tosouthern66 Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 I have tried both ways of painting landing gear bays. Paint before painting exterior and painting after exterior. How do you all do it? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 I have to do both. Painting before allows me to get all the nooks and crannies. I paint after, well touch up, because I can't figure out how to do a decent job on masking the bays. Masking outside the bays is easy. Lay the tape across the opening, run a fresh blade around the edge, et voilà, you've got it masked. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 I have to do both. Painting before allows me to get all the nooks and crannies. I paint after, well touch up, because I can't figure out how to do a decent job on masking the bays. Masking outside the bays is easy. Lay the tape across the opening, run a fresh blade around the edge, et voilà, you've got it masked. Great little tip about how to mask outside the bays. I can't believe I never thought of something so simple. ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tosouthern66 Posted October 31, 2015 Author Share Posted October 31, 2015 What i have done to mask the bays to paint the exterior of the aircraft is to cut foam to shape of wheel well bays. I still get over spray in them when I paint the exterior. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kurnass77 Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 I always paint the bays after the model camo. Is more simple to maske the bay edges and also I'm worried that the eventual mask can remove the details ( wire etc..) that normally I add to the build. Gianni Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thommo Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 (edited) I always paint them first, then mask by packing little bits of wet tissue paper inside, gradually building it up till it is flush with the wing surface. I used a damp coarse-bristle large paint-brush to pack it in and shape it around the edges. I sometimes do this to mask the cockpit too. Edited November 1, 2015 by Thommo Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Grey Ghost 531 Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 (edited) I saw one interesting technique in a magazine years ago. The model was completely camouflaged and then varnished with a solvent based clear gloss. Then he shot the wheel wells, no masking involved, with an acrylic. He let it just partially dry and then cleaned off the overspray with Windex. Edited November 2, 2015 by Grey Ghost 531 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tosouthern66 Posted November 2, 2015 Author Share Posted November 2, 2015 I saw one interesting technique in a magazine years ago. The model was completely camouflaged and then varnished with a solvent based clear gloss. Then he shot the wheel wells, no masking involved, with an acrylic. He let it just partially dry and then cleaned off the overspray with Windex. Now that is an option I never thought of. Sounds like it would work. Going to have to give it a try sometime! Thanks for the tip!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zeus60 Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 I saw one interesting technique in a magazine years ago. The model was completely camouflaged and then varnished with a solvent based clear gloss. Then he shot the wheel wells, no masking involved, with an acrylic. He let it just partially dry and then cleaned off the overspray with Windex. I have some DVD's with David Fisher, who does figure models (sci-fi types). He shows how he painted a face with acrylics, sprayed it with Dull Cote (which is a lacquer) and then went on. When got a little overspray on the face, he used a cotton swab with alcohol to remove it. The Dull Cote protected the paint underneath it. Sounds like the same approach. Stacey Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Grey Ghost 531 Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 Thinking on it, I believe he was production line building several 1/48 B-24s in the article on a commission. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
glorystomper Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 whoa, total dyslexia moment there.. i saw the title as "Gay Bear Painting - Curiosity" so naturally i had to click it to see what this thread was all about.. awkward!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Keeper Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 Like Thommo said, damp tissues are easy to manipulate and after they dry they usually come out in one piece. There is also several brands of clay like adhesive; Blu-tac and Plasti-tac are what I've used. These easily mold to all the nooks n crannies but you want to make sure your brand doesn't leave an oily residue. To that end I recommend Silly Putty (even available in glowinthedark!) Fine masking device for multiple applications. hth Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 Wow! I tried damp tissue on the wheel wells of my Goose, and I Really Like it! I was able to stuff them in quite nicely. I expect I'll still do some touch-up, but this was a huge improvement over trying to get masking tape to work in there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BJ Blazkowicz Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 I always paint the bays after the model camo. Is more simple to maske the bay edges and also I'm worried that the eventual mask can remove the details ( wire etc..) that normally I add to the build. Gianni Same here. I never even tried to do it other way around. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Janissary Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 I had success using silly putty to mask off the gear bays: http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=268923&view=findpost&p=2601762 It is quite easy to work the silly putty toward the edges and cleanly trim it. It does not leave any residue even after 6months. It wants to stick to itself, which makes it easy to clean up any excess. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JeskiM Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 (edited) I used to paint the bays first, then mask them, and paint the exteriors. That was back in the days when I built my kits with the gears down. Now I build all my kits with the gears up and don't have to worry about it :)/> - Matt Edited November 9, 2015 by JeskiM Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 just as a personal preference I like to paint the wells 1st. I mask with a combination of foam and or silly putty. I do like the idea of taping and trimming with a blade afterwards, just might try that as well if there is just too much delicate details added to the well to safely use anything inside the wells. Joel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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