MaJ. Woody

My Feedback: (28)

Well my Tam A-4 is here in town and scheduled for Monday Delivery. I have the VA-144 color scheme. The first thing I am going to do is start weathering the bird, applying decals and clear coating it. Then the installation will start. I am putting a P-70 in mine. I am going to prep all surfaces for clear (PPG 2060) and am thinking wet sanding with 800. Is that too coarse? I am afraid that 1000 or 1500 will not provide enough bite for the clear but don't want visible scratches if I use too coarse of a paper. What do you think?

I will post pics along the way of this build.
Thanks!!
Dom

Eddie P

My Feedback: (4)

Are you planning to use flat or matt finish clear coat? That may be all you need in the end.

If not, I'd go with 1500 wet and start on the underside to make sure the effect is what you want. 800 is gonna bite the heck out of an otherwise finished surface IMHO. If you want more severe effects start subtle and move on to courser grit like 1000 but I have a feeling 1500 will do.

tamjets

My Feedback: (2)

Go with 1000. The trick is to apply really light first coat and let it try before final finish wet last coat.

Chris Balling

Major,

You are going to be very pleased with your A-4. Tam did mine, a turn key. Not only does it steal all of the attention, it flies similar to a much larger airplane. Tam put in Crow in mine and it slows down like a Boomer..........Have a ball......

Chris Balling
"Real pilots wear GOLD wings"

MaJ. Woody

My Feedback: (28)

Thanks Chris.
I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dom

tamjets

My Feedback: (2)

Dom,
You go to love this A-4. It just an awesome airplane to fly and small enough to fit the whole plane in back of the pick up truck.
I had two in my truck and fly very often in the evening after work or sunday evening.

MaJ. Woody

My Feedback: (28)

Just finished drooling over my new A-4. The kit is very nice. Here are some photos of the plane and some of the goodies. I will begin some minor construction (hinging flaps, ailerons, rudder, mounting hump etc) then begin the weathering process. I will detail my progress here as I go.

Dom

RCISFUN

My Feedback: (44)

Dom, the A-4 looks awesome, can't wait to see it in Titusville in a couple of weeks!

Keep the pic's coming

Rich

dbateman

My Feedback: (31)

Whats involved with setting up crow in the control surfaces. I'm building the Yellow A-4 for EDF and wont have flaps. I have flown other versions without flaps but would like to know if i can improve landing speeds. Doug

yeahbaby

My Feedback: (21)

not much amigo. all you have to do is select an aux channel for one of the ailerons. then it's a function of mixing. you can probably find some info here via the search function. additionally, you can find a complete programming guide on the BVM website.

willey

My Feedback: (32)

Hi Dom, Rich forwarded your link to me, very nice! looking forward to seeing it!! The A-4 has always been one of my favorites!!

I have always used a "WELL USED" scotchbright pad for preping gelcoat- the red ones from an automotive store, new ones scatch alittle to deep, specially if your wanting to add a very thin coat of clear. Make sure you over thin your clear and dust the first coat on, let it tac up well before you add the second coat, works well for me. good luck with your project - have any questions give me a call anytime.

Here's some pics of my Byron, when my brother was in the navy (VAQ-33 in Virginia) he worked on the A-4s (station wagons/twin seaters) and Phantoms, so I thought this paint job would be a little different then you normally see. the squadron logo I painted on and the other letters and rivits are rub-ons from promark. two things to do yet - hook up the throttle and the install the inflight fuel mixture valve and I'll be ready to bring to titusville. Well good luck with your paint job and see ya soon.

willey

willey

My Feedback: (32)

these were supposed to be with the others??

RCISFUN

My Feedback: (44)

Mark,
I am glad you posted the photos of your A4

Rich

MaJ. Woody

My Feedback: (28)

Thanks for the tips. Your A-4 looks great. I had a byron A-4 years ago. OS .91 and Byron fan. Flew great.

Almost ready to start weathering mine. I have the intakes glued to the fuse, Avionics Hump mounted, Refueling Probe mounted, Rudder hinged, flaps hinged.

Still need to mount main gear and pods, hinge ailerons and apply the decals

I need all those components on the plane in order to weather it.

Then I can touch up the seam on the fuse and wings and start weathering.

Next will come the DCU 2060 clear coat

and finally completion of the build.

I will start sharing photos when I begin weathering and installing equipment.

Dom

MaJ. Woody

My Feedback: (28)

Tam has exceeded my expectations once again!!!!!!!!!

I just sat down to begin the awful, tedious and boring job of cutting out decals.

But Wait, What’s this???

Tam’s decals are double sided paper and pre cut!!!!!!!!

That’s right these babies are super thin vinyl perfectly spaced and pre cut!!!

Tam you just made my day.


Maj. Woody

General Jake

Dom,
were you up all night working on your scooter? Is it ready yet?
Chris

tamjets

My Feedback: (2)

Thanks,
Spray clear to the water transfer before cut it out to apply to the model. After that you can clear it again when you spraying the whole play.

MaJ. Woody

My Feedback: (28)

What should I use to clear the decals? The final clear coat will be PPG 2060. Can I just spray clear enamal from a spray can on them first? It will be too difficult to mix such a small amount of 2060 just to clear those decals.
Thanks!!
Dom

tamjets

My Feedback: (2)

Becareful with enamal clear...Sometime with PPG clear spray over it could cause problem.
Mix just little of ppg to be safe.
Tam

HotelSierra

My Feedback: (9)

I've successfully used both Tamiya and Testors clear over my homemade decals and finished the rest of the plane with PPG 2060. I made decals with my inkjet printer and sprayed several light coats of Tamiya or Testors clear. If you spray too heavy the ink will bleed. I then used on the entire plane a "mist" coat of PPG 2060 before a second slightly heavier coat. PPG 2060 is not meant to spray heavy like a "flow" coat of gloss. If you do, it will end up more shiny than mat.

MaJ. Woody

My Feedback: (28)

Thanks for the info guys.
What type of paint is PPG 2060 (Is it a lacquer or a urethane or something else)?
Dom

willey

My Feedback: (32)

Wondering why you are spraying clear on decals first?

do the decals crack when you are applying if you don't clear? I have heard of that with old brittle decals, helps hold them together for transferring from sheet to surface.

willey

MaJ. Woody

My Feedback: (28)

There are a few decals that are water transfer created on an ink jet printer. Tam said they must be cleared before applying.
Dom

tamjets

My Feedback: (2)

If you don't have clear over it. It will bleed the ink when dip in water.

willey

My Feedback: (32)

Thanks!! did not know that.

Here's a few pics just for something to look at.