First model in years....

[onyx39]

I am just starting my first model in ages. A close friend of mine who was fantastic at building kits passed away at Christmas and I have decided to get back into making models in his memory if that makes sense.

I started with something which I hope will be quite simple in a bridge layer ( I think its a Tamiya kit, but am away from home tonight so cannot check), I intend to keep the painiting to a minimum, and once I get one under my belt, have a crack at something a little more complex. My problem in the past has akways been rushing them, but I am a little older and maybe wiser than when I last tried!

I m going to move onto something with wings next, but always struggled with canopies... any tips for doing these?

[_Al_]

I finished my first kit in ages the other night. It was an F14 snap-together with the canopy integrated into the upper moulding. That might help!

[SlipStream77]

onyx39 said:

I m going to move onto something with wings next, but always struggled with canopies... any tips for doing these?

There are several ways to deal with canopies, the first is to build an aircraft that doesn't have one, like something from WWI.

If the canopy is simple, with straight lines on the frame, it is possible to paint tape and then cut it into strips and apply it that way. It is a method I used when I didn't have the confidence to paint directly onto the canopy. The disadvantage of this method is mainly that the thickness of the tape can raise the profile of the frames unrealistically, and the edges may also show the tape's original colour.

Another method I used to use was to mask the canopy and hand paint it whilst it was still separate from the fuselage. You don't have to do the whole canopy in one go which makes masking simpler, however sometimes you can get ridges where the frames join if you do this.

The method that most pro modellers use is to mask all the transparent parts of the canopy, using Tamiya tape and sometimes liquid mask as well. The unpainted masked canopy is then fitted to the fuselage and they are spray painted as one. Another tip here is to first spray the canopy's interior colour onto the outside, followed by the exterior colour, that way the correct cockpit colour is visible from the inside.

Masking around shallow curves can be done by using a long thin piece of tape because as long as the inner (painted) edge is flat, wrinkling the outer edge doesn't matter.
Tighter curves and complex shapes can be masked using small pieces of tape combined with masking fluid to fill any small gaps.

[dr_gn]

onyx39 said:

I m going to move onto something with wings next, but always struggled with canopies... any tips for doing these?

I start by dipping the transparency in Klear - it fills any micro-cracks up and makes it look thinner and more transparent.

Then I use Tamiya tape, cut into small bits and 'mosaiced' onto the plastic leaving the frames exposed. Then glue it onto the fuselage using "Formula 560" canopy glue (dries clear), and fill any gaps (if they shouldn't be there). Then spray interior colour (if appropriate) then top colour.

Any weathering and varnishing is done before removing the tape - usually the last thing to be done on the model. Like almost all model painting, it works infinitely better with a decent airbrush.

IMO the "painted tape" method invariably looks like painted tape...especially on the smaller scales. Plus it's difficult to get an accurate demarcation (if required) and pretty much impossible to weather to match the surrounding paint.

[perdu]

Cockpit framing pre painted the black interior colour over masked clear bits

Later glued to the fuselage then filled to suit, you can see the over painted area through the Tamiya tape. After fixing to the fuselage the entire airframe was painted. Then unmasked.

Tamiya tape is almost essential and I am very glad I was put on to it by the guys in here.

I masked the canopy, then painted it with Klear which sealed the edges of the masking so the colour coats didn't bleed under the edges.

I actually painted a thin layer inside on this Wessex 'cos with the crew door open you can see the inside clearly and having it shiny through the acetate looked a bit daft


Ignore that attempt at making a see through mesh intake filter, it was one of several I tried This version didn't survive the process...


edit to explain a bit clearer

Edited by perdu on Sunday 4th March 23:43