Official FlightLine RC 1600mm F7F-3 Tigercat Thread

[Hardway]

I need to fly her again!!! What a sweet bird... And it looks great in the air too!

[themudduck]

Bbolz - many of us have used the Behr paint 8oz "sample" jars available at Home Depot - they have a color match service, you bring in a piece of your plane and they have this gizmo that matches the paint.
It's called 'Behr Premium Plus Ultra" and I picked a "satin" finish. Its just about completely flat and matches the sheen of the original perfectly.
It's very easy to work with, you can use a brush and it cleans up (and is thinnable) with water.

If you search this thread there's at least three others who have posted samples of their jars.
The color match on mine is almost perfect, not absolutely perfect but extremely close. I use it for touchups. (This is the same color as the Bubble-top Corsair by the way)
The picture shows the color codes, you can print this and just take it to the store.

[bbolz]

Thanks! I'll also try a sample jar custom mix at Home Depot from the canopy.

[Grossman56]

Do you know if anyone has a paint type and color to match the F7F blue for touchups?

Yep, the sample jars are the way to go. I get mine from Ace, a pint of scan matched paint for $5 beats a $5+ bottle of modelers paint. That reminds me, I have to get a pint of Spitfire grey for my E Flite Spitty that has just gone through the shop.;)

Grossman56

[bbolz]

Great Advice G56. I'll stop at Ace tomorrow and get me a pint. Got to hide the hangar rash.

[Grossman56]

Picked up the grey for the Spitfire yesterday and its a perfect match. The fellow I had matching it gave me some great advice.
The can is small and not much room for the paint to shake/mix, so he popped the top off the can and scraped around the sides and bottom with a stirring stick, then put it back into the shaker. Good advice because you could see solid color paint that hadn't mixed yet.
I always get a free stir stick and lid opener with every can, such a great deal!!

Grossman56

[bbolz]

Like Captain Robert says....Oh Yeah!

[bbolz]

For Mudduck and G56,I picked up touch up paint for the F7F from HD yesterday and it is a very close match. Thanks to MD for the screen shot of the code. Made it very easy to have it mixed up in an 8 oz sample jar. I took the canopy with me but the gal doing the mixing said using the bar code was the best way to duplicate it. I don't think she wanted to take the time. Thanks again to both of you. Now if I can just get the MCI sound card working right in the A10 I'll be ready. The MCI card in the Tigercat works great.

[Grossman56]

Great to hear bbolz!
Try hand mixing it as well, really helped with mine.

Grossman56

[bbolz]

Nice! I have been using the plain old MInwax Satin but spraying it on unthinned. Works great. I too have the La Patrona nose art but not on the silver paint. I know it breaks scale rules but I just like it. So what the heck hey.

[theoldALFER]

This is what I used & it’s spot on...
Unfortunately there’s no nomenclature on the can. The cap is a perfect match for the F7F and F8F.
:Cool:

[bbolz]

Thank you, sometimes you need a spray. I'll look into it.

[sfmadmax]

I've been itching for a dual engine plane and scratched my itch today, bought the tigercat on sale with the upgraded struts and 2x 4S-4000's :)

Now the hard part... Waiting...
Not sure if I'm going to re-paint it with a custom color scheme.... :Thinking:

I was going to get the Spitfire since I already own a 6S-5000 battery for my Corsair. But happy I got the tigercat and getting excited, all this reading i'm seeing looks like she flies like a dream.

[bbolz]

Awesome plane. I installed an MCI sound card for the twin Wasp startup. Works great. I'll video that when I get a chance. Can you use a phone camera to video? Never have done that. Anyway, I love the blue color and the stickers. All I did was shoot Minwax clear to protect the stickers. I can't wait to maiden this baby if it ever stops raining in the Midwest.

[sfmadmax]

Loving the f7f so far, got the build done this week. Couple things to note. if you're using Admiral 4S 4000 then you'll need to buy new battery straps. I picked up some Amazon 20MM x 300MM straps and will replace the 200MM straps in there. I picked up the OLEO suspension retracts too and got those in np!

I pulled a Spektrum AR636 receiver out of one of parkzone planes and threw it in here. It was my first time using their digital programming software, i liked it. Didn't seem that hard. I set a gyro on/off switch and set my gains for 30% correction, I think that should be enough, I don't like heavy gyro stabilization. I may turn it down even more after the maiden if needed.

I live in New England, there is wind every day, especially where my flying site is located, a calm day is a rarity, you always need a little 'tad' of stabilization because without it, even the 1600mm planes wiggle left and right due to X winds... Sure, you can fly without the gyros.. but its so much better with them. I got 20% correction on my Flightline Corsair and it's perfect.




I did the undercarriage mod and screwed in that plate.



Finished the decals yesterday and just waiting on the battery straps tomorrow. Otherwise thumbs up!

[Dual Prop Dave]

You'll love it sfmadmax!
She's a *****cat and a lot of fun to fly! Just keep a bit of power on upon landing and she likes a little rudder in the turns to help that big tail around the corner. ;)

Good luck with the maiden and keep us posted with your thoughts of this magnificent Bird! :Cool:

[bbolz]

Was going to maiden the F7F today but the wind was too high. Guys at the field but nobody flying. Maybe tomorrow.

[sfmadmax]

I got two flights in today , I'll be doing more tomorrow. So far it flew great. It was a somewhat Gusty day , I feel that the tail was swaying back n forth alot. But that's because of the wind I'm pretty sure. I had my stabilization Set very low on the AS3X. 30% absolute gain only, no heading gain.

Definitely needs an elevator down mix to flaps otherwise she wants to do a vertical on you. :)

The set my dual rates so far lower than the book. This plane flies great. It's very pitchy , moreso than the Corsair , although I have a feeling I simply don't have it dialed in enough yet.

Tonight I adjusted the AS3X gyro to a 3 position swit h.. off/40%/50%. I honestly think it was the wind today that made it jerk about . But tomorrow morning I'll do another preflight and check that all the controls are sane.

So my low rates are down to 75% elevator with 30% expo. Ailerons are book (80% ) I think ??? Along with rudder , book value... The only surface I dropped lower than book is elevator. I like my warbirds to fly scale like a marshmallow .

Will report back tomorrow.

Oh btw . The upgraded retracts are fabulous, I took a rather hard second landing and that thing bore it well ( mostly do to me still dialing this in. And the wind was shifting )

[MesRcPilot]

Hello sfmadmax , I can see that you enjoy all the details of our sport / hobby ...:Cool:... I think that is the goal of flying in general.
Greetings from Croatia.
Jos

[sfmadmax]

Hello sfmadmax , I can see that you enjoy all the details of our sport / hobby ...:Cool:... I think that is the goal of flying in general.
Greetings from Croatia.
Jos

Thanks Josh , I'm excited to be here and be a part of this great community