How to Paint Formation Lights

[Viper Ace]

Building my first airplane jet model the Tamiya 1/48 F-16CJ kit. I wanted to ask how others handle painting clear parts with Tamiya/Gunze clear paints. For example, for the lights on the side of the F-16 intake, one side is red the other is blue do you brush paint the back side of these parts before applying to the model or can you paint them later on after they are installed? The reason I ask is I have never used clear color paints before, so I don't know if they can be airbrushed, brush painted, paint silver underneath first or what?

Edited March 15, 2009 by Viper Ace

[albert_sy2]

i'd just paint it with the color i want (red or green or blue)....

[David Walker]

I usually paint the parts silver first and then brush paint Tamiya clear colors over the silver.

[Viper Ace]

So does this mean you don't have to mask them. You attach all formation lights to the jet during the build and paint the jet, then paint chrome silver on the portion of the light that needs to be colored and then brush paint the appropriate clear color over the silver? Do you thin out the clear color paint or just brush it on straight from the jar? How many coats of clear color paint?

[Huey Gunner]

Same as David, but I use chrome silver. I useTamiya clear colors. By brush and usually 2-3 coats. And always blue and never green.

[graves_09]

I use Future mixed with a few drops of food coloring.

[David Walker]

Do you thin out the clear color paint or just brush it on straight from the jar? How many coats of clear color paint?

I use Tamiya Clear Blue and Red for the navigation lights and I use it straight from the bottle. The blue I can usually do in just one coat. In general it takes two coats for the red.

[Scott R Wilson]

I use Tamiya Clear Blue and Red for the navigation lights and I use it straight from the bottle. The blue I can usually do in just one coat. In general it takes two coats for the red.

If we're talking about navigation lights on modern US fighter aircraft, they should be red and blue-green. Tamiya clear blue straight out of the bottle isn't right, neither is the green. Mix them about half and half.

Scott Wilson

[Grey Ghost 531]

If we're talking about navigation lights on modern US fighter aircraft, they should be red and blue-green. Tamiya clear blue straight out of the bottle isn't right, neither is the green. Mix them about half and half.

Scott Wilson

Or, since they take a couple of coats to cover, paint on a coat of blue, let it dry and then paint a coat of green. That's how I do it. They look great over silver.

If it's a kit that doesn't have a molded light and they protruded on the 1:1 aircraft as many WWII aircraft did, I paint a dot of silver where the light goes. Then I put a little bead of clear 5 min. epoxy on top of the silver. After the epoxy sets, it gets the clear red or green/blue treatment.

[ALF18]

I use a slightly different technique. I leave off all the clear plastic parts until the rest of the painting is done, then I glue the clear part in place. Usually don't bother putting silver in the place the clear part goes. For the blue or red, I use permanent markers to colour the exterior of the navigation light. It is very easy to stay within the confines of the clear part, requires no paint, and the marker goes on nicely translucent to give a great effect of a light.

I used a similar technique to do electronic displays in the off state for a CF-18 cockpit. I used black permanent marker on the opaque plastic backing for the displays, glued in the clear parts, then coloured them green with the marker. This gave a bit of a greenish-hued slightly shiny look to the glass, which replicated nicely the way they look in the sun when off.

ALF

[Viper Ace]

Sounds like most people paint a silver paint over the clear part and then brush paint on clear colors over top. What is the point of manufacturers having formation lights included on the clear sprue if they are just going to be painted over with silver paint?

[ScottD]

Sounds like most people paint a silver paint over the clear part and then brush paint on clear colors over top. What is the point of manufacturers having formation lights included on the clear sprue if they are just going to be painted over with silver paint?

I think your slightly confused, basically if its a solid part and it needs to be painted as a formation light, paint it silver then apply a clear red/blue over it.

Another example is wing tip lights on the Tamiya P-47...they have the light blubs drilled into the clear plastic. Take some clear red and blue depending on the side and just paint those drilled out portions of the formation lights and then apply silver to the inside of that if you want to.

[Huey Gunner]

I think your slightly confused, basically if its a solid part and it needs to be painted as a formation light, paint it silver then apply a clear red/blue over it.

Another example is wing tip lights on the Tamiya P-47...they have the light blubs drilled into the clear plastic. Take some clear red and blue depending on the side and just paint those drilled out portions of the formation lights and then apply silver to the inside of that if you want to.

What he said.

[David Walker]

And with the Has. 1/48 A-4 half the clear light needs to be colored and the other half stays clear. That one ends up being just a bit more complicated.