Post Your Bergen Pics

[perple76]

All,

In think this paintscheme is worthy of a small prologue. The inspiration for the theme of this bird came to me out of a desire to honor the support and, in some since, acquiesence, of my wife as I have delved deeper into the helicopter hobby. She has graciously allowed me to spend the time and the money that the hobby requires with very little complaint or objection.

My wife is a huge Dukes of Hazzard fan. Growing up it was the only television show that she and her brother could agree on and watch together. Some of her fondest childhood memories invloved sitting around the family television watching the adventures of the Duke boys.

As I began thinking about what to do with this "new" Bergen, I could think of no greater tribute than to give it the General Lee treatment. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Jason

[terrybeb]

Very nicely done. Should have your wife model the heli in a pair of Daisy Dukes.

[flyingrhino]

Looks good Jason

[600nitroexpress]

My Bergen EB Work in process will have to do some work on the Head. Engine runs good and appears to be in good shape. I did change over to 2.4 from PCM. "I wonder who painted the Canopy"? it has some ding's on it but the bird is in good shape. I am running camper fuel to 6oz of Klotz for the first gallon then I will lower it to 5oz

[terrybeb]

Try that again it didn't take......

[bassmahn]

New skin

[terrybeb]

Wow! That's a beast!!!

[bassmahn]

Originally Posted by terrybeb

Wow! That's a beast!!!

I'm loving it

[Cletus]

Wow! ....is that a Bergen fuselage? .....I thought I owned at least one of everything Bergen makes by now (or at least close)

[Helihover]

Here is a Norway based 44 Magnum - the first one in Norway, and currently also the only one
Great bird and a very fun and entertaining build.Now it is just waiting for its maiden flight

[Yooper42]

Not the prettiest thang, but it FLIES!

[terrybeb]

nice colours.... border the windscreen and clear coat it. Will look BAD A$$ !!

[Cletus]

Originally Posted by terrybeb

nice colours.... border the windscreen and clear coat it. Will look BAD A$$ !!

Hey Terry!
When we were at IRCHA you mentioned your paint process. Something about automotive water based paints via airbrush and then a solvent-based clear-coat. Care to expand on that as to what make of water-based paint?
I would like to experiment with it.
..........BTW now having my morning Tim Horton's!

[terrybeb]

No time to elaborate right now but check out this link.
http://www.autoaircolors.com/

[Furious Predator]

Like Europe, Canada is going all water based and low VOC paints for environmental reasons...just like the Metric system, the US is behind on this as well lol

According to the MSDS sheets for these paints, they are non toxic, except for i think the primer. You would still want to wear a respirator and have good ventilation, which Terry and I have, but this stuff isnt going to kill you. The other huge plus is cleaning. Instead of having to deal with nasty lacquer thinners and solvents, you use water. For changing colors, we just take the air brush over to the utility sink and rinse it out, done. For thinner, you can again use water, but the purpose made Auto Air thinners work better, but if your in a pinch, water works fine.

Since they are water based, and not solvent, they do not dry nearly as fast, this can make it a little more tricky to work with. A solvent based paint that you airbrush on will take just seconds to dry, in some cases it dries in the time it takes to travel from the airbrush to the surface you are painting, and just seems to blow off in the form of a nasty over spray. The Autoair stays wetter longer, which gives it the tendency to get runs a lot easier, but, way way WAY less over spray. to speed up drying, we just used a heat gone from a hobby shop used to do heat shrink covering on RC planks.

Auto air requires more patience due to the dry times. Thinner coats with more dry times are needed.

For final cleaning, alcohol works ok. But if you dont clean the airbrush right away and the paint cures, you will need the lacquer thinner to clean things up, but that is the only time you will need it.

The standard automotive poly urethane two part clear works great over autoair paints.

If you cant find an auto air dealer near you, there are other versions of it as well. at the local hobby shop, they carry 2oz bottles of Faskolor paints, these are basically autoair paints in smaller bottles and renamed. Terry and I have used Auto Air and Faskolor interchangeably on a single paint job with no side effects.

Another one is called Createx, again, renamed auto air, but tweaked a bit i think for Signs. This can be had in 2oz bottles at a craft store. Auto Air comes in 4oz bottles. Price for a 4oz bottle can be anywhere from $10 to $50, depending on the color. A fancy color with lots of pearls and metals in it (like a shade shifting) will cost good coin, while the basic colors like silver, black, red, white, blue, orange, ect, will be in the $10-15 range.

One disadvantage, unlike solvent paints, you cannot wet sand this stuff. Sometimes on color coats, you may want to wet sand the paint do get rid of high spots before moving on. With autoair, you are forced to dry sand, clogging up the sand paper quicker.

[cbdane]

www.klasskote.com clear glossy two-part epoxy. Amazing finish, easy to use.

[terrybeb]

Originally Posted by cbdane

www.klasskote.com clear glossy two-part epoxy. Amazing finish, easy to use.

Good find.

Thanks Shawn for elaborating. Family stuff getting in the way of my Heli posting. BTW was out later than expected.
Hope this helps Cletus.

[Cletus]

Hi Guys, sorry I did not respond sooner ....got caught-up in stuff here.
Thanks for the information. I think I will give air-brush a try, though I can't draw a straight line even with a ruler
BTW had a great weekend flying ...Raptor and Gasser on Saturday, Raptor and Turbine on Sunday

[Furious Predator]

Do you have an air brush already?

if not, or even if you do, you may want to consider buying some of the Hobby King air brushes. I have a high(er) end GREX airbrush, cost me $200 for it, very very nice airbrush to use. The Hobby king airbrushes, which i have 3 of, are of nearly identical quality, spray just as well, and come with multiple sizes of needle sets.

I actually use the hobby king airbrushes much more then the higher end one. Terries canopy was painted using them.

[Cletus]

Originally Posted by Furious Predator

Do you have an air brush already?

if not, or even if you do, you may want to consider buying some of the Hobby King air brushes. I have a high(er) end GREX airbrush, cost me $200 for it, very very nice airbrush to use. The Hobby king airbrushes, which i have 3 of, are of nearly identical quality, spray just as well, and come with multiple sizes of needle sets.

I actually use the hobby king airbrushes much more then the higher end one. Terries canopy was painted using them.

Hey! thanks for the advice. I am considering buying an Air-brush and I will go after the HK based on your advice and after seeing Terry"s canopy. I already have air plumbed throughout the shop and a bunch of plug-in regulators.