New canopy paint job.

[konakurt]

Here's my latest effort at painting plastic canopy. It's for my Raptor 50.

[kgfly]

Nice job, classy, racy and high visibility all in one :)

[jongurley]

Beautiful except for that damn FUTABA decal,,hahahaaha

[konakurt]

Relax Girly! I mean Gurley. It's just a sticker. But thanks for your opnion.

[Nitrobuzzard]

Looks good bud.....


What paint did you use? All my paint always flakes off after awhile.......

-Nitro

[konakurt]

Hey Nitro. I use just regular off the shelf enamels. I think the secret might be the primer used to paint plastic and the prep of the canopy itself. What I did was sand the canopy with 220 until there was no shinny spots left. Then I washed it with dish soap really good, as to take off any grease or oil residue left by touching. I then used Adhesion Promoter, you can get this at Walmart, and primed the whole canopy. I waited 10 minutes or so and laid down my base coat and so on. After everything was srayed, I sprayed 5 coats of fuel resistant clear over everything. Remember, you have to lightly sand between each coat. Thats how I did it. Aloha ,Curt

[Nitrobuzzard]

So is the paint flexible? Mine always flaked around the mounting holes in the back of the canopy, where the grommets are.

I have thought about using lexan paint like I use on my cars/trucks but they are painted on the inside. By painting them on the inside the clear lexan gives it a glossy look, didn't know how it would turn out beings it wouldn't have the clear lexan to gloss it up....lol

I'll give it a shot like you were telling me, I'm going to be ordering up a new canopy for my Rappy 30 next week or so......

Thanks for the tips bud!!

-Nitro

[konakurt]

I just finished a Raptor 30 today! It's my wifes first heli! :shock: Thats who I painted the canopy for. Check it out:

[konakurt]

You're welcome Nitro. Have fun with it! :D Aloha, Curt.

[kgfly]

I use the Tamiya lexan paints on the outside of my plastic TRex canopy. I sand with 1200 w+d to remove all gloss then wash and dry. I don't use any primer/undercoat as it's not needed on the plastic canopy.

Once the colour coats are done and dried for 24 hrs I apply the stickers and leave it for another 24 hr. Then about 3 coats of Tamiya clearcoat over the top with no sanding between coats. Comes up nice and shiny.

[konakurt]

Very nice paint job kgfly! I like the flake you have in that blue. Where dia you get the paint from? Aloha, Curt

[kgfly]

Thanks Curt :)

The paint is Tamiya spray can paint for lexan car bodies which I got at a LHS here in Melbourne, Australia for about AUD$10/can. One can of metallic blue (3/4 used on one canopy to get the desired depth of colour) and one can of clearcoat (1/3 used on one canopy). I also used up one can of fluoro orange on my home made soda-bottle training canopy.

You should be able to get them at an LHS that sells R/C cars.

[konakurt]

Thanks kgfly. That canopy is outrageous! Cool idea! Don't have to worry about banging up your good canopy. Curt.

[kgfly]

Yep. PET (the material soda bottles are made out of) is super tough. That canopy has survived about a dozen crashes and was even run over and is still in use with just a couple of scratches and minor cracks. Plus it's a breeze to put on/take off for changing batteries.

Definitely not cool looking though. I fly my "dress" canopy sometimes just for fun and at indoor events and it looks much snazzier.

BTW - I learned my lesson since that photo was taken the night before my maiden flight. NEVER fly the fibre blades, they are a guaranteed boom strike and heli-destroyer all in one. I have not flown them since my maiden flight which ended in a $130 repair bill.

[jongurley]

:hug:>>>>> :noteworthy ,,, thanks,, ahahhahaa, I painted mine the same way, I got that BULLDOG ADHESION PROMOTER<, then used regular enamels of my choice and then clear coated it with MONOKOTE LUSTREKOTE CLEAR<<