How To Waterproof your plane with PlastiDip

by mitchellcook5 | August 14, 2013 | (14) Posted in How To

This is a very simple, ease, cheap and effective way to waterproof your plane with minimal amount of weight.  The product I use is Plastidip; it runs about $5-6 a can, which is more than enough even for a large plane.   It is available at all Home Depots in the color Black, but is available in some colors on occasion, and is available in all colors online (See link at bottom).  It‘s a spray on latex rubber paint that is very easy to apply with the simple following steps.  Doing this is essentially like coating your plane in a liquid latex glove, so it is watertight and protects your plane in crashes. ALSO, HOTGLUE STICKS TO IT PERFECTLY!!!

Step 1:  

First, either tape off or remove ALL electronics to avoid getting product into them.

Step 2:   When applying your coats you want to spray at about 6"-8" away, never closer otherwise it will glob and warp your foam.  ALWAYS make sure the tip of the spray nozzle is clean after each coat! I have discovered that left over Plastidip dries on the nozzle, and the next time you pick up the can to spray again it will not mist it will spit beads of product all over your plane and leave bumps, so just make sure the nozzle is clean. Drying between coats should be about 5-10 min in a WELL-VENTILATED AREA!  The surface should be a flat finish and dry to the touch.

-DO THE FOLLOWING STEPS TO THE TOP AND BOTTOM

OF THE PLANE AT SEPARATE TIMES!!!  (BOTTOM FIRST TOP SECOND)

-1st Coat-  Light even passes over the whole plane one time (DO NOT ATTEMPT TO COVER IT ALL IN ONE COAT)

-2nd Coat-  Repeat first step

-3rd Coat-  Go over the plane 2 times with 2 light coats but apply them at the same time, no drying period in between, but do not apply so much that it will run

-4th Coat-  Go over the plane a final time with one more light coat and cover all the Simi-white areas that still might be visible, you might have to repeat this step again with a drying period in between coats to insure fill coverage.

-5th Coat- Mist the whole model one more time with one light coat 5”-6” away using quick passes.

-Allow at least an hour for the product to cure before you fly!!!

- When a coat is dry it should look like this, a flat finish and dry to the touch.

Final Product, Good luck and have fun flying!

Colored Plastidip here:  https://www.dipyourcar.com/pages.php?pageid=9

- Find this article & others like it at www.FliteTest.com -

COMMENTS

Zatoichi on August 16, 2013
Nice one man! I have also had some success with spray bed liner for truck beds.A coat or two really toughens up a birds belly. Use with care tho as it adds a bit o weight.Cheers.
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mitchellcook5 on August 17, 2013
haha, that seems like a bit much but i might have to give that one a try.
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LordVader on August 16, 2013
This is another cool idea. Can you paint over it if you can't get colored plastic dip? I am going to try the temporary car bra in a can. It only comes off with soapy water and you have to scrub it off.
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mitchellcook5 on August 17, 2013
Plastidip will stray on as long as you want on a car until you get a fingernail under it, and you want to take it off. It will peal off when ever you want even after 2 years of baking in the sun, but on a foam plane it is permanent because it wicks into the fibers of the paper on foam board, by the way car bra BAD IDEA haha, I've heard horror stories about doing that, stick with Plastidip, the stuff is so durable, about 4 coats for a car bra and you will be fine, but every time you put a coat of paint down and you have tape lines, you bust remove your tape before the coat dyes and put it back on when your ready for the next coat, otherwise if you leave the tape on and put 4 coats down it will peel the Plastidip off when you peel the tape off. and if you want colored Plastidip i put a link to any color you could ever want in the article. i use Plastidip on my car a lot and have had a lot of luck with it, its really great stuff.

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sleb on August 17, 2013
Great job, much stronger than packing tape.
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mitchellcook5 on August 17, 2013
Thanks, and yes it defiantly is.
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rcspaceflight on August 17, 2013
I had heard that this stuff works great. I even bought some but I never tried it. I think I'll have to start using it.
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mitchellcook5 on August 17, 2013
Ya it works really well, I even bought a whole sheet of foam to test it on, sprayed both sides with 5 coats and took a garden hose to it for about 1 minute and it didn't even get wet. And its permanent in the paper of foam board because it wicks into every fiber of the paper while its drying then will never come off.
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StoneBlueAirlines on August 18, 2013
Great idea.
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sim02009 on August 20, 2013
I love plastidip. I've used it on car wheels and dirt bikes, but always assumed it would add to much weight to a foamie. What's the weight difference on your delta? Any decrease in flying performance? I've used the packing tape technique, but can see a ton of advantages to the plastidip method as long as it doesn't add too much weight.
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mitchellcook5 on August 20, 2013
It adds barely any weight, I'd say 10-20 grams depending on the size of the plane, and that plane isin't a delta, it has a 4 foot wing span, the thing is huge! It's my own design, I've got it up to 103 mph with the dip on it with an 35 series prop drive motor and a 8-8 prop, so NO, no decrease in performance haha
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joann69 on August 22, 2013
I have read that hair spray can also be used to waterproof foamboard. Has anyone out there ever tired it. I would like to know the results you got after using hair spray.
Thanks for the assistance
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mitchellcook5 on August 22, 2013
I can see how that might work for a short time, but hairspray is a water soluble, it has to be otherwise it would never wash out of your hair, so it would probably work for a couple of flights but not long term, Plastidip is by far the best way to do it because it really works and the color possibilities are endless! also super lightweight
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flight monkey on September 15, 2013
Well, I haven't heard of hairspray. But I am going to try spray on Clearcoat. Like the automotive kind. Ill post when I get results in...
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mitchellcook5 on October 4, 2013
A clear coat won't work its like putting water on foam board, it will dry very hard and crack. Also EXPENSIVE!
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George Gottshall on September 13, 2013
Looks like a great color to paint on a Stealth project! Everyone seems to do them in a gloss, and it doesn't look right.

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flight monkey on September 15, 2013
Yeah!!, I was going to try this, I had never seen nobody use it. I figured it would be perfect, but my concern was weight. Thanks alot buddy, you saved me from all of the testing, I figure it should take paint very well. And like hou said it does take hot glue well. That is the reason I dont use the Minwax procedure. I crash alot still. Mostly my new builds, I experiment on different methods. Soon youll see some of them on this site, im still working on my videos. Thanks again for sharing !!
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Baadooby on December 8, 2013
So glad someone did a write up on this ! Thanks ! I have been using this for awhile in automotive and RC hobbies :) I have done the Slinger and Versa and tonight I am doing the Spitfire. Doing weights before and after and I will post up tomorrow with final weights. Oh and also I have painted over every plane that has this on it and it sticks and looks great, it has also never warped the board. Just make sure to basically add on a super light coat first. It helps a ton.
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Baadooby on December 9, 2013
Ok so plasti dipped the Spitfire. Before weight with electronics was 19.3oz. And after plasti Dip was 24.4oz. So about 5 oz. total. Not bad for a nice waterproof and also adding a little strength to the plane as well.
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olblueyez on February 18, 2014
Plasti-dip comes in a lot of different colors so it doesn't have to be "stealth".
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pinpoint45 on September 29, 2016
So this could make those FT foamboard wheels look really good.
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Crashbandit on April 14, 2017
I know this is an old AF post, but i gotta know, what plane is that?
I cant find anything on it, and would love to build it.
It is an incredibly sexy design.

(hopefully someone is still watching this post, doubtful but worth a shot)
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mitchellcook5 on April 14, 2017
Well you're in luck, because I still have email notifications set up lol
But basically it's FT Versa stretched out, insted of cutting it out portrait, I turned the foam board 90° an cut it out landscape, but you must make the elevons about 1/2 the size because it is longer so there will be more torque moment otu at that distance than on a regular versa so keep that in mind, but I kinda built it just out of my head but using the versa as an outline. "Trust me I'm an engineer" lol
Let me know how it goes!
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Crashbandit on April 17, 2017
Really appreciate the response!

I'll see if i can figure out what you mean.

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How To Waterproof your plane with PlastiDip