Hello;
I have nerver painted an airplane with its canopy spot glued in place after masking. I normaly stuff the cockpit area with wet tissue and let dry. Are there any tips for painting with it in place. I know I will have to shoot the interior color first and then the color coats. Thanks for any help.
Bill
Bill,
When I do it I use a snake of Bluetack and run it around the cockpit opening then I squish the canopy on and use a piece of bluetack to scrape the outside remainder off. It works well and will keep the canopy in place and keep the overspray out of the pit.
Wherever possible I attach the canopy, then paint. It eliminates gaps or the need for fiddling with the canopy after painting.
I attach the canopy with diluted white glue, which also serves as a seal to prevent paint from sneaking in where the canopy joins the fuselage. Sometimes this takes several applications to be certain.
To do this, I seat the canopy in place, and run the diluted glue into the seam with a small paintbrush. (Sometimes, with a bigger gap, I use straight undiluted glue, and place the canopy on top of it–but be careful not to use too much, or it might squish up on the inside; very unsightly!)
Let it dry (usually overnight), then wipe over it with a damp q-tip, to clean off any overage. The object is to leave the glue only in the seam. Even when dry for a few days, white glue on bare plastic comes off very easily–not so easy on top of paint.
Then you can paint the interior color as you suggested, and move right on immediately to the exterior color.
The white glue (like Elmer’s) seems to hold well enough; I’ve never had it pull off.
Maybe I should also clarify that this isn’t spot-gluing, but the way the canopy remains, permanently attached.
i always have my canopy glued down before spraying some paint.
I stopped using white glue on my canopies about 15 builds ago. I use Tamiya Ultra Thin Glue for about 95% of my build and CA just where needed. I have 2 jars of Tamiya Ultra Thin glue at any given time during construction. One jar is for the general building, the other one is used for canopies and more delicate parts. Even if you don’t use the glue on painted parts, it turns on time whitish/milky and for the canopy I want the glue totally clean.
Once the canopy is masked, just place it on your model. Using the provided brush tip on the jar, point the tip where the clear part meets the model. Trust me, the gap will suck the glue in by itself and because the canopy is clear, you get to see where the glue has gone to. Add more glue where necessary. It is a fast non-messy method.
I often paint my builds with canopy in place.
I use Testor’s Clear Parts Cement (I think that’s the full name). Have never had any issues with it fogging the clear parts and it really does dry crystal clear.
I’d avoid using any form of CA as that can fog the canopy and Liquid Cements can cause burns on the clear parts.
Apart from that, sounds like you’re ready to go.
chris.
When I came back to the hobby in 2009, I started using the Testors glue you mention. But I stopped using it because it tends to settle after a few days without being used. So every time I was going to use it, I had to press the bottle until all the watery glue came out first and then the good glue started to flow. Shaking the bottle before use didn’t seem to help. I was wasting more glue that way than the one used on the models.
Then I started using Aleene’s Tacky Glue from Michaels or Walmart. It is a lot cheaper than Testors and does the job equally well (or better IMO).Aleene’s is water based glue as well, pretty much like Elmer’s Glue but is tackier. Then I did tried Tamiya Ultra Thin and never looked back. No burns or marring at all on clear parts to report.
On some planes the front, fixed portion of the canopy (windscreen?) had virtually no seam between the frame and the fuselage. It was painted same color as fuselage and finished at same time. On these it is best to mask canopy and paint at same time as fuselage. If the canopy is a two-piece one, you have the option of just painting the forward portion, leaving the aft portion off, and stuffing cockpit. With one piece canopies it is best to paint at least the forward portion at same time as fuselage.
If fact, if the fit of front part of canopy is not real good, you should fill and sand the seam. To prevent scratching windscreen the actual windscreen area should be masked even for the filling and sanding.
what about microscale kristal klear
Unless the canopy is a completely different color from the rest of the aircraft (as with many P-47s that would have blue or red or black or natural metal canopies over olive drab…), I usually place at least the static pieces of the canopy on the model before painting.
And mask them BEFORE I attach.
Sliding canopies I paint off the model and attach at the end. Same with any hinged parts.
To attach, I use Gator’s Grip glue. Just a very thin bead applied with an old airbrush needle does the trick.
i been hearing a lot of good reviews on gator grip. i need to give it a try.
Thanks guys for alot of good answers. Gator grip glue is fantastic. I couldnt have done the PE cockpit without it.
Bill