Hello All,
I’m building the old Matchbox 1:72 scale Wellington Bomber and before I continue on I need to figure out the best way of masking the fuselage windows before before painting etc. any suggestions?
If I can’t find a set of Eduard canopy masks I either use Tamiya or yellow Frog tape, press it to the canopy/window and, carefully and gently, cut around the frames with a very sharp #11 x-acto blade. Peel away the frame areas and paint. It’s painful on bombers with complex windows but it gives a very clean look.
I’ve used lots of stuff…masking tape, “sticky tack” paraform M…liquid masking products, and to be honest, I like masking tape the best, the blue painters tape with low tack.
One thing to keep in mind, you can make a “chissle” from clear sprue and cleanup the “under tape leaks”, tooth picks also work. Anything softer than the plastic but harder than the paint. Take care of it as soon as the paint is dry enough to remove the mask, sooner is easier than later.
Have fun !
Another thing that works very well is Bare Metal Foil. Use it just like masking tape. Make sure to dip the clear part in Future first and let it dry a day or so before using the Bare Metal Foil, though - the adhesive from the foil is hard to remove from the clear parts if the foil is left on for more than a few days (ask me how I know) if you don’t use Future to coat the clear stuff first. Anyways, apply the foil to the entire clear piece and burnish it down well with a toothpick tip or something similar. This will make the panel lines stand out very prominently. Then, using an unused #11 X-Acto knife blade, score along all of the panel lines, then remove the foil covering the panel lines, leaving the clear panels foiled over. Afterwards, make sure to burnish again the foil around the panel lines to prevent seepage, then paint. After the paint has dried for a few hours (but hasn’t completely cured), carefully remove the foil from the panel lines. This will help keep the paint from pulling up with the foil. If the paint is completely cured when you remove the foil, it could possibly come up with the foil.
Bare metal foil?..You mean simply aluminum foil, (reynolds wrap)? Unfortuately this kit has raised panel lines on the INSIDE of each window…apart from the meticulous and time consuming method of cutting out tape to mask…I cannot think of an easier yet effective way of masking these bloody windows! Thanks!
Here’s the product Devil Dawg is referring to:
My only experience with it for canopy masking revealed the problem he mentioned as well, it will leave some sticky residue on the canopy but Goo Gone was what I used to remove that.