In addition to what have been said, after burnishing the (what ever you use), I apply a little bit of Future around the frame, this will prevent that any paint runs underneath the tape, bare metal, etc. After the Future is completley dry, usually a day, I apply the paint by airbrush.
I hope it helps.
Saul
oh come on you guys, freehand all the way!!! No guts, no glory!!![;)]
Freehand?!?!?!?!??
Wait until you get older and the hands aren’t so steady. That is my problem.
Many thanks to all for your helpful replies. I will be getting ready to paint the Pfiel in a couple of weeks and will let you know how the masking went.
Hello Missle068 I sympathize completely with your canopy mask dilema! I have tried all the techniques listed here by fellow modellers and found them to be tedious and time consuming for me personally. Especially using tape and bare metal foil- just getting the foil off of its backing is enough to make me scream! My technique, which has never failed me yet, is the use of good old Elmers glue. The Elmers is used like any other liquid mask, but there are a few tricks to its use. first, you should very lightly ( and I mean very lightly) score the canopy where the frame meets the clear panel. This causes a minute ridge that keeps the mask from flowing onto the frame portion of the canopy. Next, Measure out about 1 teaspoonful of Elmers into an old plastic film canister or similar mixing vessel. Add water until the glue has the consistency of pancake batter - This is about 1 teaspoon of water to one teaspoon of Elmers. Now, add three to four drops of dishwashing soap ( Joy, Dawn, etc.). The soap eliminates the surface tension of the mixture, and prevents it from beading up like water on a freshly waxed car. Now, you paint this mixture directly on the panel you want to mask with a fine pointed brush. Start about an eigth of an inch from the canopy frame, and gently push the mixture TOWARDS the frame. The previously scored area will stop the glue cold, and produce a very clean and straight demarcation! When the elmers dries, it takes on an opaque frosty appearance which contrasts nicely from the unpainted frame. Now you airbrush as usual and let the canopy sit for a day or two. To remove the mask, simply pierce in the center of the panel with a toothpick and gently push. In most cases the mask will peel off in one piece, with no residue at all. If your paint job requires more than one color or many coats of paint ( such as a three color Vietnam scheme), then you should repeat the gentle scoring procedure described earlier, since the thicker the paint the more difficult it is to seperate the mask in corners and frame boundries. This method requires very little practice, and doesnt waste reams of expensive Bare Metal foil, plus it never allows “paint creep” because its virtually air tight. I masked a Junkers Ju-88 canopy with its gazillion clear panels in less than 30 minutes. Give it a try I think you will like it! Heja 1
Heja will this work with any kind of white glue or just elmers ? this looks like the bes masking method ive ever heard of. EVER ! its perfect !
Heja1,
Do you use Future on the canopy BEFORE the Elmer’s?
Thanks for the info.
Missile
VERY lightly sanding (600+) the area to be painted will give the paint something to grab onto and will help eliminate your paint-peel problem. Also waterborne paints tend to be pliable and stretchy whereas oil-based paints dry harder and more brittle = no peel. Been a LONG TIME since I was building and painting, but I am a painting contractor, and we deal with these issues all time.
Superglue here, canopys are my worst subject !! I use pre-cut masks from Cutting edge model works…There great !! Burnishing the edges are the most important part…I use the end of a paint brush…Even when brushing the paint , i get great results!! Let the future dry a few extra days…Mike
I use the Scotch ( green box) tape but i de-tack it on mt forehead before applying, burnishing and cutting with the sharp knife.
It works every time , no bleed at all
if i de-tacked the scotch tape on my forehead, it prolly would not stick, considering my forehead was just bought by exxonMobil for oil production purposes… [;)]
To all,
Again, thanks for the helpful hints.
Oggy…I can almost picture you sitting there making a canopy with several strips of tape hanging on your forehead. WHAT A SIGHT!!!
Reggie… I used to have the same problem. It goes away with age.
I will be masking a canopy this weekend and painting it. I will let everyone know how it went. The Pfeil is coming together nicely. Just need more paint.
Cheers,
Missile
Yep thats about it…[tup]
mike[:p]