Elmers Glue as window masking medium?

I would say that the white glue works better than the special purpose stuff.  The liquid masking agent that I have used before required quite a number of coats to get to a useable thickness and it also costs as much as a bottle of white glue.  I like to let the glue set up a little so that it covers in just one or two coats.

Mac

White glue - the cheapest you can find. Sabo or watch crystal cement might stick too well. Coating the canopy beforehand in Future is a good idea. It comes off fairly easily; in fact, it's kind of cool to get it to pop in one piece - a sharp toothpick or Xacto blade tip on a corner will get the removal process started. Even if some sticks, a damp toothpick will chip it off without damaging the plastic. I can't say whether it's better or worse than the specific purpose stuff, only that it's adequate to the task. Scoring along the edge of the frame after coating and then painting with a sharp Xacto blade helps minimize the chipping along the edge. Another approach is to use a thin strip of tape along the frames and just cover the remaining open area with the white glue (also scoring after painting to promote a sharp edge).

Please forgive me on my ignorance here, guys....but are we talking about regular white glue as a canopy mask? I've never used a liquid masking agent before, but I haven't really done any heavy canopy-painting since I've been back in the hobby. I had just planned on using lots of masking tape strips for the job.
But since I have plenty of canopied kits in the stash, this topic has gotten me interested in the liquid mask technique.....How hard is it to chip this stuff off the canopy once you're done with it? How well does Elmer's  work compared to say, a liquid agent sold specifically for the task? Thanks for anyone who can bring me up to speed.

I thought it was " Its ok guys.....he's tame...."

Phrogs are go... but Hookers takem all on!

It's been a while since I tried using it.  Once when I was using a dark blue Tamiya paint, some of it seeped through to give the masked areas a bluish tint... I'm not sure if it was because I put too much paint on and it seeped through, the mask was too thin, or there was some reaction between the base of the paint and the glue to help dissolve the mask. 

I've since used the technique with trouble-free with Testors/Model Master enamels.

23 years in the Navy, 16 of it on USMC bases......gotta love it, OOORAH!

Good point.  Elmers is paintable but does not come under harsh attack from a spray paint pass.  It does have some toughness to it.  Most of the paints are designed to dry pretty fast.  Once paint becomes tacky, it's pretty much lost most of it's solvent based materials.  When the first layer of paint dries, that will actually become a protected barrier over the elmers to any additional coats. 

I noticed the elmers on a few occations duing home projects how it come up off plastic with no problem.  Then it hit me, Well duh, It depends on pourous serfices in order to be effective like wood, clay and pottery.  So it hit me again; hey, this would make a nice masking medium.  Because I stick at masking  windows on models. So much for an original idea.  Also, you can carefully thin it with water if you want it to flow better.  It's doesn't take much.  It will just take longer to dry.

Cheers

My only concern about using Elmer's to mask off windows is if it can resist multiple attacks from the rattle can or airbrush? I'm using Bare Metal Foil to mask off the feindishly complex greenhouse canopy on my 1/72 B-25B ... and some day, I am going to get the nerve to peel it off

Hey FMF Doc,  I resem... resent that

Cool deal!  It's play time.  Thanks for the help guys.  It's neat to hear about everyones likes, dislikes, and techniques.  I've been gone from model building way too long.  You all have been great.

Cheers,
John

Both the Elmers and the Testors worked great. Old dogs can learn new tricks.

"I do" is definately up there but when you have more than two Marines together and they have a little free time.....well, you can figure it out.

Used Elmers years ago but switched to Testors clear parts cement

FMF Doc wrote:

I have never tried it but it sounds interesting.  I will give it a shot with the Testors clear parts cement and let you know.  It is basically Elmers but I know it cleans up easily. Clean up of any excess that creeps out using a sharp knife always peels right up off of paint, so I gues that clear parts should be no problem. Especially if you coat them with Future first. Well, here go the two scariest words in the world.....  "watch this"

?? I thought the two scariest words in the world were "I do"?

Yes - many times. Dip the plastic in Future first and let dry. I put a touch of dishwashing liquid in a pool of white glue so it spreads easier. Two coats with a brush for assured coverage and better chance of easy removal. If the canopy frames aren't prominent, I put appropriate width low-tac masking tape where the frames should be and then remove after the glue has dried, slicing along the edge of the tape with a sharp xacto knife first. I wouldn't use any good glue for this like watch crystal cement; it might be hard to remove. I've also used various kinds of tape, but it's a lot easier to just paint the white glue on 1/72 canopies and the like.

I'm using Humbrol's Liquid Mask and I must say I have never had any problems with it, I even dug up a started kit kit from a pile where the mask had been applied on for several months and it didn't give much problems to remove, I just used a toothpick to get the stuff from the edges and that was it.

Oh, one advise though, it is very handy to mask in a "handle" ; before applying the liquid mask to the window, plase a loop of maskingtape on it, that way you have some grip to remove the liquid mask later.

I have never tried it but it sounds interesting.  I will give it a shot with the Testors clear parts cement and let you know.  It is basically Elmers but I know it cleans up easily. Clean up of any excess that creeps out using a sharp knife always peels right up off of paint, so I gues that clear parts should be no problem. Especially if you coat them with Future first.

Well, here go the two scariest words in the world.....  "watch this"