Mini Arrow #2 meets Sharpies

Hello Everyone, I would like to show you my second Mini Arrow. After crashing my first Arrow, I knew that I wanted to build another one.

 I also wanted to replicate the flame graphics of the first Arrow, they made it so easy to tell which way was up when flying the plane by line of sight. I decided that it would probably be easier to draw the patterns onto the parts of the plane before assembly, so after cutting them out of the foam board I started to pencil in my design. To get symmetry from one wing to the other, I used typing paper to copy the pattern from one wing and traced over it to transfer the graphic to the other. I also decided to put another pattern on the underside this time, something totally different from the topside to better distinguish the top from the bottom when coming out of rolls!

After sketching out my patterns with pencil, I gathered up my Sharpies and traced over the outlines and did the color fill. The top flames are done with a red Sharpie (obviously) and then outlined with a thin black Sharpie. The bottom pattern is supposed to be a tearing effect exposing the "metal panels" of the plane underneath, but I had been told that it looks like snow covered mountains! After applying the colors I used clear packing tape over the foam board for the several reasons: 1- I was afraid that after folding, the paper would split and crack where the ink was applied and the tape would prevent that. 2- It adds strength to the air frame in the event of minor crashes and poor landings. 3- I think it looks pretty good with a "shine" the tape gives! I still need to color the underside of the elevons, but I wanted to maiden it before adding fpv gear and I will do the final coloring then.

Check out the time lapse video of the drawing process with the maiden flight at the end!

I am really enjoying drawing on my Flite Test planes with Sharpies and encourage everyone to give it a try! My next project will be to draw something onto this freshly built FT Spear! I haven't really decided what design I am going to do, if anyone has any ideas let me know, I am open to suggestions!

Thanks for checking out my article and happy flying to you!