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Vacuformed canopy

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  • Member since
    August 2009
Vacuformed canopy
Posted by irishpubguy on Thursday, January 14, 2010 2:48 PM

I am trying to vacuform a new canopy for my 1/72 Emhar FJ-4 Fury. The resulting canopy using a vacuform machine is coming out perfect except for the fact that the clear canopy material is turning opaque(losing its clarity) when heated. I am using Squadron's .010 Clear Thermaform, heated over an electric stove coil. The material was purchased about 12 years ago. Any thoughts as to way it turns on me?

  • Member since
    August 2006
  • From: Neenah, WI
Posted by HawkeyeHobbies on Thursday, January 14, 2010 2:58 PM

Age of the material. It has degraded over time. Possibly the materials they used are partly to blame. I remember reading somewhere that this stuff turned yellow after being on the model if it wasn't protected. Is your machine getting the plastic too HOT? Are you exposing it to the heat too long?

Try less heat for shorter period.

Gerald "Hawkeye" Voigt

http://hawkeyes-squawkbox.com/

 

 

"Its not the workbench that makes the model, it is the modeler at the workbench."

  • Member since
    August 2009
Posted by irishpubguy on Sunday, January 17, 2010 7:16 AM

I have two sheets of the material left. I will try your suggestion about the heating.

  • Member since
    August 2009
Posted by irishpubguy on Tuesday, February 2, 2010 2:21 PM

I have tried all sort of heat ranges with my last two sheets & still the same problem. But I did try a piece of clear material from one of those presentation binders one can find at an office store. The material will not fog or discolor and seems to take any amount of heat I give it. It snugged down nice over my wood master but showed some minor scratches that were on the master. I skimcoated the scratches on the master with a very thin plyable coating of fine milliputty. I resanded the wood master with 2400, 3200 & 4000 grit sanding pads so it looked polished which solved the problem.

  • Member since
    November 2009
Posted by Styrene Nut on Thursday, March 11, 2010 8:39 PM

K&S Butyrate,..sheets come in different thickness, (I use .015 for canopies), and when vacuformed, it stays very clear. Dave.

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