As suggested by Red Firecracker, I'm going to create a 'Modelling Tips' wiki.

I hope that everyone who visits this forum will use this to ask or answer questions and share advice and tips about their hobby.

I would also like to stress that this is open to questions and contributions about ALL types of modelling (except the catwalk variety) - aeroplanes, cars, bikes, R/C....

Painting canopies

Learn to mask carefully with masking tape. This can be made easier and better by trimming the tape lengthways with a steel rule on a cutting mat first. This thinner strip will be easier to bend round the curves and the cut edge will be straighter and less likely to bleed. After applying burnish down the edge with the end of a blunt cocktail stick to again make sure no paint bleeds under the tape.

For your first coat of paint use black or what ever colour should appear on the inside, then apply the outward camo colours ontop.

Believe me, the more you do it the easier it gets and you will be impressed with the better finish if you take the time and effort.

Painting wheels - 1

Paint the centres first.
Then use a very diluted mix of your tyre colour and using a very fine pointed brush just touch the crease where the wheel joins the tyre so the paint spreads using capillary action. Touch a few times round the outside till the crease is filled in. Then you will find it easier to paint the rest of the tyre not having to go too close to the wheel centre.
Again the more you do it the easier it gets.

Painting wheels - 2

My current way of painting wheels is -

paint wheeel centres in metallic or whatever colour is required

mask off centres/hubs using a circular disc of Tamiya masking tape. I use a metal template/stencil device to cut out the tape to the required diameter.

Place the discs of tape over the wheel centres/hubs

spray paint the tyres with the appropriate colour (Tamiya Nato Black works well for me)

remove masks

touch up hub detail using a wash. I now use Games Workshop Black and Sepia washes for this

dirty up tyres if appropriate using powdered pastels

Eric Mc

CANOPY FRAMING

I often use tape painted in the airframe colour to mark the canopy frame, I have used clear "Sellotape" sometimes so the inside framing colour can be seen inside.

First paint it the inner colour then when dry paint the outside colour which helps make it look realistic

Hopefully these pictures will show the effect



This is the Shackleton I made yonks ago, frames stand out quite clearly

But this is a member of the same Family, in all it's real life glory. The Avro York from Cosford's Cold War museum



As you see here the real frames are quite visible too.