If you've been making models for a while but envy the neatness that some can display, then the following tips on masking techniques may be of interest, since untidy painting can be one of the biggest detractors in terms of visual appeal or, to put a positive spin on it, neat painting can greatly improve how the model looks.
]]>If you've been making models for a while but envy the neatness that some can display, then the following tips on masking techniques may be of interest, since untidy painting can be one of the biggest detractors in terms of visual appeal or, to put a positive spin on it, neat painting can greatly improve how the model looks.
I'm going to discuss a few simple things you will likely have anyway, plus some things you may enjoy for the ease they bring.
The first thing I recommend is proper Kubuki tape, and can happily recommend Tamiya masking tape. I've had some disasters with Hobbycraft's own-branded similar looking tape, so personally don't use that any more.
Before going into masking canopies/windows and camouflage demarcations specifically, let's cover a golden rule:
Don't use your model as a cutting mat! Even if you're careful, you'll likely score cut lines into the surface of the model. This applies to camouflage demarcations but especially to transparent parts. An errant knife cut down your windscreen can really spoil the final look.
For masking camouflage and wiggly lines generally, I suggest you try ordinary household Blutac rolled into thin 'sausages'. You can fill in the spaces using paper, tape, clingfilm or more Blutac...
For canopies in particular, there is an easy way to do it involving some money but also a cheaper way to do it including for anything else which needs geometric shapes masked.
First the easy way - a commercial set of pre-cut masks such as the products by Eduard, P-mask, Montex and others:
These come with a set of graphic instructions. It requires nothing more than picking the relevant pieces up with a set of pointy tweezers and applying them neatly to the intended part of the model. Usually these commercial masks include the glazings and often wheel hubs and/or tyres. Pricing in the UK is usually somewhere between £3-6 per set for most kits.
The cheaper way to do it involves cutting your own pieces of masks, and I personally find that easier to do using small pieces to suit one line at a time. I suggest outlining with narrow strips of tape and filling in either with rougher cut pieces of tape or masking fluid, and you'll end up with something looking similar to the jet at the top of this blog. You don't need one, but a hugely popular accessory to make this really easy and consistent is a cutting mat such as those by Infini Model which have spaced grooves to guide an ordinary modelling knife blade.
These strips will give you lovely neat edges to your masking, and marking with a sharp pencil once first placed on the model can help you find what the ends need to look like to avoid using the model as a cutting mat!
As you lay other pieces on top of existing pieces, it becomes safer to trim them off without removing first. If you're absolutely dead-set on cutting against the model, use a fresh blade. This minimises the pressure you need and will help cut the tape without you digging in to the plastic.
Ultimately, practise makes perfect. Have fun, and let me know if any of the above helps you improve your results!
]]>Colourcoats paint is produced in small batches which are then hand poured into our retail tins. Our usual tin size is 14ml to suit the majority of scale model builders, however, we have branched out into larger sizes of 125ml upon request to suit large scale builders and RC builders. Our range supports this whenever we have requests for specific colours or availability in the batch. We do offer custom size batches as well and have provided paint for many full-size restoration projects allowing these pieces to be refurbished in their accurate colours (contact us directly through email for any specific paint requests).
Image of open tins filled with paint
Each batch being hand poured gives our product the human touch - and the occasional human error of a spot of paint on the outside of the tin (check out our workbench in a photo below with all the spilt paint!). We like to think of that as a reminder that everything we do is by hand and in the UK through our micro-business rather than mass-produced in a factory.
Image of sprayed lids on a board held up by member of the team
Our batches produce an average number of tins which sometimes can be slightly greater or fewer. We spray each tin lid with the paint from the batch that will fill that tin based on this average, and with each colour having a slightly different composition due to pigments or flattening agents, this is sometimes more or less than the average. When this is less than the average - we have excess lids that need to be stripped and cleaned to be reused for another colour. We do not like waste and will always ensure to reuse and make the most of our stock. When this is more - we do not have full sprayed lids to use so you may find that some of our tins have partially brush-painted lids as seen below. Spraying another few lids would incur time that would mean the paint would dry before being lidded, thus these lids are hand-painted with that batch immediately to preserve the quality of our paint. This process also means that the colour on the lids is still the exact colour inside the tin.
Image showing 2 different styles of painted tin lids
So next time you get your order and you spy a couple of tins with partially painted lids - you now know why and you can enjoy the hand painting skills of either myself (Gill), Jamie or Stew!
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