Advice for First Build

[WIDDOG]

Stx44 Great Advice.

I just wanted to add that the 900 series kits are designed for rubber power vs. the 500 series kits that are designed for multi purpose. i.e. Cox motor, Co2 motor or electric motor. IMHO (In My Humble Opinion ) I would highly recommend you Build/Fly a 900 series kit.

I use 50/50 glue water and highly recommend it. To seal/finish the tissue what I use is Pledge Acrylic Premium Floor Finish. I buy it at the local Wal Mart. I rally like the stuff but it's not everyone's choice. It is however inexpensive and maybe worth trying it out for yourself. I brush on two undiluted coats on each of my models.

I am supplying a video to show me flying a model in snow with this finish. Also I would like to drum up some interest in a C 130 model. http://youtu.be/RznKXKCq4jE

[davidchoate]

I prefer dope after applying tissue. I never hear of purple glue sticks, but do not use the cheap glue sticks. i use Elmers glue stics, and Elmers white glue once in a while instead of dope. honestly, i built guillows kits over 30yrs ago, and got back into it about 3 yrs ago, and the dope now is not what it used to be, but I still prefer it over the glue mixture.lately i have been letting my frames drytime (sometimes weeks before I cover them. this is because i have on occasion have warp or twisting for whatever reason, and it is easier to correct before covering. I use both acrylic and other paints depending on if its display or flight. I wish they still had colored dopes, but I cant find them. I use the colored tissue in the kit only if I intend to rubber power FF. I glue stick it, shrink it with mist, and be sure to alternate while shrinking to avoid warps. I found it ok to add spruce or fill in on the front because these planes are all tail heavy, and i'd rather put the weight to use rather than apply ballast. the 500 series are better detailed for scale, but the 900's are better flyers. Like I said wait till you build a 400 series. I have'nt done one rubber powered yet, but Mitch has had good success. the 400's are so easy to convert to RC.

[zoomie]

Some of the 900 series kits come with a pamphlet, and in that it recomends the 50/50 glue/water for doping, and for gluing tissue to the frame.

I have tried it for doping, and found that it shrinks a lot, and is also susceptable to moisture (eg dew or foggy mornings), which will make is slightly saggy and wrinkly.

High humidity in the air can affect tissue sealed with regular dope as well as 50/50 white glue/water. The sags and wrinkles should disappear when the relative humidity returns to normal. The wrinkled tissue didn't seem to affect flight performance of my models, but of course they don't look as good up close. Not really a problem as I can't see the wrinkles when the model is flying ten or so meters away from me .

I use a papermate glue stick for covering. The Americans will recomend UHU, but their mix is different to ours in oz/nz . I use papermate as it works the same and is slighly softer, hence less pressure on the airframe. As ours are all water based, make sure you let it thoroughly dry (like overnight) before spraying with water to do the initial shrink.

With the possible exception of the repositionable types, all glue sticks that I've used are water based. Any brand of water based glue stick will work for sticking tissue as long as the stick is soft. If the GS are stored indoors where they'll dry out from exposure to central heating or A/C dehumidified air, it would be best to leave them in a screw-top jar with a little water and teaspoon of bleach (anti-mildew) in the bottom. After a couple of months in the jar, the cheap sticks often get a paste-like consistency that can be applied with a damp artists brush.

I dispense with doping, and go straight to a coat of acrylic. I brush on as I dont have an airbrush.

I want to try this. Could be that there are a number of brands of clear acrylic floor finish that would work (as WIDDOG uses).

[HLM]

I have everything sanded nice and smooth, prepared with some 50/50 glue/water and then sanded again. I then spent some time last night having a go at covering some of the smaller parts. I used 50/50 glue again for this.

Some parts came out nicely:


Not so nice:


And pretty bad (waiting for edges to dry before trimming):



Where I am as of posting:


Will finish off the smaller parts and have a go at the wing today.

I dispense with doping, and go straight to a coat of acrylic. I brush on as I dont have an airbrush. If its a vintage plane I dont want coloured, I simply use clear coat.
I generally use games workshop paints, partly because they are a good quality paint, and partly because Im a mad keen wargamer and have a huge stock of them.

My local hobby shop stocks both Humbrol and Citadel (Games Workshop) paints in nice little sizes. I have pretty much no experience with painting, and none with spraypainting/airbrushing. However I do have access to a compressor and can pick up an airbrush cheap. Needless to say I'm a bit apprehensive.
Do you go straight to painting, stx44, or do you give it a coat of clear acrylic as others have been saying? I have so far not actually seen a "clear acrylic", but maybe I'm looking for the wrong thing. Like I say, I've no idea what I'm doing here.

[Edit] Something I only realise now is that all the printed numbers are still visible. This doesn't matter as far as looks go since it's going to be painted over, but does this mean I should have sanded down the parts much more than I have done?

[stx44]

Citadel/GW do a 'ardcoat which is a clear acrylic, and its very good (if a little pricey, as all GW is). Do they have acrylic Humbrol, or only the enamel? I havent tried the acrylic in the Humbrol (its a fairly new line) but have heard its good.

I used to use the enamel with good results , but that was over a dope basecoat- I only tried once over the PVA/water mix basecoat, and it didnt seem to cover so well. (at that point I swapped to using my acrylics, and was happy with the results.)

FYI- I stil use Humbrol enamels for my plastic scale models, and IMHO they are the best around, certainly for brushwork.

[davidchoate]

Tamiya Color Acrylic clear is what I used, and it is very good. should be available at any LHS. Be carefil of that FLAT clear. it is very opaque,and I honestly dont know what you would want it to be used for. But the clear acrylic coat when painted over decals makes them look like they were painted on . its good stuff.<a href="http://s1370.photobucket.com/user/davidchoate1/media/122813153415_zps37f3a39e.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1370.photobucket.com/albums/ag251/davidchoate1/122813153415_zps37f3a39e.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 122813153415_zps37f3a39e.jpg"/></a>http://i1370.photobucket.com/albums/ag251/davidchoate1/122813153415_zps37f3a39e.jpg

[davidchoate]

this model was acrylic brushed on

[HLM]

Thanks for the advice - that makes things clearer.

[HLM]

Everything is now covered and ready for painting and then final assembly.. just as soon as I have bought some paints and tools to use them...

Here are some low-quality photos, courtesy of my phone;

Sharp eyes might notice the stringer where the canopy rests on the right side slightly misshapen. Yes, I ended up snapping it whilst trying to jam the wing in place...


I had mixed results with the wing, but overall I'm satisfied for my first attempt


The underside came out pretty nicely..


Except for the middle section



The wing doesn't quite slot in place and there's a gap between the rudder and stabiliser, but I should be able to fix this with a bit of sanding and filling.


Another question - would I be better off painting the wings separate from the fuselage and then gluing in place, or assembling everything first and then painting? Same goes for the wings/landing gear/flaps

I am supplying a video to show me flying a model in snow with this finish. Also I would like to drum up some interest in a C 130 model. http://youtu.be/RznKXKCq4jE

Widdog, I've only just watched your video just now. With the shaky video, editing and and the music especially, it almost looks like I'm watching some kind of "Secret aircraft of WW2" documentary! Very nice.

[WIDDOG]

Hi HLM,

Welcome to Free Flight "The Toughest Hobby Your Going To Love." Just kidding but seriously I love Free Flight. I think your Stuka is coming along nicely, and looks great . Since you liked my last video so much I'm adding my Stuka video as well. http://youtu.be/qLejrL72Kr4 . This was a early trim video. The wing got broken very badly on this landing. I would recommend you trim fly in the "High Grass". The building and flying the Stuka is kind of advanced stuff. I'm also going to show a video of a 900 Series kit. IMHO the 900 Series kits fly much better than the 500 series kits do. http://youtu.be/nHXhz9eQK9g.

Keith

[paul]

HLM...Nice clean build, keep up the good work

(see examples from Sigs30 to how to cover with wet tissue)

I was going to post a thread of "How to cover with wet tissue" until I read this
Having searched, I cant find the topic, is it hidden within a post?
A link would be helpful. Thanks

Paul

[vernon46]

i cover with tissue then spray with water dry with hair dryer. shrinks up nicely.. then i spray lacquer paint thin mist coats about five or six. no wrinkles at all.

[HLM]

Well, it's been a while since I posted an update, but here it is. The complete thing in all its glory. Just don't look too closely.

There are tons of things wrong with it, including shoddy paintwork, punctures, broken and ugly decals, cockpit that doesn't fit and so on. I would have probably given it another touch-up had I not put my airbrush out of action.
But for a first attempt at doing anything at all like this I think it came out alright. I have definitely learned a few things and will do things differently with my next build. Except those decals - I've no idea how I could get those looking nice.

[WIDDOG]

Dos Stuka is a very challenging kit to build/fly. You did excellent work with yours. Welcome to Team Guillow's. From now on you can't say your first build it will be "Your Next" build. congratulations...

[davidchoate]

You did good. my first build was an ME 109. I forgot to cut the stringer notches before i glued the formers on. but I still was proud, and I still have it; though I wont display it. "you learn alot more from your failures than from a perfect attempt". I will be honest. your frame, and alignment of surfaces was above average for your first build. your finishing needs a bit more "development", but if you keep looking, and asking on here, you'll be amazed at what YOU can build. I have builds that look so nice I can't believe I did it.And It's all because of the things,ideas, and techniques I got from members on this forum.I got good at building them, now I'm trying to learn how to fly the darn things!