Working on methods of making epo foam look like plastic.

[Skypilot66]

I am May Walker aka Skypilot, and I'm combining my fine scale modeling methods to these new and exciting foam eff jets. I'm developing a technique that will make these planes not look like Styrofoam cups, will strengthen them, and add only .97 oz. To the overall weight of a 80mm jet. I could use some ideas from you who have approched this concept to make these planes look like the real deals!!! Thanks, Skypilot out.

[wvrailfan]

If you come up with a way to coat the foam so the foam cells don't show and only add and ounce to the weight of the plane I'd say you are potentially going to be very rich or very popular, or both.

I've seen various methods of covering foam planes, fiberglass, talc powder mixed with glue or urethane and my "go to" method, vinyl wrap. None of these are perfect, either adding a lot of weight, hiding details or just a pain in the backside to get to look decent.

I have wondered if it would be possible to line the mold for a foam plane with vinyl film prior to injecting the foam. The heat and pressure should stretch the vinyl so that the surface would be smooth and even minute details would be visible. Or maybe not, someone above my pay grade will have to do that experiment.

But I will be watching to see what you come up with. Good luck.

[quitcherbitchen]

I have used Styro Spray 1000 that basically does what WV talks about and it is a pain in the $ss and adds weight. Looks like liquid plastic. It doesn't prevent hangar rash either, but does reduce it. Doesn't sand so I quit using it.

[osern]

I am May Walker aka Skypilot, and I'm combining my fine scale modeling methods to these new and exciting foam eff jets. I'm developing a technique that will make these planes not look like Styrofoam cups, will strengthen them, and add only .97 oz. To the overall weight of a 80mm jet. I could use some ideas from you who have approched this concept to make these planes look like the real deals!!! Thanks, Skypilot out.

Some folks use thinning Epoxy with alcohol into a liquid state as clear paint,usually add up 6 grams or what to a 64mm EDF model,depending on how large is the painted area ,can be lighter if you only do with obvious parts on model .

[cbaker65]

Years ago ,my friend use to fly the cox ez-bee ,he used clear packing tape to rap the fuselage & wing ,it stiffened the foam ,an protected it from damage &
sealed it from getting fuel soaked!...

[fhhuber]

Years ago ,my friend use to fly the cox ez-bee ,he used clear packing tape to rap the fuselage & wing ,it stiffened the foam ,an protected it from damage &
sealed it from getting fuel soaked!...

The way to go for these models would be Doculam clear laminating film (available in 3 or 4 weights) I've had a 26cc gas powered TeleMaster (8 ft) that was covered in the stuff when I got it. A bit fragile covering for that model since it was the thinnest version. Doculam accepts Krylon spray paint for plastic quite well.

[cbaker65]

The way to go for these models would be Doculam clear laminating film (available in 3 or 4 weights) I've had a 26cc gas powered TeleMaster (8 ft) that was covered in the stuff when I got it. A bit fragile covering for that model since it was the thinnest version. Doculam accepts Krylon spray paint for plastic quite well.

That's nice to know!

The guy that used packing tape was in the year of 1995 ,but don't know what packing tape would do against gasoline ,gas may eat it if
it was spilt on it!
I used packing tape on my 36'' foam Cessna with OS 15 nitro fuel doesn't eat it ,an it didn't weigh much ,what little weight there was had no effect!

But yea ,glad to know about the stuff you've mentioned!.....:Cool:

[RRHandy]

The way to go for these models would be Doculam clear laminating film (available in 3 or 4 weights) I've had a 26cc gas powered TeleMaster (8 ft) that was covered in the stuff when I got it. A bit fragile covering for that model since it was the thinnest version. Doculam accepts Krylon spray paint for plastic quite well.

I use doculam, great stuff and when you have that misfortune you just need the sealing iron to return it to it former state. :Cool:

[fhhuber]

Gasoline will liquefy the glue of packing tape. But it can only get at the edges so it takes while to do much damage.

Most of the heat applied coverings (including doculam) resist gasoline well, but eventually the gas will make the edges peel up if you don't seal them )clear LusterKote spray works well) Some smoke oils will lift the edges of Monokote in one flight if you didn't seal them.

[seaviper]

A lot of priming and sanding, followed by a gloss paint.

[urrl]

I dont think manufacturers/designers realize the fans of today can not only keep styrofoam but light plastic fuselages in flight. I believe one day styro foam will be a thing of the past and the more realistic thin and light plastic aircraft will take over. Until then I've used coating of 30 minute epoxy on an SU35 twin 70mm jet with good success since the thing was so light you could glide it in to begin with. Once fully top coated i could do loops, flat spins and anything i could do without the coating. We get too hung up on weight when these jets should be heavy enough to need some thrust as well as flaps to land them IMO. They should fly real as well as look real and should not be rated for beginners.

[rifleman_btx]

Thats where 3D printing comes in for sure

[fhhuber]

I expect that blow molded PETG with inserted framework will become a method of manufacturing RC aircraft.

PETG is strong and used as a stressed skin n a frame that is mainly there to keep the distance between top and bottom of the wing constant should work.
(Because that's essentially what you get with a 3D printed model using PET.)

[Woodcock]

Ya know I'm actually making a concerted effort to move away from foam planes in general. I'm not saying I would never purchase one, nor encouraging anyone else to follow suit. I would buy a foam plane if I saw something I just had to have, make no mistake. But I just purchased a really nice ARF stick from a helicopter web site, wood with covering. Additionally yesterday I purchased a, "Pilot RC" Predator Jet, which will actually take a Turbine to get flying. No, I didn't purchase the Turbine just yet, the plane its self was pretty pricey (I owed my self a birthday present). Hoping prices come down on the turbines, LOL. But this one is composite construction. So basically no new foam for me, with some exceptions.

There are a few guys over on RCG that are getting set up for VAC forming some planes. Their prototypes are looking pretty impressive. Just wanted to say hi rifleman, not participating here too much of late, works been very busy. But I do look in on you and some other friends from time to time.

But I believe the days of the foam planes are numbered. Time will tell.

Woody

[ConRollins]

But we regress. Kyosho was covering foam with thin plastic back in 1997.

[disasterman]

Found this post which has evidently been sitting idle for over a year. I have two new EPO foam planes I'm wanting to protect with some kind of hard shell that actually prevents bench rash, road rash, and won't dent or ding just by looking at it wrong. Please don't start with the "Why would you want to do that?" questions. If that is your only answer, it's useless so just move on along.

No I don't want to use fiberglass and epoxy. It's way too involved, messy, and I have a bronchial condition, and don't want to wear a hazmat suit and respirator just to sand the stuff down, and don't want the dust in my house, in my laundry, or anywhere else. I also don't want the risk I have with two part products that never harden. Me and epoxies don't get along. NO, I'm also not going to cover the planes with packaging tape. Not even colored packaging tape. It would look like crap. I can't even get packaging tape to stick to packages half the time. It doesn't stretch, so it won't go around compound curves. It also does not create a hard shell, which is what I want.

Same for iron on coverings. Ironing anything onto an EPO foam plane means heat, and heat causes the foam to expand. I would think it would look like the surface of a basketball. I don't understand why people are both recommending a heat based product and at the same time recommending boiling or heating the foam to make it expand to fix damage. Those that have used it say that it does look like the plane was Saran Wrapped.

I've been seeing people comment that individuals over at RC Group are experimenting with vacum-forming plane bodies and sections, which to me would seem like a MUCH better way to do things, but until then . . . . what can I do to put a hard surface on my planes to protect them from bench rash, and landing in rough terrain?

I've seen all kinds of recommendations for all kinds of fabrics, brown paper, etc., mixed with WB Poly coatings, and yet when I find these supposed miracle fabrics, and test them, a quick tug or poke shows them to be very weak. This goes for all the polyester dress liners, and man-made backing fabrics. I can easily tear them, which means they have no structural strength.

One that absolutely WON'T tear is Tyvec, but it also won't lay smoothly on compound curves, and is waterproof, so no WB poly is going to stick to it, and you would have to glue it down with 3M77 or something, which adds "lumpage" to the surface. It can't be filled with water base fillers, sanded or coated either. So no.

A couple years ago I bought some cloth at a fabric store for speaker covers, and it was black but you could see right through the weave. It was very stretchy longitudinally, (with the roll) but not across the width. I dug it out and tried to do the tear test on it, and it absolutely would not tear. So I think I've found my fabric. I'm taking it to the fabric store to see if they have it in white. (although I'm going to prime it anyway, so it isn't that important). I'll post if it works.

Without fabric reinforcement, WB poly coatings and floor wax are useless. In fact, my experience on one of these planes that I already coated with 1) Eze-Kote, and 2) Minwax Polycrylic, both *seemed* to have a shell on them after about 3-5 coats, but any little scrape or puncture will not only still damage the foam, but will also tear up the coating, creating even more damage. Plus, you can still dent the foam just by pressing on it.

One guy on YouTube (RCDemon) swears by "Modge Podge" (Mod Podge) Hard Shell. Has anyone tried that product? He is literally the only one I see recommending it, and my limited experience with Mod Podge was that it was an Elmer's Glue kind of product used to do decoupage back in the 70's and 80's. My wife at the time used it as an alternate to resin epoxy.

Has anyone tried the Mod Podge Hard Shell with non-fiberglass cloth of some sort?

Anyone got any OTHER proven ways to put a hard shell on the entire plane other than by fiberglassing it?

Surely someone has managed to find a way to make a hard shell around these foam planes without building an aerial surfboard.....

[Gilatrout]

I've experimented with lightweight glass cloth and polyurethane inside of cockpits to prevent sun damage. It's worked but I don't do it often because these days I'm generally doing 3d printed cockpits.

The issue I see with what you propose is losing surface details molded into to foam. Ideally a gel coat or some sort of shell would be part of the forming process. Someday...

[mshagg]

I just built up a speed demon F22 90mm and experimented with the application of transparent ultracoat onto the foam.

Although I didn't cover the entire plane due to some of the complex shapes, the entire underside (amazing for cleaning grass and dirt off!), the horizontal stabs and all of the leading edges on the wings, fuse and verticals now have a somewhat invisible layer of protection. Same around the canopy latch as I recall this being an area of wear and tear.

You need to be mindful of what heat does to foam, but with the covering iron at 100deg C you get good adhesion with minimal risk of gatoring. Where there are plastic components on the plane (eg around the intakes on the raptor) you can really crank the heat and get it looking tight.

With 6kw on 10S this thing is pushing well north of 220km/hr and the coating is staying put so far.

[wvrailfan]

I'm still using Oracal 751 series self adhesive vinyl film. I'm in the middle of wrapping an FMS 1800mm Ranger now, to represent the USAF Academy Cessna 150.

There is a learning curve to using it, but it is relatively simple and requires no, or very little, heat. It is a peel and stick film that weighs about 18 grams per square foot.

My wrapped planes are not contest winners, but the vinyl sticks to and protects the foam way better than paint. I have a couple that are approaching ten years old and have hundreds of flights on them. I attribute a lot of their longevity to the vinyl wrap.

Below are some of the planes I have wrapped. The last image of the FMS Mustang in the WVANG scheme only has vinyl on the wing tips and at the wing roots. I did this after I had painted the plane to prevent hanger rash.