Official Freewing 90mm F-4 Phantom II Thread

[Flash Jorden]

A little off topic ...
I'm having issues with paint bleed, and lifting using both the "low tack" 3M masking tape (green, yellow) and blue painter's tape. All of you guys that are doing paint jobs on your F-4s, how are you masking to prevent bleed and lifting?

[RCjetdude]

How thin is your paint? What ratio and kind of paint?

[dahawk]

I’ve found “Frog” tape to work good on masking. Available at Lowe’s, Wally World, Ace or Home Depot. Comes in yellow rolls. You can also peel off a piece and apply it to your shirt first to take away some of the stiction. It’s much better than the blue painters tape.

[RCjetdude]

I use yellow frog tape. Stick it to my shirt first. Apply it and then run the back of a fingernail around the edges to seal them down good. I usually use a light coat of Rust-Oleum white primer followed by a light sanding with 220 grit paper prior to using Model Master's acrylics (1/2oz. bottles) with about 30 drops of Createx reducer in them through an airbrush. Very little bleeding occurs and I gently remove the tape. I typically have no peeling but sometimes if I just paint over the original paint there can be some minimal peeling I think due to poor adhesion of the original paint. This process has worked very well for me.

[Dlxpkg2000]

Now THAT'S a Drag Chute !!! I LOVE IT !

[Dlxpkg2000]

Even with the "Yellow' Frog Tape, you have to make sure too SEAL that edge between colors. Also, Don't leave the tape on there too long. You stand a chance of pulling your new paint off with the tape.

[dahawk]

Flash,

I know what's like to paint like a drunk sailor! I also use goo gone to touch up my botched areas. Comes in a spray can but I apply it to a tissue. Its designed to remove graffiti

[vduniec]

A little off topic ...
I'm having issues with paint bleed, and lifting using both the "low tack" 3M masking tape (green, yellow) and blue painter's tape. All of you guys that are doing paint jobs on your F-4s, how are you masking to prevent bleed and lifting?

Yikes! That's some serious bleed through. I use Tamiya brand masking tape. I stick it to the palm of my hand and remove it to lessen the adhesive somewhat. Then after I've applied it, I paint the same color that's being masked over. That way it seals the edge and whatever bleeds through is the same color. After it drys. (With a little help from the blow dryer.) I then paint the next color.

The Tamiya tape is very thin and rubbery so it conforms well to contours as well.

[Helmsman52]

I do the rustoleum gray primer then airbrush my colors and mask off with green frog tape and blue tape for paper towels for overspray.

[Alpha]

I use Post-Its. Never pulls up paint, never bleeds, and easily repositionable. I can pull up a corner, check for edge hardness, then adjust if needed. Buy them at the dollar store, $2 is enough for masking an entire NSAWC F-14 with four color camo.

[goosekiller1]

[QUOTE=Helmsman52;n135789]I do the rustoleum gray primer then airbrush my colors and mask off with green frog tape and blue tape for paper towels for overspray.

Looking sharp Helmsman52 Goose;):f4phantom

[Boots Whirlygig]

The post it notes probably work with airbrushing but not so great using a brush. Bleeds like crazy!

[tclaridge]

I use the Tamiya yellow tape, and paint the edge with clear before applying the color to seal the edge.

[afjetmech]

Potential disaster avoided.

This is something that applies to all the Freewing aircraft with the ribbon cable connectors at the wing. Yesterday after plugging up my F-4 wings and powering on, I had no aileron, flap, or gear working on the right wing. I noticed the nav light was lit and this confused me because my first thought was a ground issue. Figured then it must be something with the board to make all three of those things not work. I started wiggling the wing connector and got things to work intermittently. Of course I didn't fly and was glad it happened on the field work bench and not in flight. I only have about 7 or 8 flights on this as of now and have not noticed any issues. Further inspection after getting home found that the nav light does indeed have it's own ground so l looked closer at the main ground pin on the wing board. (I had already pulled and checked the ground on the ribbon cable) I found that moving the wing board up and down caused the problem to come and go. figured then it must be a bad solder on the ground pin. I touched an iron to the ground pin and just melted and "re soldered" it. After hooking everything back up I could not get it to repeat the issue not matter how hard I wiggled or moved the connectors. So, if anyone see's even the slightest glitch in their flight controls, check that wing board. I was lucky this didn't happen in flight.

[Elbee]

DuBro ball links on both ends. 2/56 rod, and new Hitec mg digital servo. :Cool:

Hardway, I'm with you and ball links, love 'em. A little 'old school' modeling in a modern era.
Kudos to 'theMudDuck' for bringing this to our attention.
And to everyone, I am amazed at all the varied liveries being presented out there by so many great modelers.
Bravo Zulu.
Best, LB

[Flash Jorden]

How thin is your paint? What ratio and kind of paint?

Using Testors acrylic paint, uncut/unthinned over Valspar spraypaint base coat.

[Flash Jorden]

Because someone asked in a Facebook group, I decided to check amp draw from my 8s F-4. here ya go.

[fieldofdreamsflyer]

A little off topic ...
I'm having issues with paint bleed, and lifting using both the "low tack" 3M masking tape (green, yellow) and blue painter's tape. All of you guys that are doing paint jobs on your F-4s, how are you masking to prevent bleed and lifting?

Thats looks likeyou to put to much paint on all at once. I put a very light coat to seal the edges then paint a few coats at a time

[barron06]

Because someone asked in a Facebook group, I decided to check amp draw from my 8s F-4. here ya go.

Those my numbers as well on 40-45c lipos.

[EA-6B Geek]

Earlier posts about the elevator linkage had me concerned, so I opened it up for a look. Found everything to be normal. But, I did go ahead and slide some fuel tubing over the connector. There's no way to casually inspect this. This may be the first Airworthiness Directive for our F-4s.