FMS Zero first impressions.

[retiredflyer]

Just about finished building my FMS Zero and I want to say it is an impressive looking plane. I got the tan one when it was on sale a few weeks ago. I have installed a Spektrum 7 channel receiver, an Eagle A3 gyro, and a separate 10 amp ubec. I am going to change out the original mains with Dave Brown 2.75" lite treads. I had originally made some inquiries about the size of the mains and several people, included Motion, said they were 3". They are actually 2.75. 
It is the dead of winter here in Maine so they will be no flying for months, but all the electronics are installed and tested. I only had an Admiral 3600 lipo and used that for power testing, but it is too big for the canopy to close without slight mods.I just ordered the recommended 3000 and when that arrives I will do the CG setup. 
In the meantime I'm going to airbrush some panel lines and do a bit of weathering on her. I'm also going to put the external antenna from the tail to the canopy on. I will post a few photos when she's done.

[Rocketeer]

RE: FMS Zero first impressions.

Greetings RetiredFlyer,

Sounds like you have a good plan.
I hope you'll be able to import a photo or two upon completion.

For the antenna, I have been recommending for quite some time using the elastic thread that is available from Wal-Mart.
It is available in different diameters (helping to maintain a scale reference) and holds true and firm due to the elasticity.

Many of us have found works great on the Waco's and I have run it as antenna line on the SBD-5 Dauntless, and others.

Best of luck, stay warm.


Bill L.
in Okla.

[retiredflyer]

RE: FMS Zero first impressions.

Well I have the Zero all finished and have enclosed a few photos of the weathering paint job.  I think it came out real well for not really knowing what I was doing.  I airbrushed (freehand) the panel lines with black craft paint and then I put on a topcoat of Minwax Polycrylic.  Well, I didn't know this was going to happen, but the topcoat started to take off the black paint and smudged it all over the place.  At first I was gasping, but as I kept brushing it actually looked BETTER.  The whole plane has the grimy, weathered, war beaten effect I was actually looking for.  She looks like she has been rode hard.  I sprayed the inside of the wheel well too to make them look less conspicuous. I also painted the bomb satin black and I installed the antenna from the canopy to the tail.  Looking on-line I saw that only one antenna was installed this way, not two, so I stuck with that arrangement.  I used some of my left over WACO stretchy line that was used for that rigging and a spring at the canopy post end, and a black push pin with a ball on the end for the tail connection point.  A little CA on both joints and she is good!

  I think she looks great.....what do you think?  Now I can just look at it all winter and wait for spring to fly it!

[Rocketeer]

RE: FMS Zero first impressions.

Greetings,


WOW! That looks great!!
It hard to see that it didn't come that way.

Thanks for sharing....... Can't wait to hear how it flies.


Clear Skies

Bill L.
in Okla.

[Hippie 64]

RE: FMS Zero first impressions.

That looks fantastic !!! I have got to learn how to that .......


Bryan

[retiredflyer]

RE: FMS Zero first impressions.

That looks fantastic !!! I have got to learn how to that .......


Bryan

Thanks so much...like I said I was just winging it.  Looked at a few You Tube videos and went from there.  When the Minwax started smearing the black panel lines I was $issed off, then I saw it wasn't too bad after all.  Hey, it saved me a costly mess.  Looks OK.  Thanks again.
  Keith

[Rocketeer]

RE: FMS Zero first impressions.

Greetings,

I think you mishap really worked in your favor.
The "smear" tends to give it a level of authenticity and natural aging. Pretty cool.

It works well with the tan base.

Note to self, first air brush, then minwax.

Bill L.
in Okla.

[boomer108]

RE: FMS Zero first impressions.

If that is your first try with an air brush, your a natural. That Zero is awesome! Great job.

Roy B.

[Loneflier]

RE: FMS Zero first impressions.

I'll have to second, and third, fourth... you get the idea, everyone else on that paint job. Very nice! It really has a natural weathered look to it. Now if we can just get some nice weather to go flying!!

[Grossman56]

RE: FMS Zero first impressions.

Great job Retired!!!
I've been thinking of doing that to my P51B, but haven't had the nerve. cudos to you.  I have an air brush somewhere, about time to drag it out and experiment!

Grossman56

[retiredflyer]

RE: FMS Zero first impressions.

Well, I just COMPLETELY finished the ZERO.  I was waiting for a pass thru connector from the battery to the external 10A UBEC, and the new Admiral 3000 battery so I could totally hook up all the electronics and fiddle with the CG.  I got the 10 amp UBEC hooked up, ran and ty-wraped all the wires, and shoved the 3000 all the way up front as I have read from various people.  Well, that made it way too nose heavy for my liking so I slid the battery back about 1 inch to the where the indentation starts for it (see the photo) and it balances (just very SLIGHTLY nose heavy) at about 82mm.  That is right in the middle of the spec on the manual.  I had the gear up, and the plane upside down for the CG testing, and I use the Great Planes CG tool. 
I think this should be OK, but like I said before....it's mid-winter here in Maine so the maiden will have to wait.  I'll hang it in my man-cave and just look at it until then.

P.S.  I had to laugh at the manual, it says 80-85mm OR 4.8 inches.   Well, 80 mm is about 3.3 inches  NOT 4.8 so please don't go by that number.  Must be a new conversion method from China!!!

[Loneflier]

RE: FMS Zero first impressions.

Looks good there Retiredflyer,

I bet you are just chompin'  at the bit to get that plane in the air! I know I would be. Fortunately, today here in Alabama is pretty pleasant. Highs are supposed to be in the low 60's, plenty of sunshine. In fact, I was just outside taking advantage of it and washed and waxed both my car and truck. The wind is up this afternoon, or I would be out flying. It was pretty calm early this morning, so I did spend a couple of hours at the field flying my FMS 1400 Cub and the PZ FW-190. I need to add retracts to the FW, but it sure flies nice. Guess I got in about 4 flights on each one before the wind started to pick up.

Anyway, your weather will warm up soon, and I will be looking for that first flight report!

Loneflier 

[Grossman56]

RE: FMS Zero first impressions.

Dang Lone, let a bit of wind slow you down?  Here in Cody (The REAL windy city) if it ain't 50mph or better its just the Cody breeze!
Yep, just waiting for a break from it to get things flying again.  Of course, going to work this morning at 6:30am, the flags were limp, but no sun.  Sun comes up and so does the wind.
So I have an airbrush on order as I couldn't find my old one (after the move).  I found one with a trigger instead of a button which appeals to me more.  I have a compressor so should be a snap.  Now Retired, what kind of paint was it that you initially used, before the Minwax?
It would seem that you've stumbled on the perfect combination to spread that base coat into really good looking weathering!!

Grossman56

[Loneflier]

RE: FMS Zero first impressions.

Hey there G56,

Yeah, guess I should have kept flying a bit longer, but was also running out of charged batteries too for those two planes. However, I had a rather lengthy "honey-do" list for today since I was off and my wife had to work. At least I got my fun in early and then did all the chores around here during the day.

Hope your airbrushing turns out well. I have been tempted to try it myself, but my old airbrush went the way of all my old plastic models. They all disappeared about the time I went off to college, so no idea where it is now. You guys have really done some outstanding paint jobs lately though. Might have to break down and get me one too. I can see it now, "but honey, all the other guys have airbrushes.." ;)

Hope the weather breaks there in Cody for you soon. Looking forward to more flight stories!

[retiredflyer]

RE: FMS Zero first impressions.

Dang Lone, let a bit of wind slow you down?  Here in Cody (The REAL windy city) if it ain't 50mph or better its just the Cody breeze!
Yep, just waiting for a break from it to get things flying again.  Of course, going to work this morning at 6:30am, the flags were limp, but no sun.  Sun comes up and so does the wind.
So I have an airbrush on order as I couldn't find my old one (after the move).  I found one with a trigger instead of a button which appeals to me more.  I have a compressor so should be a snap.  Now Retired, what kind of paint was it that you initially used, before the Minwax?
It would seem that you've stumbled on the perfect combination to spread that base coat into really good looking weathering!!

Grossman56

Hey there G56,
  The black paint was those little plastic bottles of craft paints you can get at Wal-Mart. Real cheap, like a buck. It was a flat black and I thinned it out a whole bunch with water before I could get it to spray out of my airbrush. Took several attempts on some paper before I got the mixture right.

[Megamanpaul09]

RE: FMS Zero first impressions.

I'm looking into getting a Zero also and I love the information I have gotten from the conversations already. Thank you so much everybody.

[Grossman56]

RE: FMS Zero first impressions.

Thanks Megaman, that's what its all about here!

Grossman56

[retiredflyer]

RE: FMS Zero first impressions.

I was just sitting here in Maine watching another foot of snow come down, and I was thinking about the Zero. I'm finished with it and it's hanging in my cave waiting for spring, but I have this one thought in the back of my head I can't get rid of. I read one user review on the Zero that mentioned the motor mount becoming loose and that person re-glued it with gorilla glue or epoxy. When I was doing the build last month I tried, unsuccessfully, to remove the cowl to look at that. It would NOT budge so I just left it alone. Do you think, because I obviously have plenty of time now, I should really try to get that cowl off and re-glue that motor mount? That cowl is really on tight and I didn't want to dent or damage the front end.

[Grossman56]

RE: FMS Zero first impressions.

You know, I think I'd send a message to Ryan since he has done some mods on his Zero so he's probably very familiar with it.  The only time I've heard of a motor coming loose was in the 1700mm scale FMS planes.  Still, I can relate that you really don't want to find yourself in that situation.  There are some videos on You Tube dealing with crash proofing you planes, they're pretty good, maybe check those out as well.

Grossman56

[ryramZ]

RE: FMS Zero first impressions.

Hey guys.
Motor boards can get loose after prop strikes and nose overs otherwise they're fine. I checked for a customer once if the cowl will come off. It will, but it's tough. Mine is the tan version. I ended up having to put the shaft on the concrete floor and push down on the cowl to break it loose from the plane. I hated doing it. The irony there is I totally stressed my motor board doing it. My take on the reinforcement is this. I'm the guy who like you thinks about reinforcement, however I will also wait until something happens that forces the issue. In other words if it's not broke don't fix it.

Ultimately, you must do what's right for you. If you fly off grass, you may end up having some nose overs, [more than likely] that being said you may benefit from the preventative measure.
Ryan