Beginner problem #2 — canopy concerns

I understand the problems that you are experiencing. I don't use tape to mask the canopy prior to painting the frames. I use Eduards precut masks. They work great. If I tried to do my own masking, I would use Bare Metal Foil. It would provide a sharp edge at the frames. I use Gator's Grip Acrylic Hobby Glue (not Gator Glue) to glue the canopy to the fuselage. It drys clear.

For stray paint I take a toothpick and gently run it through the over paint right along the framework.  

To fill gaps try either Perfect Plastic Putty or maybe the Vallejo equivalent.  Take a damp qtip and remove the excess by gently wiping across the seam.  You can do a touchup with a brush if you are attaching the canopy after painting, or paint with everything else if on the model before paint. 

Tip...once you mask the frames you can paint the interior color first and then do the exterior.

I use Pacer 560 to attach canopies.  Is a heavy bodied white glue, dries clear.  Have also used it to make small windows when they have disappeared into the ether

I heartily second Goldhammer's recommendation of Pacer560 - great stuff, easy to use, and has relatively little shrinkage when cured so it can be "wet smoothed" with a cotton swab or brush when applied, to leave a pretty good contour when dry.

Also second Johnny's recommendation of Eduard masks...though you're SOL if they don't make one for your kit, or...since they've discontinued a bunch of them...you just can't find the one you need. If that's the case, nothing beats Tamiya yellow tape.

One further recommendation for small-gap-filling is the sort of UV-cured resin marketed under a bunch of names, the most common of which is '5 Second Fix.' It's a clear resin that comes in dispenser pens with an applicator tip like a large hypodermic, so it's easy to apply and control in small areas. It's also remarkably self-leveling, so it's pretty easy to get a good smooth contour. It doesn't harden till you hit it with the little UV light included on the pen...so if you don't like an application, you can wipe it away and try again. Best of all, since it's clear, any color painted over it (and it takes paint well) will show through on the inside; no perilous twisting with bent pieces of wire trying to paint over white or red putty showing on the cockpit interior.

If you need to sand it, it cures to about the same hardness as styrene, so it's pretty easy to get a nice feathered edge.

The critical thing to remember about the UV adhesive is that it needs an 'edge' showing to let the UV light in. The UV won't penetrate the clear plastic, so unless there's a fairly good resin surface showing, it'll remain gooey inside...which can result in some nasty surprises, when your 'solid' canopy pops off at the worst possible moment.

If the gaps aren't huge try using white glue to fill the gaps. Here's a youtube example.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GyN1HhEpT0

And make an extra effort to get the fit working before trying to fill gaps. It can save you work.

I agree with GM, getting a good fit of the canopy early is the best way to take care of the gaps. I've had white putty leak in too many times before that lesson sunk in! For desperate times, I've used black Apoxie Sculpt, if any squeezes under the canopy it is less likely to be noticed. 

Tamiya tape works great for 1/48 and above scale, ok for 1/72, and not so well with 1/144. For the smaller scales, Bare Metal Foil works better. I just did a 1/144 Bf109 canopy with Bare Metal Foil, it would have been very difficult with tape. 

Bare Metal Foil becomes harder to remove the longer you leave it on, so you'll want to finish your painting withing 2-3 days. After you remove the foil mask, any adhesive residue comes off with Goo Gone or WD40. 

Sometimes I use Future, sometimes I don't. If you can't find future Mop-N-Glo works just as well. Scrape the paint from your attachment points and the glue will stick better. Aileen's Craft glue works very well. 

Sometimes canopy framing detail is a bit mushy and it's hard to place your masking material. Just cut a strip of tape the width of the framing and place it where the framing should be. Place your masking material as you normally would and cut around the tape "framing". Remove the tape framing and paint.

And finally, canopy masking is much easier with an optivisor and the right light. The light should allow you to see the framing either by shining through the tape, and/or creating a shadow line. Use a toothpick to burnish down to the line, then a new, SHARP blade to make your cut. A dull blade just drags the tape or tears the foil. Apply just enough pressure to make the cut, no more.

Practice, practice, patience, you'll get it!

Sometimes a canopy just does not match the curve of the fuselage, as in this 1/48 B-29.

No amount of glue would solve this problem so I heated up the canopy with a hair dryer and held the canopy in place until the plastic cooled. The result, a perfect fit.

To eliminate paint bleeding under masking tape you can seal the edges with a gloss clear before painting.

I use the UV hardening glue for windows and canopies.  It does not fog like CA, and you get long working time.  Nothing happens until you zap it with the included laser/LED.  You do have to be careful to aim laser along the glue surface- acrylic is opaque to the uv wavelength, so the light must enter the seam directly.

Johnny, heating the canopy has never occurred to me. What a great idea!

Hey Don, what brand UV glue/light do you use?  I need to add this to my tool kit.  Sorry for the hijack OP

Thank you for your tips, gentlemen. I've re-masked my Academy F-86F canopy and applied some Vallejo Plastic Putty to the gap, smoothing it with a moistened pinky. Now to see if I made it better, or worse! I'll let you know how it turns out. 

@keavdog — not to worry about hijacking this thread. The more the merrier! I'll also look into getting some of that UV glue. 

Now for some more sanding of my Italeri UH-34D Sea Horse helicopter, prior to installing its canopy. 

Bob

Hello;

        Uh Oh! A wayward canopy . Listen there are more fixes than you would think. The tip of the iceberg has just been scratched. Now first and foremost. I started my latest plane build in a scale smaller than I normally do (1/72) neither canopy fit worth a darned.

       I had been using the U.V.Glue Don recommended with great success. Then the Batteries went Kaput! The Batteries ,( there are two inside the unit) are the size of a nickel, half the thickness of a nickel each AND $4.36 EACH at Wal-Mart . 

      So they turned out not to be cost efficient what with the cost of the refills too. So,The solution to the problem. I boiled them! They got quite soft after a minute, and then I placed them on the A/C and made sure they fit everywhere. Taped them down and spritzed Ice cold water on them to finish cooling. They now fit perfect.

      One drop of Elmers Clear on each end and they are done to a turn! Elmers always dries clear and this type moreso, tight and solid. I Painted over the edge with a thinned bit of Mr.Surfacer to get any Blems. I paint around my canopies with an X-tra fine brush Before I paint the whole area and they look fine . I use little pieces of Scotch magic mending tape to make sure they stay clean. 

Taking a cue from responses to my the first "Beginner Problem, I checked out YouTube videos about painting canopies and found this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk4hl0Fsq-.

The technique — placing Tamiya masking tape over the canopy, tracing the outlines of the canopy frame, trimming the masking tape, then reapplying the masking tape to the canopy so that only the frame is visible. Seems to work pretty well for me, but I'm concerned about one thing: how to prevent capillary action from causing paint seepage under the masking tape. 

In another FineScale thread I recall seeing the suggestion to paint the edges of the tape with clear overcoat before painting the frame itself. Before trying it myself, I'd like to know what other modellers think about this technique.

Bob Ingraham

Vancouver, British Columbia

I haven't received any response to this post, but I have done some more Googling and believe that I am on the right track with my canopy-painting efforts. I'm almost finished with masking the canopy of my 1/72 Italeri UH-34 D Sea Horse helicopter, and plan to lightly spray it, at a 90º angle, with a gloss topcoat, then spraying the final coat(s) of adding the olive green spray paint.

Someone suggested in another thread to Google keywords plus "finescale" to easily locate FineScale discussion board topics. It works!

Bob Ingraham

Vancouver

Hi, Bob - Gregbale earlier seconded the use of Eduard canopy masks, but said you'd be SOL if they didn't cater for the kit in hand.  I'd also vouch for Eduard masks, but they aren't the only ones out there.  "Peewit" is a brand I've heard of (but not used), I personally favour "Pmask" from Poland.  They do the job just fine, and are a cheaper option.  I've used them on a 1/72 Hurricane, a 1/48 P51, and a 1/72 Defiant - even the tiniest pane in the gun turret (and in 1/72 that is TINY) was able to be masked perfectly.  I'm currently building a 1/72 Airfix Stuka, and even the pilot's floor window glazing - internal and external - can be masked.  There may even be more suppliers out there. Shop around - the world-wide web is a wonderful thing indeed!

       Happy modelling,

                                Hutch.

Finally, real progress with aircraft canopies! As mentioned above, I took the advice of a previous poster at a YouTube video, for and googled “scale model canopy painting” or some such combination of words, and found this “How To Do Canopy Masking - T K Tutorials #1”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk4hl0Fsq-M. 

What great advice (for me, anyway)! And here is the result (the canopy of the Italeri 1/72 UH-34 D Sea Horse helicopter:

The technique involves using Tamiya masking tape stuck to the canopy and then tracing the canopy frame with a pencil, trimming the tape with scissors at the outer edges of the traced lines, re-applying the cut pieces of masking tape to the canopy, then painting it. (I tried a pencil, but the lines weren’t very easy to make or see, so I used a small-tipped Faber-Castell PITT artist pen instead.)

From other suggestions from the FineScale discussions, I’ve learned that the best way to avoid “bleeding” of paint under masking tape is not to paint the frame lines with a brush, but to spray them with several light coats of paint. In this case I used Tamiya Olive Drab 2 paint, the same paint I’m using the helicopter. I did get a minuscule amount of bleeding which I didn’t actually notice until I saw the enlarged photo of the canopy. But from a “normal” viewing distance, the canopy almost looks professional! Or at least a heck of a lot better than my three previous efforts on other models. A bit of work with a sharpened toothpick will probably remove some of the slight "overspray".

Next I'll work on my Academy 1/72 F-86F Sabre canopy, which is especially challenging because the frame engraving is on the inside of the canopy! 

Thanks to everyone who’s chipped in with their advice. 

Bob Ingraham

Vancouver 

Nice B-29.

One suggestion nobody mentioned was always use a fresh blade when cutting on a canopy.  You have more control because you don't have to use as much pressure to make the cuts.

lewbud

One suggestion nobody mentioned was always use a fresh blade when cutting on a canopy.  You have more control because you don't have to use as much pressure to make the cuts.

 

 

 

I have a scalpel that I reserve for when I really need a sharp blade like for vacuform canopies and masking tape.  These are not expensive (neither are blades) because many are intended to be disposed of after each use.

While Micro Mark and a few other modeling vendors have them, this is a very competitive market and Amazon carries several low cost ones.

lewbud

One suggestion nobody mentioned was always use a fresh blade when cutting on a canopy.  You have more control because you don't have to use as much pressure to make the cuts. 

Second that!  When I have to cut masking, I take a brand-new blade out of the pack, just for that purpose.

That's a general principle for any knife or other edged tool, by the way-keep your knives sharp!  As you note, you have to apply more pressure to cut, and that increases the risk of slipping and injuring yourself.  I learned that rule when I learned to cook.

Bobstamp

...From other suggestions from the FineScale discussions, I’ve learned that the best way to avoid “bleeding” of paint under masking tape is not to paint the frame lines with a brush, but to spray them with several light coats of paint...

Or you could also apply a coat or two of a clear medium over the masks, like a clear acrylic.  I use Future, myself, but there are many products available.  The key is that this seals the edges of the tape, to help elminate paint bleed.

And light coats are a good idea, in every case!

@Everyone — Thank you for your suggestions. If I understand correctly, these steps will prevent or at least minimize "bleeding":

1. Mask the canopy

2. Spray it with a clear acrylic (Future, or, I assume, TS-13 Clear or something similar?)

3. Spray or brush on canopy-frame colour

Bob

Also forgot to add, make sure you burnish the heck out of the edges to make sure they are down before painting.  A toothpick, piece of sprue, or a fingernail will do.  I don't have a problem with paint bleeding through on my canopies. My problem is that I get in a hurry after the paint dries and remove the mask without getting the knife out and scoring along the mask, cutting through the paint and leaving a sharp line, instead of the ragged edge left by simply pulling up the mask.