Gold Reflective Canopies

PetarB · Post by **PetarB** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 6:54 pm

I've noticed on some current jet fighters they have a slightly reflective, gold canopy. I've tried a number of ways to duplicate this but the following problem come up - any gold metallic I have - inks and acrylics - usually have too much 'grain' in them to be useful.
I've asked on ARC forums, and there wasn't much of a response. One guy approached the people that actually did the process, they wanted $600 or so for a model aircraft's canopy, so that's out!
Has anyone had any success in this?

macfrank · Post by **macfrank** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 8:51 pm

PetarB wrote:I've noticed on some current jet fighters they have a slightly reflective, gold canopy. I've tried a number of ways to duplicate this but the following problem come up - any gold metallic I have - inks and acrylics - usually have too much 'grain' in them to be useful.
I've asked on ARC forums, and there wasn't much of a response. One guy approached the people that actually did the process, they wanted $600 or so for a model aircraft's canopy, so that's out!
Has anyone had any success in this?

Try Rub N' Buff gold. Rub it on, wait for it to dry (a few seconds) then rub most of it off. Repeat until you have the shade you want. One advantage of the Rub N' Buff is that it'll polish the plastic in the process.

You can also try Tamiya clear yellow - either straight or mixed with Future.

A third option is food coloring in Future.

Post by **TER-OR** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 9:55 pm

Ink in Future. Tinted Alclad, quite thinned.

I've been thinking of this myself, and I've used green pearl powder on my EX-Model Yamato fighters. Yellow or gold pearl powder might work too. It's a tricky question, that's for sure. Maybe the metallic buffing product beneath a yellow-tinted Future coat? Hmmm....

Digger1 · Post by **Digger1** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 10:31 pm

I like terry's idea.

How about ultra-thinned gold acrylic paint?

Terry's idea is probably better. They sell inks like that at Michael's and AC Moore.

Lt. Z0mBe · Post by **Lt. Z0mBe** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 5:37 am

TER-OR wrote:Ink in Future. Tinted Alclad, quite thinned.

I've been thinking of this myself, and I've used green pearl powder on my EX-Model Yamato fighters. Yellow or gold pearl powder might work too. It's a tricky question, that's for sure. Maybe the metallic buffing product beneath a yellow-tinted Future coat? Hmmm....

I'm doing it right now on my Cosmo Zero build. I'm adding one drop of Winsor & Newton Cobalt and one drop of Tamiya Aluminum to a palette well of Future. I've put on about five coats and it looks great. I wanted blue to imply a polarized canopy in a beam weapon environment BUT I tested Winsor & Newton canary yellow and green apple with great results on scrap clear sheet.

Hats' off to Terry on the Winsor & Newton for this type of work as they are dyes, and do not have pigments to worry about.

The Tamiya aluminum is so fine it has a scale appearance even at 1/72 scale.

I hope this helps.

Kenny

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 8:44 am

A thin coat of Alclad II Gold seams to work. Gives it that shimmer.

Post by **TER-OR** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 9:14 pm

I think I have a bottle of the gold Alclad. And a Gripen somewhere...

Wug · Post by **Wug** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 2:06 pm

ARC has a couple of relevant canopy articles.

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/T ... nopies.htm

There's an article on gold tinting canopies with acrylics.

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/t ... tnt063.htm

And another article on using food coloring and Future.

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/t ... tnt050.htm

I haven't tried either method on large parts like canopies but I've used both methods for lenses and sensors.

HTH

Mike

Lt. Z0mBe · Post by **Lt. Z0mBe** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 8:12 am

Wug wrote:ARC has a couple of relevant canopy articles.

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/T ... nopies.htm

There's an article on gold tinting canopies with acrylics.

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/t ... tnt063.htm

And another article on using food coloring and Future.

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/t ... tnt050.htm

I haven't tried either method on large parts like canopies but I've used both methods for lenses and sensors.

HTH

Mike

I've tinted a few canopies with the food coloring trick and it works great. THe only problem with it is for whatever reason is the aluminum in the Tamiya aluminum I use doesn't have neutral buoyancy in the solution and just floats on top. That why I used the inks this time after experimenting. They're a lacquer, basically, and the mixture of Future , and Winsor & Newton seems to be of the same density as the aluminum powder in the Tamiya. That makes a great suspension for the polarized canopy.

Now, if I were not going with the metallic powder, then I would absolutely rely on just food coloring as it's a lot quicker and I like the green and blue better.

It's my two quatloos. Take it for what it's worth.

Kenny

PetarB · Post by **PetarB** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 6:18 pm

As mentioned, I've seen all the stuff on ARCforums. Great resources and articles, but none give the 'shimmer' that Kylwell put so succinctly - they are more focussed on a colour. I'm after a definite metallic specular behaviour, while still retaining some transparency.

Here's what I have tried, and don't like:

Various metallic Tamiya acrylics mixed with Future - metallic grain to big

Gold Metallic Dye mixed with Future - once again, metallic grain too big. Might see what else I can find out about this, I have not exhausted the possibilities.

Airbrushing thinned Tamiya gold - metallic grain too big.

What I will try next:

Very light airbrushing of Alclad Gold. Need to find some first!

Gold powders. Sounds interesting, although I take it the powder wont adhere well to the gloss Future coat.

And any other suggestions...

Anyhow, thanks for everyone's suggestions to date. Keep em coming! Very interested in seeing your canopies TER-OR.

karim · Post by **karim** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 6:24 pm

I had really good success on my UF109 by painting the canopy gloss black, then dusting it with a light (semi-transparent) coat of two-color metalic paint that I found in the RC section, which shifts between Gold and Green. It was an absolutely beautiful effect...

Then I peeled off the masking and all the paint came off with the tape

Of course, the second time around didn't work nearly as well

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Joseph C. Brown · Post by **Joseph C. Brown** » Tue Jul 09, 2013 8:50 am

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Kekker · Post by **Kekker** » Tue Jul 09, 2013 6:35 pm

Has anyone tried the 24 karat gold dust used in cake decorating?

I have used it for some details on a cake and when applied using vodka as a liquid it came out looking like polished gold - no grain at all.

It's not cheap, at $8 for a teensy container, but it really looks great, and a thinned application might just do it!

I plan on using it someday for the gold visor on an astronaut figure. If it looks that good on piped frosting, it should be the dog's knees on nice smooth plastic!

Kev

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Tue Jul 09, 2013 6:51 pm

4 grams @ $8.... it isn't real gold then.

I just use Alclad gold when I need shiney gold.

hossfly72 · Post by **hossfly72** » Thu Oct 03, 2013 9:11 pm

I used to tint RC airplane canopies with Rit dye. Never tried yellow or gold, usually just green or red and I used black dye to get a smoked effect.

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