This will be my typical “spare parts shelf build” with a bit of a twist. I’ve been working on smd repair, so this build will have some repaired electronic components. iFly4rotors was kind enough to send some of his dead electronics my way, so if all goes well, it’ll have some repaired bits as well as shelf bits.

Bits:

AIO FC: Repaired iFlight BEAST 55a aio board. Repair process can be seen here:
https://intofpv.com/t-adventures-in-hot-...#pid176489

Motors:
Diatone Mamba Toka 1606 3750kv. I bought these last year during a TBS blowout sale.

Cam: undecided. I’ve got a Toothless 2 with what I think is a bad vreg. Ideally I’ll repair it and use it, but if not, I’ve got one of the same cams on my shelf in working condition.

Vtx: undecided. 

Antenna: undecided.

Rx: ELRS ep1

Props: Probably Avan 3.5x2.8x3. I think I might have some higher pitch 3.5” HQprops, so maybe those.

Attached pics are freshly primed and freshly dipped. Dipped colors are black, silver, ultramarine blue, cherry red, and amethyst.

I think that I actually have a proper barrier coat that once applied will allow me to spray it with multiple layers of a proper clear coat. I guess we’ll see. Original dip is going to be left to dry until this weekend- then I’ll try applying a barrier coat, followed by multiple clear coat layers next week.

This will be a 4s build.

Here’s a pic of the other side, as well as a sunlight pic of the side already pictured.

Love the trippy colours.

I will look forward to seeing how the build goes and the interesting videos you will make afterwards.

This bird got a clear barrier coat tonight. Monday evening I’ll try hitting it with multiple layers of clear coat- if all goes well, it’ll stay looking all perdy.

I’ll also post what I used for each step, if it all finally works out.

Will you waterproof the FC as well?

(31-Jul-2022, 09:43 PM)Pathfinder075 Wrote: Will you waterproof the FC as well?

I always do, because this is the Pacific Northwest. I have learn to be a little less liberal with conformal coating these days- I use disposable eyelash brushes to coat the pins on ic’s and anywhere else that needs it rather than just smothering everything in conformal coating.

We finally have a winner. I need to clean out my holes, then I’ll need to lightly sand it and spray a few more layers of clear coat in order to get the finish that I want, but now that I know that everything plays nicely together I can spray the clear coat a bit thicker. I’ll also need to touch up areas that currently have screws and standoffs if they don’t disassemble cleanly.

But yeah, I’m happy with it, or will be once it gets a few more clear coat layers. I don’t think you can tell from the photos, but that silver is metallic and sparkly. 

If any of you have been following along with my hydro dipping experiments, you know that I have tried everything from acrylic paint, nail polish, automotive paint, spray paint, and a variety of other paints and clear coats trying to get an acceptable result. 

Here’s what I used and did, in case anyone else wants to play:

Primer: Rust-oleum 2x Ultracover primer, flat white
Paint: Marabu Easy Marble- all the other paints I tried just couldn’t give me the really fine clean lines that I was looking for, or they just looked funky or bumpy. With the Easy Marble there’s no need to thicken the viscosity of the water and it just comes out well. The only downside was trying to find a *good* top coat.
Barrier layer between paint and clear coat: Marabu Aqua gloss varnish
Clear Coat: Behr Water Based Polyurethane, gloss

What I did:
-lightly wet sanded the bare frame with 1000 grit while wearing a mask, because carbon fiber dust is deadly.
-made sure frame was completely dry and free of carbon fiber dust.
-assembled frame in a way that would give me good coverage during the dip.
-sprayed it with primer and let it fully dry (48 to 72 hours) in my “clean box” (literally just a box turned upside down over the frame to keep the dust out)
-filled a tub large enough for me to fully submerge the frame with room to spare with lukewarm water.
-waited for water to still.
-dripped in my chosen colors. You have to work quickly with this stuff or it will start to dry.
-took a thin wooden stabby/skewer thing and made some swirls that looked pleasing to my eyes.
-at a fairly steady pace (maybe 1’/second?) dipped the frame into the water at a 45 degree angle.
-held the frame fully submerged and used a piece of scrap paper to remove residual paint from the water surface or at least shove it off to the side (if you don’t clear the paint off the surface, you’ll end up with a second crappy layer attaching on top of your nice perfect initial layer).
-pulled the frame straight up out of the water, avoiding any random stray paint floaties.
-gave it a quick shake in the air remove some of the water drops.
-put it under the clean box to fully dry (48 to 72 hours)
-applied the barrier coat, back to box with you until fully dry.
-sprayed 3 thin layers of clear coat, 30 minutes apart, to the box again to dry (72 hours)
-(I haven’t done this part yet clean out holes/cutouts, lightly sand, spray 3 more layers of clear coat and allow to fully dry (72 hours), then build, crash, and watch as my nice paint job slowly turns fresh cut grass green.

The actual build of this bird will start next week once the last clear coat layers dry.

You need to get some money shots of this guy before you fly it.  

(04-Aug-2022, 05:53 PM)the.ronin Wrote: You need to get some money shots of this guy before you fly it.  

Will do, especially since it actually turned out well this time.
I did decide at the last minute to add a few drops of black and white, so that if a crash chips off a bit and exposes either the primer or the carbon fiber, it won’t be as noticeable.

You know I just realised you screwed all the frame together in a long line. I was seriously sat here thinking to myself, I don't remember the Sohei being that elongated on Ronin's site.

Also PU and Primer, plus marble paint, WTF is marble paint? Serious Pro Styling. Sick paint job though. Puts a whole new meaning to applying the tie dye concept to a frame.

Lol yeah, it’s screwed together in a long line because as you dip, it pulls the paint from the surface of the water. I was concerned about coverage if two plates were parallel, plus, I wanted a more varied pattern.

Marabu Easy Marble:
https://smile.amazon.com/Marabu-Marble-P...2640a9aa17

This bird got lightly sanded with 1000 grit sandpaper. I was pleased to see no color on my sandpaper, just some white dust from the clear coat.

I hit it with two more heavy coats of clear coat. Heavier than intended on the first coat tonight. There was a lot of cursing in between coats when I accidentally dropped it onto a dirty, dusty workbench- but it didn’t appear to pick up any crap. Apparently I had spent enough time standing in the sun swinging it around trying to make sure that tonight’s first coat didn’t gather up into drips or sags that it dried enough prior to my drop to not be tacky.

After 3 thin clear coats and two heavy coats, I’ve realized that while I’m really happy with how it’s turned out, I’m not going to be able to get that glass smooth surface that I’m looking for without polishing it. It looks great straight on, but if it’s tipped, it starts looking a bit grainy at about 45 degrees.

My first instinct is to say, screw that, I can’t be bothered to polish a frame.

But… y’know… it would take me all of about 20 minutes to slap a polishing head on my dremel, put some polishing compound on it, and make all of the surfaces so smooth that you can see your reflection in them.

I’ve put enough time into this that I think I can spare another 20 minutes.

It’s a bit humid here in the PNW, so it’s gonna sit under my “clean box” to fully dry until Monday, and then I’ll disassemble and polish prior to properly starting the build.

I’ll also measure the thickness of one of the arms to compare it to an unpainted arm to see how much I’ve added in paint and clear coat, as well as weigh all of the finished pieces to see if I’ve added a measurable amount of weight to the frame with my paint.

What I probably really should have done is attached a spare 3.5” arm pair so that if/when I break an arm, I’ve got something already painted and ready that matches. Too late now, but next time.

I'm still just thinking about giving mine a coat of spray on lacquer. Although I do want to spray one up in neon colours at some point. A bright yellow or orange frame might be nice, especially with some leds on it. So many people don't customise or colour there frames. Black carbon can be a bit drab at times.

When I was in my late teens, racers would pay a decent amount of money to get a carbon fiber hood for their Honda, and then leave it unpainted. I never really understood why- was it because they want everyone to know that they have a carbon fiber hood that saved a few pounds of weight so they can go a tiny bit faster? Did they spend all of their money on the hood and couldn’t afford to get it painted? Did they just like the look?

On the auto side probably because a proper paint job is expensive because it's so labor intensive to do everything right. Like when you say "heavy coats" this would be a problem because those top layers need to be thin. If clear is laid thick you'll end up with cracks in the clear after a while. The top coats need to stay thin which sucks for the auto detailer types that wants to constantly cut/polish his paint to get rid of all the "love marks" left behind during the wash/drying process. Same goes for the wax/sealant/coating that gets added, trying to make thick coats will lead to disaster.

But I'm no painter and I don't know how to translate it to something I assume you're not making to become a shelf queen.