discussion "Painting" Canopies with Tape

[Ian M]

Stevekir. I use clear decal film, I paint the interior colour first then when that is dry paint the out side colour over the top- When the "decal" id put on the canopy the back of the decal is green and the out side, grey or brown or what ever colour I choose.

Hope thats a bit clearer now.

Ian M

 

[Guest]

Stevekir. I use clear decal film, I paint the interior colour first then when that is dry paint the out side colour over the top- When the "decal" id put on the canopy the back of the decal is green and the out side, grey or brown or what ever colour I choose.Hope thats a bit clearer now.

Ian M

Yes, clear now. I assume that the decal film sticks because it is designed to do so (at least on paint). I will investigate.

 

[Ian M]

Basicly Steve you are just making a decal. Instead of printing one on a printer, you are just painting one. I just spray the colours, let them dry thoroughly and then use as any other decal.

Cut out and put in place. The decal film will be a bit "rubbery" and can stretch a bit but do stick well to the clear canopies.

Ian M

 

[Guest]

Does brush painting on this decal sheet cause any issues Ian?

 

[Ian M]

Does brush painting on this decal sheet cause any issues Ian?

Sorry never tried it so I owe you a reply there...

I'll give it a try and let you know-

Ian M

 

[Guest]

I'll give it a try and let you know-

Thanks mate, much appreciated.

 

[Guest]

As you say the tape ones are the sharpest but are a bit 'chunky' maybe half as wide will work better.A thing I have been playing with is the decal film you can buy, among other places in John's shop.

I paint a bit with the interior colour, then when dry the outside colour. When cured, a new scalpel can be used to cut the widths you need. A good thing is that the printer film is pretty tough and with the paint on has a thickness that works well as frames.

A final dip in "Klear" helps seal things down but watch out for pools forming in the corners.

I tried this out on the Sea Mosquito I posted a while back.

Ian M

I'm having a go at this. I plan to brush paint the colour (Model Air).

When you use it, do you brush or airbrush the paint on?

When using paint, do you follow the decal paper instructions to coat it with two coats of Microscal Liquid Decal Film? (They advise this to prevent smudging since the manufacturer assumes that the decal film will be printed on a printer using water-based inks).

I assume that you use Micro Set and Micro Sol as in conventional decal application. Yes?

Have you tried printing (on a printer) a patch of colour and then cutting into strips? This would closely follow the method envisaged by the makers of decal film and might make the colour coat stick on more securely.

I will of course experiment but it is useful to be able to avoid red herrings known not to work or not to have an advantage.

 

[The Migrant]

Have you tried printing (on a printer) a patch of colour and then cutting into strips? This would closely follow the method envisaged by the makers of decal film and might make the colour coat stick on more securely.

I don't think this would work as the inks would be transparent (unless you're printing black canopy frames).

If you're painting strips of decal one thing I've found is that it's better to cut the strips before painting, as trying to do it afterwards invariably chips the paint at the edges, no matter how sharp the blade. I don't cut all the way through the paper, just deep enough to go through the varnish layer, then the interior color is airbrushed, followed by the camo colour/s.

The decal strip method works great where the canopy frames are all straight lines, but where complex curves are needed it's difficult to 'guess' the shapes to cut. I'm another fan of Parafilm as it's transparent enough to clearly see the moulded canopy frames and it doesn't leave a residue as someone else pointed out. It adheres best to Future'd canopies, the extra gloss really helps. It does require a steady hand to freehand cut the lines, but a tip that I was taught in art school is to not look at the tip of the blade, but a few mm ahead to where you want the blade to go; the brain fills in the gap and the blade follows. It sounds bizarre, but it really does work. Honest.

 

[Ian M]

I'm having a go at this. I plan to brush paint the colour (Model Air).When you use it, do you brush or airbrush the paint on?

When using paint, do you follow the decal paper instructions to coat it with two coats of Microscal Liquid Decal Film? (They advise this to prevent smudging since the manufacturer assumes that the decal film will be printed on a printer using water-based inks).

I assume that you use Micro Set and Micro Sol as in conventional decal application. Yes?

Have you tried printing (on a printer) a patch of colour and then cutting into strips? This would closely follow the method envisaged by the makers of decal film and might make the colour coat stick on more securely.

I will of course experiment but it is useful to be able to avoid red herrings known not to work or not to have an advantage.

Sorry for the late reply. A lot going on at the moment.

I airbrush the normal Vallejo model color direct onto the clear decal film and leave it to dry over night.

I did not use any decal solutions at all. Acrylic paint, when dry is water fast so no need to seal it.

Printer ink is to translucent and then there is the problem of matching the colour.

Ian M

 

[Ian M]

hej Mike good to see you're still looking in.

Ian M

 

[Guest]

I have been masking canopies for so long with strips of masking tape that I have forgotten just how tough it was to acquire this skill. And I would like to know how the two to cover two of the most common shapes like, the square corner and the slightly rounded corner.

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