Liquid Masking Agent

[Guest rbfoley]

How is liquid masking agent used to mask canopies? would I cover the canopy then trim away the excess mask or would I mask the frames then apply the agent? any tricks or tips involved?

[MoFo]

I prefer to outline my canopies in thin (>1mm) strips of masking tape, then apply the liquid mask. I found it difficult to trim any excess if I just applied it to the canopy - it would lift and pull as I tried to cut it. Of course, since I primarily build jets, the canopies are usually fairly simple, with a minimum of framing to outline - it'd be a major hassle to outline a WWII greenhouse before applying liquid mask.

[Jason C-C]

I used to coat the whole canopy, and then trim away the frames with a sharp blade. With a steady hand, this worked quite well using Gunze's Mr Masking Sol. Unfortunately I can't seem to find this in the UK, and Humbrols purple masking liquid doesn't work anywhere near as well. It seems to have a much lower adhesion, so just getting it to stick to clear plastic is difficult. And it comes off easily when you try to cut it.

[Miccara]

For the life of me I can't remember the name of the masking goo I'm using at the moment. I think it something like "Modeller Mask" It's a light blue creamy kind of stuff. But more to my point...

I coat the whole canopy and trim out the frames. What works for me is to A) thin the mask with some water (Obviously the stuff I'm using is water based!) apply a THIN coat, let it fully dry. Then apply a second thin coat. :D put a sharp blade in your knife.

I've found that the two thin coats allow me to practically just use the weight of the knife to trim. This pretty much eliminates the "pulling" problem while cutting. After it's all cut, use a round toothpick (Not the flat ones) to pull off the mask from the frames. keep your art knife in hand to cut any corner peices that start to pull and if they do pull away, just simple wet the area it pull away from, with a little spit on your finger. It will dry sealed down. Sounds complex but it is really quite easy and quick. ;)