Masking up
So with the main assembly completed I just had to add the front section of the canopy before masking up the cockpit opening and the two wheel wells. There was no aftermarket canopy masks available when I built this kit, so the canopy had to be masked the old fashioned way. There’s nothing complicated about it, but the use of pre-cut masks certainly helps to speed things up. I did use a masking sheet by a company called Maketar that is designed for this very purpose. It’s filled with different angled and curved masking strips that if you aren’t able to get a specific pre-cut mask for you project, will definitely make masking a canopy a lot easier.
I used Mr Surfacer 1000 thinned with their self levelling lacquer thinner as a primer. This doesn’t take long to dry and gives a perfect base to paint on. Any seams, or missing panel lines and rivet details are easily seen and taken care of before carrying on. One of the biggest advantages of using the Mr Surfacer as a primer is if you’ve had to address a seam line for example, and you’ve sanded away the primer, it is so easy to seamlessly airbrush it back in again before continuing on with the build.