I am building my first 1/72 scale aircraft, a Tamiya Zero 60785 A6M3/3A.
Besides buying masks (last resort), I have not come up with an easy way to mask the cockpit.
Any help would be appreciated!
Masking the canopy or the open cockpit? If the former, I’d definitely just buy a mask set intended for this kit. In 1/72, those glass panes are going to be pretty small, so that would be a bear to mask with tiny strips of tape. Perhaps you can use a liquid masking medium but I’ve never had much success with that. If the latter, I’d suggest cramming cotton into the cockpit well then affixing tape across the openings, then cut it to proper size.
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I’ve found this video helpful. It’s one of many you can find on YouTube. (Hope it’s ok to share)
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Thanks, I’ll take a look
I usually don’t have masks for the clear parts. What I do is to cut a length of masking take, slice it into smaller strips, tape it into the clear part, and with a fresh blade I do the cutting. Takes lots of time, and results (for me) are most times messy, but it works.
I have the same question as Aggieman-do you mean masking the canopy, or masking the opening for the cockpit?
If you mean the opening for the cockpit itself, I have a similar tip to Aggieman’s, but using facial tissue. Simply wet pieces of facial tissue and stick them gently into the cockpit. Arrange them so they come up to the canopy rails or the edges of the cockpit. They’ll dry hard and fill it. When you have finished painting, you can wet the tissue paper to remove it.
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@the_Baron If you don’t mind, I’m going to “steal” that technique. That actually sounds like a better approach that cotton balls, which don’t always conform to the shape of the cockpit.
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Be my guest, man!
(crap, need 20 characters to save, adding this line)
Canopy. Sorry for not mentioning that.
The canopy framing is way small so I’m going to do some experimenting to see what works best for my old hand.
I just didn’t want to spend 8 to 10 dollars for masks when the kit was only 20. Besides I’m learning something new and it’s fun!
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No worries. It’s a good idea to learn new things, and certainly a fair point to not spend additional bucks especially in that ratio.
Mark4mn, I’m in the same situation that you’re in. I have several 1/72 bombers in my stash but the idea of masking those tiny canopy frames is very daunting to me.
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Yeah, more often than not, I’ll just paint the frame by hand, because it’s less effort than masking then spraying. When I do mask, I just use Tamiya tape.
Ok. After trying different masking and hand painting on a test canopy, I finally settled on my path forward.
I’m going to air brush after masking with parafilm per Jon Bias’ method here:
https://www.jonbius.com/2018/05/02/masking-canopies-with-parafilm/
Was easy to apply, easy to remove even with dry paint. Final cleanup will be done with a toothpick.
Thank you to all for the ideas and advice.
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I’ve gone through 2 rolls of Parafilm over the course of my adult years building models, but never have thought of this use case. I don’t currently have any on hand, but having used this stuff previously, I can certainly see how this will work for this use case. Ultimately this would be cheaper than constantly purchasing Montex Mask sets, so I think I’ll get another roll or two.
I tried Parafilm to mask a canopy but found it too fiddly for my taste.
Where can you find Parafilm? Art supply,hobby, or crafts type store?
Has anyone here tried using bare metal foil to mask canopy frames? I remember seeing someone use it in a magazine many years ago.
I got mine on Amazon.
The roll I got was 2 inches by 250 feet. Was $30. There are cheaper choices (less than $10) but I got what Jon used.
It also work well on larger surfaces and cuts nicely.
You can try laboratory/science suppliers, too. It was made to seal test tubes.