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Paint under canopy mask - what to do?


Filler

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I somehow dripped a drop of thinned Mr Surfacer onto a canopy part that was masked ready for painting. Clearly it wasn’t masked well enough (and quite a while ago in truth) and it got under the Tamiya tape.

 

The part had been dipped in the original Klear before it was masked. 
 

What’s my best course of action? Some liquid removal technique like IPA or acetone? Or should I just sand back and polish and re-Klear it?

 

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

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If you want to strip the whole canopy, just dip it in some Klear you don’t mind getting paint flakes in until it all comes off. It’ll clean things up well enough. Otherwise, try scraping the paint gently with a sharpened cocktail stick to get it clean.  Your choice ;) 

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I am worried that it is Mr. Surfacer not just a normal paint... it may stick way too well for a cocktail, erm, stick, to work...

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Thanks gents. I think I’ll use @Mike’s suggestion of dipping again to clean and I guess once again to re-Klear.

 

I’ve definitely learnt a few things. Other than what to do in these circumstances, I learnt not to prep paint over parts and that if you mask a canopy, it’s best to paint it soon and not leave it weeks until the tape starts to lose its adhesion.

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If you have Klear under the drop of Mr. Surfacer it should not be a problem, just dip the part in something that can dissolve Klear, I use ammonia but Mike's idea is good too. After that just dip in Klear again.

Just do not use anything that may attack the plastic, I would probably avoid acetone or similar solvents

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Not sure where I got the acetone idea from. I have a vague recollection of hearing it can be used to clean Klear from an airbrush in nail polish remover form. Or was that ammonia in the form of window cleaning products? But then I seem to also think that I've some of these can damage the airbrush too. I will just go with the Klear to clean and Klear to re-coat.

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Another good tip someone told me for painting canopies / screens etc is to paint clearcoat after masking, then paint once the clear has dried. This effectively seals the tape fully at the edges and stops any bleed of the colour from going through. If the clear coat had bled first, you don't notice it, but the colour you do :) 

I always use this method now and it stops any bleed through, thus any extra cleaning once the mask has been removed 

 

Ian

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IPA will do (it dissolves Klear and neutral to styrene), acetone is aggressive to styrene so it is a "no" . Depending on how much of Mr. Surfacer have you dropped and what it was diluted with it may have eaten through the coat of Klear, even in this case the canopy is still salvageable but it would require some fine sanding and polishing, in this case Tamiya Compound does wonders. 

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1 hour ago, Redstaff said:

Another good tip someone told me for painting canopies / screens etc is to paint clearcoat after masking, then paint once the clear has dried. This effectively seals the tape fully at the edges and stops any bleed of the colour from going through. If the clear coat had bled first, you don't notice it, but the colour you do :) 

That should work a lot of the time, but if too much Klear gets under the tape, it'll still leave you with a non-transparent glob.  I found that out when I did my Gnat many years ago.  I had to scrape it off with a cocktail (cockpit?) stick, as it was still attached to the model.  As long as you've burnished the tape down, and don't spray it too wet though, it should work :)

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6 minutes ago, Pin said:

Depending on how much of Mr. Surfacer have you dropped and what it was diluted with it may have eaten through the coat of Klear, even in this case the canopy is still salvageable but it would require some fine sanding and polishing, in this case Tamiya Compound does wonders.

It was Mr Surfacer 1500 white, thinned for airbrushing with Mr Levelling Thinner. A droplet fell from the tip of a pipette. I could see from the inside of the canopy that it had found its way through. I pulled away the tape and wiped with a tissue, but of course that just left a smudgy mark. I'm sure I can recover this quite easily, especially that I now know what to try and what definitely not to try. I will dip in Klear to dissolve and immediately wash the part in soapy water and dry. Then I'll give it a quick polish with Tamiya compound if necessary and then start again.

 

Thanks again for all the advice everyone.

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12 minutes ago, Mike said:

That should work a lot of the time, but if too much Klear gets under the tape, it'll still leave you with a non-transparent glob.  I found that out when I did my Gnat many years ago.  I had to scrape it off with a cocktail (cockpit?) stick, as it was still attached to the model.  As long as you've burnished the tape down, and don't spray it too wet though, it should work :)

I don't use Klear, I airbrush Mr Hobby GX112 or such like as a mist coat then a thicker coat, so it dries fairly rapidly and doesn't leave globs

I've never tried to brush Klear on, but as you say it could be a bit thick 

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1 hour ago, Redstaff said:

I've never tried to brush Klear on, but as you say it could be a bit thick 

N00b that I was back then, I dipped the masked canopy in the Klear and left it masked for a couple of years :doh:  I'm actually about to drift a coat of Klear over my Reichenberg's canopy, which I'll be doing delicately and without getting it wet. We learn from our mistakes, and I'm not to proud or delusional to admit I've made any ;) :blush:

 

Came out alright in the end though :phew:

 

detail.jpg

 

Edited to explain it was a masked canopy.

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20 minutes ago, Mike said:

N00b that I was back then, I dipped the damn thing in the Klear and left it masked for a couple of years :doh:  I'm actually about to drift a coat of Klear over my Reichenberg's canopy, which I'll be doing delicately and without getting it wet.

Is dipping a canopy into a jar of Klear not the done thing? I presume that by 'drift' you will be using an airbrush to apply? I've been actually dipping it into a jar of the stuff and letting it sit and dry after wicking excess away with tissue. I liked the idea of dipping as I have always been frightened of clogging the airbrush and struggling to clean it. I now wonder if dipping is adding a lot of extra thickness to the clear part and even to the point of creating a fit issue.

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2 minutes ago, Filler said:

Is dipping a canopy into a jar of Klear not the done thing?

I should have made that more clear.  I dipped the masked canopy in Klear.  In hindsight, I'm a moron ^_^  Dipping unmasked canopy parts in Klear is fine.  Just wick away the excess and leave it to dry afterwards under a pot so you get minimal dust landing on it :)

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