Canopy masking and painting

[solumn_eagle]

Help! I am a new subscriber on this site, and need some advise. I can put together a beautiful balsa plane, until its time to paint the canopy. I have not been able to figure out the best way to mask and paint the canopy. Its amazing how a bad paint job on the canopy can ruin the entire finished kit. Can some one please help me? Thanks fellow balsa-builders...

[joecrouse]

you can try masking tape, and paint

There is a liquid masking material that some pro folks use on automotive painting (expensive but can do amazing things)

A VERY VERY sharp blade cutting extremely thin strips of tissue and carefully glueing down the outline

Me personally I don't bother. My models are mostly for flying. I fly em for a while and give em to the neighborhood kids then they usually destroy em.

[Mitch]

I do it 2 different ways... Mask and Spray, or lattely cut strips and apply.

I use regular tan masking tape:

1. Get it down good and tight
2. You will see the ridges where the frame is, cut that away with a new x-acto blade
3. Cover or mask inside as to avoid overspray
4. Lightly Spray Paint
5. When dry, remove tape and "Voila"


Example of painted "aluminum"


Example of painted "to match color"


Example of applied tissue paper of same color

Hope that helps...M

[Phugoid]

Top work Mitch.....

[solumn_eagle]

Thank you guys for the tips... It is really appreciated.

[Bill Gaylord]

After masking off the Dauntless and Zero, others aren't that bad. The masking tape works well, as long as you spray from a distance and do not bleed under the tape. You can also get away with overlapping a few pieces of tape per each area, versus having to perfectly cut each piece of tape for each pane. Too many overlaps starts to become a problem, but a few makes it easier. Cutting the tape on the plastic canopy works well but needs to be done carefully, as it doesn't take much scribing of the plastic to cause it to crack at the line.

[solumn_eagle]

Wow! Beautiful work, David. Thanks for the tips..