Minnreefer

I have this Kougar, that is hard for me to see at a distance, and it is a little harder since it is a small and fast plane. The covering is paint on coverall? or some non iron on coverng. I am looking for some rough trim ideas to help me see this plane.

Thanks
Jon

hugger-4641

My Feedback: (6)

Check out the Dazzler in my photo gallery, I had my daughter draw some lighting bolts to fit the bottom ofmy wings and I cut them out of white Monocote. It looks pretty cool, but the purpose was visibilty for orientation, those lightning bolts really stand out when I roll the plane over at 500 feet away from me.

Augie11

What you want is to be able to see the bottom of the wing. I'd suggest putting a white checkerboard pattern on the bottom of the wing. Maybe 2" squares alternating with the red already there. You may be able to do it with white monokote or else find some monokote 'trim sheets' that are about 4" wide x 16" long. You might also consider covering the upper elevator, which is white, with red. Then if you see a red plane or dark outline you're looking at the top of the plane. If you see any white, it's the bottom.

Good luck!

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

Make the top of the wing mostly white, have just a 3" band of the original orange along the LE

For the bottom, a WIDE white stripe (like 6" wide) from front to back about 6" from the tips

(I'm not at my regular computer or I'd draw a pic)

crossman

Check out this article. Lost of info on making the plane easier to see.

http://www.jcrc.com/news/articles/ar...olortheory.htm

dbacque

My Feedback: (3)

Like Minn said, light on top, dark on bottom with bold graphics.

First of all, you want contrast. Solid color planes are bad. Since the top is usually lit and the bottom is usually in shadow use that to your advantage to increase the contrast by make the top mostly the light color with some dark trim and the bottom mostly the dark color with some light trim.

Make the patterns on top and bottom different, like a LE stripe on the top and a big wide fore/aft stripe on the bottom. This will help with definition and orientation.

Checkerboards (unless very large checks) or other small trim is useless, as the distance increases it all tends to blend into one shade. Use big, bold trim graphics with lots of contrast so you can see them at a distance.

On your Kougar, I'd cover most of the top of the wing and stab with white, leaving the LE red and then put nice bold white stripes on the bottom. I'm partial to two big stripes on the bottom of each wing like invasion stripes but one really wide stripe will work great too. Now you'll see it at any orientation and distance.

Dave

Minnreefer

Thanks guys, that helps, now I have to see if white ultracote will cover it or if I need to paint it. Thanks

SeamusG

Bottom of wing: Minnreefer - you already have a "dark" bottom when the orange is in the "shade". When inverted you want to keep the dark theme going so that when you "see" dark - you're seeing the bottom. I would add bold dark blue / black diagonal chevrons on the bottom rather than the white.

Top of wing: I like MinnFlyer's suggestion of wing tops having a white field with orange over the leading edge. Maybe a bold splash of yellow between orange leading edge and the white base.

Fuse bottom: asis orange

Fuse side: a diagonal line (or sweeping arc) starting from the trailing edge of the wing where it meets the fuse bottom back-and-up thru the center of the fin / rudder. Above and forward of the line - white. Below and aft of the line - orange. The fin / rudder top - white, the fin / rudder bottom - orange.

Fuse top: white - I would sculpt an arc / diagonal from behind the canopy, down along and just under the canopy sides and then back up and over the foredeck leaving a big splash of orange fully surrounding the canopy (as the area under the canopy is orange).

You might make the fuse side diagonal line an arc that matches the arc of the canopy surround.

Just thinkin' out loud.

Film? Paint? I have yet to use paint. Paint would make arcs much easier to apply - guide tape easier to deal with than cutting & applying film.

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

The bottom of the wing is already dark. Adding dark strips to a dark background won't show up nearly as well as white. And since you only have a bold white stripe, the bottom of the will will remain mostly dark

David Bathe

Bold black and white invation type stripes on the bottom.

Jetdesign

My Feedback: (8)

To keep it simple, I'd add a white stripe on the top of the wing and stab, from wing root to wing tip. Maybe a white stripe on the side of the plane, from nose to tail. On the bottom of the wing and stab, wide white stripes from leading to trailing edge. If you want to add a little more detail, get some black trim tape and trim the edges of the white. If you leave a little space you can make it look like you have two stripes, orange and black. The direction of the stripes will help you decipher when the plane is inverted.

As mentioned above, it's all about contrast, not color.

perttime

I think 2" squares are too small for visibility. At any distance it becomes a pale blur. I've done OK with large panels of light and dark, but totally different on top and bottom. The GWS Formosa above me now has the front part of wing bottom black and rear part white; on the top the tips are dark and the rest white.

Augie11

I've gone up to 3" but it depends on the size of the plane. But the white pops right out of any dark color. The very best is black with yellow but this fellow is starting with a red plane.

SeamusG

From those of us that have no life ...

Current color of "das plane" ...

SeamusG

suggestions?

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

Pretty much what I said. I like the yellow on top, but I don't like the black on the bottom.

There is really no reason to distinguish right and left by using black on one side and white on the other. The white will show up much better and the differet colors will make the plane look asymmetrical.

SeamusG

Didn't mean to suggest an asymmetrical covering approach. Just used one pick to show multiple approaches.

perttime

JUst one way to make top and bottom different:

As long as top and bottom are clearly different and there's contrasting light and dark colors. Maybe put a stripe of something on the fuselage too: white, black, yellow, chome...

... too much chrome can make an aircraft almost invisible...

Avaiojet

Flying a model up and down the runway, pattern style, will allow for easy visibility. Also, keep the model closer in.