Official Freewing Twin 80mm/90mm A-10 Thunderbolt II Thread

[Twowingtj]

Man, I hear ya Aros. I'm hoping that the Avanti comes in soon to tide me over. I'm still undecided on the livery for the Hog. Kind of like the arctic, but would rather stay away from the black....hhhmmmmmmm:Confused:

[Aros]

Yeah the black is a concern. The A-10 will be my third Arctic Aggressor in my hangar. I need to find some kind of spray that protects the foam, especially the black areas. There's got to be something out there that's foam-friendly.

[petefoss]

I hear ya; one of these days I'm going to go to SEFF or NEFI or some other cool electric fly-in. If these are state-side before NEFI, I'll bet there will be one impressive A-10 squadron fly-by!

Sure wish NEFI and the EDF Jet Jam were not the same weekend! NEFI is always fun but the Jet Jam (and E-jets) are FANtastic events.

[Dlxpkg2000]

I used some WBPU/Satin on a camo paint job for a friend, and it came out pretty nice. Just a very low sheen, but made the colors POP.....(Lt. Grey/Med.Grn./Dk.Grn.) Euro colors. I know Warbirds are done in FLAT, but that and an old CLEAN sheet should prevent most of that problem. IS IT JUNE YET ???

[RCjetdude]

I have been experimenting with paint and clear coats and what I have found is that so far the flat clear sprays I have used only really appear flat over flat paint. I have sprayed flat clear over satin paint and it just did not dull it down enough to my liking. I have ordered some of the Model Masters FS34102, FS34092 and FS36081 to get my colors as close to right as I can for the European camo and then plan to color match flat exterior latex which I will first brush on and then use an airbrush to soften the edges. Decals, a little weathering and then a flat clear coat. Hoping to get something that looks like this when done.



I also experimented with two slightly different but very close dark greens and gave them the old sun treatment. Amazingly enough the slightly darker shade gatored noticeably in comparison to the lighter one next to it. I was amazed at the difference. That was even after having clear coated both with Spar Urethane which has a UV inhibitor in it. Just going to have to be diligent about keeping it in the shade.

[MikeT]

I have been experimenting with paint and clear coats and what I have found is that so far the flat clear sprays I have used only really appear flat over flat paint. I have sprayed flat clear over satin paint and it just did not dull it down enough to my liking. I have ordered some of the Model Masters FS34102, FS34092 and FS36081 to get my colors as close to right as I can for the European camo and then plan to color match flat exterior latex which I will first brush on and then use an airbrush to soften the edges. Decals, a little weathering and then a flat clear coat. Hoping to get something that looks like this when done.



I also experimented with two slightly different but very close dark greens and gave them the old sun treatment. Amazingly enough the slightly darker shade gatored noticeably in comparison to the lighter one next to it. I was amazed at the difference. That was even after having clear coated both with Spar Urethane which has a UV inhibitor in it. Just going to have to be diligent about keeping it in the shade.

Great scheme.

Mike

[vduniec]

Hey dude,
Home Depot has the FS colors stored in their database. Just ask for a color search for the number only and it will come up. Example: 34092. Their system won't find FS34092.They seem pretty accurate. That should save you the trouble of having to buy the small modeling paints and then having them be color matched. So far, they've been able to produce every number I've given them except one. They have the 3 colors you've listed for the Euro 1 scheme in their system.

(The one color they didn't have, I believe it was, 34079, I asked them to try 24079, and it worked.)

Also, for a really dull finish, I recommend an artist acrylic gel call Golden Super Loaded Matte Medium. Available in arts and crafts stores or on Amazon. It's a thick gel that I mix 50/50 with Windex and brush on. It will give you that truly flat finish you see on military aircraft.

It does add a slight milky appearance to the colors but, to me that just gives the model a slight weathered/faded look.

I have been experimenting with paint and clear coats and what I have found is that so far the flat clear sprays I have used only really appear flat over flat paint. I have sprayed flat clear over satin paint and it just did not dull it down enough to my liking. I have ordered some of the Model Masters FS34102, FS34092 and FS36081 to get my colors as close to right as I can for the European camo and then plan to color match flat exterior latex which I will first brush on and then use an airbrush to soften the edges. Decals, a little weathering and then a flat clear coat. Hoping to get something that looks like this when done.



I also experimented with two slightly different but very close dark greens and gave them the old sun treatment. Amazingly enough the slightly darker shade gatored noticeably in comparison to the lighter one next to it. I was amazed at the difference. That was even after having clear coated both with Spar Urethane which has a UV inhibitor in it. Just going to have to be diligent about keeping it in the shade.

[RCjetdude]

Hey dude,
Home Depot has the FS colors stored in their database. Just ask for a color search for the number only and it will come up. Example: 34092. Their system won't find FS34092.They seem pretty accurate. That should save you the trouble of having to buy the small modeling paints and then having them be color matched. So far, they've been able to produce every number I've given them except one. They have the 3 colors you've listed for the Euro 1 scheme in their system.

(The one color they didn't have, I believe it was, 34079, I asked them to try 24079, and it worked.)

Also, for a really dull finish, I recommend an artist acrylic gel call Golden Super Loaded Matte Medium. Available in arts and crafts stores or on Amazon. It's a thick gel that I mix 50/50 with Windex and brush on. It will give you that truly flat finish you see on military aircraft.

It does add a slight milky appearance to the colors but, to me that just gives the model a slight weathered/faded look.

Thanks for the info. I will definitely look into the acrylic gel. Will it dull a satin paint down? I got paint from a local Lowes but they did not recognize the FS number so I may ask them to search without the FS and see what happens.

[vduniec]

I use the acrylic gel as a clear top coat. I don't mix it with the paint. I just brush it on after painting and decaling are complete. It will make even a high gloss paint, very dull.
Here's an example with the FW 70mm F-16. The one with the wings on is coated with the matte medium. If you look at the canopy frame you'll see the difference.
[QUOTE=RCjetdude;n71253]

Thanks for the info. I will definitely look into the acrylic gel. Will it dull a satin paint down? I got paint from a local Lowes but they did not recognize the FS number so I may ask them about to search without the FS and see what happens. I use the

[RCjetdude]

I do see the difference. Did you paint the nose cone with the matter gel?

[vduniec]

I do see the difference. Did you paint the nose cone with the matter gel?

No. I painted it a different color and left it semi-gloss.

[petefoss]

Yeah the black is a concern. The A-10 will be my third Arctic Aggressor in my hangar. I need to find some kind of spray that protects the foam, especially the black areas. There's got to be something out there that's foam-friendly.

I suspect the real culprit is temperature rather than the sun itself. I'll try to run a test in an oven with an old cockpit I have kicking around.

[vduniec]

It may be a combination because, once, I was trying to speed dry paint with a blow dryer and it gatored my plane, however, on a cool afternoon, one side of my nose cone gatored that was facing the sun. It was definitely not the heat in that instance.

I suspect the real culprit is temperature rather than the sun itself. I'll try to run a test in an oven with an old cockpit I have kicking around.

[TiredIronGRB]

I suspect the real culprit is temperature rather than the sun itself. I'll try to run a test in an oven with an old cockpit I have kicking around.

You are exactly right, UV light will affect color but the gatoring is caused by heat..

It may be a combination because, once, I was trying to speed dry paint with a blow dryer and it gatored my plane, however, on a cool afternoon, one side of my nose cone gatored that was facing the sun. It was definitely not the heat in that instance.

The sun shining on a dark surface with create heat no matter what the air temperature is.

[Aros]

Exactly. That's why black can gator with the Sun out even on a colder day.

[crxmanpat]

I have used Testors Dullcote over Minwax and seems to work well.

[EDFjetpilot]

It's been awhile since I was in 6th grade science, so had to look it up: "a black object absorbs all wavelengths of light and converts them into heat, so the object gets warm".

The gatoring is caused by heat generated by sunlight on the black/darker surfaces.

Thus clear coat or type of paint isn't going to reduce gatoring as long as the color is black/dark and generating heat from sunlight. I guess if you had enough layers of paint under the black/darker colors, you may be able to dissipate the heat before it gators the foam.

Sean

[downwindleg]

Yeah, never seen a solar hot water panel that was white, right? Brad:Ligthbulb:LOL

[Aros]

So what I am hearing is that it is high time these foam manufacturers develop a new "Super EPO" foam that doesn't gator or show ANY cells, right? Sign me up. :Cool:

[EDFjetpilot]

In the meantime, just fly your darker foamies at night. Oh wait...:Confused:

Sean