Hi there. I was wondering about painting canopies. I want to have my canopy like a mist black or darker colour. However, I can't seem to find threads or posts on it anywhere. Is this uncommon? I'm new to aircraft to say the least. However, I want to have a mist colour. I tried to mix a lot of thinner with a small amount of paint. But, this didn't work. Can anyone give me any ideas, hints, or point me to a thread.

Patrick

What paints do you use? You should be using "clear" paints rather than the standard "opaque" type. They're called clear yellow, green, blue and even smoke. Tamiya paints had these in their line. If the canopy is thin enough, it's better to paint it from the inside rather than on the outershell. For a golden smoke finish (like what I've seen on F-16s), paint first with smoke on the inside and finish it with another coat of clear yellow/orange.

Hope this helps

Hi Patrick

Welcome to Aeroscale. It's great to have you with us.

As Ralph says, the ready-made clear colours are definitely the easiest way. They're usually acrylic and most paint manufacturers have them in their ranges. As an alternative, if you can't get the specific colour you need, try mixing a tiny amount of standard acrylic paint with clear gloss varnish.

But don't use the trick you've tried of just adding lots of thinners - if you're using enamels or laquer paint (and unless you really know what you're doing) you run a major risk of damaging the canopy that way.

All the best

Rowan

actuall y i think yhe best way for you would be to dip your canopy in klear with a mix of food coloring use it to tint to!

Thanks for the welcome, great site. Yes, I woke up this mourning and was in the bathroom and I though to use smoke paint. But, I didn't think clear smoke or clear black. So thank you. I will get some from the hobby shop ASAP. Thanks for the help. = )