New lightweight Stryker

[Gabe]

Since I'm at the LHS today, I'm gonna pick up all the foam for a light weight Stryker. I miss the ability to toss it around in my back grass area and all the sharp aerobatics its capable of.

I have a Six Series motor just laying around I'm tossing in there, and I'm sticking with the standard 3S batteries.

Does anyone have any tips on how to mask off the bird for painting? I find that if I paint a section of it and then mask over it once its dry, the paint pull right up.

Thanks!

[akent]

I've had the same trouble painting these things!
Please post if you figure it out.
Kent

[akphill]

Don't use masking tape but if you do get yourself a spray bottle with water in it and spray tape before trying to remove tape
Best to go to automotive parts shop and get pin stripping tape it has a low adhesion factor should come off fairly easy and leave paint

might even try black electrical tape good luck

[Gabe]

Had to run to practice but here a quick photo of the work I did today. I used strips of decals and cut them to the designs I wanted. The orange is paint. One of my cleaner jobs:

Attachments:

[19000rpm]

Nice job!

I wash the foam first with soapy water and a scrubby sponge and rinse well to remove the mold release compound they use i the molding process. When it's dry I sand lightlyy with 220 paper and then with fine steel wool. That eliminates 80-90% of the peeling.

Another way to apply the tape is to cut it in a very narrow strip and then attach a wider strip of tape with your masking material. That keeps the tape contact area to a minimum.

There is also a material artists use when airbrushing. It's liquid that you paint on with a brush. It like a rubber cement. You have to apply it by hand, but it's a very low tack.

[Gabe]

Great advice guys. When the new Fun Jet gets here, I will be sure to use those tips.

Here's a few shots of the finished Stryker:





I got super pissed at the LHS. They sold me some stupid E-Flite servos for $15 a pop. I told the guy what I was using it for and he said it would be fine. After I hot glued them in and attached the clevises, they weren't even strong enough to deflect the elevons more than 1/4". Jeez. I ripped them out and put in the Tower Pro 9G servos. Best bang for my buck ever.

Oh, she flies like a champ too! Super fun and does all the tricks I missed so much! Also, the graphics are super visible from the air!

[akent]

That's really great looking, Gabe! Very impressive!
Where did you find the decals?

I too will use those prep tips in the future. I wish I had waited to paint my new Funjet.

I really enjoy flying my slower Funjet more than the really fast one. You just can't do much with them when they are out of sight so quickly.
Kent

[Gabe]

They were rectangular decal strips about 8" wide by 36" long. I got black and yellow. I just cut out a flame design freehand in yellow, then stuck it on the black decal and cut an outline. Tedious but not difficult at all. I used a credit card to smooth everything down.

[akent]

That got me thinking, Gabe.
I have the pieces for a Stryker that I was going to build into a dark one.

I now have decided to build it back up mild and light, like you.

I really like the way the Stryker flies, so this will be fun.
I have a spare Turnigy 2836-2350 that I ran on it before. I used a 6x5.5 prop on that with 3s batteries. It was running in the 80's if I remember right. That was fast enough for it and it was really great to throw around the sky!

I'm looking forward to flying one again.
Kent

[Gabe]

Do it Kent!

I'm having an incredible amount of fun with this one right now. I don't have to go to the park, I can land it right here in the grass, it flies like its on rails, I can yank the stick around and nothing on the plane breaks, and I'm having more fun than monkeys throwing poop!

Darksiders have their spot in my fleet, but I love having diversity.

[19000rpm]

More on paint prep. You can use alcohol to rub down bare foam to remove the mold release compound instead of soap and water. If you're going to do this over painted areas too it can disolve the paint also and gets messy.

[Gabe]

So at this point, I'm thinking soap and water and a nice little 220 grit sanding along all the foam that will be painted. This should prevent the lifting when the masking tape is removed.

Sound right to you 19k?

Do you use any special tape?

[19000rpm]

I use regular masking tape.

I apply it to another surface first to transfer some of the stick to that surface.

Remove the tape as quickly as you can after the paint sets up. Don't wait for it to dry completely.

When you peel the tape off pull it, as nearly as you can, parallel to the strip of tape still attached. This also reduces the possibily of pulling the paint off.

[Gabe]

Well, after about 120 flights I finally had a rough landing. I was flying in some high, 15-20 mph gusts and landing into the wind. For some dump reason I gave her enough down elevator to drop the nose and a gust of wind caught it and sent her nose first into the ground from about 12' up. She spun around and hit a small metal pole.

Damage:

Nose piece came off - needs some glue or double stick. It played its part perfectly.

Left elevon ripped off the outer hing and bend/snapped.

Since I'm so smart and glued the hinges to the fuse at the trailing edges, there's no way to remove the elevons without ruining the trailing edge. I think its easiest just to go the balsa at this point. It will add a few ounces, but at least I don't have to worry about the elevons ripping off anymore.

[19000rpm]

People ask me all the time about when is it too windy to fly. My answer is, "It's hardly ever too windy to fly, but it certainly can be too windy to land."

Another thing I found in my painting projects: I've been using Krylon primer and it bonds very well with the Z foam. I can paint right over the factory paint and the Krylon goes right through it and bonds to the foam. Will you still get a few areas where it peels? Yep, but alot less spots.