Hi everyone

I am a beginner to airbrushing, i am currently building a commando humvee and i have already assembled and handpainted the interior and mounted the transparent glass from inside.
Now i want to airbrush the exterior and i wanted to know what is the best way to protect the glass? I have masking tape but the edges of the glass are round if i try to cut it by a cutter i risk to scratch the glass or push it inside.
Appreciate yoy help
Thanks

Hi there

I'd do it the same way you would the odd shaped cockpit glass on an aircraft...

A lot of small pieces of tape.

Use a good tape that doesn't have bleed under (very important) best I've found is Tamiya tape followed by Model Master.

put your tape on a cutting mat or other surface you can cut on.

put a length a couple of inches and free hand cut into pieces trying to get some curves that roughly equal the part you are trying to mask.. it don't have to be exact as long as it covers of part of the edge, then use another piece to continue it. the main thing you have to do is to make sure where the edges of the tape meet its a smooth line..

other options are put the windows in last, or use a sharp knife to cut the tape (which scares me too)

Word of Warning... Don't remove the tape until you have finished the model... I did a P-61 in the early days and really painted up the inside. removed the masking then did my final clear coat and the glass fogged completely up..

Delbert

Thanks delbert for the advice
I have revell masking tape, i will try to make it fit
I will keep the tape on until im totally done with the weathering

you could try some window mask's, I'm sure Edward makes a set.

Once you use them you'll ever wonder how you worked without them

You can use a very sharp toothpick to push the tape into the corners and burnish it down to stick on the parts to remain clear, then very carefully trim it from the parts to be painted. If you use a brand new blade and go slowly you shouldn't slip. Also angling the cutting edge away from the centre of the window can help.

Alternatively, use hole punches to punch out circles of tape with the same radius as the corners. Then fill in the straight edges with the strips of tape mentioned above.