Question about painting aircraft with canope open or closed.

I always mask the canopy, permanently glue the windscreen (& fill any seams), then white-glue the opening part in the closed position. The thin layer of white glue around all its edges has never leaked any paint.
Just the way I do it, I'm sure there are other ways that work for other people.

QUOTE: Originally posted by Pixilater I always mask the canopy, permanently glue the windscreen (& fill any seams), then white-glue the opening part in the closed position. The thin layer of white glue around all its edges has never leaked any paint. Just the way I do it, I'm sure there are other ways that work for other people.

If you want the canope open in that situation, how do you open it after using white glue to hold it down? Will it just pop apart or do you cut it? Or are you just telling me how you do your closed canope paintings?

White glue should just pop apart. It doesn't bond with plastic, but to plastic. It just gets hard.

Hey Davrukr;
what I do is I apply liquid mask to the canopies and cut the frames out on the mask then apply the interior color first and wait for it dry and then the base color to the parts, and after the paint has dried of a couple of day then I'll apply the next color ( if needed ), or install them on the plane after the base coat is dried but for the canopies being opened or closed it depend on scale, or cockpit detail if the kit is 1/72 or larger then I like to disply them opened (if there is no detail I'll keep it closed) but for the smaller kits I like them closed with gear up too and post them on an acrylic rod for displaying

If the canopy will be closed then I mask it, glue it in place, fill any seems around the windscreen, paint the interior colour first, and then the camoflauge colours. I d not remove the mask until the final matte coat is done. This provides a uniform finish. If the canopy is going to be in the open position, I paint it off the kit, but at the same time I am painting the kit, so I keep the paint colours consistent. I mask the open canopy and windscreen with tape.

Thanks for the replies. If you are going to do an open canope, then, and have the canope separate. How do you go about painting the dash (is that the right word) or the fuselage parts that will be underneath the canope. Since they are usually a different color, do you paint them first and then try and use tape to cover it up after it dries before you start the paint for the rest of the plane?

You're correct, what I do is paint the plane & canopy first the touch up the areas around the cockpit, like the actuator well for the canopy ( Behind the cocpit opening ) and the dash ( or Anti-Glare Shield ) and then apply the canopy ( both windscreen and top[ all the clear pieces ) with elmer's or plain white glue because it will not mar or melt the clear parts
Good luck and have fun

I like the white glue idea. I used rubber cement to hold the canopy in place and also as a mask.

I paint the interior first, as it is usually the first step of aircraft construction. I also paint theinside of the fuselage halves as well as the areas that will be beneath the windscreen and canopy. This will then be masked when the rest of the kit is painted. I dip all my canopies in Future so it protects it from the glue I use, which is super glue.