Here’s a couple of pics of a 1/72 wildcat I’m working on. I used bare metal foil to mask the canopy and in the process of removal I did some damage. I always get a good result with foil but was wondering if maybe something else might give me good results but be less trouble. I found that a toothpick gets the foil off the easiest.
Well if there was damage to the canopy, i can’t see it. That’s a really good job you did there! As for what i use for masking: I just use tamiya masking tape. i like it because it’s adhesive but not too much (before burnishing), it’s readily available, cheap, and it’s thin enough that if you hold your canopy to the light you can see the detail through it, which makes for a better fit. [;)]
I always use Scotch “frosty” (invisible) tape. The frame lines show very clearly through the tape. Its thick enough to remove easily, and doesn’t have any texture. It leaves nice, clean, straight lines. Its only downfall is a compound curve. For this, I cut thin strips for the frame outline, and fill in the center with more tape.
Hope this helps.
My question would be how do these techniques compare to foil? and the damage is on the far side, vanity prevented me from showing my failings.
Well, from what I’ve seen here, it looks great Plum. I usually just hand paint them myself, I always seem to screw canopies up when I try to mask them. I’ve not tried bare metal foil as a mask just yet however.
Ah, can’t help you with a comparison… bare metal foil is too expesive here for me to mask with… maybe swanny or pixilater can help you there. [:)]
Thanks for the help guys. I tried handpainting over the years and have always been much happier with masking. I just need a technique that is a little more fool-proof for this fool to use.