Canopy frame painting, the way my grandfather did it..

[Guest]

Thought I would share a couple of tips that were well used 20 years ago when I first got into modeling..

A quick way to paint the outside frame of a canopy.... Get a gloss sheet of thick paper or glass. Ive found A4 gloss card to be perfect.

Using a large brush, take a generous helping of the required paint (un-thinned) and paint a 10p piece sized circle of paint. Holding the canopy tightly

dip the edge you want painted into the paint and gently rock it a few degrees. Let dry then repeat for other edges. With a little practice its possible to get

as good an edge as you would get masking.

A quick way to paint inside frames of a canopy.... My grandfather was a user of this method. Take a craft knife and dip the blade side in your circle of paint (See above)

Quickly hold it on the canopy frame line and rock it from side to side a few times. Lift the blade off and you will have a straight line of equal thickness.

Why not try using both methods to complete a canopy....with a little practice you can do a canopy in minutes without the time needed to mask or to paint free hand.

Hope this is helpful

Danny

[Guest]

Hmm, If I follow your drift I assume you can only do this with canopy frames which are quite raised. How about a picture or two to illustrate this method.

[Guest]

I had an idea last week, although I have not tried it yet. Get some very thin string (thicker than sewing thread. Cover it well with paint (it would have to be enamel because it mustn't dry too quickly). Lay it on one of the frames then remove, perhaps more than once. This could apply to canopies with proper raised frames (that is, glazing level; step up to frame level; step down again to glazing level) and to the single step type: glazing level, step up to another level. For those, the string could be laid closely along the angle of the step.

This would be easier for frames that curve across the width or length of the canopy. For those curving differently, for example along the glazing of the front part of the canopy, a fine tweezer-helped effort would be needed to guide it round.

This might be a rather fanciful way, but I will try it one day.