Painting masked canopies

[Stevekir]

Canopies and other clear parts are usually masked and glued to the fuselage before the whole model is primed, camouflage* colour coated, and varnished. This means of course that all parts, including the metal framework of canopies, will be given five coats (one primer, two colour coats, two varnishes). This will produce a certain thickness of paint. (I use Vallejo Model Air.)

The metal bars on a 1/72 model are very narrow. Is there a risk that this thickness of paint (supported by such a narrow part) will be fragile and get knocked off with wear? If so, miss out the primer by using an overall mask on the canopy? Or would the varnish coats protect it?

*I have only recently discovered that "camouflage has a "u" in it! Wikipedia says "it is...either by making objects or animals hard to see (crypsis), or by disguising them as something else (mimesis). Fancy that! (I reckon politicians are into mimesis!)

 

[tecdes]

Steve I would not put hard & fast rules to model making . A lot depends on circumnstances.

Sometimes if the canopy is a prefect fit I will fit last.

Certainly would not fit during priming time. Usually, if the canopy is fitted early I will have a thin coat of the finished colour followed by another full coat.

Then I give a coat of gloss varnish for decals but mask all the canopy. Then finally after decals I finish with matt varnish.

Some probably most use Klear. Dip the canopy in the stuff before masking etc. to give a sparkle to the plastic. I have found that this is easy to scratch. Not found much difference between Kleard 7 UnKleared by that is all about a matter of opinion & looks.

You are right Steve camouflage is a devil of a word. Got my self tied up in knots when originally using the word. Sounds a bit Frenchy to me.

Laurie

 

[Adrian "Marvel" Reynolds]

I fix mine as I spray the main body, but unlike most I then remove once all painting is done, remove my BMF and the dip in Klear once a day for 3 days then use a fine brush to apply the Vallejo matt finish to the areas that need it.

Adrian

 

[Stevekir]

Thanks Laurie. So, no priming of canopies or gun turrets. The clearparts in my Revell 1/72 Lancacter (Dambusters) consist of two gun turrets; the bombaimer's window; and the main canopy. Also many little windows (no metal framework) which have already been glued and masked. The main canopy and the bombaimer's window fit perfectly so I propose glueing them and totally covering them when priming.

My plan for the two turrets is that they will be fully painted separately, then glued after the whole model has been fully painted and varnished. This is because both have attached or touching parts of another colour with a complex attaching or touching line which I could not mask successfully. Also, one of the touching parts also touches the fuselage (see sketch, the part is in pink):



so I plan to paint that part and glue it at the last minute after the turret is glued and the whole model painted.

Thanks for your advice, also Ade.

 

[tecdes]

Yes Stve I made this one about a year ago at the same scale great fun ha ha with so many clear plastic bits. The bomb aimers little lookout is great fun to detail paint ha ha again !

Couple of things which may help. If you are putting the aerial rigging on. One part is attached to the main cabin canopy. Do better than me I used super dooper glue to attach the elastic thread I use to the canopy. Clever clogs thought that a minute drop would be OK. It was & glued the thread perfectly but left a misty splodge on the canopy. In future on an item such as this I would drill a minute hole thread the thread through to the inside of the plastic & use a non threatening glue. All of course before fitting the canopy.

Also another thing was to get the divison line between the black under belly & the top camouflage in the right place. Any photo of a Lancaster will show the line. Interesting just reading, between moving home, Alanbrooke's diaries of WW11 & he mentions that Churchill he & others came back from Gibraltor in a York. Seems this was a civilised Lancaster fitted out more like an air liner. Does not mention if this was a one off or a series.

Laurie

 

[Stevekir]

Thanks Laurie.

 

[BarryW]

I do not apply transparencies until after all the painting, varnishing and weathering unless for some reason they have to be fitted before joining the fuselage for instance.

That said I have never been happy with the finishes I have obtained. I have been using Eduard masks and I find them very difficult to remove them 'clean' without taking some of the paint away or leaving some residue behind. Consequently after reading an article I have been experimenting with parafilm m. So far it looks good on a few test pieces. If I get satisfactory results on a kit I will publish the results on the forum.

 

[Stevekir]

Consequently after reading an article I have been experimenting with parafilm m. So far it looks good on a few test pieces. If I get satisfactory results on a kit I will publish the results on the forum.

Interesting. Yes, please do.

I have been spending happy hours applying Eduard masks on my Lanc, which has 97 separate glazing panels! I'm quite enjoying it actually — its quietly hypnotic.

Your point noted about residue. Have you found a solvent which dissolves it? (Cellulose Thinners, White Spirit, Acrylic paint thinner, Vallejo Airbrush Cleaner?)

 

[tecdes]

Never used masks. On one model they came with another lot of decals. But I decided afterlooking at them that they would not be as accurate & accomodating to curves as good masking tape.

Be interested to get views on how good they are or not form those who have experience.

Laurie

 

[Stevekir]

That said I have never been happy with the finishes I have obtained.

I think I will be the same. Some examples I have seen are magnificent. For example, this is a scan of a model made as a review in the 2005 Issue 4 "Model Airplane International" mag. I would like to know what such an expert (John Macillmurray) does to achieve that:

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