I always use good ol’ Scotch tape and an X-Acto.
Works for me!
No, it has never removed the paint for me.
I apply it via a cotton bud (Qtip), and use a twisting motion rather than rubbing all over the place.
This gives total control of the area your removing the adhesive from, which would only be the clear part of the canopy frame.
Works like a charm.
A couple of questions:
How do these various methods work with Future?
tweety, does the citrus cleaner do anything to a future finish?
I’ve tried liquid, parafilm, and tape. Currently I’m sticking with Tamiya tape most of the time for WWII type frameing, paramfilm I’ll use for all clear compound curve areas usually found on jets.
The main draw back in my mind is the time required to cut out the framing or mask around the framing. So I’ve used this technique with some success for WWII type framing. Cut the tape into thin strips, mask only on the horizontal direction, paint, then mask in the vertical direction and paint. This of course makes painting a 2 step (days) process, but it sure cuts down on the actual masking/cutting time. I’ve even used spray cans for painting with good results.
I’ve used white glue (applied with a toothpick) for 20+ years. I’ve tried a bunch of other methods, but I always come back. It’s cheap, easily adaptable and works fine over Future. On canopy pieces where the frame lines aren’t clear—or on some vac canopies—a little light scribing before assembly helps. I make sure to trap a tiny bubble in each section, and (carefully) use a sewing needle to remove the dried glue panels when the finish is done. Works great.
Greg
I normally paint the frames by hand. I have tried Tamyia tape, scotch tape, and 3M and other types of tape but I normally end up stripping them off and going by hand and use a sharp toothpick to rub off any paint that goes where I don’t want it to be and run the toothpick along the edge as well. I tried parafilm a few times but could never get the stuff to work for me. I would like to try BMF sometime but the cost just keeps turing me away. I will try it one of these days.
Depending on the type of aircraft I am working on I’ll either use parafilm or tape/liquid mask. parafilm works wonders on jet canopies and helicopter windscreens especially over a coat of future. The key to parafilm is a gloss finish and a sharp blade. otherwise,
for the gridded types, I use masking tape for the edges and fill the centers with liquid mask.
Invaribly when I have paint crawl under the mask, a toothpick cut at a 45 degree angle makes short work of the clean up.
The Future is fine, I only moisten the Q tip, it doesn’t take much to remove the adhesive.
Creep is one thing the foil DOESN’T allow to happen. Thats another reason I use it.
As for cost, yeah it was a bit expensive in the beginning, but I’ve done 5 kits in 1/48 scale, and 2 helo’s in 1/72, and have maybe used 1/5th of the sheet so far.
I reckon I could easily get 50+ kits, or 40 after I do a couple of 1/32 scale birds.
Like Waikong, I tend to use the two day method of masking and painting the horizontal frames, then working on the vertical frames when the former are dry.
I use thin strips of 3M Scotch plastic blue tape, burnished at the edges.
Of course, some paint will creep under the mask, no matter how misty your airbrushed coats are. In order to minimize this, I spray a light first coat of Future floor finish (to seal the edges of the mask,) followed by light layers of the finish colour.
I use a knife to score along the edges of the mask before removing it, in order to prevent it from pulling up any of the framing paint.
Wow, I thought I was a Neanderthal ! (I might still be), but I’m really surprised at all my fellow free handing cohorts. I’m not alone. Man is it nice when the canopy frame is raised a bit. Then it’s a piece of cake.
Greg - your white glue idea sounds good.
I think I’ll try that on my 1/72 P-40 to see how it works. Thanks !
Chris
Greg -
I’m equally intrigued by your white glue method, but I’m not sure I understand. You use the glue as a mask or ??? I’d like to give it a try but I’m sure I’d end up with a cloudy canopy.
I use either Tamiya tape or a mix of tamiya tape and liquid Mr. Mask thinned with water. I use Parafilm too on occasions.
i have been modeling for some time and mainly use masking tape and a razor to mask off canopies. but after reading a few posts and seeing that bmf is popular, i am interested in this method. any help in this area would be of great help.
Are you using enamels? I would assume this citrus-based cleaner would not be too friendly to water-soluable paints like Acrylics.
Yukonrob:
I use regular white glue as a mask.
I usually attach my canopies before painting (if canopy is to be opened afterward, I’ll tack that section in place with white glue as well), and do whatever filling and finishing is necessary around the “gaps.” Then I do a coat of Future, usually by brush, and let it cure at least 24 hrs.
As I mentioned before, if the molded frames are absent or unclear, I rescribe them (before attachment) lightly, because the mask needs a clean, defined edge to “grab.”
Then I apply a little dab of Elmer’s to the center of each panel, and use a very pointed toothpick to run the glue up to the frame lines. Occasionally it will try to pull away, in which case I “coax” it and blow on it to make it set up. Usually it will just grab the frame and stay put nicely. (If you overrun a frame, surface tension will usually let you draw the glue back and away. If a panel seems unfixable, just wait a few minutes till it’s dry, remove the whole thing, and try again.) I try to trap a bubble near a corner to make it easier to remove later. (I’ve gotten pretty adept at manufacturing these bubbles where they don’t occur naturally.)
When all the panels are dry, I prime the frames with the interior color, then spray the regular o/a finish. The only caution I’d add is that if multiple coats are required for the scheme, try to keep those on the canopy area itself as few and thin as possible.
After whatever weathering and clearcoat is used (and I usually do all enamels—I can’t vouch for how well it might work with acrylics), I use a sewing needle to gently pierce the bubble in each panel and gently pry up the corner, then nudge the point underneath and “peel” the mask away from the frame edges. Usually it peels cleanly, sometimes it just pops off in one piece. I’ve never used any method that didn’t sometime need touch-ups, but this method has always seemed to limit the necessity.
Three other things. I’ve tried it both with or without the Future undercoat, and found that the Future seems to actually help the mask remove more easily. I’ve also found that if I remove the masks while my clearcoat is still reasonably fresh (i.e., before a long time to cure), it seems to increase the chances of only the mask coming up, without pulling flakes of clearcoat or paint as well. Last, the peeled-off glue panels are great for touchups or hard-to-reach areas; they’re already a perfect color and finish match (inside and out), can be cut into thin strips easily with a razor blade, and applied simply by wetting the white glue rear side and gently burnishing them in place with the toothpick tip for virtually flawless repairs.
Sorry to all for being so long-winded—I didn’t intend to write a manual. It’s simpler to do than it is to describe.
Best regards
Greg
No, I use strictly acrylics, except when I can’t obtain the colour I need, then I will use enamels.
If need be, I some times take a square section of paper towel, and fold it into an arrow head shape, then with a pair of tweezers I dip it into the cleaner, and using the pointy end I touch it on the canopy, and work my way around from the outside to the inside.
This is only on small windows, like 109 front screens.
It really is simple, which is the main reason I do it!![;)]
Heres a perfect example of my faith in Foil.
The canopy in the top left has windscreen wipers.
The one on the left was slightly inboard of the window frame, about 1/2 a millimetre, and at an angle so the bottom of the wiper is sitting on the frame.
There is no way I could have gotten tape or a liquid mask to sit in that gap and leave the wiper ass’y clear to be painted.
I could have left it, but me being me, I just cant help myself
[sigh]
[:0] WOW…THAT is awsome !
maybe I gotta try that BMF, plus citrus based cleaner method.
what are your folks biggest problems with Parafilm M? I still think its pretty darn easy to use. The white glue method seems tedious to me.
Parafilms a good product, don’t get me wrong, but I couldn’t get it to work for me[:(]
No matter what I tried, it just wouldn’t ‘stick’ to the canopy.
And I tried ALOT of different methods.
But I still use mine for curved masking, like painting the cowl on a 109, or for thin lines that run around some aircraft like the fuselage.
Parafilms great for that, doesn’t give a big chunky demarcation line, and allows zero creep under it.
Plus it conforms to all the lumps and bumps like exhausts etc.