discussion Tip for masking undercarriage and airbrake bays

[Guest]

Hi folks,

This is probably already known by the experts out there but I have not seen it before so here goes: I usually mask undercarriage bays using the doors, blu-tacked in place, however sometimes when a kit is made purely for "gear down" there are securing lugs on the doors to help the builder get them in place, which prevents them sitting in the closed position. The alternative to this, for me, is filling the bay with blu tack, which can be messy to get in place, and even worse to remove.

Instead: -

Below, I blue-tacked the door to a sheet of thin flexible styrene and cut round it.

Then by test-fitting and careful trimming and sanding, I got this: -

A perfect (or good enough) fit, a blob of blue-tack behind it, to hold it flush with the surface and job done.

I hope this helps

Stuart

 

[stona]

Good tip,I've never done that but I might. I'm a stuff the wheel bay with wet tissue kind of guy normally!

Steve

 

[Guest]

Never tried that - it might be quicker..!

 

[stona]

It's quicker and works fine on my WW2 subjects as I'm not usually bothered about a rigorous demarcation between the wheel well (for example) and the underside colour. I use the same system to stuff radiator intakes,air scoops and the like. On a modern or NMF aircraft I can definitely see a use for your system. I don't reckon it would take too long,not compared to the amount of time we all put into our models!

Cheers

Steve