Vifam7 Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 What's the best way to mask the canopy? When spray painting the forward fuselage, you need to somehow mask the canopy and/or protect the cockpit inside. My method in my Arii VF-1S build was to completely wrap the canopy with masking tape and gluing it on with regular white glue. That way when spraying the fuselage body, the paint doesn't enter the cockpit or affect the clear canopy. Using white glue allowed me to easily remove the canopy later on. It all worked for my build but is my method wrong? Is there a better way? How does everyone else do it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vi-RS Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 tamiya masking tape: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leading edge Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 tamiya masking tape: How effective is this Tamiya tape I don't have any experience with it. Does it work well with brushes as well as airbrush? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 I love Tamiya masking tape. I don't airbrush, but its great for brush and spray paint. A simple way to protect from "underflow" without having to glue down the masking is to brush gloss clear over the edges of the tape and let it dry first. It fills in all the nooks and crannies and seals the tape seam so that the next coat can't get under. Works for me every time, although it does mean that some gloss clear may get left on the canopy if it flows under the mask. Never bothers me, 'cause I always clear-coat canopies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hingtgen Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Tamiya tape is the masking tape of the gods. It is far superior to all other tape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickyg Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Vifam, did you mean masking the canopy to allow you to paint the frames, or masking the cockpit so you don't get paint in the areas you've just meticulously painted inside the cockpit? If it's the former, that's possibly covered. If it's the latter, I think people tend to do one of two things. Either, use the natural "frame" colour that often times extends into the fusalage section just under the cockpit and mask around that (over the canopy too). Or they'll carefully glue the canopy on, before or after painting the actual canopy frame, then mask over the top of that and carefully cut around where it meets the fusalage for cases when there's a frame that's a different colour to the area just under the canopy. Hope that make sense and is helpful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vifam7 Posted December 18, 2009 Author Share Posted December 18, 2009 Vifam, did you mean masking the canopy to allow you to paint the frames, or masking the cockpit so you don't get paint in the areas you've just meticulously painted inside the cockpit? If it's the former, that's possibly covered. If it's the latter, I think people tend to do one of two things. Either, use the natural "frame" colour that often times extends into the fusalage section just under the cockpit and mask around that (over the canopy too). Or they'll carefully glue the canopy on, before or after painting the actual canopy frame, then mask over the top of that and carefully cut around where it meets the fusalage for cases when there's a frame that's a different colour to the area just under the canopy. Hope that make sense and is helpful! Yup, the latter. Masking the cockpit. Yeah, what I do is "glue the canopy on before painting the actual canopy frame, then mask over the top of that and carefully cut around where it meets the fusalage for cases when there's a frame that's a different colour to the area just under the canopy". Just wondered if there was an easier or alternative way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leading edge Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 (edited) Yup, the latter. Masking the cockpit. Yeah, what I do is "glue the canopy on before painting the actual canopy frame, then mask over the top of that and carefully cut around where it meets the fusalage for cases when there's a frame that's a different colour to the area just under the canopy".Just wondered if there was an easier or alternative by using decals I like to avoid painting my canopies. I usually either dye the canopy so adding paint has been a problem. I've recently adopted making the canopy frame and painting it before attaching it to the clear portion. If anyone has better alternative please tell me the process I'm doing is kind of involved. Edited January 6, 2010 by leading edge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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