does anyone make or paint pre-painted canopies??? I have a 1/48 Monogram devastator that promises to be a good product but only if I don’t have to paint the canopies[:o)]
Hasegawa offered some of their 1/72 kits with prepainted canopies, but I am not aware of any in 1/48 and certainly not for the Monogram Devastator. You’ll have to do it the old fashioned way.
Have you tried Black Magic masks? If they don’t have one, I’ve found that liquid mask works very well. Or there’s the old stand-by of painting decal sheet and gluing it on.
I second what Knight667 said. Head to your hobby-shop and pick up some Parma Liquid Mask. You can either coat the whole canopy and lightly cut away the parts you want to paint, or you can simply coat the parts you want to mask off (which requires a relatively steady hand).
If you’ve got an airbrush, the other thing that you may want to think about is going to an acrylic paint and spraying the whole canopy with whatever color you want the frame to be. Then, after it’s completely dry, use a toothpick moistened with Simple Green (found in your grocery store’s house-cleaning fluids aisle), and carefully scraping away the paint from that places you want to leave clear. It’s a time-intensive method, but I’ve found it turns out rather well!
Good luck!
hey captainB …this spray the whole thing then clean out the clear areas with Simple Green thing sounds interesting…do you have any photos of a canopy you’ve done this way!
cheers! [:)]
Me, i like to do traditional masking… But I find that Tamiya Masking Tape is the BEST (so far, at least)… It’s not too tacky that it’ll peel off underlying paint and it’s thin enough that you can see canopy panel lines when you hold it up to the light. Just be sure to use a new #11 Xacto blade otherwise the tape will have little fibers around the edges…
Oh! Another useful tip i learned is to spray on some clear after masking. This way, if there are any places that the paint can bleed under the masking tape, it will happen when you spary the clear, and not for the actual paint.
Sorry, Mer. I sure don’t, at them moment. Perhaps I’ll run one up tomorrow just to show the technique. I think I’ve got a warbird kit or two among the 25 or 30 other kits I’ve got on the shelf.
Shrikes, thanks! [tup]
That last tip you gave seems worth a try - I have had a lot of probs with that at times. Will try it for sure!
You can minimise the effort with traditional masking if you only use tape to mask the edges of a transparency. Then use masking fluid or Copydex-type glue to mask the rest. This is quicker, easier and cheaper than using tape for the whole thing. this method can also be used for masking in general.
After reading all of the replys, I would have to agree that there are numerous ways to mask canopys and I do believe I have tried all of them. However, I must say that I prefer the “old fashion way,” I mask it with tape. I have found that what works best for me is 3M’s blue painter’s tape found in most home improvement centers. I use a straight edge to cut small strips of tape that I then put against the raised area and the “glass.” I make sure that I burnish the edges down to prevent any bleeding under the tape. I next fill all the open areas with small pieces of tape. The canopy is now ready for painting. Start with light cover sprays to prevent any liquidation (like that word?) of the paint. This helps to minimize any bleeding. Gradually build up the spray until the correct shade is obtained. After you remove the tape a small toothpick can be used to clean up any areas. This technique has worked extremely well for me.
Ed
To back up shrikes and orions suggestion, here are a few pics showing two German canopies that I masked using Tamiya yellow tape:
click any pic to enlarge (I kept the originals as 1024 x 768 to show detail)
This is from a Dornier Do 17z. Ignore the white painted areas. I had intended to paint it a few window frames at a time, but then thought better of it. This was done using a sharp #11 Exacto blade. It took about three hours to mask including three other pieces that are not shown (see sig pic).
Here it is with the finished camo applied. Note the fine line showing the pilots sliding window. Well worth the time to mask (for me).
This is from a Bv 141. If you slice the tape into narrow strips they will conform better to compound curves. I may try Chris’s idea to fill in the centers next time.
This canopy has yet to be painted. I used the #11 surgeons scalpel to trim, and the red on the blade edge is red “Sharpie” marker to remind me of which is the truly sharp edge!
The Bv canopy took about four and a half hours to mask, but it had 72 panes of glass compared to 51 total for the Dornier.
Although this is technique is time consuming, and you need a careful hand when trimming the tape, I have found it to be the best for my shaky hands. (I actually managed to not cut myself!).
Orion is correct in that it is very important to burnish the edges.
hope this helps,
stinger
I decided to try and manually paint the canopy on my 1/72 hurricane, and I felt it came out just fine. Took a liitle while and had some cleanup but it didnt fray my nerves like masking does. Just my 2 cents
Miller 41 -
I envy you that you have the talent to hand paint. I would do it that way also if I could. There are two reasons that I prefer to mask:
- I don’t have a steady enough hand.
- The overwhelming amount of individual windows on my German A/C.
Anyone who can hand paint fine lines like that is truly an artist. I take the long way around, and if I don’t like the way my masking looks, I can always remove it and redo it.
Just shows that there is more than one way to accomplish a task. Depends on the individual as to which works for them.
stinger