Getting rid of the toy-like look of clear part

[I.Illes]

I came across many kits that were painted pretty ok, but every now and then, the effort is somewhat ruined by "white" edges that give away the build as a kit and give it a toy-like look.

Eliminating that is easy, in fact. What I do is (after sealing the part with Future or whatever you prefer) to look at reference material and accordingly try to figure out what material the side it

will be glued to is made of on the real thing and then paint it accordingly: in most cases, it is black as there is a rubber/silicone seal between the part and the light, windshield, canopy

or whatever it is and the actual airframe, so I paint the edge of the clear part (the edge that will be glued, that is) or make a mix of white glue and black acrylics or black ink, which will do the trick.

The result can be seen here on the Hellfire missiles and the position lights: clear part received a black edge

and a yellowish color in the center; the position lights got an aluminum coat and a black seal around the outermost edges.

HTH

István

Edited August 19, 2012 by I.Illes

[PetarB]

Nice tip! I've done this myself, but it's an easy step to overlook, and once the canopy is glued in, hard to fix.

[cook7997]

Thanks for the tip István. Never thought about mixing paint with white glue!

Cameron

[I.Illes]

That's a technique I came across when I started building a wooden shipmodel :)

[dmk0210]

Would a sharpie work for this?

[I.Illes]

Would a sharpie work for this?

Whatever works for you, the trick is to eliminate the additive light that causes the edges to "glow" when seen from the thick side.

I just don't know if a sharpie would cover the transparencies enough as I use them for painting position lights etc., so probably not.

[I.Illes]

Nice tip! I've done this myself, but it's an easy step to overlook, and once the canopy is glued in, hard to fix.

In most cases, if you use white glue, the canopy is easily removed unless you used additional putty on the edges.

Easy to paint and I'd prefer a flawless canopy over saving time on the workbench ;) Really no point in superdetailing a kit

and neglecting the most important thing that gives away the kit as painted plastic. B)

Edited August 20, 2012 by I.Illes