Swanny: Greetings from a mechanical engineer in Cincinnati, in the opposite corner of Ohio from you. I love your site, particularly your “Tools and Tips” section. I often refer people there when I recognize a problem that you’ve addressed.
I am in a bit of a pickle, sort of. I am building a 1/48 Hasegawa F-14D (I know your interest is WWII stuff), and I have no idea how I’m going to mask the wheel wells prior to painting the overall a/c colors. I anticipate that the nose gear well will get stuffed with tissues or TP, dampened, and perhaps a portion of the main wells, too. Here’s a photo of the main gear well area:
The area towards the rear of the plane, the smaller, narrower portion, I don’t even know where to begin. How would you attack masking that area? In the photo above, there is a part not yet installed, in that narrow area, just above the intake trunk.
I would appreciate any help you (or anyone else) can give me. I have your site bookmarked, it’s second only to FSM, I visit it often. I’m going to post a “general help” thread, and ask the admin to make it “sticky”. Basically it will be “for help with just about any model building problem go to Swanny’s site”.
I build mostly 1/48 WW2, but looking at the area to be painted, I would paint the wheel wells last. The only Tomcat I’ve done was a 1/72, but I didnt worry about the wheel wells as the bottom of mine was white as well. I mask wheel wells after the color coat has completely cured. Using Scotch Magic tape, with the adhesive made less aggressive by putting it on the back of my hand first, I cover the opening. Then, using a sharp #11 X-acto knife, I trim the center area out, using the molded edges as a guide. Add some more low adhesive tape around the area to avoid any disaster from overspray, & spray the wheel well color. I believe white in this case. Remove the tape and Voila, perfectly painted wheel well.
Hey MACooke! I’ve found that painting the white wheel wells first and then trying to mask is too difficult. My favorite method is to paint the gear wells after the main paint job. That way I can just lay some frosted scotch tape over the opening, poke a sharp knife blade through and then use the well as a guide to cut the tape. Then mask off the area around the wells to protect the main paint from overspray. It’s easier than it sounds.
Now in your case, you could use liquid mask or you’ll just have to cut masking tape into strips and apply them to the inside of the well. you can also use cotton balls to fill some voids so you won’t have to try fill the bottom of the well with tape. Hope this helps
edit
Man, I’m a slow typist! RJK, you’re too fast! Looks like I just started as you were finishing.
I do not see a problem here. I would paint the interiors first, do any washes and/or weathering in there then start packing with tissue. Once it’s mostly packed and you still have some odd ends sticking out take some water, just a drop or two on your fingertip and wet the tissue then finish packing it with a dental pick or toothpick. Once the tissue dries it will actually harden and hold the shape even under direct airbrushing at 20psi. Look at my Bv-215 build - very similar wheel bays and that is exactly how I did it. Just needed very minor touchup around the edges when the tissue was removed.
Thanks Bert…aren’t you doing a group build…maybe a US Navy jet?
Thanks Swanny! I’m looking at your Bv-215, what a craft! I am amazed at how much the inlet looks like that of our F-86 Sabre. You just have way more tricks up your sleeve than I, that’s why you have a website with tutorials, and why I read them!
I use the liquid mask from Micro Scale. I tried the Vallejo masks but they were C R A P!!
Paint it on, let dry, then put on one or two more layers. When done, peel it, and the whole well should come out just fine and dandy. I was sceptical, but it worked out in the end.
I did not like the blue-tac or the tissue, and masking tape don’t work (I’m not nimble enough with my fingers/knife.
