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Hello! I am working on some elder vehicles and saw a great video online of how to tint canopies using humbrol red paint.

The issue is I want to tint my windows blue. I Don't see a humbrol clear blue but have seen online that Tamiya makes one.

Is this what I want to use? How do I do it? Just paint it on? Do I paint it on the inside of the glass or the outside? I have a million questions. Who can help me!? Is it a regular water based paint? Will I need a special cleaner etc?

Can you link the video?

I use clear colors from Tamiya and Badger Airbrush (their Ghost Tints are great!). Make sure the canopy is clean- use a little warm water and dish soap and carefully wipe the canopy being careful not to scratch it. After it dries, don't handle it a whole lot (greasy hands and all that). You can't really primer the canopy, so painting with a brush will be problematic. Using an airbrush, paint the reverse side (inside) of the canopy. Use light layers. The more layers you paint on, the darker it will get. The canopy will be darker after you put it on the model unless you have a light source inside the cockpit.

Good luck!

Here you go! What you thinking?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DH1ffArWJ-4

The humbrol clear green is an enamel. You could try Tamiya's clear blue enamel (Tamiya do both an acrylic range and an enamel range, the enamels are the ones in the tall square bottles, the acrylics are in the short round bottles).

I haven't done tinting myself, but I could imagine enamels being better for the job than acrylics... but really I have no idea without testing.

It's possible that the humbrol stuff and/or enamels have better self levelling properties. It's interesting that BuyPainted applied it with a hairy brush rather than an airbrush, because he's normally right in to airbrushing anything and everything. Maybe he didn't airbrush it because he didn't have the necessary thinners or safety gear? Or maybe he could get a smoother coat without the airbrush? (it may sound funny.... but some clears self-level better when applied with a hairy brush).

I suggest you test anything you want to try on something other than the canopy as you don't want to have to strip paint off the canopy if you can avoid it!

Can you link me to what you think may be the correct tamiya product? I will try it on some spare clear canopies I have.

This is Tamiya's clear blue ENAMEL

http://www.amazon.com/Tamiya-Enamel-RCECHO-Version-Edition/dp/B00F61CJGQ

And this is Tamiya's clear blue ACRYLIC

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tamiya-GLOSS-CLEAR-BLUE-Acrylic-Hobby-Model-Paint-Acrylic-X23-23ml-81023-/221303104610

I honestly don't know whether the enamel or acrylic would produce similar results, I'd suggest that since BuyPainted went out of his way to use an enamel he probably knows what he's doing and did it because the humbrol enamel has better self levelling properties than an equivalent acrylic clear.

I frequently paint with enamels rather than acrylics, but I must confess I have never tried Tamiya's enamels. In general, when working with enamels you *can* thin them with white spirit but it's recommended (especially if you're airbrushing) that you use the enamel thinner made by the same company that made the enamel paint (yes it's a pain in the rear! I have separate bottles of Humbrol and Testors enamel thinners for that reason!).

BuyPainted used it straight from the pot it looks like, if you use it straight from the pot then just clean up using white spirit. Avoid using high quality sable brushes with white spirit because it'll strip the natural oils off the brush and shorten the lifespan.

Thank you so much!

You are saying to use mineral spirit for cleaning right? Not just rubbing alcohol?

I don't think you can clean up enamels with rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol or "IPA")... but I can't say I've ever tried it either. I often use IPA to clean up acrylics but never tried it on enamels, I always just reach for the white spirit, I don't think IPA would work because enamels have an oil binder in a spirit base.

So yeah, white spirit, mineral spirit or turpentine to clean up the enamels off your brushes and whatnot. You can also use them to thin enamels but the results will vary.


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I'll echo what Tamwulf said though, make sure you thoroughly clean the parts before applying clear otherwise the clear may end up beading up in an undesirable fashion. You can even go to the extreme of polishing the canopy, though that's probably not necessary for what you're trying to achieve.

I tinted the canopies on my SoB Immolators using glaze medium and plain old GW paint. I think I mixed them 50/50 and applied it directly to the canopy with a brush. After it dried, I simply hit it with gloss varnish and it was done. I can take some pics of the finished product if you'd like to get an idea of how it looks.

Please send me some pics!

I used Badger Minitaire Ghost tint and it works like a charm. But like mentionned the inside will look dark so I highly suggest painting the inside of the cockpit white or light grey so the details can still be seen through the tint.

Is that just a grey shade? Pics?

The white balance is off, but you can see the color is translucent. This might not work as well on canopies with less texture. I used a product from Liquitex called Acrylic Glazing Medium. It's a common brand name and can be found in the paint section of most art supply/craft stores.

Is it blue naturally or did you have to add color?

 Icelord wrote:
Is it blue naturally or did you have to add color?

The glazing medium is a milky, clear liquid: you add color to it. I used normal GW paint, but you could add any water-based pigment to tint it to whatever color you want. An acrylic ink might give a richer color.

So you mixed them and simply painted the inside of the glass?

The outside. The only prep I did was cleaning the plastic with some warm, soapy water. Apply your tinted glaze and let dry. Then I hit it with gloss sealer to protect the canopy from scratches.

How about this?

http://www.snmstuff.co.uk/alclad-ii-armoured-glass-30ml/

Army man what gloss sealer did you use?

 Icelord wrote:
Army man what gloss sealer did you use?

I use Krylon spray, but brand isn't really important

I use a water base polyurathane designed for furniture for all my top coats. Like was said brand doesn't mater. Shine is directly related to durability. But when its made to protect your kitchen table from forks and knives banging around on it even the lowest durability is more then enough for models.