Canopy masking woes

Scotch Magic tape. Burnish with a toothpick. Use a new #11 blade to cut out frames. Spray. Use a toothpick with a sharpened end to lift one edge of the tape and lift off.

I have used almost every other method known to man and this one gives me the best results.

I have never liked liquid mask. It's just not as reliable as tape. Bare Metal Foil (for car models) is great for masking canopies; and once you get it in place you can shoot just a bit of glosscote to seal it against leaks, but this is not usually necessary. Glosscote won't fog clear plastic. Then shoot your color coats. Peeling it off afterward without scratching the glass is a little tricky but not too bad to get the hang of.

-John

"Pacific95" a écrit dans le message de news: snipped-for-privacy@mb-m18.aol.com...

This is what I don't get: doesn't the glosscoat "seal" the BMF to the plastic? i.e. doesn't this make the removal of the BMF after painting delicate? Thanks.

-- _________________________________________ Pierre-Henri BARAS

Co-webmaster de French Fleet Air Arm

It can if you put on too heavy a coat. Just a dusting is all you need. I don't use the glosscoat unless there are VERY sharp curves, such as on a 1/72 scale ball turret. Most of the time the BMF conforms so well that you don't need to seal it. It's all I use for canopies unless it's a simple job with few curves, like on the sides of a Douglas Dauntless canopy. Then I'll just use the clear household tape. Burnish it down well and it won't need to be sealed.

-John

-John

I use either ParaFilm (Testors) or BMF like the others.

I also have tried the very thin masking tape, with liquid mask too fill in. That works very well too !!!

Key is to burnish any of the above down right at the frame line. ParaFilm wins in this regard, as it shows plainly where it has been *pressd down* and where it hasnt.

For either the BMF, or parafilm route a SHARP blade is a necessity !!

"Only a Gentleman can insult me, and a true Gentleman never will..."

"Pacific95" a écrit dans le message de news: snipped-for-privacy@mb-m04.aol.com...

Thanks, I'll try that.

-- _________________________________________ Pierre-Henri BARAS

Co-webmaster de French Fleet Air Arm

Some pain, but it works - I use plan old Scotch tape, burnish it down with a toothpick at the edges, and then if there is any creep (and there usually isn't) I chase that off with a toothpick. I use enamels, not sure if/how the chasing off of paint creep would work wih acrylics.

in article 3fa5155c$0$258$ snipped-for-privacy@news.free.fr, Pierre-Henri Baras at snipped-for-privacy@free.fr wrote on 11/2/03 8:31 AM:

I've been using BMF on canopies for years and have never had to use a "sealer." I must be doing something wrong...

MB

Cheap and perfect: "Cheap Chocolate Foil". Better than Bare Metal Foil for masking canopies, and free with a chocolate bar! See my Stuka page for everything I know about it, plus an illustration:

in article bo8mas$pef$ snipped-for-privacy@news.tudelft.nl, Rob de Bie at snipped-for-privacy@dutlbcz.lr.tudelft.nl wrote on 11/4/03 11:06 AM:

Thanks Rob, that's one of the best tips I've seen in some time. Now I have to go buy some imported chocolate bars. Modeling is tough work!

MB

Just out of curiosity, is chocolate packaged in the type of foil I describe in the USA or Canada? I could imagine that some countries require an airtight type of packaging for all food products.

Rob

My models:

Plenty of chocolate in the US is packaged only in foil--Hershy's Kisses, for example, and Cadbury bars (past the exterior paper sleeve), IIRC.

Mark Schynert

Rob, I was very exited to try your technique, and it worked great so far..... I was also going to pass on that Kit-Kat packages the same way... and just before I went on vacation to the UK.. But horrors! They Nestle paages them different there.... so one less source. I noted too the rarity of Hershey products.... Same in Holland.

rich

I also just noticed that it seems Hershey is longer packaging the plain ol bar in foil anymore either...