Text, photos and video by Tom Hintz
Posted – 8-9-2016
Full Disclosure: I am openly admitting to sort of swiping at least the idea of using the Eagle One Wax As-U-Dry on RC airplanes from the good (and hopefully not litigious) folks at Extreme Flight. I recently built their Extreme Flight 78" Extra 300 and came across the Eagle One Wax-As-U-Dry in the instruction manual. Yes, I actually read the manual! Anyway, the folks (not litigious?) at Extreme Flight discovered the benefits of Eagle One Wax-As-U-Dry on RC aircraft and I have confirmed their positive assessment of this product.
With all of the time and money we put into RC aircraft it is only natural that we want them to look spiffy at the field and in the air. Keeping the plane clean is a good start but the originally shiny coverings on our planes lose a bit of their pizazz after a number of the fly/clean cycles. They can look nice and clean but it would be nice to restore that original twinkle or to even step the original level of shine up a notch or two. Enter Eagle One Wax-As-U-Dry.
Eagle One Wax-As-U-Dry is actually an automotive wax product that retains its remarkable shine properties when applied to our airplanes. I should note that I have not tried Eagle One Wax-As-U-Dry on any of the flat colors commonly found on war birds and such. I have applied Eagle One Wax-As-U-Dry to everything I have with a shiny surface, paint and plastic covering successfully.
Eagle One Wax-As-U-Dry contains carnauba wax, the official go-to shine producer of the universe. Eagle One Wax-As-U-Dry is designed to be applied to a car after you wash and rinse the surface to be waxed but leave it wet. On an RC airplane I opted to avoid hosing it down and instead clean the surface as I normally do with either alcohol, Simple Green and similar products. The Eagle One Wax-As-U-Dry instructions say to leave the surface wet but I have been wiping up the cleaner used and then applying the Eagle One Wax-As-U-Dry and that seems to work just fine.
I have been saving old socks for years as they make great rags for cleaning up all things RC. I use one sock to wipe the surface down after spraying the Eagle One Wax-As-U-Dry on. I do not try to wipe all of the Eagle One Wax-As-U-Dry off, just make sure that I spread the wax over the entire surface.
After switching to the other clean sock I buff the surface to bring out the shine. The results are usually near instant after I have applied Eagle One Wax-As-U-Dry to that plane a few times. It happens way faster than I anticipated which makes shinning up a giant scale airplane a several minute job.
The Extreme Flight manual describes the shine produced by Eagle One Wax-As-U-Dry as “wet” looking and I have to agree. If you clean and shine your planes a few times with Eagle One Wax-As-U-Dry this effect seems to come out even wetter looking as well.
In addition to the super shine produced by Eagle One Wax-As-U-Dry it appears to help seal the edge of graphics and seams in the covering we apply to our planes. The residue of the common fuels and oils within them can work on the edges of graphics and covering seams and eventually loosen them up. Since I stated using Eagle One Wax-As-U-Dry I have not noticed anything lifting or loosening on my planes. Bonus!
After you start using Eagle One Wax-As-U-Dry you will notice that cleaning the planes up is an easier task. I firmly believe that the Eagle One Wax-As-U-Dry builds up a protective coat of carnauba wax that apparently stands up to the remains of our fuels and oils.
Though it is best to apply all of the graphics before you start using any wax, let alone one with the performance of Eagle One Wax-As-U-Dry, I have had success “striping” the surface where I need to add a graphic. I clean the area several times with plain rubbing alcohol scrubbed in with paper towels and that seems to clear the way for the graphics. Once they are applied I give them a few coats of Eagle One Wax-As-U-Dry and so far, nothing has come off or lifted.
In my estimation Eagle One Wax-As-U-Dry has proven itself to be a winner. While I would love to take credit for its discovery we can’t forget the kind (non- litigious) folks at Extreme Flight who actually made the discovery. I suspect the shine on your planes will not care who told you about it.
Another good point in favor of Eagle One Wax-As-U-Dry is that you can find it just about anywhere that sells automotive waxes. (or use the Amazon search box in the right margin) Also the 23-fl-oz bottle of Eagle One Wax-As-U-Dry I bought cost around $7 (8-8-2016) and that price seems to be middle of the road in the marketplace. Since I have been using Eagle One Wax-As-U-Dry that 23-fl-oz bottle does not seem to have much missing judging by its weight. This stuff goes a long way which should not be surprising considering the way smaller surface area of our planes compared to even stupid-small cars or that hippie van in which you can’t get yourself to stop cruising.
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