you gift, Idon't need it. Apparently, I was not the only one who thought you were rude, Bldrums gave you the same reponse in another thread.

For what it is worth, I finished up the blades. I pulled off the chipped monokote and put three coats of good old ratte can white on them. Put them all back together and they fly fine. You can see a fine bit of wood grain in the paint, but who cares. The only thing wrong with that set of blades was the monokote was lightly chipped at the end. I did not want to scrap them because Igot tired of hearing the flap whiz in the wind. Iweighed them on my digital scale and they came out about 1.7 grams lighter than a stock blade. This, because I did not put on 3 coats of primer, wood filler and paint. So, the weight is fine and it flys just fine. They will work for now and when I quit setting my SRdown on a slick floor and sliding into chair legs, I will put on one of my 3 remaining good sets and get her back to factory new.

Ihave read some of your other threads, you seem to have some good knowledge and a genuine interest in helping people normally, but in these two threads, you showed your ass.

As for sensitive and the politics comments, Iam far from sensitive and yes, a HARDRIGHTRepublican. Imake no apologies for either, although I have no idea what that has to do with our discussion. Your messages say you have served your country for years, so I would guess military, if you are a military liberal, you are a true genetic anomoly.

C

Well that's sure not a gene I have. Not hardly. It doesn't really matter in a discussion like this but yup, over a quarter century and still at it.
So, that's how you handle an apology?
Clearly a bigger man than me.
You win.

This is getting out of hand. Doug did apoligize maybe not with a lot of tact but he did do so that says a lot for him. I've had worse replies and yes in print we can and do place what meaning we think is behind the words. So let's get on with it. I have started making my own set of blades with 1/64 thin light ply,the reason being is I have an idea how to make this little heli even more steady. My blades however will not work for 3D which I think looks like a helicopter having a convulsion not scale flying. It is going to by layered and then drilled and monocoated for less weight. I will post pics as to the stages of assembly. I plan on doing many mods down the road cuz I am tooled right up for that sort of thing. Now if only the weather would co-operate

Hey! I just flew tonight with these blades from Mario @ MIA.....Wow! They were supposed to provide a little more stability, and along with these pretty blue weights that go on the flybar that do the same thing the SR is flying a lot better than it's pilot should be given credit for.
The blades are very light, are symetrical, and are an excellent carbon fiber look-alike.
www.micro-flight.com
They sure seem very durable, they were something like 15 bucks for two pair. The second I was going to give away but I guess I'm going to hoard them .
Another change I made was replacing the CP I think it was from training gear rods with real carbon fiber ones just a hair bigger (but...lighter)for just a few bucks, had to drill out the center round thing that goes between the skids to accomodate them but man do they do the trick. They hold the heli up in the attitude the directions show the non-existent is in the manual and they are VERY forgiving of clumbsy landings.
Oh..the non-existent training gear pictures show these clips that go on the skis that have guides to hold the rods at the correct angle. They are identical to ones Heli-Max sells for some of their heli's, they were about 4-5 bucks.
MIA has an ungainly looking but functionally beautiful tail rotor blade guard. While it was tough mounting the homely item it already saved me a blade and /or bent shaft with yet another bad landing.
They have landing gear that are on their video taking some amazing shots, and when I'm ready to lose the training gear I'll sure mount these up. They are taller, wider, and sure look to be tough as heck. Doug

I'll buy a set of those the instant they're for sale.
Hey you know what ? That's outstanding, about time really someone had the courage to state an opinion not "pop culture", trendy, whatever it'd be called.
Some fliers just aren't into that and I'm one of them, airplanes or heli's. There is no question that it takes a lot of practice ,a lot of co-ordination and skills to fly 3-D in what would be a manner that would be graded well in a competition. But so what ? I could care less about watching someone rest the rudder of their plane or whatever on some bodily extremity. Again, sure it takes a lot of skill we know that but so would standing on your head on top of a phone pole while pee'ing into a shot glass on the ground. I don't want to watch it and I don't want to learn it.
It reminds me of the stupendously dumb sport of "freestyle motocross" which has negatively influenced a sport I've been doing all my life.I don't want to watch or learn it either and wouldn't if I WAS still 20. (I wish).
I've had the pleasure of observing and riding in (!!) helicopters engaging in some seriously aggresive maneuvers in combat zones and other tactical enviornrments, flown by guys with serious skill sand mastery of their machines.
To get to where I can fly my model like the guys I've seen flying Cobras,Apaches, 58's and Blackhawks,Hueys, 46's and 47's I've been in is where I need to be. I'm sure workin' on it ! Doug