I’m used to building car models, therefore I’ve never come across this method of painting. Normally, I paint up my cars peiceby peice, assemble, spray paint the body as a whole (the body shell resting on the floor/newspaper) and then final assembly. Since there are only 3 sides to a body (top, left, right) its relatively easy to paint.
I’m not building a 1/144 scale Antonov (commercial jet), and I’m at a bit of a loss when it comes to painting the fuselage and wings!
I plan on painting the wings seperately (grey/aluminum) and the painting the entire assembled fuseage as a whole.
But since its essentually a round tube, I’m a bit confused as how to paint this thing!
I guess I can paint the underside first, turn it over and pain the top…but then the underside will touch the table and get all messed up.
Is there some way to make the plane “float” in mid-air so I can paint it all? [%-)][banghead] LOL
stick a bamboo skewer or some other stick-type device into some opening where no paint will go. where engines attach for example, i usually end up leaving the prop off and putting it on later but that’s not going to be possible for this one i guess. then you can either hold on to the stick or just plant it in a piece of styrofoam to paint and/or dry.
If the fuselage is going to be a different color than the wings. Tie a piece of fishing line around each wing since you wont be painting there and then suspend the plane from the top of your spray booth or shelf or beam in the basement. suspend it like it is going straight up in the air, like the space shuttle. Since you’re not painting the wings the fishing line doesnt get in the way and you can walk around the whole model.
Great idea and I do the same, but won’t work in this case. Multi color paintjobs mean some part of the plane is taped off. Use that area to hold or attach a clamp, your fingers, etc. to and spray on…and on…stay[8D]
hmm…good point. Actually, the entire belly of the plane will be painted grey/aluminum, whereas the rest of the fuselage is white, so I guess I can stick it onto a yardstick or something, and have the plane pointing straight up, and paint around it…