So, ive posted about this before and after a couple failed attempts I gave up and just moved on. But now im back at it again this time for a 1:48 F-16. Im trying to do the yellow tint that i see on a lot of them. I did some research and found a couple good ideas that might work.
First I tried just painting Tamiya clear yellow inside, but i kept getting brush streaks which never came out. I also tried this with thinned paint and same thing or i got bubbles that wouldnt go away.
Next i tried airbrushing the tint on which actually came out ok except I got this speckled effect which made the canopy hard to see through. I tried polishing it with a wheel and different polishing creams but this took the tint off completely.
Lastly i tried dipping the canopy in the tint but this failed also as i did not stick.
Im thinking maybe i should switch to Tamiya clear enamel or some other company that has a clear enamel and see how it goes and Tamiya acrylic isnt working.
How about adding a bit of Tamiya clear to Future (or whatever it’s called now) and coating the clear parts with that. Might take several applications to get the desired tint.
Add food coloring or a little acrylic paint to your future dip. This will tint the future. Experiment on a spare canopy or other clear plastic to get the opacity right when tinting the future.
If you are having issues with getting the future or other acrylics to stick to the plastic, sand the canopy with 4000-6000 grit paper. It will leave the canopy hazed a bit but will give the future something to bit onto as it’s dipped and the future will fill the scratches and give you a crystal clear canopy tinted in the color you want.
You could also ask on the forums and see if anyone has a spare tinted canopy they could give/trade you. I think the Tamiya kits come with a clear and a tinted canopy in the same box.
So i tried the technique from the video links and it works great, no beyond great, this is what ive been looking for and i dont know why its taken me this long to find it. I highly highly recomend using that technique as it give you the freedom to play around the with the color and the amount of metalic you want with the slow build up of color. Will be using this from now on.