Covering advice

[Flying Squirrel]

Hey. So I'm building a seagul 63" P47 powered by a laser 100 and just about approaching covering stage but I'm begining to doubt what I'd planned is acheivable?

 

I'd like to go full 'snafu' scheme  as that's what the kits based on and as I don't live far from Duxford were the original crashed I thought it'd be cool but I've bought oracover, how the heck should I approach this, I'm sure I can handle the olive upper halves and grey lowers so specific questions are..

 

How would I apprach the 'invasion stripes' on the compound curves of the rear section of the fuse, it';s a razorback model

 

Dito the wings, they are part sheeted and part open so no idea how to do the 'stripes'

 

Is it even possible with  oracover? Should I park that and glass it or other

 

In case you hadn't guessed, I've not built anything more than artfs for 20 plus years and even then didn't fly what I built so not much experience.

 

If it helps I could put pics of where I'm at up.

 

Cheers

Edited December 15, 2022 by Flying Squirrel

[leccyflyer]

For the invasion stripes the simplest method might be to follow the full scale practice and apply them freehand with an appropriate brush, over the film covering. You could lightly key the film with a Scotchbrite pad in the areas to be painted. Contemporary photographs show how roughly some of those invasion stripes were applied.

As you're going for glow power, you'll need to think about fuel proofing, either by using fuel-resistant paint, or by applying a fuel proofer over the stripes.

Edited December 15, 2022 by leccyflyer

[Martin McIntosh]

If you get the Oracover on as a base then you should have little trouble putting the stripes over the top as the material is very versatile; but you will initially need a very cool iron and work very slowly from the centre outwards to ensure that you do not get any air bubbles. You can then turn up the temperature a bit to seal it on. The beauty of Oracover is that if you get it wrong you can reheat, remove it and try again. Any remaining bubbles can be pricked with the tip of a scalpel, not a pin,and ironed out.

Don`t try putting them on by wetting with water and washing up liquid which is sometimes recommended.

Hope this helps because I know from bitter experience that things like this which are new to you can be very daunting.

[Flying Squirrel]

19 minutes ago, leccyflyer said:

For the invasion stripes the simplest method might be to follow the full scale practice and apply them freehand with an appropriate brush, over the film covering. You could lightly key the film with a Scotchbrite pad in the areas to be painted. Contemporary photographs show how roughly some of those invasion stripes were applied.

As you're going for glow power, you'll need to think about fuel proofing, either by using fuel-resistant paint, or by applying a fuel proofer over the stripes.

Ah ok, so painting oracover isn't an issue? I know what you mean with the roughly applied stripes but not convinced it'd translate well to a model that's only part scale?

[Flying Squirrel]

16 minutes ago, Martin McIntosh said:

If you get the Oracover on as a base then you should have little trouble putting the stripes over the top as the material is very versatile; but you will initially need a very cool iron and work very slowly from the centre outwards to ensure that you do not get any air bubbles. You can then turn up the temperature a bit to seal it on. The beauty of Oracover is that if you get it wrong you can reheat, remove it and try again. Any remaining bubbles can be pricked with the tip of a scalpel, not a pin,and ironed out.

Don`t try putting them on by wetting with water and washing up liquid which is sometimes recommended.

Hope this helps because I know from bitter experience that things like this which are new to you can be very daunting.

Thanks Martin, yes I had it all figured out in my head until I got closer to doing it! One of the issues I can't get my head around is hard to explain but i'll try!

 

Taking the fus stripes as an example, do I cut a straight strip of cover and 'work' it around the curves or do I need to cut some complex shape that allows for the curves so they look straight when veiwed from the side?

[leccyflyer]

13 minutes ago, Flying Squirrel said:

Ah ok, so painting oracover isn't an issue? I know what you mean with the roughly applied stripes but not convinced it'd translate well to a model that's only part scale?

Probably the worst that could happen is that the paint eventually flakes off - just like the real thing - the invasion stripes were a temporary measure after all.

The alternative, as Martin suggested, is to add Oracover stripes over the top - or maybe matt vinyl sign material?

[Flying Squirrel]

Pretty sure I'll bin it before the paint flakes off!

 

Given I have the stuff, I'd rather go with the oracover but still have loads of questions!

 

Would I build it up in layers? ie. grey bottom and olive top then a wide white band, then two narrow(er) black bands?

 

or

 

Olive top and black bottom followed by strips of white and black as needed? working from say front to back on the fus and inboard to outboard on the wings?

 

Not sure I've explained that very well!

[Flying Squirrel]

If there are any owners of the Seagull ARTF P47, are the stripes painted or iron on covering? How does it look like it's been applied at the factory?

[Martin McIntosh]

Never actually tried applying invasion stripes with Oracover since most of my scale models are glassed. You would need to apply white in one piece then the black stripes

[Bruce Collinson]

There is a very distinct ridge between the olive, black and white so I deduce it is a film stripe on both the fus and the wings.   I cannot currently reach the tail but am satisfied that it will be identical.

 

Thoughts.

 

I think it will be very difficult to replicate the factory finish.   I deduce that they have applied a single piece of white, then overlaid the black stripes.   They must have a “factory” method of applying film in this way which I suspect will be difficult to replicate at home.

 

Is the way forward to paint on the stripes, as it seems from the wiser heads above that it’s perfectly possible to paint over Oralcover?   Maybe brushed Oralcolour, 2 pack, brush thinners, put the white on then over paint the black stripes?   If I had to do that, accepting as you observe that the curves are a bit compound, I’d try a laser line (has Danny Fenton illustrated this in this month’s mag?), mask with something like Tamiya tape to be able to put a straight line on a curved surface, put ordinary masking tape over the Tamiya tape, paint, repeat exercise?
 

Could be a job for an airbrush, at least to get the outer edges done then block in the centres.

 

At least you’d soon find out if the paint is adhering to the film, when you lift the first lot of masking tape!

 

As you may deduce, I’ve never done this, but you did ask….

 

BTC

[Martin McIntosh]

I just use ordinary masking tape cut into strips on a cutting mat. Discard the outer edges. It is easily formed over compound curves and pressed on with the back of a fingernail. Tried plastic masking once but it shrank round tight curves.

Brushing is far less hassle than an air brush.

[Paul De Tourtoulon]

"My way",, 3M fine line it's tape that is used a lot on motorbike's especially fuel tanks it does 'bend' and go around curves, a £10 badger spray gun, (it will work on a 12v car compressor ) it will cover normally in one pass with no brush marks, white first black second, then a coat of varnish.

 

Humbrol paints cover much better than Tamiya,,,

 

Banger spray gun (blue ) and 12v compressor in the background of the second picture.

 

 pictures

Edited December 17, 2022 by Paul De Tourtoulon
Pictures

[leccyflyer]

Again - worth bearing in mind how these invasion stripes were actually applied in the field, so a brushed finish would be much simpler and perfectly acceptable. For an electric model acrylics would be fine, applied with a brush - the issue here is that the stripes would probably need to be fuel proof. If it were me I'd be brushing a wide stripe of white, over the keyed Oracover, then adding the black stripes over the white. It worked fine for me on my PZ Spitfire repaint and looks fine to me in the air, even if a bit rough close up - I was shooting for a brush-applied finish anyway.

 

 

[Flying Squirrel]

Thank you everyone, Bruce has confirmed my thoughts so it sounds like painting is the way forward. I'll do some etest peices and see how it looks.

 

Wow that spit looks incredible!

 

 

 

Edited December 17, 2022 by Flying Squirrel