More masking (Eurofighter, DHC-1)

Although we spent Saturday morning in Gig Harbor, a nice little town across the Narrows Bridge west of Tacoma, I was able to get some workbench time in the latter part of the day.

Lots of canopies to mask up. First came the DHC-1 Chipmunk. I used a Peewit masking set, available through Hannants. Peewit seems to specialize in masks for shortrun kits, or at least ones that Eduard perceives as not having good enough sales potential to do. They are made from the same yellow tape that most companies are using now, and worked perfectly.

As an aside, I’ve mentioned that my choice of markings for this one is the British Airways Club hack. But a quick look through Airliners.net shows that there are many civil schemes for all of the different Chipmunk variations, including the Canadian blown-canopy one. I think it would be great if someone like Xtradecal – who did a set of civil markings for the Tiger Moth – would give us more civilian examples for the AZ kits. I’d buy it, for whatever that is worth.

Incidentally, after masking the Chipmunk canopy I attached it to the model. The fit was not good at all. It seemed that you could either get one side of canopy flush to the rim or the other, but not both. My solution was to clamp it and hope it didn’t shift while drying. Unfortunately, the clamp was likely too large, because it left some micro-cracks along the top side of the clear part. I won’t be able to see the whole of the damage until after painting is complete and the masking is removed. Just when you think you have a clever solution to a stubborn problem, it all goes south. Cue a long string of deleted expletives. Still a bit of cleanup to do on some puttied seams. 

Next came the Hobbyboss Eurofighter canopy. The canopy for this type is extremely simple, and I’ve never felt the need to spend for a masking set. It is very easy to do with Tamiya tape and a sharp Xacto. There is little framing to it, so you’re basically trimming around the bottom of the canopy where it meets the fuselage.

Along with the canopy masking, I detail painted the cockpit for the RF-101C. Again, pretty basic stuff. I’ve also added the instrument panel decals, and now that that is done it is time to cement it into one of the fuselage halves.

I need to get a few models across the finish line. I’ve started some new ones in the last week or two (Chipmunk, F-101, Skyvan, Aerovan. Eurofighter) and the workbench is starting to look like an aeroparts graveyard again. I’ve never been able to work on only one model at a time, but this is starting to get out of hand.