Having trouble painting canopy frames

You could also resort to using the various pre-cut vinyl masks out there such as Eduard and (?). I've never used them (always considered it cheating) but, on a 1:72 Texan of all things, who could blame you?!

I've been masking with liquid mask. A little more tedious, but you don't have to worry about scrathing the finish of the canopy when cutting out the frame. Plus, no chance of paint seepage under the tape.

demono69

I rarely mask canopies. Instead I use a superfine tip brush and carefully (and with the right amount of paint) draw a steady, continous line where the frame is. If I should press a little too heavily and get more paint on there than necessary I don't sweat it. I wait a few minutes and using a sharp, rounded toothpick, gently rub the excess off. And usually the frame on the canopy will be slightly raised which gives you something positive to follow with the toothpick. With some practice your canopies will look sharp in a fraction of the time it takes to mask all them frames off.

Contact Frey Scientific Co. at 905 Hickory Lane, Mansfield, Ohio 44905. Buy some Parafilm "M" Laboratory Film. Call and get a price (it's cheap). I bought a roll 4" wide and 125' long and it should last your lifetime. You simply cut a piece and stretch it to about 200% of it's origional size and rub the film on your canopy. Cut away the areas you want to paint with a small rounded Exacto blade and peel off. There's an old article in F.S.M. about this technique. Editor - help!

Bill Albertson

Yep! Scotch Transparent tape for me. Been using it many wears. - Mic

I use Parafilm M. Works like a charm.

I read about it in some Professional's book.

I still use Scotch tape as well. After 20 years I have found no reason to change.

I still like Scotch 3m transparent tape.
A little thicker than Bare Metal Foil maybe, but you can still see what you're covering, or not covering.
Leaves a glue residue too, but a wad of tape dabbed at the residue will pick it off. You can also pick it off or push it around with a toothpick.
The old ways still work

Try Tamiya masking tape, it's pricey, depending on your source, but well worth it. If you get 10 mm width, you can always cut it lengthways and get double for your money. Another alternative I have seen is to use strips of decal. Simply paint it the colour of your topcoat and apply it to the canopy frames. You may need a decal softener to get it to snuggle down over screwheads or joints. On,say a Mosquito, if you use cockpit green decal then it is the right colour for the inside of the frames. Easy!

Dans1120,

I would try to mask your canopies with Bare Metal Foil. Overlay the entire canopy with the foil then lightly cut along the frame lines with a new #11 blade. Remove the foil from the frames and paint. Bare Metal Foil is very thin and small canopy frames show up well underneath it. Make sure your re-burnish the bare metal foil after removing the masks from the frames to keep paint from seeping underneath the mask. Also BMF can leave behind a glue residue on the clear glass after removing it. Coating the canopy with Future floor polish will reduce the glue residue, and a q-tip soaked in alchahol will remove the rest.

Hope that helps,

N.

P.S. Get an airbrush, I know they can be expensive but it will be very worth it. You will never regret spending the money.