Need tips from the pros

dors · **Posted:** Thu Aug 04, 2005 6:59 pm

I just finished up my first model since I was a kid. Tamiya's 1/48 Brewster Buffalo. I am fairly pleased with it but I am not too happy with the way the canopy turned out. I was wondering what techniques some of you guys use for canopy ribbing, and frames.
I have experimented with liquid mask and painters masking tape and wasn't pleased with either.
So how do you guys make it look so easy?

- Jeff

Don Martin · **Posted:** Thu Aug 04, 2005 8:47 pm

Try ParaFilm, Jeff. It's a surgical covering, but makes a nice mask. It's like a thick plastic wrap(comes in 2' wide rolls). After you stretch it out it becomes very thin and conforms to your canopy or whatever you are masking(camo?) . Then take a sharp hobby knife, cut your frame(or whatever)outlines and remove the strips where you want to paint and go for it! when the paint is dry, take a toothpick(so as not to scratch your canopy that you so painstakingly polished or dipped in Future floor polish!)and remove the rest! And it is very forgiving so if you accidently put a hole in it, another little piece is all it takes to fix it. If your local hobby shop doesn't carry it, try Micro-Mark. I don't have their website, but they used to carry it.
Don

CorsairFreak · **Posted:** Sat Aug 06, 2005 8:17 am

I just use a brush and paint it on. Then I take the blade, holdling at a big slant and scrap it off. Works great.

tom d. friedman · **Posted:** Sat Aug 06, 2005 9:30 pm

use the stuff......... liquid mask!!!!! it goes on goopy, dries, apply your paint between the stuff / area you covered..... let dry till of gummy texture, lift & peel off with a toothpick with a rolling method. works like a charm, even if you have parkinson's disease!!! (bad joke) i think it's called liquid mask??!!! works wonders on canopies with alot of frame work detail. best, tom

CWBuff · **Joined:** Tue Jul 19, 2005 1:14 am **Posts:** 854

My advice is to try many different things and see what works for you. Everyone has a technique that works for them but which may not work for others.

I have yet to find a method of masking canopies that is totally satisfactory to my tastes/standards and it's the one part of aircraft modeling which could drive me to build targets... er... tanks! LOL

Anyhoo, I've toyed with pretty much every kind of tape known to man and that's what I've had the best luck with. The most success I've had has been with masking/drafting/painter's tape and a fairly low-tack tape used by sign-makers which is called transfer tape. There are two basic types of this stuff, one is plastic-based and the other is paper-based. The paper stuff adheres very well to curves, especially compound curves, and works really well for canopies while the plastic stuff is useless for this application. I used to work in a sign shop and so have a lifetime supply of the stuff, but you can get transfer tape at a well-stocked art store and blueprint shops.

The technique I use with tape is quite different from most... I mask all the vertical frames and then spray 'em, removing the tape immediately. Several days after I will do the same for the horizontal frames and then any odd-ball areas.

For circular stuff I've used liquid mask, but I've never had much luck with it in general. It just doesn't meet my standards. I've also toyed with cutting circular tape masks with a punch-n-die set, although this doesn't always work well, dependant upon the surface to which they're applied. If the surface is flat, all is A-O-K. Otherwise, it can be a headache.

A friend of mine swears by Bare Metal Foil, which is a very thin adhesive-backed foil marketed for detailing car models. When applied to a canopy the frames show through very well and he cuts them out accordingly. I've yet to try it although I may do so some day. I've also toyed with using aluminum foil either as a mask or as the frames themselves, as it conforms to curves very well and would need only a bit of adhesive to tack it on. Some day I'll experiment with those ideas...

Parafilm is great stuff in general but I've not really tried it too much for masking canopies. I'd say that it has fairly good potential.

Finally, there are mask sets available for many models. Eduard is the leader in this area and they make a bewildering number of mask sets. Cutting Edge also makes them and there was a Canadian outfit that made them, although I dunno if they're still around.

Pre-cut masks are a good idea in theory, but they don't always work well. I've tried a few of them and had varying results. The pre-cut pieces don't always fit well and it was then that all the other methods I've tried in the past came in handy.

Again, try as many different techniques as you can and see what works for you because everyone is different and although I may swear by a certain technique, you or someone else may find it unsatisfactory...

Fade to Black...

kalamazookid · **Posted:** Sun Aug 07, 2005 2:35 pm

Pre-cut masks usually do the trick for me. I've used them on a Wildcat, Avenger, and now a reazorback Thunderbolt and they've worked pretty well. Sometimes they are a bit oversived and you need to cut them down, but other than that their great! You should probably experiment with different things and see what works best before you commit to doing it a ceratin way. Good luck with your next project!