How to best paint window trim on clear plastic?

Hello all,

I ran into a problem, I don't seem to be able to solve. I am building a Tamiya Mercedes SLK. The windshield needs to painted on the inside and outside. The areas to be painted are slightly "shaded" in the clear plastic.

First, I tried to paint with a brush but I was not satisfied with the results.

My second try was to mask and spray. Masking with masking tape did not work as I cannot see the shaded areas through the tape in order to get a good border. It worked a little better, when I used BMF for masking. I should mention, that I dipped the windshield in "Future" to be able to repair any mishaps. After masking, I sprayed a coat of Future on the windshield to seal the masking, then Tamiya X18 (semi-gloss black). After removing the tape, it did not look satisfactory. The lines are not as crisp as I had hoped and are not exactly where they should be. Also, the future leaked through and created a hazy area between the trim and the clear windshield.

To make a long story short: How do you paint these window trims on the clear pieces?

Thanks
Jens

Use a small permanent ink pen and draw the border lines (four sides, except for the corners), using a french curve. Then, fill the rest of the area with a larger pen of the same brand. If the type of black matches, you can use paint, instead.

If you don't like a french curve not conforming to the window, find identical curves and transfer them to a sheet of plastic, cut them out and use them as guides.

I do it the same way as Hiroaki, using a permanent marker. But I usually freehand it. It does require multiple layers to build up to a thick black hue.

I use a sharpie for the small stuff as well... but if it's a 1-piece window glass, I mask it all off using either body tape (the green stuff autobody guys use) or Tamiya's own tape, and then use a very sharp #11 to lightly cut out the outline of the trim. Tamiya usually includes masks already in the kit for this very purpose, as well.

Mask and airbrush for me.

http://www.italianhorses.net/Tutorials/Window%20Masks/masks.htm

Thank you for your responses. It seems there is no magic available. I will try the masking and spraying using the technique in bhop's link. I will also try the marker technique and see what works best for me.

Cheers
Jens

Alex Kustov's handy tutorial on the subject:

http://www.italianhorses.net/Tutorials/Window%20Masks/masks.htm

black sharpie then use tamiya flat black with a paintbrush

Doesn't the new SLR kit come with window masks?

this whole time i been masking up and wasting time.. I will try this marker technique now

Doesn't the new SLR kit come with window masks?
He said Mercedes SLK, which is significantly different from the SLR. It is also a lower-quality Tamiya kit.