The vinyl cutter is such an incredible tool! Most recent I made some custom paint masks so I could mark up my Revell 1/72 SR-71A "844" in NASA service. Love the Flir Cat!
Absolutely gorgeous work Chris your research and attention to scale detail on aircraft is top notch, nice to see you in the shop, I actually did my S1500 cargo plane as the Spartan livery by watching your video it turned out really nice thank's for sharing 😉👍🛩
@@Thercgeek well Chris I accidentally deleated the mod pics lol and I gave the Spartan to an old friend retired Navy pilot that actually flew one that particular plane is now in Australia's No.35 Squadron I'll see about getting some pics from him and joining your fb group, sorry about 1st reply I thought it didn't send lol 😉👍🛩
The airplane looks absolutely fantastic I'm a big fan of the F14 but I don't own one. I have used tamiya masking tape in the past it works great, never bleeds through ,and has flexible tape for curves.
YO Dads! How You Traveling through this Flu Hoax? Love from Oz Bro, The Loonatics have taken over the Asylum Mate? ua-cam.com/video/RZ2oXzrnti4/v-deo.html
You make a really great looking plane. I can't see spending that much time on any of my models as they all have a short expiration date with my lack of flying experience. Haha
Your excellence knows no bounds my friend. Probably your best Tomcat to date! Aside from the old scratch build ;) Really enjoyed seeing this one come together and hearing the new techniques. Its nice to know we may have some new alternatives!
You're an Artisan, brother. A modern renaissance man LOL. Looks great, Chris. I like your weathering most of all. Really adds to the scale authenticity! Rarely do you ever see a perfectly clean plane on the tarmac. Cheers!
Well, my friend! You took the foamies to another dimension. Your next mission, should you accept it, to get surface control rods all hidden as in the real thing. Well done :-))
Ha, thanks! Really hard to hide the pushrods on these premise airframes. I do go through that effort on my own builds though. There are a few options there that work quite well if executed right.
Hi Chris, Greatings from Denmark. Awesome channel and awesome F14 upgrade series. Thx..!! Question; I like the idea with the Polycrylic hardening the surface. Now being a clear waterbased laquier (I guess), have you tried this on a brand new out of the box Foam jet ? Not doing anything to the surface of the jet, other than brushing on polycrylic to harden the surface ? Thanks Chris. All the best.
I wish the manufacturers would have more consistent fit of canopy to fuselage. Some are better than others but I have had to fix more than one with a ridiculously hideous looking gap. They should all have plastic edging around opening like the new Eflite F-16 has.
This is absolutely amazing. Your skill and workmanship is unmatched. This is so far beyond my skill set but what an absolutely magnificent job. I am curious tho how much weight did this add?
Thank you! I forgot to weigh the model before it started unfortunately. I will say though that this was the only refinish I’ve done like this where I definitely felt the weight in flight. That’s because the model is heavy to begin with out of the box and with the larger size, the refinish process only just added to that. Was a fun refinish though.
Next level of Psyched to RC Fly Nigga! I worked out how to get that Navy Green Gray back when, dump a squirt of Yellow into the Grey! So sick Geek, Ooh YeeeeeeeeeeeA!
Thank you! It’s definitely a labor of love, too many hours to count, haha! I never weighed this one, so not sure how much weight gain there was. It definitely felt heavier in the air than I had hoped. First airplane of done this to where that was the case actually.
Thanks for the Refinish A Foam Jet videos Chris. I bought a used Horizon V-22 that has light scuffing on the bottom of the nacelles and the stickers look like they were put on by a 3-year old. As you have the V-22 you know that the foam molding/detailing leave alot to be desired. The aircraft itself is a hoot to hover around. Question; What Tamiya color of gray best matches the upper airframe of Marine V-22's operating out of Mira Mar (AS28)? Thanks!
Thanks! You know, at that event I flew the model, I didn’t notice it feeling heavier in flight, but it definitely is heavier than stock. I’ll be getting some more stick time on it soon and so should have a better idea about that.
I have a question. Frog tape for me pulls off the paint underneath it when I remove it. I encountered this on my Freewing F-18 refinish project. How did you combat this? For example, when you were painting the tails, how did you prevent the frog tape from pulling off the light grey color that you were covering when painting the arrows?
I have painted quite a few foamies and you are right the tape will lift up that bottom color quite easily. What I have been able to do is use a hair dryer and heat the tape up a little bit while I pull it. This tends to work very well just don't let it get to hot. Alot of it comes from having the base foam treated correctly before you paint as well to keep it from pulling up. I have tried just about every tape you can think of and I still get parts that pull up but using the hair dryer seems to work the best I just heat up the tape a bit as I work down but if it gets to hot you can cause the foam to develop a snake skin texture.
When I apply the frog tape, I place it on my shirt or some other surface before placing it down onto the model. Also, when I peel it up, I peel it back over itself. That helps reduce the surface tension and minimize any peeling. This has worked for me on many a foamy including stock paint jobs as well.
Chris. By applying the minwax do we still need to be concerned about using foam safe primers and paints? Also, by using the grey primer, would you recommend painting white over that in area's where we would be then painting a lighter color such as yellow?
With epo foam (which these foam airframes are), you can use most any type of paint ive found as it’s extremely resilient to solvents. If your preparing eps foam, with enough coats, the poly will help protect it, but you still do need to be careful with it. For painting yellow, yes definitely spray the area white first.
Hi Chris , great skills you have for 3D modeling and also for video's and paint finishing .I want to paint my Viper 70mm version 3 orange they didn't paint the white and it gets dings just by touching it. Can you tell me when you coat the foam with the minwax i would be able to mask the paint areas without the tape taking the paint off. Can you tell me which paint is safe to use on plastic please? Have a good day
Thanks! The bare foam will need to be scuffed with sand paper a bit and then cleaned with IPA before applying anything to it in order for it to stick. The bare foam tends to be kind of oily and so adhesion is problematic. Otherwise, I use frog tape for masking on foamies and it works great. Place it on your shirt or on your table first and then apply it to the model and then peel it back over itself when pulling it up. I’ve done that on stock paint and refinished with great success.
Do you mean in the primer/sand phase? I just simply sanded and applied primer, no degreasing or anything like that is necessary. And then when wet sanding, I wipe off the residue with a damp paper towel.
That’s a good question as I’ve only ever used the green. I’ve heard the yellow is even better for delicate surfaces, but again can’t say from experience.
So 1) what exactly does the minwax do? I think you said it helps the paint adhere? 2) also what do you use to clean the foam after you remove the paint/decals/ etc to prepare for that first minwax step?
The polycrylic seals the airframe and the filler which helps it take primer better. Of late, I haven’t been removing the paint. I didn’t remove it on this project which included the stock water slide decals.
@@Thercgeek ok so I have my plane painted. Then I tested some frog tape on it so I could paint the wing tips and when I remove the frog tape it rips every bit of primer and paint off. What am I doing wrong?
I noticed you use “clear laquer” as a top coat in a lot of your weathering videos? What product is it? And i also thought laquer over acrylic can eat the acrylic layer due to the hotter solvents? Have you tried an acrylic clear like minwax poly products? Or why not an acrylic water based clear? Thanks
Yeah, you can use poly on it instead. I’ve not had any issues using a lacquer clear but I also don’t spray it on super wet. It’s just a dusting over the surface mostly to protect the finish.
I have heard some people spraying their planes w/clear coat to protect the foam. What are you thoughts on this? I was debating doing it to my Eflite 90mm Viper when it arrives. Thanks for info.
Well, what they are probably doing is spraying minwax polycrylic over it. This is what I use to seal up an airframe during a refinish. It does stiffen you the airframe a bit and out a shell over it, but it’s not going to add a ton of extra protection. Oh, and the brush on poly dries harder than the spray stuff.
@@Thercgeek I have looked at their website and saw some "turorials" on their UA-cam-clips. Don't know what to think of these "tutorials" . . . . it's all "pottery and crafts" . . . Maybe you could do a better job for them :-)
I used their starter kit and basically just followed the instructions. Was pretty easy to make and really works great for this small stencil lettering.
Great job Chris.. Those Walk-Around books are a big help.. I have a few of them..
Thanks!
Chris …. Another amazing project! Thanks for sharing !
Thanks for watching! 😊
Awesome and inspiring… thanks! I’m going to refinish my Freewing Venom next winter.
Thanks! I look forward to seeing the Venom! 😊
Paint has always been hard for me. This really helps!
Look at you go. That's a work of art and you've certainly put in the work.
Thanks!
The vinyl cutter is such an incredible tool! Most recent I made some custom paint masks so I could mark up my Revell 1/72 SR-71A "844" in NASA service. Love the Flir Cat!
Yeah it is!
Looks great Chris! So much detail packed into this video. 👍👍
Thanks man!
Wow, above and beyond. Beautiful work. Just awesome.
Thank you so much!
Great job
Thanks!
Excelent video...! thanks a lot for all tips..! Great job..!
Thanks! 😊
Chris is like the Michelangelo of foamies!
Haha, thanks!
I'm excited to learn about the silk screen masks! That's pretty mind blowing!
I’ll have more on that at some point. Such a great way to make fine detail paint masks.
Plus one on what Matthew said!
Absolutely gorgeous work Chris your research and attention to scale detail on aircraft is top notch, nice to see you in the shop, I actually did my S1500 cargo plane as the Spartan livery by watching your video it turned out really nice thank's for sharing 😉👍🛩
Thank you! I’d love to see some pics of the 1500. 😊. I have a Facebook group you can post them in if you’re on FB.
@@Thercgeek well Chris I accidentally deleated the mod pics lol and I gave the Spartan to an old friend retired Navy pilot that actually flew one that particular plane is now in Australia's No.35 Squadron I'll see about getting some pics from him and joining your fb group, sorry about 1st reply I thought it didn't send lol 😉👍🛩
Ah, no worries. Cool stuff!
@@Thercgeek I'm still upset with myself for deleting those pics it's my only paint/livery change so far
Great job, Chris!
Thanks! 😊
The airplane looks absolutely fantastic I'm a big fan of the F14 but I don't own one. I have used tamiya masking tape in the past it works great, never bleeds through ,and has flexible tape for curves.
Thanks! The tamiya tape is good stuff.
Fantastic Chris, look forward to the stencil kit video, looked great. Orsum job as usual 👍🏻
Thanks! 😊
YO Dads! How You Traveling through this Flu Hoax?
Love from Oz Bro, The Loonatics have taken over the Asylum Mate?
ua-cam.com/video/RZ2oXzrnti4/v-deo.html
Ive been waiting so eagerly for this video! I was not disappointed. :)
So glad you liked it! Hopefully the weathering vid won’t take as long to get posted. 😬
Awesome video. 👌
Thanks!
You make a really great looking plane. I can't see spending that much time on any of my models as they all have a short expiration date with my lack of flying experience. Haha
Haha, thanks! Well, they all come with an expedition date, some sooner than others. 🤣
That's so true! But my goodness I've used a LOT! of this professional tutoring to resurrect hurt birds!!
Just Killer work Chris! You have taught me a lot man!
I’m so glad it’s been helpful!
I wish I was as good as you Chris 😪 I always rush mine.
Maybe one day I'll be that good with foam. You are a wizard.
Your excellence knows no bounds my friend. Probably your best Tomcat to date! Aside from the old scratch build ;) Really enjoyed seeing this one come together and hearing the new techniques. Its nice to know we may have some new alternatives!
Thanks so much David!
You're an Artisan, brother. A modern renaissance man LOL. Looks great, Chris. I like your weathering most of all. Really adds to the scale authenticity! Rarely do you ever see a perfectly clean plane on the tarmac. Cheers!
Thanks man, Weathering vid will be posting next week! 😊
Looks awesome!
Thanks!
That’s absolutely fantastic!
Well, my friend! You took the foamies to another dimension. Your next mission, should you accept it, to get surface control rods all hidden as in the real thing. Well done :-))
Ha, thanks! Really hard to hide the pushrods on these premise airframes. I do go through that effort on my own builds though. There are a few options there that work quite well if executed right.
That was pretty awesome. You have the patients of Job. P.S. I hope you returned that DOD issue pencil when you were finished. ;-)
Makes me want to go out and paint 🎨 my Carbon Z T-28. Jus Amazing work …. Some people have and some … not so much .
Thanks man! The T-28 would be a great subject. Just saying. 😉
I will definitely behave to watch more of your videos to make sure I get enough trips to make it look good
Well, I’m here to help if you have questions. 😊
Amazing 👏🏼👏🏼
Thank you!
Hi Chris, Greatings from Denmark. Awesome channel and awesome F14 upgrade series. Thx..!!
Question;
I like the idea with the Polycrylic hardening the surface. Now being a clear waterbased laquier (I guess), have you tried this on a brand new out of the box Foam jet ? Not doing anything to the surface of the jet, other than brushing on polycrylic to harden the surface ?
Thanks Chris. All the best.
Súper Nice brother I’m your fan 👍👍
Thank you!
I wish the manufacturers would have more consistent fit of canopy to fuselage. Some are better than others but I have had to fix more than one with a ridiculously hideous looking gap. They should all have plastic edging around opening like the new Eflite F-16 has.
I hear you for sure. That’s why I reconfigured the hatch completely on this one. It’s not perfect, but it sure is much nicer than stock.
This is absolutely amazing. Your skill and workmanship is unmatched. This is so far beyond my skill set but what an absolutely magnificent job. I am curious tho how much weight did this add?
Thank you! I forgot to weigh the model before it started unfortunately. I will say though that this was the only refinish I’ve done like this where I definitely felt the weight in flight. That’s because the model is heavy to begin with out of the box and with the larger size, the refinish process only just added to that. Was a fun refinish though.
Next level of Psyched to RC Fly Nigga!
I worked out how to get that Navy Green Gray back when, dump a squirt of Yellow into the Grey!
So sick Geek, Ooh YeeeeeeeeeeeA!
Man, what a dedication! Impressive work! May i ask how many hours of labor you spent all in all, and how much extra weight all added?
Thank you! It’s definitely a labor of love, too many hours to count, haha! I never weighed this one, so not sure how much weight gain there was. It definitely felt heavier in the air than I had hoped. First airplane of done this to where that was the case actually.
Thanks for the Refinish A Foam Jet videos Chris. I bought a used Horizon V-22 that has light scuffing on the bottom of the nacelles and the stickers look like they were put on by a 3-year old. As you have the V-22 you know that the foam molding/detailing leave alot to be desired. The aircraft itself is a hoot to hover around. Question; What Tamiya color of gray best matches the upper airframe of Marine V-22's operating out of Mira Mar (AS28)? Thanks!
Yes, I believe the dark color would be fs 36320 which as-28 represents well.
Very impressive work, bro. Does the airplane feel/fly heavier with the weight of the paint & acrylic?
Thanks! You know, at that event I flew the model, I didn’t notice it feeling heavier in flight, but it definitely is heavier than stock. I’ll be getting some more stick time on it soon and so should have a better idea about that.
You're wearing my shirt.
I'll allow it.
Green Lantern....but would this be a LANTIRN? Sorry couldn't stop myself.
Hahaha, I think so! 🤣
I have a question. Frog tape for me pulls off the paint underneath it when I remove it. I encountered this on my Freewing F-18 refinish project. How did you combat this? For example, when you were painting the tails, how did you prevent the frog tape from pulling off the light grey color that you were covering when painting the arrows?
I have painted quite a few foamies and you are right the tape will lift up that bottom color quite easily. What I have been able to do is use a hair dryer and heat the tape up a little bit while I pull it. This tends to work very well just don't let it get to hot. Alot of it comes from having the base foam treated correctly before you paint as well to keep it from pulling up. I have tried just about every tape you can think of and I still get parts that pull up but using the hair dryer seems to work the best I just heat up the tape a bit as I work down but if it gets to hot you can cause the foam to develop a snake skin texture.
When I apply the frog tape, I place it on my shirt or some other surface before placing it down onto the model. Also, when I peel it up, I peel it back over itself. That helps reduce the surface tension and minimize any peeling. This has worked for me on many a foamy including stock paint jobs as well.
Oh! I never thought about doing that. Thanks Chris!
Chris. By applying the minwax do we still need to be concerned about using foam safe primers and paints? Also, by using the grey primer, would you recommend painting white over that in area's where we would be then painting a lighter color such as yellow?
With epo foam (which these foam airframes are), you can use most any type of paint ive found as it’s extremely resilient to solvents. If your preparing eps foam, with enough coats, the poly will help protect it, but you still do need to be careful with it. For painting yellow, yes definitely spray the area white first.
Hi Chris , great skills you have for 3D modeling and also for video's and paint finishing .I want to paint my Viper 70mm version 3 orange they didn't paint the white and it gets dings just by touching it. Can you tell me when you coat the foam with the minwax i would be able to mask the paint areas without the tape taking the paint off. Can you tell me which paint is safe to use on plastic please?
Have a good day
Thanks! The bare foam will need to be scuffed with sand paper a bit and then cleaned with IPA before applying anything to it in order for it to stick. The bare foam tends to be kind of oily and so adhesion is problematic. Otherwise, I use frog tape for masking on foamies and it works great. Place it on your shirt or on your table first and then apply it to the model and then peel it back over itself when pulling it up. I’ve done that on stock paint and refinished with great success.
👍 Looks great, like a fiberglass model. 😃 How many hours did you invest there?👀
Good question, haha! I didn’t really keep track, but it was quite a bit of work.
@@Thercgeek 😅 But the result was worth it.
It always is! 😁
Have you ever used a Super fine tip black sharpie marker for the panel line details? Works for me on the lexan car bodies.
I have not. Typically the black line ends up being too harsh a contrast vs the more gray pencil line.
what interests me is what you do between each sanding? do you have to degrease in between? and what product do you use for this? Thank you. 👍
Do you mean in the primer/sand phase? I just simply sanded and applied primer, no degreasing or anything like that is necessary. And then when wet sanding, I wipe off the residue with a damp paper towel.
Question for you... what do you think about using PT-40 epoxy resin on this project instead of polyurethane?
You could certainly do that. The polycrylic is simpler and cheaper, but it would provide a similar seal.
I see you use the green frog tape. How is the yellow for delicate surfaces?
That’s a good question as I’ve only ever used the green. I’ve heard the yellow is even better for delicate surfaces, but again can’t say from experience.
So 1) what exactly does the minwax do? I think you said it helps the paint adhere?
2) also what do you use to clean the foam after you remove the paint/decals/ etc to prepare for that first minwax step?
The polycrylic seals the airframe and the filler which helps it take primer better.
Of late, I haven’t been removing the paint. I didn’t remove it on this project which included the stock water slide decals.
@@Thercgeek ok so I have my plane painted. Then I tested some frog tape on it so I could paint the wing tips and when I remove the frog tape it rips every bit of primer and paint off. What am I doing wrong?
Hey Chris, when you do the panel lines, are you just drawing with the pencil or is it indenting into the foam also?
Thanks
It’s just drawing the line onto the surface.
Thanks
I noticed you use “clear laquer” as a top coat in a lot of your weathering videos? What product is it? And i also thought laquer over acrylic can eat the acrylic layer due to the hotter solvents?
Have you tried an acrylic clear like minwax poly products? Or why not an acrylic water based clear? Thanks
Yeah, you can use poly on it instead. I’ve not had any issues using a lacquer clear but I also don’t spray it on super wet. It’s just a dusting over the surface mostly to protect the finish.
Do you have a clear coat in oarticular that you can get in rattle cans or air brush you think works best?
which servos are you using in the elevator?
I have heard some people spraying their planes w/clear coat to protect the foam. What are you thoughts on this? I was debating doing it to my Eflite 90mm Viper when it arrives. Thanks for info.
Well, what they are probably doing is spraying minwax polycrylic over it. This is what I use to seal up an airframe during a refinish. It does stiffen you the airframe a bit and out a shell over it, but it’s not going to add a ton of extra protection. Oh, and the brush on poly dries harder than the spray stuff.
@@Thercgeek thanks for info , I think I might do the same thing that you did with your F14, with spray on primer etc, I don’t like the foam look
Is there already a video made about 8:19 ? Would be of great help. Regards from the Netherlands
I have not made that yet. I haven’t used that method again yet since I finished the F-14.
@@Thercgeek I have looked at their website and saw some "turorials" on their UA-cam-clips. Don't know what to think of these "tutorials" . . . . it's all "pottery and crafts" . . . Maybe you could do a better job for them :-)
I used their starter kit and basically just followed the instructions. Was pretty easy to make and really works great for this small stencil lettering.
Where can I buy the silk screen masks?
I thought I linked to it in the description, apparently not! I got the material here: www.ezscreenprint.com/