The Unofficial Airfix Modellers' Forum

celt wrote:Hi Sir T,skypirate and crashpilot,I tried your method on a scrap canopy and could not get it right,despite many attempts,anyway I have decided to do away with canopies altogether and do models with little or no clear parts.My first effort is already posted,I must say I enjoyed doing a model without the pressure of clear parts,not the prettiest of aircraft but still an aircraft and not a target oops sorry armour.

Muttzley wrote:Lovely Hellcat, there's a lot to be said for nice simple kits, you can just bash em together, slap some paint on them, and still get a decent model at the end.

Have you considered using Maskol fluid or similar on the cockpits?
Paint it both sides of the frame line, paunt over the top, then peel it off, I get reasonable results using it.

Eric Mc wrote:Have you tried using tape or decals for canopy frames? It is an alternative way of getting sharp edged frames. I've used the technique from time to time although I mostly do paint them.

It would be a shame to give up on aircraft models because of "canopyphobia".

Eric Mc wrote:It's your hobby and how you conduct it is entirely up to you.

I just thought painting and cutting a piece of tape was not much more effort than playing with a Sharpie - and least you would have the correct colour on the frame.

Eric Mc wrote:You can buy paint pens these days. Maybe that might work.

Muttzley wrote:Fair enough, the other way you could go about it is paint the canopy the appropriate colour then paint the gkazing black. That's the approach I used on some Guillows balsa models I built for the kids.