Saturday 10 November 2012

Canopy masking

One reason to choose tanks and boats over airplanes is that you don't have to bother with canopies. They need to remain transparent, but you need to paint the tiny support frame.
You can choose to paint this by hand with a very fine brush, if you have a steady hand, which I do not. Or you can mask the transparent area and spray paint with the rest of the plane.

Some companies provide pre-cut masks that fit the canopy exactly. For the Jaguar however, I just mask the entire canopy with Tamiya masking tape, then cut away what needs to be painted with a very sharp hobby knife.
You need to find the balance between enough pressure to cut through the tape and not too much, so you do not damage the part. Better safe than sorry, apply light pressure and go over it a couple of times.

Below is the masked canopy. Bear in mind this part is about 1 cm long.


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