Painting Phantom 3

ewwatson · Dec 9, 2016

Anyone know the best way to remove the GPS from the landing legs? Or can you paint over the GPS sensor bar?

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PaulSouthport · Dec 9, 2016

Its the compass. Paint will only be a problem if it contains metal - lead based or metallic.

ewwatson · Dec 9, 2016

arghh damnit thats what i meant. i saw a video where a guy said removing the COMPASS (lol) was alittle more involved. But he also said you dont want to get paint on it...

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PaulSouthport · Dec 9, 2016

just mask it before painting, will be fine

alokbhargava · Dec 9, 2016

Paint usually do not contain magnetic materials so it should be good enough to paint the legs.

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Dounin Front · Dec 9, 2016

ewwatson said:
arghh damnit thats what i meant. i saw a video where a guy said removing the COMPASS (lol) was alittle more involved. But he also said you dont want to get paint on it...

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I painted my P3, including the compass with Krylon made for plastic almost a year ago. Works fine and doesn't come off. I had the shell apart for other reasons. I would probably apply a skin if there was no other reason to take it apart, unless you are really good at taping off little things.

stephan_du_pless · Dec 10, 2016

Dounin Front said:
I painted my P3, including the compass with Krylon made for plastic almost a year ago. Works fine and doesn't come off. I had the shell apart for other reasons. I would probably apply a skin if there was no other reason to take it apart, unless you are really good at taping off little things.

View attachment 70508

Are those props that colour because it is carbon or they painted as well??

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Dounin Front · Dec 10, 2016

stephan_du_pless said:
Are those props that colour because it is carbon or they painted as well??

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Those are Dji CF props in the picture. I have recently gone back to my painted OE props. You can put stripes on the OE props with masking tape before painting. Either way works fine. For me, both props perform the same.

ewwatson · Dec 10, 2016

quad looks grreat. ill end up carefully taping and painting with everything assembled i think. im a handy type so taping is a skill. lol

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stephan_du_pless · Dec 10, 2016

Awesome, thanks Dounin

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Dounin Front · Dec 10, 2016

ewwatson said:
quad looks grreat. ill end up carefully taping and painting with everything assembled i think. im a handy type so taping is a skill. lol

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Thanks everyone
It's not too hard, but time consuming. Then it's nice to "make it your own". And it's a bit easier to see in the sky (if you paint the underside, of course.) White props in this pic.

Gordon Stevens · Dec 15, 2016

Very nice. Maybe colors should be a factory option.

Jeronimo21 · Dec 16, 2016

Dounin Front said:
I painted my P3, including the compass with Krylon made for plastic almost a year ago. Works fine and doesn't come off. I had the shell apart for other reasons. I would probably apply a skin if there was no other reason to take it apart, unless you are really good at taping off little things.

View attachment 70508

That looks amazing!!

Jeronimo21 · Dec 16, 2016

Gordon Stevens said:
Very nice. Maybe colors should be a factory option.

That's the reason I ALMOST went with the Autel... plus orange is a well received color in my state

MATMAN1701 · May 21, 2017

Did you paint the sensor housing? If so did you mask off the vents or did you just remove the plastic housing and paint that?

Dounin Front · May 21, 2017

MATMAN1701 said:
Did you paint the sensor housing? If so did you mask off the vents or did you just remove the plastic housing and paint that?

I removed the upper shell (pretty easy - I had to straighten it after a crash anyway.) So it required no masking.
I masked and bagged the VPS, gimbal, motors and LED lights on the lower housing.
Painted with Krylon safe for plastic spray paint. I used satin, but gloss might be even better.
If there are any little spots not to your liking, you can touch them up with a q-tip after.
I painted the props also and it did not change their balance.
To date there has been no chipping or wear.
The paint did not adversely affect the antennas or the compass in the landing gear so paint away

121666rgy · Dec 1, 2019

Dounin Front said:
I painted my P3, including the compass with Krylon made for plastic almost a year ago. Works fine and doesn't come off. I had the shell apart for other reasons. I would probably apply a skin if there was no other reason to take it apart, unless you are really good at taping off little things.

View attachment 70508

Nice paint job.looks great