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Tinting canopies with Tamiya's 'clear smoke'?

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  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Modeling anything with "MARINES" on the side.
Tinting canopies with Tamiya's 'clear smoke'?
Posted by AH1Wsnake on Sunday, March 20, 2005 12:22 AM
My first attempt at tinting canopies is coming up, and I think I have several pieces that I would like to knock off in one sitting. I have both an F-22 and F-16 canopy that I would like to slighty tint, and some panels for an AH-6 that need a more substantial tint.
(I know for jets, there is a lot you can do with yellowish, orangish, or even greenish tints for accuracy, but with the smoke color, I am just looking to take away that stark clear-styrene look and dull it down a bit.)
I bought some Tamiya clear smoke and have an airbrush available for use. That being said, what is the best way to go about this?

--Should I dip the canopy in Future before I start painting?
--Will the Tamiya smoke paint actually mix with Future so that I could just tint the canopy by dipping it?
--What would be an appropriate thinning agent (alcohol?) and ratio for airbrushing? I'm afraid that I have no spare clear parts for experimenting.
--Would airbrushing a highly thinned mix damage a Future layer I previously put on it?
--Will an airbrushed 'smoke' even sit right on clear styrene? Or will it do something strange like bead or fog up?

Sorry for the multitude of questions, but I guess I am trying to cover all my bases here in one shot Wink [;)]. If you make a mistake on clear styrene, you can't just go and cut out some new stuff, you know? lol.
Comments from anyone with experience airbrushing the Tamiya smoke, or airbrushing canopy tints in general would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

"There are only two kinds of people that understand Marines: Marines and those who have met them in battle. Everyone else has a second-hand opinion."
  • Member since
    March 2004
  • From: British Columbia,Canada
Posted by bstrump on Sunday, March 20, 2005 12:50 AM
What I do is thin the paint about 50/50. I've been using Testor's MM acrylic thinner because it's all I have on the bench. Then I use the DA airbrush to mist on very light coats until I get the depth of colour I want. Now, because it's been misted on, it'll be somewhat foggy so I dip it in Future to bring back the clarity. You could dip in Future first, let it dry, spray your tint colour and then dip in Future again. I've done it both ways depending on how clear the canopy is in the first place. You can also tint Future and dip to tint your canopy but I feel airbrushing gives me more control. Besides, I don't want to waste any of the Future by tinting it because where I live, it's not cheap. If you want, you can check out Swanny's Models at swannysmodels.com for the tinting Fture technique. Hope this helps.

BTW, if you do make a mistake, you can just use some Windex and rub it off.
  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, March 22, 2005 9:33 AM
Well snake,

I've done this with my S-3 Viking. Although I flunked the kit itself - in my opinion - I did get the smoking done right.
I used the tamiya smoke, that you've got as well.
Firstly I got dust in the airbrushed layer, that made me get the paint of again.
Painting your canopy has to be absolutely perfect and smooth. Any 'petite' flaw shows obviously.. So, clean your spraybooth.

Secondly, spraying the smoke on, should turn out in a perfect smooth layer as well. A problem I came across is the orange-skin-effect (transtaed from Dutch, hopes it makes sense to you). This might be solved witth a layer Future over the dried smoke.
What I did was when starting to clean my airbrush with alcohol, spraying a wet coat of alcohol over the just painted layer of smoke. Ofcourse make sure the alcohol is clean. Otherwise your previous painting sessions mingle int your canopy. The alcohol all makes it blend in smooth.

Three things:
1. don't spray too much paint, is easily gets too dark
2. don't spray too much alcohol, to prevent it running and dripping, making ugly stains.
3. Spray the pure alcohol from a distance and under heavy pressure. Otherwise you'll spray the fresh paint away.

It might take you a few times perfecting it. I propbably cleaned the canopy five or six times completely until it worked out okay. In the end, my canopy of the Viking got too dark. So, too much smoke sprayed on. Flunked the kit anyway, so it doesn't matter. "Next time, gadget, next time.Miauw...."

Look at my S-3 on:
http://m.1asphost.com/svankreijl/svankreijl
section: built models, S-3 Viking.
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