Official Freewing Twin 70mm AL37 Airliner Thread

[Seahawk One]

Anyone?






Anyone??

Bueller???

[Alpha]

Jetman64 Details, please? Is this what it looked like out of the box, ambient temperature, any chemicals, solvents, or cleaning materials applied to the paint, how did it begin, etc?

Seahawk One, My plane!

[Jetman64]

Jetman64 Details, please? Is this what it looked like out of the box, ambient temperature, any chemicals, solvents, or cleaning materials applied to the paint, how did it begin, etc?

Seahawk One, My plane!

Alpha,
I pulled this one out of he box yesterday, I have a basement (more like a giant room) that I have set up and keep it at 69 F. The plane had small bubble (about 2”) where you see all the paint missing. I just grabbed it and the rest you see. I have not painted it, I was getting it ready for paint, but no chemicals applied.
my other 37 has a similar thing going on, but it’s not coming off as easy.

[Jetman64]

Look how easy it comes off in big chunks.

[RCjetdude]

Curious if the foam surface feels slick or waxy? I had an FMS Corsair do that in one large spot and there was something up with the foam under the paint. Like it had mold release on it or something.

[Jetman64]

Curious if the foam surface feels slick or waxy? I had an FMS Corsair do that in one large spot and there was something up with the foam under the paint. Like it had mold release on it or something.

That’s exactly what it feels like to me, bad surface prep or no cleaning before paint.

[krakenreleaser]

Look how easy it comes off in big chunks.

I had this problem when removing yellow frogs tape (stuck to my shirt/pants several times before initial application). I was simply airbrushing acrylics. Major bummer as it is just in certain parts of the fuselage, not others. The nose on mine was the worst area. The entire left side around the canopy came off in one big piece. It had a latex/rubbery feel to it. I've customized over half a dozen freewing planes in the past using the same methods and never had an issue like this. I may just try to salvage the plane by switching to a single base color livery with no complex masking required going forward.

[Jetman64]

Curious if the foam surface feels slick or waxy? I had an FMS Corsair do that in one large spot and there was something up with the foam under the paint. Like it had mold release on it or something.

That’s exactly what it feels like to me, bad surface prep or no cleaning before paint.

[Jetman64]

I had this problem when removing yellow frogs tape (stuck to my shirt/pants several times before initial application). I was simply airbrushing acrylics. Major bummer as it is just in certain parts of the fuselage, not others. The nose on mine was the worst area. The entire left side around the canopy came off in one big piece. It had a latex/rubbery feel to it. I've customized over half a dozen freewing planes in the past using the same methods and never had an issue like this. I may just try to salvage the plane by switching to a single base color livery with no complex masking required going forward.

I preordered 2 and the first one (still working on it) has so much paint on the nose, it looks like orange peel.

[Alpha]

Jetman64 Send in a Service Ticket to the Service team, or if you can, call them at 224-633-9090 before they close for the weekend in 45 minutes. This should never happen and is an easy warranty replacement case for the CS team to replace.

All our foam planes follow the same painting procedures, with various sequential stations from start to finish. I've never seen something this drastic before so I have to believe it's an aberration, especially given the large number of people who have painted this big bird so far. I'll head over to the paint factory in the morning (2.5 hours) and show them these pictures. Very strange.

That's why we've got warranties. Call it in and ask for Martin or Wayne.

[Jetman64]

Jetman64 Send in a Service Ticket to the Service team, or if you can, call them at 224-633-9090 before they close for the weekend in 45 minutes. This should never happen and is an easy warranty replacement case for the CS team to replace.

All our foam planes follow the same painting procedures, with various sequential stations from start to finish. I've never seen something this drastic before so I have to believe it's an aberration, especially given the large number of people who have painted this big bird so far. I'll head over to the paint factory in the morning (2.5 hours) and show them these pictures. Very strange.

That's why we've got warranties. Call it in and ask for Martin or Wayne.

Alpha,
I just got your message, to late to call today. I’ll call them Monday morning and speak with Martin or Wayne.

[S.W.Warbirds]

Done deal minus the gear door #'s . not perfect but I'm digging it # 2 AL gets here Mon. and I can start the madness all over again ...

[S.W.Warbirds]

[Aros]

Love the Maiden livery! Bruce Dickenson is my hero. Rock star, killer voice AND pilot of his own heavy? Man!!

[Apriliamgt]

Look how easy it comes off in big chunks.

This looks the foam was sprayed with a wax like testors clear coat or mix wax at the factory .

during my testing on an EPO wing I had. I covered in this 2 products, and after painting and peeling off the masking tape , it peeled off like rubber ! Just like this picture

[killickb]

That one is not good at all but thankfully you caught it before expending time/money adding decals/trim. I found minor blemishes on mine and a lot of my control surface trailing edges peeled off thankfully not continuing to the main surfaces. The paint on this model was definitely not as well applied as my other F/W models have been so are we positive that nothing in the process was missed, seems the paint issue has come up a lot on this model ?. EPO does not have the best paint adhesion properties but an alcohol wipe and primer have always worked well before applying new paint (of many types) on my other models and the factory coating has remaining perfectly adhered after many flights.

Trust Alpha will resolve and correct, if required, any issues going into the future.

[Jetman64]

I to have had paint issues with other FW models, but nothing even close to this. I pre-ordered 2 and the first one had a smaller paint problem around L2 door, but it stopped peeling. I was able to sand it and prime it and it turned out good. The large piece of peeling paint is or of 2 big pieces that basically covered the left side of the jet. I’m confident MRC will take care of this, because it’s going to take me forever to clean this up for paint.

im also greatful I didn’t have any decals on her!

[xviper]

I had this problem when removing yellow frogs tape (stuck to my shirt/pants several times before initial application). I was simply airbrushing acrylics. Major bummer as it is just in certain parts of the fuselage, not others. The nose on mine was the worst area. The entire left side around the canopy came off in one big piece. It had a latex/rubbery feel to it. I've customized over half a dozen freewing planes in the past using the same methods and never had an issue like this. I may just try to salvage the plane by switching to a single base color livery with no complex masking required going forward.

Was this on the "base white" version or the one with the tail already decalled? As far as I can determine, the pre-decalled version has only had one batch, while the "base white" sold out of the first batch and is now selling the second batch. Do you know which batch your plane came from?

PS. I've also noticed that RC Castle is now "out of stock" for both versions. They didn't have them for sale for very long. I'm wondering if they really sold out of all their product or if they just pulled them all due to this problem.

[GregC540i]

Sorry to hear about the paint issues, but I'm not sure if I have a really good one, but I've been using the 3M delicate masking tape to mask what I've needed to customize my AL37. I've only had a couple of areas that a small amount of stock white paint has lifted off the foam. I've been very lucky to my surprise. I was thinking to myself that they possibly have somehow improved the paint adhering properties and therefore I don't have much of anything to touch up. Even the silver lip of the engine nacelles didn't lift off! I guess I'm most fortunate! I can't wait to maiden my AL37.

GregC

[Gravythe clown]

She’s already to deliver those Christmas packages. Hopefully tomorrow she takes to the air.

gravy