Masking deep aircraft gear wells...

[Lt. Z0mBe]

Wise and Sagely Starship Modelers,

My latest build is nearing completion. The gear wells are painted. I have a question for you all. I have some deep, very detailed gear wells. The wells extend flush to the fuselage. That is, there's no gap between the "bottom" of the well and the outer skin of the aircraft.

Normally, I would just mask with a sponge or silly putty. But, those techniques wont work:

Silly Putty won't work because the wells are too deep and detailed. The putty will rip out all of the detail I've worked so hard on. The stuff might not come all the way out at all.

Sponge doesn't seem to be a go either. When I load the openings with sufficient sponge to cover them, the sponge "mushrooms" out of the gear wells. The will certainly foul the finish coat with a crumply, thick, irregular edge, and a color coat not reaching the perimeter of the gear well.

Here's a photo of the underside of the fuselage.

MAsking tape and frisket edges don't seal very well in the corners of the wells, either. I thought about wet paper, but I'm afraid it won't come out and I won't get a good seal around the perimeter of the wells.

Any thoughts from the Council of Styrene and Resin would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Kenny

[Floyd Walker]

Damp (not dripping wet) bathroom tissue should work, IMHO.
If you don't pack it in too tightly, it should just pop out when dry.
You may have to touch-up the very edges of the wells, but not more than a tiny bit.
Alternately, you could put the damp tissue in (a couple of layers) like you were making a tarp - just covering the sides and bottom. When it's dry, carefully cut around the exterior edges, making it flush. Then pop it out when you're done.
Hope this gives you some ideas

[Kylwell]

Have you tried latex make-up sponges? You'd have to do some close trimming but I've found them to work n such situations.

[macfrank]

How about building a "dam" inside the wheel wells with good tape (Tamiya or 3M Blue tape) that stands proud a few mms over the lip, fill the inside with a filler, then paint?

You could burnish the tape against the edge then shoot the outside with Future to seal it, then paint.

Frank

[Lt. Z0mBe]

I think I am going to combine methods here.

The dam, bathroom tissue, AND sponge methods hold great promise here. I will post the results.

I think this should work. I'll seal with Future and we shall see.

Thanks for all the help. I just needed some additional brain cells. This one has taken forever.

ANy more input is welcome. It's still a couple of hours before I head home.

Kenny

[suwalski]

Assuming you don't mind the expense and haven't done it, you can use casting mold-rubber. The stuff from Alumilite is delicate enough that I can't see it doing damage. Just fill the well right up, embed a wire to ease pulling it out.

[Lt. Z0mBe]

I ended up using all the advice in this thread. I stuffed the wells with wet toilet tissue. Then, I sealed the edges of the wells, up to flush with the fuselage, with liquid latex mold builder. Looks pretty solid to me.

Thanks, as always.

Kenny