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Seams on a canopy

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  • Member since
    February 2006
Seams on a canopy
Posted by navy07 on Thursday, September 10, 2015 11:52 AM

I am building Revell's 1/48 scale F/A-18E.  The canopy has a seam down the middle.  How do you eliminate the seam?  Thank you.  Lenny

  • Member since
    March 2013
Posted by patrick206 on Thursday, September 10, 2015 1:07 PM

Lenny - I have seen several ways of getting rid of the seams, my usual way is to lightly scrape away the bulk of the seam with an Exacto blade, being careful to not remove it completely. I line both sides of the seam with tape, to protect all but the seam itself. This avoids going too far and gouging into the area you want to preserve.

Then I use the really fine sanding pads, starting with the courser grit, eventually advancing through to the finer grits. Best to not use a flat surface for backing, that can produce a corresponding flat surface where the seam was. If you do it by hand holding the pad, use arcing passes to preserve the curvature of the canopy surface.

My wife got me a small polishing foam block, different grits on two sides, available at a beauty supply shop. Might be for polishing finger nails. The finest side is ULTRA smooth, works perfectly for a final polish, better than the finest pad actually. Being foam, it conforms to the curvature of the canopy, no flat spots. Cleans up with water, when through using it.

I don't find a need to use the Novus system any more, the pads and polishing block leave the canopy ready for Pledge or installation. Hope it helps.

Patrick 

 

 

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