The Easy Way to Paint a Windshield
on a Bubble Canopy Hatch!

Previous articles on the Offshore Electrics web site have provided tips and directions on how to spray paint a RC boat hull. After the boat hull has been painted, the next step is to add a few details to give the boat a more realistic appearance. The most common detail to add is a windshield for the boat’s canopy. There are several different ways to replicate a windshield including decals, hand painting, and spray painting. This article describes an easy way to spray paint and trim a windshield to give your FE boat a nice scale look. This example uses a monohull hatch, but the same techniques can be applied to a hydro hull to simulate the cockpit windshield.

1: APPLYING BASE COLOR COATS:
The base color coats of paint for the canopy hatch should be applied as described in the Offshore Electrics article called “How to Spray Paint an ABS or Fiberglass Fast Electric RC Boat”. To add a bit of interest to the hatch, it is common to use two colors on top of a primer coat. An example of a two-tone paint scheme, and how to mask and paint it, is shown below. It should be noted that the fine white tape at the edge of the mask in Step 2 is white pin striping, which gives the mask a smooth edge.

 

Step 1: Appy 1st Color(White Gloss)	Step 2: Mask white for 2nd color coat.
Step 3: Apply 2nd color coat

2: OUTLINING THE WINDSHIELD:
Once the hatch has the base color coats, it is time to test different windshield shapes to find a shape that looks realistic and has an appropriate scale size. By cutting out various paper templates and temporarily applying them with tape, it is possible to get a feel for what shape best suits the canopy. Step 4 shows a sample template on the hatch.

Next, use the template shape as a guide to outline the final windshield shape using surplus pin striping. The pin striping will be the mask edge for the painted windshield. Pin striping is an ideal mask since it is flexible so it provides a smooth contour and it leaves a nice clean edge when the paint is applied. This is difficult to achieve with traditional masking tape. Step 5 shows the windshield outlined using the surplus pin striping.

 

Step 4: Test paper template	Step 5: Outline windshield with pin striping

3: PAINTING THE WINDSHIELD:
After the pin striping mask edge has been applied, it is time to mask the rest of the hatch so that the windshield can be spray painted onto the hatch. Step 6 shows the fully covered canopy hatch. Low tack “painter’s tape” is used as the masking material since it is easy to remove and will not damage the previously painted surfaces.




 

Step 6: Mask the canopy	Step 7: Apply windshield color

After masking the windshield, spray on the desired color of paint. The two most common colors are black or silver. In this example, the windshield is painted silver using Testors Spray Enamel #1246 Silver. This paint is compatible with Krylon base color coats and clear coat. Typically, only one coat of silver is required to provide good coverage. Be sure to sand the area to be painted in order to provide better paint adhesion. Step 7 shows the painted windshield after the mask has been removed.


4: TRIMMING THE WINDSHIELD:
Once the windshield has been painted, it is time to apply pin striping to the edges of the windshield to simulate the windshield frame. For smaller hatches, it is recommended to use 1/6” pin striping, while 1/8” can be used for larger hatches. The thinner 1/16” pin striping fits better, with no buckling, on tight radius contours. The pin striping should be applied so that it partially covers the painted windshield edge. Step 8 shows the black pin striping applied around the silver windshield. Some modelers may choose to reverse these colors and paint a black windshield and use silver pinstripe on the frame. This works fine as well, but typically the silver pinstripe is not as flexible as the black, so it may be more difficult to apply.

The final step is to apply a clear coat over the finished windshield. If the base coats are Krylon and Testors enamel, then it is recommended to use the Krylon Clear Gloss as the final clear coat in order to ensure paint compatibility. Step 9 shows the finished hatch with windshield and decals and a final clear coat.


 

Step 8 Apply Pin Striping to windshield edge	Step 9 Apply final clear coat!

Good luck with painting and detailing the windshield on your Fast Electric RC boat!