NebulaDDS

I have an ARF that comes in a cover/paint scheme. It's a good-quality ARF. But, I want to remove the existing covering and have it re-covered and re-painted in another design. I don't want to tackle this job myself. I'd rather pay someone to do it.

Is there anyone who does this kind of thing as a business? i.e. someone to whom I could send the plane (in kit form) along with a photo of the color scheme I want, and have them re-cover and re-paint the plane to match the photo, and send the plane back to me (still in kit form)?

Is this a possibility?

If so, please give me a name, phone number, or website!!!

JustErik

Since no one has responded yet, I'll jump in with a comment. What you are proposing is certainly possible, but I suspect it will cost you an arm and a leg to get it done. Most folks who build for a living don't make a ton of money out of it, just enough so they can feed their hobby addiction. If someone does it as an actual business, It's not hard to imagine the cost of recovering, along with shipping both ways, being far more than you paid for the plane. Ultimately, I guess that depends on the cost of the plane, but unless you're buying a large or special-purpose plane (pattern, all-out 3D, etc.), it's probably a safe bet that the recovering expense will be at least as much as the plane itself.

Personally, I'd suggest you give it a go yourself. Covering isn't necessarily very hard, but it's usually somewhat tedious and requires a lot of attention to detail. You can get by with a few relatively inexpensive tools, and you will then have them for repairs or other projects. Also, it's not as messy or intrusive as the actual build process. There's nothing to glue, sand, saw or otherwise muck about with. I actually look forward to the covering stage (even though I suck at it), as I find it relaxing. I'm better at building than covering, but I can usually get it to stick, shrink and survive my piloting, which to me is more important than having a specific color scheme.

Good luck.

Teachu2

My Feedback: (133)

Check around your club. Most clubs have or know a craftsman (usually retired) who is a long-time modeler and does this kind of work - or would be willing to teach you. Realize that it's not uncommon to spend 20-40 hours or more on such a job. 25 hours at minimum wage ($8 here) is $200. Someone doing it PROFESSIONALLY will want $40+ an hour. Add $50-150 for materials depending on size of plane and complexity of finished scheme. Gets pricey quick, and custom colors don't survive crashes any better than the stock ones do.

khodges

My Feedback: (1)

Just curious, what's the ARF and how do you want it covered and trimmed? More Monocrap, or fabric, or skinned and 'glassed and painted? Do you just not like to work on things (nothing wrong with that) or don't have any experience in covering and afraid you'll mess up (nothing wrong there, either), or don't have the proper tools for the job? All are good reasons not to tackle the job, but like said above, it will end up costing more, maybe, than you'd be willing to pay.

If you want to pay to ship it to me, and pay the return shipping and cost of materials, I'll do it for my regular hourly rate at my normal job and charge for the time it takes to do what you want done; one proviso, though. I don't do MonoKote or any of the plastic wrap stuff. Koverall, Solartex, or Super Coverite and we can talk.

I'd try to find somebody a lot closer to home, though.

NebulaDDS

It's a Kyosho Pitts S-2C (50-size), and I want it to look like the Bulldog Pitts. See link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvvKisBq7J4

Yeah, yeah, I know. A small ARF like that isn't a good candidate for it. But it's what I want, and I've got money for it.....as long as I think it's a fair price.

Give me your e-mail address, and I'll send you an e-mail. Perhaps we can do business.

jester_s1

Maybe you'd come out ahead just getting someone to build up a new kit for you and cover it to your specs? The labor of taking off the old covering adds some hours to the process.

oldtimer143

Hi Nebula,

I''m doing the same thing with the Kyosho Pitts, but it is going to be the factory demonstrator "Hot Stuff" scheme. Check it out on a 1/32 scale model http://208.112.49.225/Models/Airshow...f/Hotstuff.htm

A couple of comments. Firstly, this is something you can do yourself. Stripping the factory covering is not difficult, nor really time consuming. It comes off quite easily and pretty much leaves nothing behind except in just a few places. Actually, it came off FAR too easily for my liking, and I''ve read that the covering is one of the downfalls of this model. Having said that, the construction is really quite good and more than adequate for the task. I''ve glassed and painted my fuselage and will be using Econokote for the wings and tail surfaces. I''m getting vinyl cut for the pattern so it will be pretty spectacular when finished - I hope. The only time consuming part so far has been to sand and paint the glass cowl and spats! I''m putting an OS 55AX on mine, and I''m swapping the tailwheel out for a more scale version. Other than that, the model will be pretty much stock.

As far as the Bulldog goes - the basic scheme is very simple and wouldn''t be too dificult to do. For the logos, get them cut in vinyl and you''ll have a very nice looking model. I have artwork for the graphics if you need and could scale them to the model pretty quickly, but you''d need to get them cut at a sign shop near you.

BUT, I have to say one thing - the Bulldog was not an S2C and your Kyosho Pitts will only look "similar". I''m not sure I''d want to go to so much trouble for a ''close - but not quite'' effort. For a start, the S2S is a single seater and the canopy is going to look really obvious. Also, the wingtips on the Bulldog are of course square, not curved like the S2C. I know you probably realise all this, but I thought I''d mention it just the same.

Let me know if you want the graphics files.

Cheers,
Greg

Murphey

My Feedback: (11)

You can contact this company...they are a ways from you, but this is what they do...
Murphey

http://www.airscharnell.com/

TexasAirBoss

My Feedback: (22)

If I were doing it myself, I would expect to buy 2 or 3 rolls of Monokote ($40), Yellow and Black paint for the cowl and pants and clear coat ($30), probably upgrade to a glass cowl,($35) and custom graphics,($80 to $150). Oh, what the heck, might as well get glass pants too, ($25)

Thats no labor, just costs. ($210 to $280)

And since you've gone that far, might as well get a virtual cockpit decal , ($ ?)

Then avoid looking at the new product reviews in the magazines. You will likely see the very model, dressed as you like it for half the money. Its almost guarunteed.