My instrument panel is clear plastic with dials engraved on it. There’s a set of decals representing instrument faces that goes on the back on the panel while the front of the clear panel is supposed to be painted flat black.
How to paint such a panel in such a way that the black doesn’t touch the dial faces (they’re supposed to stay clear)??
Use a very fine brush and a steady hand. Avoid caffeine or anything similar beforehand. Use your favorite flat black paint that you have achieved your best results from.
This Accurate Miniatures Mustang IA kit had that type of instrument panel
Do it as you would a colored panel. Paint, apply decal to front (solvent in place)…place a drop of Future or Krystal Kleer over the guage faces.
Another approach that I’ve used is to mask the dial faces using small drops of white glue. Make sure the glue only covers the dial faces. Let it dry until the white glue is cured. Then spray or brush paint the IP in the appropriate color. After the paint has dried, wash off the white glue by using a warm water rinse & then apply the decals on the back of the IP as intended.
Regards, Rick
I just bore out the gauge faces paint apply decal to back as per instructions, and apply a drop of future to each gauge to simulate glass, and presto.
Now that’s very interesting although being a surgical procedure it opens up new possibilities for botching up the panel. Sometimes keeping it simple is the best way.
On the two clear ip’s I have dealt with so far, I put a drop of Micro Mask on each face that neede to stay clear, shot the ip with gray/black, used a toothpick to remove the masks and voila! Good to go with the decal on the back! I must admit that Jeebus’ idea of drilling out the faces is an interesting one that would give a real 3-D effect…[:-,]
Brian [C):-)]
They all sound like they would work good but I have to admit I think putting a drop of elmers white glue or any other masking agent into the dial face as a mask and then airbrushing the appopriate color sound like the easiest and best way to me IMHO.
Soulcrusher
I use a method similar to Jeebus’ to scratch instrument panels, when I have a decal. I use scrap CD jewel cases for the clear stock, scribe the outline of the full panel and cut it out, then bore the holes where the instruments go. I did that to beef up the panels on the Monogram kits that used decals, like the SBD, the TBD, the Me109. It’s a little basic, but it gave more of a 3-D effect.
Thanks!
You guys use Elmer’s white glue as a masking fluid? And how do you get it off once it dries?