Budget RC Combat Info:
The Budget combat series is designed to be an inexpensive approach to a very fun aspect of our hobby. Using very durable EPP and Depron , these planes can take a beating. Quick fixes at the field are a snap with med. CA and kicker. These planes open up the possibility for back yard combat, and of course Park, Gym and Dome. Fun all year long no matter where you live. For streamers, we use and suggest crepe paper available at any dollar store. We simply cut the roll in half to make two rolls using a band saw. This gives us 2 -1inch rolls. We then use 2 different colors. Like black and white. One color is cut to 5 feet and the other color is cut to 5 feet. Tape together to make a 10 foot streamer. During battle: If the end color is cut you have been hit, but can still fly. If the front color is cut you are out. If you have not tried this you are really missing an amazing good time.
Electronics: Please do not use anything bigger then a 20g brushless motor. Your performance will actually decrease. We have flown indoor and outdoor without streamers using a 10g brushless with great performance. But for all around performance we use and suggest a 15 to 20g brushless motor. What about brushed motors??? Don't waste your time!
Use a 6 to 10 amp ESC. We use a 6 amp using a 2 or 3 cell battery without experiencing any problems. Obviously a 6 amp is lighter but a 10 will work.
For combat we use and suggest 7.4 V 300 to 500mAh Lipo batteries. This gives excellent performance with a streamer. If you use a 3cell 11.1V cell it will become ballistic and some wing flutter will occur. We will fly 3 cell when sport flying but throttle management is a must.
Don't discount the control linkage that came with the kit. It is extremely light and strong. Your going to have to try some new things sooner or later. I prefer hot melt to secure the rod to the top of the control wedge. I apply the hotmelt then roll it a little to get the glue completely around the rod. I also use a soldering iron tip to shrink the tubing around the rod and a little CA on the ends really holds things together. No gap is needed between the rods. If your wondering what I'm talking about just go to the combat instruction page and open the radio installation pdf.
Wingspans vary slightly between models so we can get them to fly competitively with each other. Basically around 28" They have maintained all their own personalities.
Painting is Required: We use 1 heavy coat of dollar store enamel. Go lightly on the Depron sides, these will melt with a heavy coat. We use several very light coats. The EPP doesn't seem to mind the heavy coats. Some are using acylic paint (water based). Let me know if you come up with other options. The EPP seems to absorb the paint which actually makes it stiffer which is a good thing, this reduces flutter at high speeds. Paint the entire airplane including under the wing. We have noticed since EPP absorbs the paint it can take up to 2 days for it to completely dry. You will notice a huge reduction in weight.
Decals: Download and print the pdf files for your airplane. Make sure you have the scale set to NONE. Cut them out and use 3M 77 to spray on the back. We also use Ultimate RC glue for this. Rubber cement would probably work too. If anybody would like to share their custom decals let me know and we will put them on the site for other modelers to use. mark@budgetrc.com
What Glue to Use: We prefer Ultimate RC glue for assembly, you will need to put it on a little thick on the EPP. You can use med. foamsafe CA. You can use Epoxy. Some use GOOP but I have not tried this. We use Hotmelt to install the servos and ESC. You must coat the EPP with Glue in order for your Velcro to stick to it. We smear epoxy or ultimate where the Velcro will go, just let the glue dry before you try to stick Velcro to it.
Please email us with your experiences. We would like to share any info that we get. If you have any questions please email me
Mark
Budget RC