I know I've seen some advice somewhere on the site but couldn't find it. Can anyone help me with advice on how to tint the clear plastic cockpits. I have just bought a Revell 1/32 scale F-16C and I know they normally have a tinted look. List of hints and equipment used would be useful as this will be my fisrt attempt.
Thanks for your help.

Have a look at this, see if it makes sense
http://www.swannysmodels.com/Tinting.html

Transparents paints would probably be the most simple solution, but those probaly require an airbrush to get an even and flawless finish.

I would try tinting future with acrylics and dipping the canopy in it. As future levels nicely, tinting will be even and it can be removed later if desired.
Just remember to test your mixture with a left-over piece beforehand to be sure that the color is right.

Eetu's idea sounds like it might work. If you don't have a spare canopy to test it on, I can give it a go for you.

Tamiya smoke may be an alternative as this is fairly transparent.

Lee

Ah, just read the full article in the link posted by Chuck - The smoke oil 'engine on fire' look is neat but I'm not sure about the rest.

I'm going to try a Tamiya smoke/future dip right now.

Be back in 10 mins.......

Yep, Tamiya 'Smoke' and future/klear works quite well. I havn't seen the 'dried' results yet but the Fw190 canopy I did does look OK.

I reckon the mix needs to be about 20-30% smoke to future as I only used about 10% smoke and it looks a bit 'thin'. Its probably worth experimenting to get the right mix.

Lee

Hi Chris

Airbrushing highly thinned coats of clear paints is certainly an answer - Tamiya and Humbrol have them in their ranges. I've read that some modern jets have a translucent metallic-gold tint? - that could present a challenge...

Maybe auto modellers have something in their paint ranges - Pactra always seem to have finishes unavailable elsewhere...

All the best

Rowan

Thanks for the advice. Next question where ican I get Future from in the UK as I've never had to look for it before and haven't seen it on the shelves in Tesco.

Hi Chris

Now that's the easy answer! Johnson's Future is called Klear in the UK. It's sold as a floor polish, but is actually an excellent, thin acrylic varnish.

All the best

Rowan