Originally Posted by tupeloflyer

I had already read that, just felt like asking a dumb noob question! never flown anything with motor in the rear and with elevons, but have a Dx8 and its a easy program. The motor I ordered for the assassin was the emax cf2812 from VH, I aready have a couple a tp mg90 servos and I have a 30 amp esc but not a 20 or 25. It should be ok I would think? I have alot of 11.1v 1300mah packs. Wing didn't show today? departed Memphis, about a hr from here! probably went to Jackson Ms next, about 3 hrs from here... usps does that sometimes... looking forward to putting it together! Looks like alot of fun!!

30amp ESC is fine. Just a hair more weight, but the Assassin won't feel it.

I see some people are coloring using paint on the foam. I'd like to get some more info about this.
1. Do you paint on the foam before taping or tape and paint over the tape?
2. Is there a preffered type of paint that handles the lam heat? I have used acrylic under fiberglass on surboards but no heat is involved.
3. Is it possible to paint over the lam?

I lost my Widowmaker the other day.
I had been flying in upslope wind along with two seagulls and a bald eagle and all was going well. When the timer beeped I swung it left to come around for a landing and it got carried a long ways by the wind. I wasn't doing very well controlling it and I let it go down in the woods.
After two trips into the woods to find it I have given up. I looked up high and down low. I used a compass to locate the correct bearing I should be searching on in the woods but I never found it.
I have another Widowmaker to start building today and I wanted to tell you that if you are in the market for an On / Off Lost Plane Beeper here is what you want.
It's by Hobby King and it's called the "Discovery Buzzer". You can plug it into an unused port on your Rx like the "Gear" port, and just turn it on and off at will with the gear switch of your Tx.
If I had had one on my Widowmaker I would not have lost it. I'm pretty sure of that.
Just for your info. Thanks Bombay for the heads up!
David

Originally Posted by rhodesengr

I see some people are coloring using paint on the foam. I'd like to get some more info about this.
1. Do you paint on the foam before taping or tape and paint over the tape?
2. Is there a preffered type of paint that handles the lam heat? I have used acrylic under fiberglass on surboards but no heat is involved.
3. Is it possible to paint over the lam?

1. I paint over the tape, but under the laminate.

2. I use polycarbonate based paints. They don't eat the foam and dry very quickly in the sun. They are pretty expensive for what you get however and you will need at least 2 to get top and bottom covered well. http://www.hobbylinc.com/polycarbonate_model_paint

3. Never tried.

Can you use Ultracote or MonoKote?

How does the supplied clear lam film compare to Ultracote or MonoKote? I have no experience with this but it seems you could use a solid colored Ultracote film to do the basic covering and give a solid base color and then iron on pieces of different color to create some patterning.

Originally Posted by rhodesengr

Can you use Ultracote or MonoKote?

How does the supplied clear lam film compare to Ultracote or MonoKote? I have no experience with this but it seems you could use a solid colored Ultracote film to do the basic covering and give a solid base color and then iron on pieces of different color to create some patterning.

The laminate provides far more structural support than Ultra or Monokote. You could not use the other two and have anywhere near the durability of the laminate.

You would want to iron on the normal laminate then then monokote over the top. It's hard to describe how much rigidity the laminate gives unless you've felt it for yourself, but I assure it is very substantial.

Is the Elevons stronger if you cover with Extreme tape first & them laminate or do as latest instructions state and apply two coats of the laminate?

Originally Posted by nofreee

The laminate provides far more structural support than Ultra or Monokote. You could not use the other two and have anywhere near the durability of the laminate.

You would want to iron on the normal laminate then then monokote over the top. It's hard to describe how much rigidity the laminate gives unless you've felt it for yourself, but I assure it is very substantial.

I've just finished a Titan which is an assassin that is 5 feet wide. It's not designed as a fighter it's a cruiser.

1. The laminate that comes with the plane is a major element in its structure.
2. On the Titan I painted over the laminate by sprayed the laminate with Duplicolor adhesion promoter. Then I painted the plane.

I might have painted the foam first and then put on the laminate and I think next time I'll try just that.

You're exploring the aesthetic possibilities of your new plane. Good for you! Looking good getting there is half the fun of going.

I built the assassin plane first, put it in to combat against the great adversary "mother Earth". The logic I used for buying it was "it could be a great reflex trainer". The truth is it just looks cool as hell ( oxy what? ).

Now I have built the Titan, watched videos of it flying, I was amazed by the way it moved in the air, it's complete simplicity and its birdlike elegance.

Then the video showed me the plane from review where I saw the battery sticking out in the stuff coming out the top of it and my beautiful illusion was disquieted.

So I did this:



It is a bad ass combat plane. Someone will remove splattered bugs from it when it lands I think they call them pop wings.

DJ
I know you're not a priest, and this is not a confessional. But if you put winglets on this Angel you will have committed a mortal sin!

Originally Posted by tupeloflyer

Is the Elevons stronger if you cover with Extreme tape first & them laminate or do as latest instructions state and apply two coats of the laminate?

Stronger, yes, but unnecessarily so, and heavier to boot.

Two layers of lam is a lot lighter, a lot cheaper, and stays stiff enough for even large wings, like the DRXL or the Hercules.

Originally Posted by Ferndale Flyer

I lost my Widowmaker the other day.
I had been flying in upslope wind along with two seagulls and a bald eagle and all was going well. When the timer beeped I swung it left to come around for a landing and it got carried a long ways by the wind. I wasn't doing very well controlling it and I let it go down in the woods.
After two trips into the woods to find it I have given up. I looked up high and down low. I used a compass to locate the correct bearing I should be searching on in the woods but I never found it.
I have another Widowmaker to start building today and I wanted to tell you that if you are in the market for an On / Off Lost Plane Beeper here is what you want.
It's by Hobby King and it's called the "Discovery Buzzer". You can plug it into an unused port on your Rx like the "Gear" port, and just turn it on and off at will with the gear switch of your Tx.
If I had had one on my Widowmaker I would not have lost it. I'm pretty sure of that.
Just for your info. Thanks Bombay for the heads up!
David

I just use a lipo beeper. It goes hell-shriek loud when the batt cells get low. About a buck each at HK. Batterty low warning and plane finder in one.

Originally Posted by elCapitan

Stronger, yes, but unnecessarily so, and heavier to boot.

Two layers of lam is a lot lighter, a lot cheaper, and stays stiff enough for even large wings, like the DRXL or the Hercules.

Thanks! Thats was my thoughts also, but just wanted to here it from someone with wing experience, This is my first, probably of many to come, if it's fun as I'm expecting!

Originally Posted by nofreee

The laminate provides far more structural support than Ultra or Monokote. You could not use the other two and have anywhere near the durability of the laminate.

You would want to iron on the normal laminate then then monokote over the top. It's hard to describe how much rigidity the laminate gives unless you've felt it for yourself, but I assure it is very substantial.

curious why the laminate is stronger. Is it thicker?

Well, I don't know about stronger, but more than strong enough. doubling the laminate makes it very stiff

Originally Posted by elCapitan

Well, I don't know about stronger, but more than strong enough. doubling the laminate makes it very stiff

The issue was whether you could use colored ultracote or monokote instead.

hmmm. I just measured the thickness of the lam that came in my kit and some orange Monokote. The Monokote is thicker, .003 vs .002 for the CTH lam. Hard to understand why the thinner lam would be stronger.