I'm about to start painting the cowl of an Extra and I'm planning to paint a checkerboard pattern ala Patty Wagstaff.

Any suggestions on the best way to do this?

One way was described by Claude McCullough in a 3 part series in R/C Modeler. Look for the May 2001 issue, page 38+, subhead= "Checkers, Anyone?" Regards.

I knew I saw it somewhere. Thanks

Try liquid Mask if you have a steady hand to cut it.

Craig

See April 1996 Model Airplane News for a great article on how to do it...

Checkers
Shoot me an email. I have a vinyl cutter and can cut you checkers in any size. They make perfect masks. The vinyl is removable and leaves no glue behind. Let me know how many you need. If its not like a 1000 I can just send them to you.

[email protected]

Guys...you do NOT paint(or mask) checkerboards one square at a time. That's not how it's done. There is a special technique of masking that gives you half the squares in one pass and half the squares in the second. It will take you only an hour or two(plus drying) to do a cowl. The other way is insanity. Go get the MAN article and do it right.

When Claude McCullough does it, it's not "insanity"---it's called perfection. regards.

well, in response to easytigers post, whatever colors your going to do the checkerboard with paint the area all one color and then go back and mask off the areas for the checkerboard pattern. Easy. And we don't do them 1 at a time as some people seem to think! I,ve got a lainer extra 300 in pattys new scheme, and it came out awsome. Enjoy

for what it's worth...

I did my extra with Patty's '99 colors and used electricians tape to mask the individual checkers since it stretches and covers compound curves well.

...it looks like crap... i'm not sure what this other method is they're talking about, but it's gotta be worth checking out and i wish i'd heard about it before i did mine.

Thanks for all the responses. A friend has the MAN issue mentioned and I will refer to that.

CanopyFx - Thanks for the offer, but I'll check out the article first.

Mil - I know what method I won't use.

Respectfully, IMAC...that's not the right way to do it. YES, you paint the base colors first, but no, you do NOT have to mask off all the individual squares with tape, liquid mask, or anything else. Get the article, read the text and photos, and it will tell you how to do it right in two steps.

I won't "diss" claude mccullogh, he's one of the greats. But if he is painting one square at a time, he has wasted an awful lot of time over the years. I did not see his article, so I do not know...

I'm in need of a checkerboarding technique as well. Any chance someone can post &/or email me the MAN ariticle? MAN does not seem to list back issues prior to 1997.

Before everyone makes a futile search for this article---it is in the NOVEMBER 1996 issue of MAN Not April. You'll find it on pages 76 &77. BTW it is for straight square surfaces and IMHO would not lend itself to the compound curves of a cowl. Regards.

Sorry about the wrong month. Yes, the same technique applies to a curved surface like a cowl. If need be, you can taper the tape to accomodate.
You can also easily paint three colored checkerboard using this method.
Can you scan the article?

Here's how I did it. Not difficult. A little time consuming but worth it. Paint the entire cowl 1/2 the lighter of the two checkerboard colors (in my case white). I then spayed on 1 heavy coat of Bob Dively liquid mask. In my opinion, the heavier the better even if you get a few runs. Draw the checkerboard pattern with a fine tip sharpie pen. A flexible drafting ruler available at arts and crafts stores helps here but is not necessary. Cut out on the lines using a #11 exacto. Pull out every other sqaure. Paint second color and let thoroughly dry. Peel out remaining flex mask. Please feel free to email me with spcific questions. cbk

Another pic

This helped alot. Made by a company called Staedtler. cbk

Looks pretty good, but still the long way around to painting checkerboards.

CBK: Thanks for the pictures. Illustrates why it is necessary for careful masking of the cowl. None of the "squares" is the same size and shape. A way needs to be found to taper each of the checkers from front to back and side to side. [Answering an earlier post--no can't scan the article because I don't have the machinery to do so.] Some magazines have a service where they will photocopy articles, I know that R/C Report does. Email MAN and see if they have a similiar service. Their site is: www.modelairplanenews.com. There is usually a "contact us" section. Regards.

cbk07 has the right idea concerning checkers.

I have a web page devoted to checkers with further information.

http://winshiprc.tripod.com/how_to_apply_checkers.htm

I hope someone has this MAN article on how to mask for checkerboard painting available to scan and post or at least summarize because the MAN article archive only seems to go back to January of 97. I'd really like to know how to paint checkerboard efficiently and effectively. Someone please help. Thanks

Here is a pic of my PW Extra checkerboard on a 35% Carden. It was not hard - it just took time. Painted it white - masked the checkerboard off and painted it red. Really, not hard, just time consuming. I think it was worth the effort.

Dan

If all else fails, go to your public library and see if they have the issue. Mine does. Just make a photocopy, they usually have them. Repeating an earlier post---this method will not work with curved surfaces. The article illustrates how to do it with a wing. Regards.

Does anyone have a copy of this article? I need to paint some checkers!