Masking the CH-46 from Academy

Dutch Sam wrote:

Hi fellow modellers I am currently building the CH-46 Vietnam version of Academy and approaching the moment that we have to start thinking about masking and painting. I am building this helicopter (my first by the way) with the side doors and loading door wide open. Can anybody tell me how I can mask these openings?  thanks Sam

If you are refering to the emergency escape panels on the sides of the cockpit, those aren't normally open and when they are opened, they don't open like a regular door, rather they fold in the middle and are jettisoned. There are no hinges on them only a series of pins that are acuated by a handle inside the door and outside at the lower corner of each panel.

The only other "side" door(s) that come to mind are the main cabin entrance door on the starboard side of the cabin and emergecny escape panel on the port side of the cabin (this panel is removed when the .50 cal is mounted)

As far as "loading" door I am assuming you mean the ramp and hatch at the rear of the aircraft, what I plan on doing when I paint mine is to position the hatches, panels, and doors closed maybe using some white glue before painting. As far as the clear parts of the cockpit enclosure I will probably use para film or Scotch Transparent tape, cutting out the areas that need to be painted while leaving the areas that aren't to be painted (Windshields & Windows) covered until all paint and clear coats have been applied.

HTH

Jonathan Primm 

I do helos the same way.  I tack with white glue all doors, hatches, ramps, etc. in the closed position.  Then I tape off all canopy glass/windows with masking tape.  I spray the masking taped areas with clear gloss to seal the edges and prevent paint bleed under the tape.  Spray on your fuselage colors, gloss, decal, gloss, dullcote, then weather.  Only then do I remove the tape and do any touch-ups as needed (usually not much).

Good luck. 

Don't know about John, but I do exactly that.  I tape up the window/canopy and burnish the tape down so that the frame can be seen through it.  With a sharp xacto knife, I cut along the frames and remove the tape where the frames are.

No idea on liquid masks, I don't use it.

   I use both methods - with liquid Maskoll and without. When the canopy is heavely framed (like on Stuka for example) or on small scale models its easier to use the tape-only method. On larger scale models sometimes it is more convinient to use the maskoll method. You cut out very thin stripes of masking tape and locate them along the frames. The rest of the space between the frames you cover with maskoll. It dries up really quick. Takes off as one piece rubber film. Smells like sh** )))

  HTH

Andy

m1garand wrote:

How do you guys cut masking tapes?  Do you cut them after you put it on the clear parts or you cut them first and then put them on to clear parts?  How about liquid masking?  is it worth it or easy to work with?

Like Gino said, I will usually clean up the clear parts and dip them in future and let them dry thoroughly, then I'll put a strip of tape across part of the canopy or other clear part, then burnish the areas that are to be masked with a round toothpick, then with a brand new blade I will gently but firmly go around the frames with the blade. When I have done all the cutting I use a toothpick with a pointed end to lift up the edge of the tape on the frames and carefully pull it up with a pair of tweezers. The trick is to work on small areas one at a time so you minimize the number of compound curves you are working with. With the CH-46, you could probably do the windshields seperately from the "chin bubbles" and side panels both of which could be done seperately. The cabin windows are easier, you could use liquid masking on those.

You need to exercize caution because sometimes the masked off area may start to come off with the tape you are trying to remove, usually if there isn't a complete cut. The solution is to stop, go back and carefully recut any areas you might have missed. After the frames have been removed, go back and reburnish all the masked areas.

Some people will mask the insides AND outsides of clear parts depending on how well the interior will be seen. The first coat of paint that I apply is usually the same as the interior color with the top coat of paint being the same as the rest of the surrounding exterior.

Liquid masking is useful also, but it is harder to get into a straight line. I use it after the clear parts are painted and installed and I want to prevent any overspray from any additional areas, also you can use it to cover clear parts without any framing such as the cabin windows on many passegener / cargo aircraft you have to be careful not to leave the masking material stay on too long (A couple of days is fine, but I ruined the canopy on a P-61 by leaving the stuff on for a couple of years!) I use a brush to apply it and usually will use two coats and let it dry COMPLETELY before painting. Now if you don't have liquid masking available...toothpaste works well as a masking medium. Also, you can use it to polish clear parts as well, there is just enough abrasive in it so that it wont leave any deep scratches in the plastic plus it is cheaper than plastic polish.

 Sometimes when you finish painting your clear parts there may be some of the adhesive residue from the tape left behind after you pull it up. Use a small amount of WD-40 on a q-tip to clean this up, it works well if the clear part has already had future applied.

Something else that may help is that when you paint clear parts you will eventually get some overspray or some paint that has bled under the mask...You can fix this relatively easily by using a toothpick to scrape the paint off...It works best with acrylics before they are fully cured and will also work with enamels...I've found that coating the clear parts with future makes it easier to get excess paint and adhesive off of the clear parts.

One of the hardest parts for me when painting clear parts is trying to see where the frames are located especially when they are not molded very prominently. I use as much light as I can get and will move the part around until I can get the best angle to see them, also it helps if you place some darker or lighter paper(depends on your lighting and the part) or cardboard as a background so you can get a good contrast that will make the frames more visible.

HTH

Jonathan Primm