Canopy painting

Yep - that's a common method.

Dip the frame in future mask off then paint as needed.

If there's lots of glass or a larger scale (like 1/48 or 1/35) you may even want to paint the interior colour of the frame first, then the exterior colour.

By example, a lot of WW2 fighters had interior green as the internal colour of the cockpit and canopy frame, whilst the exterior of the frame was whatever the camo colour was.

Also, the pre-dipping of future would not change a colour painted over the top.

Further to last, if you haven't seen Swanny's site, check it out: http://www.swannysmodels.com/

Go to Tips and Tools - see the link at the bottom right of the page.

That page then has details about both using Future and how to mask canopies too.

Just to add to cml's excellent post, you can tint canopies too such as the green overhead glass on some Hueys by using Tamiya Acrylic clear green either by spraying or brushing. And if you goof, no worries. Just soak in some Windex for a few seconds and it comes right off.

Thanks heaps guys. It's only a 1/72 scale Mi-28 Havoc, I just haven't tried this before. That's great knowing it won't affect the paint. I will check that site out too cml.

What about the finish? Because it's already got a gloss under it will the paint be gloss? I still want to coat the final model and window frame in a matte finish.

If you're using a matte paint, it will dry matte, regardless of the Future underneath.

Mississippivol is correct - the paint will dry in accordance with it's formula.

If you want a matte finish though, DON'T take the canopy masking off until after you've sprayed your final matte overcoat, otherwise you'll matte up the canopy too.

I've left tamiya tape masks on Future for months without it affecting the future, so don't feel like you'll need to pull the mask straight off to avoid any sticky residue etc.