Painting canopy frames

[Neilroy]

Hi all,

Thanks for your fast responses and useful advice on my posts so far. As a modeller with virtually no experience other than the pre-requisite attempts as a kid, I have another basic question.

Is there an established method for painting the framework of the canopy other than a fine brush and a very steady hand? I've got as far as dipping in Klear to improve transparency (amazing!) but have been scared to go any further!

Thanks,

Neil

[spitfire]

There are several methods for doing this,

1. Buy ready made paint masks for the kit you are working on Eduard do a large range of these masks.

2. Buy some Tamiya masking tape and using a sharp blade cut out very thin strips, use these to mask the edges of the canopy up to the frame, then fill in the centres with more tape.

3. Same as 2 but use a product called Maskol (liquid mask) to fill in the centres.

There are lots of other ways to do this job, but my own preference is for 1 or 2.

Cheers

Den

[Neilroy]

Great, thanks for the quick reply. I've had a scan on ebay and there are several different width tamiya tape variants available - 6, 10 and 18mm ones. Is there any consensus on which of these is most useful or what most modellers go for, if any?

[Heraldcoupe]

3. Same as 2 but use a product called Maskol (liquid mask) to fill in the centres.

However, Maskol will attack Klear as it contains amonia, so don;t use it on a canopy which has been dipped,

Cheers,

Bill.

[spitfire]

That's a good save, as I never use Maskol did not know that.

Cheers

Den

[AnonymousA667]

As an alternative to masking/painting you can use clear decal film painted the appropriate colour sliced into suitable strips.

peebeep

[spitfire]

Great, thanks for the quick reply. I've had a scan on ebay and there are several different width tamiya tape variants available - 6, 10 and 18mm ones. Is there any consensus on which of these is most useful or what most modellers go for, if any?

I suppose it really depends on what scale you are working with, in reality with a steel rule and a sharp #11 blade you can cut any width that you want, I usually do this to make thin strips of about 2mm for canopies. I usually keep 6mm, 10mm and 18mm handy, but I build 1/32 scale.

Cheers

Den

[AnonymousAA72]

Another method: I use a fine paintbrush, and when perfectly dry use a sharpened wooden cocktail stick to gently scrape away any overlap. This can be cleaned up quite easily followed by a dip in Kleer to restore clarity.

[Mike]

I'd grab yourself one of each of the 6, 10 and 18mm tapes... they come in VERY handy. Lucky Model do refills for the dispensers for buttons when you're ready.

If you're masking off a fairly flat paneled canopy, I usually cut a small piece of tape, align one edge to a canopy frame, then burnish the tape down over the rest of the transparent piece. Run a cocktail stick along the edge of the frames so that they show up well, then use a new #11 blade (the pointy straight one) to cut along the lines. I find that masking a simple canopy like a Spitfire can be accomplished in 5 minutes. Canopies with compound curves can be done with thin strips of tape, then filled in with either ammonia free masking fluid (try Vallejo's), or small pieces of tape, ensuring you don't leave any gaps or bits sticking up.

Then it'd be ideal if you sprayed the canopy, but I seem to recall you don't have an airbrush yet. If that's the case (I have a crap memory), use the paint sparingly, as a really wet brush is more likely to "bleed" paint under any loose edges on the tape. The first color to paint is the cockpit interior color, so that it looks the right color from the inside. Then once that's dry, apply the exterior colors with impunity

If you do get any bleed under of the paint, just cut a cocktail stick to a blunt wedge shape, and use that to scrape gently at the offending lump of paint. If the bleed through is awful and unacceptable, re-dip the cockpit in a small cup of Klear, and all the old Klear and paint will just lift off after a while (rendering your Klear dirty, hence the suggestion of the cup ).

[Neilroy]

Really appreciate all of your comments..the fruits of my labour should be on show soon! Unfortunately, I don't see myself being able to get an airbrush in the near future - I only have a very small bedroom in which to model with no room to make a spray booth or properly ventilate by chanelling away the excess spray I guess I could buy a mask but then I'd have the problem of spraying my surroundings too due to my miniature work area!

[popeye]

Neil -

have a look if you want at

http://ipmsuk.proboards.com/index.cgi?boar...1872&page=8

from reply # 116 onwards

hope this helps.

popeye

Edited October 8, 2009 by popeye

[Diamondbacks VF-102]

hi all, what about the canopyframe interior colour? paint it on the outside en then the exterior colour above it or really paint the interior colour on the inside of the clear part

Stef

[viper108]

hi stef, myself ive always paint the interior colour first on the outside then when dry cover with the exterior colour this way it saves on masking the inside hope this helps. david

[Bertie McBoatface]

However, Maskol will attack Klear as it contains amonia, so don;t use it on a canopy which has been dipped,

Cheers,

Bill.

I use moulding latex instead of Maskol (much cheaper) and though it does contain ammonia, it has never reacted with klear/future in any way.