v929 New Canopy

Here’s a peek at what I’ve been working on. A v929 canopy made from clear PETG. That way, I can paint from underneath like one commonly does to lexan bodies for R/C cars. This prevents the paint from getting scuffed up during crashes. I tried my best to balance weight and durability with this canopy. Too thick the material and you add unnecessary weight. Too thin and the canopy loses durability. This custom canopy fits the Blade mQX too.

I also made some decals for the motor mount and motor cover. It took a lot of trial and errors but the completed decal fits perfectly! Look how complex the motor cover decal is.

I found that painting took too much work because you gotta sand, prime and then paint multiple layers. Otherwise, the paint chips off very easily. The decals gives a perfect glossy finish, but doesn’t chip off like paint does. Another negative about paint is that the multiple primer and paint layer builds up, adding weight and making it very difficult and tight fitting for the bearings.

One of the challenge was to make it so I can repeatedly and accurately put on the decals. The solution I found made it possible to get these decals lined up properly. Luckily these decals can be peeled off, returning the item back to it’s original form. Or simply to fix any mistake in putting it on. ;)

Here is a front view of the motor mount with the decal on. Decals allow you to paint motor mount any color you want, and then contrast it with a decal. Here, I painted the motor mount white and put on red decals to match the canopy.

And here is a decal applied to a motor cover.

Let me know what you think.