Baby Blender: SB Stearman

by CStence | July 29, 2013 | (9) Posted in Projects

My brother bought me a speed build Baby Blender kit for my birthday this last April. What a great gift! This was my very first “Swappable” and it was this gift that really launched me into this great hobby (thanks bro)! Flite Test had a deal where he could get two at a discounted rate. Because of this we got to build them together!

Now, I should mention that he and I live about 700 miles apart; all of our “build time” happened over Skype. Talk about a long distance build!

Before building and flying the Baby Blender we both cut our teeth on the FT Old Fogey, FT Bloody Wonder and even dabbled in some scratch-building of our own. Finally though, within the last week or two, I finally finished painting my Baby Blender, put it together and flew it!

When deciding on a paint job, I decided I wanted something bright and colorful. It didn’t take too long to think of the 1946 Boeing Stearman that we maintain where I work. I decided to name my iteration of the Baby Blender the SB (Stence Bros.) Stearman.

I used the cheap ($1 or less) acrylic paint and foam brushes from my local Walmart store to paint the entire plane. I also used a smaller tipped brush for some of the fine detail work. Has anyone had experience with this paint? I would enjoy hearing your experience for or against using this paint, as well as any recommendations. I prefer to brush the paint on, even though I have a small airbrush – paint masking and hooking up air hoses seem like too much of a hassle compared to careful brushwork. Any thoughts?

Thanks to FliteTest for such a cool looking plane to work with and most of all to my bro, Matthew, for the great gift!

COMMENTS

EccoH on August 3, 2013
OMG you stole my idea. i 13 and i flew a real one and im trying to make baby blender stearman. but it looks so amazing!!!!!!
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EccoH on August 3, 2013
your stearman
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Strix on July 31, 2013
Nice work!

Did you treat it with oil-based Minwax prior to painting?
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CStence on August 1, 2013
No, it was applied straight to bare paper. However I did do a test on some scrap foam before I started. I found that it didn't wrinkle or peel away, even when applied VERY heavily.
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RotateB4TheEnd on August 2, 2013
that's an interesting result! Others seemed to have thought that water based paints crinkle the foam. I'm about to try the minwax and spray paint method
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CStence on August 11, 2013
Update: While I have not had ANY instances of crinkled paper, I have noticed that the paper seems to release more readily from the foam after several crashes. This usually starts at an edge. Of course, it's hard to tell for sure because I usually have loose edge paper after crashes with unpainted foam too, just seems like it doesn't take as much. This seems especially the case when the WHOLE thing is painted as opposed to just trim lines and such. Other planes I have merely painted trim stripes on have not had this problem.
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sheldonc on January 24, 2014
I think the paper releasing from the foam after dings is a case of the paper being too stiff, and not plyable, so it separates. Really see it after crashes/dings when my stuff is coated with the Minwax. It's a price to pay, but worth it since I often am flying in the morning when the grass is still dewy. I just finished painting a Versa Wing yesterday with the Stearman colors. My flight instructor has a '43, so it was done in his honor, but actually was a test bed for painting as I too want to do up the Blender. Yours has given me some good ideas of how to do it. I used magic markers for the red stripes (put on the winglets on the Versa) and Air Corps stars. Have to be careful if applying minwax though since it can run. Have founds that the markers go on after the minwax is applied though, so that's an option. Love your results and video. Congrats on an awesome build! I will be vising Walmart for some acrylic paint today!
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rick_harriss on October 26, 2013
I have used solvent based spray cans direct onto the foam board with no problems at all. In th UK Wilco will provide such cans for £3.60 enough for a life time of aeroplane building.
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Baby Blender: SB Stearman