Hi, i have questions regarding msking aircraft canopies. if you can't use masking tape what would be the next best think? does white glue work?

There are many options. Parafilm, liquid mask, liquid latex, masking tape, for example. The trick is to try several and setlle on the one that works for you.

I certainly would NOT use white glue.
There's a special liquid for this purpose : MASKOL. Other brandnames exist as well. This is a liquid form of latex that does not hurt the canopy plastic. It can be painted on, then let it dry. Once dry, it forms a latex film that clings to the surface that is not supposed to be painted. Next, paint. Once all is painted, you can easily remove the latex skin from your canopy, and you'll have the effect you needed.

welcome to the site!
heres a tip that i find quite handy when using maskol etc, before it drys put a bit of cotton or paper in the wet maskol. Leave some of it out of the maskol and then you can tear the maskol of that little bit easier when you've done.

Hi dodjiemd

Welcome to Armorama! :-)

I have heard of people using white glue as a masking fluid, but I'd be careful as it might be difficult to remove without causing damage.

Similarly, it's not a good idea to leave latex masking fluids on for a long time (I'm talking months - i.e. on projects that you've forgotten!! ), because they can be hard to remove.

To get fluids to mask curved surfaces better, I put small pieces of masking tape across the area to give the latex something to cling to.

All the best

Rowan

Welcome to the site first of all.

You'll get a wide variety of answers on this one as you may have already noticed. In fact, I changed the current poll question to one regarding masking canopies. My preferrred method is to use blue 3M painters tape. It's low tac so it won't pull-up the paint when your done and won't leave any residue. I start with small strips and outline the area to be masked and then fill in with larger pieces to cover the rest.

Good luck.

yes the blue 3M painters tape works really nice.
i went out and got some.
and i painted 2 canopys some far and they came out pretty good

As for me, I use a regular masking tape. Here's the trick:

1. cut the tape a little bit larger than the canopy itself.
2. Press the tape into the canopy until lines appear.
3. using an X-Acto no. 11 knife or any sharp object, cut the excess tape.
4. remove the excess tape.

There you go! It it doesn't work, use either the 3M Magic Tape or if your rich, buy a Bare Metal Foil. This thing can be used as a masking tape too.

In this post you will find more helpfull info.

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/14558&page=1

This item is a nightmare for me