I bought a new shell and painted it black.  When flying low to the ground during optimal shooting light 4:30 pm til sunset or sunrise until 7:30 am I noticed the Phantom 3's bright white shell gives off a strong reflection.  You can see it in this test clip I shot below.  At about 01:45 and then again at about 02:50.  Painting the shell fixed the issue, no more white reflections.  I love the black and gold.  DJI should sell after market shells in lots of cool colors!  Props too!

That looks AWESOME!   Any concerns with the quad overheating by absorbing more of the sun's rays?

Here are the different accessories I've added to my quadcopter:

1)  Tie-wraps on open gimbal spacer holes - loose enough that they don't interfere with the gimbal, but there in case of a crash to help protect the gimbal CABLE.:



2)  Carbon fiber re-inforced props from DJI and removable prop guards:



3) Metal gimbal protector to help protect the gimbal cable in a hard crash or landing:



4) Carbon fiber gimbal/camera protector in a crash or landing area with obstacles:



5) Leg spacers - gives your camera a little more room...especially when startup 'dance' occurs:



6) Marco Polo UAV locator and combination gimbal lock/camera lens protector....just in case

Absolutely great tuning!

Duey,

I love the black, looks great! I've done the exact same mods as you have but I'm no longer using the prop guards and I decided against doing the CF props. I also just started using a WindSurfer. Nice looking bird!

Jerry

JtrJr-UAV Pilot Posted at 2015-10-21 22:20
Duey,

I love the black, looks great! I've done the exact same mods as you have but I'm no longer us ...

May I ask why you decided against the CF props ?

Willie Wonka Posted at 2015-10-21 21:26
May I ask why you decided against the CF props ?

Willie,

Really just from reading about them in these forums. I haven't seen anything that really supports a significant advantage. Im fairly pleased with the flight characteristics of the bird. I also hand catch in certain conditions and have seen some videos of the damage the carbon fiber can do. May be the same with DJI's reinforced props as well. Just haven't been convinced of any real advantage I guess.

Jerry

Flight raptor  may I ask where you got the lens cap/gimbal guard at?

Flight Raptor Posted at 2015-10-21 13:24
That looks AWESOME!   Any concerns with the quad overheating by absorbing more of the sun's rays?

H ...

Can I ask where you got the lens cap/gimbal guard at?

ceaton76 Posted at 2015-10-22 00:23
Flight raptor  may I ask where you got the lens cap/gimbal guard at?

Sure.....ebay purchase     Lots of 3D printings out there.

Flight Raptor Posted at 2015-10-21 11:24
That looks AWESOME!   Any concerns with the quad overheating by absorbing more of the sun's rays?

H ...

That gimbal lock looks 3d printed. Do you mind sending me the STL?

Thanks (:

hawaii by air Posted at 2015-10-22 01:54
That gimbal lock looks 3d printed. Do you mind sending me the STL?

Thanks (:

You are absolutely right.  It is 3D printed, however not by me      I purchased it off of ebay already printed, so unfortunately I don't have the STL for someone to do their own printing...sorry.

JtrJr-UAV Pilot Posted at 2015-10-22 00:04
Willie,

Really just from reading about them in these forums. I haven't seen anything that really  ...

Jerry,
The benefit I found with the carbon fiber blades is high wind stability and less low pitch noise but more high pitch noise which can not be noticed from 200 feet. Makes the phantom dB rating lower which is good in some situations.

Willie Wonka Posted at 2015-10-22 01:37
Jerry,
The benefit I found with the carbon fiber blades is high wind stability and less low pitch no ...

Willie,

What kind of wind are you talking about? That could be beneficial to me as we have some pretty good winds here in South Dakota. I'll typically stay below 20mph or so unless I want to try to see how fast I can get the bird going in ATTI mode.

Thanks for the info.

Jerry

JtrJr-UAV Pilot Posted at 2015-10-22 09:20
Duey,

I love the black, looks great! I've done the exact same mods as you have but I'm no longer us ...

Thanks.  I made a wind surfer from some thin cardboard and copper tape, works well.

Flight Raptor Posted at 2015-10-22 04:24
That looks AWESOME!   Any concerns with the quad overheating by absorbing more of the sun's rays?

H ...

Nah, it seems okay, doesn't really get hot.  Nice mods on your rig.

JtrJr-UAV Pilot Posted at 2015-10-22 08:08
Willie,

What kind of wind are you talking about? That could be beneficial to me as we have some p ...

Jerry,

This is my personal opinion so take it with a pound of salt, in my flights I noticed the phantom is more stable in 15 to 20 mph winds and one of the great results was the video in my YouTube channel regarding me tracking my cousin while he is kite surfing. Before that I used to have the plastic blades and any sort of wind the phantom kept on over correcting and felt the need to pay attention more to flying than filming.

duey101 Posted at 2015-10-22 11:43
Nah, it seems okay, doesn't really get hot.  Nice mods on your rig.

Great to hear....I may some day follow your lead on the color...I really like it!  Thanks on the mods compliment.

Willie Wonka Posted at 2015-10-22 13:33
Jerry,

This is my personal opinion so take it with a pound of salt, in my flights I noticed the  ...

Thanks Willie. Just watched your Sandy Hook video, great job! It does look pretty steady,

Jerry

JtrJr-UAV Pilot Posted at 2015-10-22 18:05
Thanks Willie. Just watched your Sandy Hook video, great job! It does look pretty steady,

Jerry

Jerry,

I appreciate your positive feedback on the video and glad my observation helped you in regards to the blades.

I do like the looks of the black with gold.  Very sharp.  However, I don't see anything like a reflection at the two times you indicated.  What I do see is the normal down-sun reflection of the sun from the surface of the crops, etc.  This is normal, and why, if you don't like it, you should avoid putting the sun directly behind the camera.  This is the same thing you see when flying in the afternoon in an airplane.  It has nothing to do  with the color of your P3, and there's nothing you can do about it, unless a polar filter might decrease it.  I haven't tried though.

i LOVE the way it looks in black!

do you have any tips/pointers/tricks/ instructions for doing this? (i......hmmm. good word???  sUcK at painting)

I am considering buying an extra shell & landing gear just to try this out and have it on standby.

it looks so great!!!

Flyhigh7887 Posted at 2015-10-27 21:18
i LOVE the way it looks in black!

do you have any tips/pointers/tricks/ instructions for doing this ...

Very easy to do.  Buy a new shell, clean it with rubbing alcohol and a clean t-shirt material rag.  Buy 1 small can of acrylic quick drying grey primer and 3 large cans of flat black acrylic quick drying paint, one 3M or Scotch kitchen scrubber with the green scrubber pad on it.

1. DO NOT RUSH!  

2. Spray in a dust free environment if you can.  Use long rubber kitchen gloves so you can hold the bird and not get paint all over your hand and arm.  In-between each coat of paint use the green scrubber to lightly go over the previous coat of paint to remove any dust or debris.

4. Spray the first coat of grey primer, let it dry 30 minutes, then spray on the second coat, wait an hour.

5. Spray first coat of flat black.  Let dry 30 minutes.

6. Spray additional coats, I did 4 coats in total.  Wait 30 minutes between coats.

7. Put it out in the hot sun for an hour and let that paint bake on there.

8. Wait about 24 hours before you assemble it.  And take it to the dealer and let them do it for you.

Put those gold stickers on there and enjoy!

Willie Wonka Posted at 2015-10-23 06:20
Jerry,

I appreciate your positive feedback on the video and glad my observation helped you in reg ...

Do you balance all your props? I don't have a balancer, but could swear between two sets of cf props and the two stock ones, the cf create a lot more vibration and prop noise.... They are for sure stiffer than stock, but I notice not much difference. I really want to like them, I'm a fan of black and carbon fiber both, but feel like the bird likes the stock setup. Thinking a balancer might handle this, and be a good investment.

duey101 Posted at 2015-10-28 10:46
Very easy to do.  Buy a new shell, clean it with rubbing alcohol and a clean t-shirt material rag. ...

Wow - you are the perfectionist. I painted mine a couple of months ago. I took it apart and took the gimbal off, but I had no reason to take electronics out. (Not yet anyway)
There hasn't been a adhesion problems and there are no scratches so far.
I cleaned it and scrubbed it with a 3M pad like you, but did not prime it and only used one  (maybe 1.5) coats. I am very pleased with the results of this product:
Rust-Oleum American Accents
2X Ultra Cover - Also bonds to plastic
Color: Canyon Black Satin
I got it at Walmart
I thought I should keep the coverage as thin as possible. There is considerable weight difference in weight between a full and an empty paint can.
I have black CF blades on order. I've meanwhile painted and balanced the OE blades. BTW I recommend the Du-Bro 499 balancer with a balance rod for the P3.
I totally agree, there should be colored shells available.

countrysidegard Posted at 2015-10-28 16:03
Do you balance all your props? I don't have a balancer, but could swear between two sets of cf pro ...

It's always a good choice to balance props when ever you get a chance. i put them on and they did not present vibration so i went without balancing as i don't have the type of rod used for balancing these props.

Willie Wonka Posted at 2015-10-28 19:55
It's always a good choice to balance props when ever you get a chance. i put them on and they did  ...

Du-Bro 499 appears to be the best balancer, but you must buy a balance rod for the P3--check Amazon. I just added little stick on pieces of label to the underside. It doesn't take much to get them perfect.
You have to do something when you aren't flying.

Rnfaust Posted at 2015-10-29 21:33
Du-Bro 499 appears to be the best balancer, but you must buy a balance rod for the P3--check Amazo ...

Yep, I have that Du_Bro 499 and the rod also, works perfectly and balanced props are a must.

Camera + Vibration = Blur

You want as little vibration as you can get and balancing your props even if they are just a bit off makes a big difference.  You can hear it when you balance your props and then fly on a perfectly balanced set, that smoothness helps a great deal in the end result.  I noticed the difference in sound of my bird immediately after I balanced the props.  Much less noise and just sounded well tuned.

Rnfaust Posted at 2015-10-29 06:37
Wow - you are the perfectionist. I painted mine a couple of months ago. I took it apart and took th ...

LOL! Kind of, yes.  I like to do things right.  It is a bad habit of mine.

countrysidegard Posted at 2015-10-29 04:03
Do you balance all your props? I don't have a balancer, but could swear between two sets of cf pro ...

that's strange.. my cf reinforced props are much quieter than the stock ones

duey101 Posted at 2015-10-28 17:46
Very easy to do.  Buy a new shell, clean it with rubbing alcohol and a clean t-shirt material rag. ...

Thank you very much for taking the time to get me started with it. Much appreciated!!

ceaton76 Posted at 2015-10-22 00:24
Can I ask where you got the lens cap/gimbal guard at?

this is the one I bought

Nice job on the paint work. Great contrast with the decals and logo.

Flight Raptor Posted at 2015-10-21 17:24
That looks AWESOME!   Any concerns with the quad overheating by absorbing more of the sun's rays?

H ...

Interesting mods. Any issues with the added weight? If I may ask, where did you get the Lens Cover/Gimbal Lock?

rodger Posted at 2015-10-31 08:08
Interesting mods. Any issues with the added weight? If I may ask, where did you get the Lens Cover ...

Thanks.   Never had any issues with the added weight...I see no difference in maneuverability or handling.  Even any effect on speed isn't noticeable.

I got the 3D printed camera guard/gimbal lock on ebay....lots of options out there.

rodger Posted at 2015-10-31 19:06
Nice job on the paint work. Great contrast with the decals and logo.

Thanks, came out good.  Everyone who sees it seems to like it.

duey101 Posted at 2015-10-28 12:46
Very easy to do.  Buy a new shell, clean it with rubbing alcohol and a clean t-shirt material rag. ...

Thanks for the Tutorial

Rnfaust Posted at 2015-10-28 19:37
Wow - you are the perfectionist. I painted mine a couple of months ago. I took it apart and took th ...

I am thinking that the DJI Black Carbon Fiber Props with the Yellow Stripes on the tips would add a nice accent to your Black Phantom.

Willie Wonka Posted at 2015-10-28 21:55
It's always a good choice to balance props when ever you get a chance. i put them on and they did  ...

The shafts are readily available in many places. I use a clear coat if the prop needs balancing.

Flight Raptor Posted at 2015-10-31 09:43
Thanks.   Never had any issues with the added weight...I see no difference in maneuverability or ha ...

Thanks, I'll look there, I would imagine that I can find the spacers there as well? The camera is very low to the ground. I get overload warnings from the grass all of the time.

Flight Raptor Posted at 2015-10-22 05:24
That looks AWESOME!   Any concerns with the quad overheating by absorbing more of the sun's rays?

H ...

WOW Raptor.  Your really found a lot of small tweaks that could give you serious improvement. Based on most of them you must have had a serious crash in the past.