I have had terrible luck masking canopies and I need to change it. What are your preferred methods for masking a canopy?
I have used precut masks, tape, Ambroid E-Z mask and parafilm. I either get the paint bleeding under the mask or, when I remove the mask, it pulls up the paint. WHAT AM I DOING WRONG???
Tamiya masking tape & Humbrol Maskol
Pre-cut masks (love these babies)
Bare Metal foil
In all cases I make sure that I burnish down the mask with a toothpick before applying paint. Then before removing the mask I cut lightly along the edge of the canopy frame and the mask with a new No 11 blade to make sure that I don’t peel up the paint from the frame (I hope that made sense).
I use Scotch transparent (frosty) tape. It cuts cleanly, and the frame lines are clearly visible below the tape. It leaves no residue on a Futured canopy, as long as it’s not on for a couple weeks. And the price is right.
I usually use Tamiya tape, liquid masking, or purple painters tape… but I am interested in trying the scotch tape thing… the “canopy edges are clearly visible under the tape” thing caught my eye…
I too use a tooth pick or something with a slightly rounded edge to burnish down the tape… I have never had a problem with peeling paint back… not sure why but so far so good…
I like using LiquidMask by Microscale. I just had to learn that the thicker your coats the better & easier to get it off later. I remove it by applying a piece of blue masking tape to the area that was masked & then sort of rip it off. If it doesn’t come off the first time, it will loosen & work its way off nicely.
Missile,
Are you hand painting or airbrushing? The bleed under problem made me think that maybe you’re hand painting the canopies. It’s tough (IMO almost impossible) to mask an edge tight enough to prevent that if you’re using a brush.
Thanks for your help. I think my problem may have been in burnishing the edges down good. I will also have to try the scotch tape thing as mentioned by Pix. I have seen his canopies and they look good.
Now on to completing the Pfeil and then masking the canopy.
I was using an airbrush on the canopies - my hand isn’t too steady anymore.
I will let you know how it turns out and will post pictures.
I use a foto frisket then cut the edges for the frame. Once cut I take a small brush and brush a small amount of future around the edges of the mask and let it dry. Then paint as usual. The Future around the edges will prevent any bleed under.
For years, Ive used Frisket and MicroMask. But I now just used Tamiya Tape and by far it worked the best. But, it is very card to see the frames, so, on my current model, an SBD, I’m going to try the Scotch tape method.
Thanks,
Scott
If you try the Scotch tape, make sure it’s the “Invisible” (Frosty) kind. You can get cheaper store brands, but Scotch’s adhesive holds & leaves little to no residue on a Futured canopy. Any remaing residue can be easily removed bt dabbing the area with a fresh piece of tape.
Here’s how the frame lines appear with the tape.
The lines look like silvered decals because there’s air underneath. This space also makes it easier to cut with a new #11 blade, as the tape offers the least resistance to cutting here.
I’ve used masking tape, scotch tape and Bare Metal Foil. I liked the foil best. I cut it so it overlaps the frame and burnish it done good with a tooth pick. The foil is very thin and lets you see the frame lines very clear and it also cuts cleanly with a new, sharp knife blade. I also learned to prevent bleeding you can seal the edges of the tape or foil with future or clear coat, this works great as well. When you’re done painting the foil comes off very clean, leaves no residue.
i usually use tamiya tape, i get good results but masking is not my favourite part of building by any shot. i was just wondering if you brush on future after applying the mask, when you peel off the mask, wont i cause the future to go all cracky and stuff ? cos doesnt future dry hard and flaky ? ive never used future before so im just asking.
Just a quick tip. when I am airbrushing aircraft canopies… (ok i’ve done it 1 time so far on a zero,) is spray the first coat in the color of the aircrafts interier… let that dry and then spray the outside color over it… this allows the inside of the canopies to match your planes cockpit instead of looking inside and seeing the inner rails the exterier color… ( and i know its a pretty basic tip but i thought i’d throw it out there)
When airbrushing over anything other than masking fluid, use several light coats to cover- don’t let the paint make a “wet” layer on the masked areas! That’s when you get paint “creep” under the edges of the mask. You can try airbrushing a few light coats of Future first- that way if you get any creep, it’'ll be clear. The great airbrush illustration masters such as Petty and Vargas would mask an area, then spray down the color of the adjacent areas first, so that color would essentially “plug” the mask, preventing the new color from spoiling the illo. Make sense?
I can’t speak highly enough of having a coat of future on your canopy before masking… not only does it make for a better looking canopy, it gives you a little margin for error. I’ve been able to clean up small areas of bleed-under by simply rubbing the dried paint off with a toothpick, and it’s also easier to remove tape residue on those occiasons when i’m called away from the workbench for extended periods when a model is half painted!
Sounds right. If it is, it’s a handy list to have. Actually the first I’ve seen.
I lucked out on my last canopy. It was a natural metal B-36. I just used strips of Bare-Metal Foil! I heard you can airbrush decal film in the same way. I’ve never tried that, though. I’ll have to try the scotch tape idea, too!