hi there chief. i only do 1/48 but if i am doing a canopy such as one like lancaster or Me110 then i mask the vertical lines first and paint and then mask the horizontal ones next and then paint. i dont use masking fluid as its more time consuming also. i used to hand paint the frames of the canopy but its hit and miss how well it will look. when i go to do my HE111 and kits like that i think i will invest in some pre-cut masks. the 1/72 guys will have more info for you.

Thanks for the replies so far lads.. It is a 1/72 lanc alright. A 1/48 would be bloody massive. Stephen you must have Plenty of space!!!
Yeah it's going to be a tricky little bugger for me all right, lucky enough though Philip my missus is actually an optician as luck would have it ha.
I'm going to have a think about it for a few days to weigh up my options but by all means if anyone else has any Pearls of wisdom I'm all ears

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Barry Evans

I guess I'm the crazy one because I do paint my canopies free-hand.

Now I have tried using masking fluid but I found that once I peeled the mask off it tugged at the paint on the frames and made a mess of everything. I've never tried using tape as a mask because I'm rather paranoid about gunking up the canopy, even with low tack tape although, to be honest, I've never tried Tamiya tape.

So I paint free hand using a #1 brush, a lot of patience and very thin paint. The thin paint is essential because a #1 brush tends to put the paint on thickly if you're not careful. If you go outside the lines, so to speak, you can use a cocktail stick to gently rub the excess paint away.

You can use the same technique as Philip and paint the interior color first and then paint the exterior colour on top of it to give the impression the interior frame is painted, this is far easier than trying to paint the actual interior frame as most canopies don't have any interior frame detail. I also use the cloth they put into Glasses cases to polish the canopy clear.

I have to admit though that painting free-hand can be quite frustrating and requires a steady hand. I also use a 20 watt Halogen lamp so that I can see better in the dreary days we've been having.

A few have been touch and go to be honest as I've being trying to perfect the technique but the latest one, on the P-51 I'm working on, has turned out great. The width of the frames you're working on also play a part on the finish, what are they like on the Lancaster?

Well, I brush paint and I swear by Tamiya tape.

How I do it really depends on the canopy. If it has well defined frames, I do the same as Philip. Put the tape down, use a cocktail stick to push the tape in well against the edges of the frame, and then gently use a blade to cut along the edges of the frame ( and as the frames are well defined, it's easy to follow them with a blade ). You can then peel that tape away, leaving the tape in the middle covering the 'glass' with the frames exposed for painting. It works really well, might be a little slow at first but with practise it's quite quick.

If the frames aren't really that definied, then the slower version is to put a bit of tape onto a cutting board, and use a blade to slice up thin strips, and then apply these thin strips using a tweezers up against each frame, and then fill in the centre with more tape. This is obviously slower, but like I said, I only do it this way if the frames aren't well defined.

Either way, once you have the tape on the canopy with the glass covered and the frames exposed, I then do the same as Philip, and paint the interior colour first ( normally two thin coats as paint won't 'grip' onto the un-primed canopy very well the first time ). This ensures that if you look through the closed canopy and can see inside it, it'll look like the inside has been painted the correct interior colour. Once that's dried I then paint the exterior colour ( and this I can normally get away with one coat, depending on the colour ). Then I use a cocktail stick / tweezers to peel away all the tape. The Tamiya tape does not leave residue, and doesn't take the paint with it. If there are any leaks ( like if maybe the tape wasn't fully pushed down with the cocktail stick before painting ) then normally gently scraping at it with a cocktail stick will get rid of any uneven edges etc.

Like I said, with practise you get quite quick at it, and there's no way I could freehand paint the frames and get as good a result, with thin straight lines!

One other thing. If I'm doing the canopy open ( which I often do ) I tend not to use the trick of painting the interior colour on the outside first, as I don't think that works as well when you can actually see the inside of the open canopy. In that case, I actually mask and paint the inside of the canopy as well ( though I don't have well defined frames to guide the blade inside the canopy, so it tends to be a little bit more freehand masking ).

Hope all that helps! The Lancaster is a tough one, so many panes / frames! If they're well definied though, I'd definitely go with Tamiya tape, you could put a strip of it over one section of the canopy and probably cut out several panes from that one strip!

Oh, and don't forget that Tamiya tape comes in different thicknesses. I tend to use 6mm, so for some larger canopies ( say 1:48 Jets ) it might be a case of getting a strip of tape and placing it along a frame, and doing that for all four sides and then filling in the centre, so there's less cutting there. But for something like a 1:72 Lancaster or Stuka ( i.e. something with lots of square panes of glass ), you might want thinner tape. It really depends on what you think will work best for you. It's not that expensive and lasts a good while ( I've used two rolls since Jan, and that's about 12 builds! ).

Enjoy! :)

J.

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On the bench -
Revell 1:72 F-16B

Completed builds
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Coming attractions -
Eduard 1:48 Bf 110 G-4
Academy 1:72 F-22a Raptor
Tamiya 1:35 T-55a
Moebius 1:128 Seaview

This should help- just look what came up on the ARC homepage today;

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/tnt1/201-300/tnt202-masking-Rapasi/00.shtm

Puts into pics what the lads are describing above... and is generally how I do it.

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If you tell people where to go, but not how to get there, you'll be amazed at the results. George S. Patton

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(Sshhh! Don't tell the Revenue Commissioners, the IMF or the Dept of Finance, or they'll tax my stash!)

Thanks for all the info lads... Will keep you updated on my progress/frustration

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Barry Evans