Canopies

[Cpt Lazarus]

Painting up my new stormtalon and i'm having issue's with the canopy. any tricks for painting the support braces without making an unholy mess around it?

[GodEmperorOfMankind]

Use masking tape on the clear sections?

[Cpt Lazarus]

tried it, didn't stick too well and the paitn bled under. 

[Gurth]

Mask the whole cockpit with proper masking tape — not any random tape like what you’d use to stick two bits of paper together — and then use a hobby knife with a sharp (new) blade to cut along the frame (use only very light pressure on the knife to avoid cutting into the plastic). Next, make sure the edges of the masking tape are stuck to the part by burnishing them a bit with your finger, your nail, the rear end of a paintbrush, or similar. Then paint the part, but try to always move your brush away from the edges of the tape — not toward them.

[Cpt Lazarus]

thanks GURTH. will try that out

[twopounder]

Use blue painters tape. This is a bit more expensive, but it's designed specifically for taping off painting areas and doesn't leave behind residue. 

[Fibonacci]

Since we are talking about canopies, beware of using superglue with clear plastic.  It gives off an invisable vapor that will fog the plastic when it dries. 

[Cpt Lazarus]

I Use GF9's hobby glue. will that fog the canopy?

[Lancer]

You can dip your canopies in future floor polish (made by SC Johnson) to avoid the fogging created by superglue.  Added bonus of giving the canopies a crystal clear appearance to boot.

[Gurth]

Both model cement and superglue can cause “crazing” — that is, the transparent parts turning white. The best way to avoid it is to use a different type of glue altogether: white (PVA/woodworking) glue works fine, for example, or if you expect to glue transparent parts a lot you could buy a bottle of modelling glue specially formulated for clear parts, such as Humbrol Clearfix (there are other brands — I’m just listing the one I can remember off the top of my head).