QUOTE: Originally posted by Lucien Harpress
1. I read somewhere of an easy way to "vac-form" your own canopies (in case you screw up the kit part), and would like to know exactly how that would work. It somehow involves heating something, then using the kit part to form the new canopy. I have a canopy-less A-17 that could really benefit from your help! ![Smile [:)]](/FSM/CS/emoticons/icon_smile.gif)
|
|
The material used is called ThermaForm (or something like that), and it's available from Squadron at www.squadron.com. To use it, chuck something like a pencil or dowel in a vise, put a big blob of silly putty or blue tack or something like that on the end, then sit the old canopy down over it. Heat the Thermaform with a candle, and when it starts to sag pull it down over the old canopy and let it stretch.
I've never used it myself and I've read mixed results from it. The detail isn't as good as the original, and sometimes it takes a couple of tries to get it right. On the plus side the material is thinner than the original molded styrene so it looks more to scale.
QUOTE:
2. What are the best ways to fill and eliminate seams? (Other than sanding! I know that.) Info on any type of seam you can encounter would be helpful. You know, like gaps, or my main problem, when one side of the seam is higher than the other.
|
|
When one side of a seam is higher than the other you have two choices: raise one side or lower the other side. Just the way it is. You can build up the low side with putty or sand down the high side.
Filling gaps can be done in a lot of ways. Filling the gap with gap-filling superglue, filling the gap with putty, filling the gap with white glue (some mix in some dust from sanding). All are going to involve sanding. Swanny has a good article on his site about seam filling. The link is: http://www.swannysmodels.com/Seams.html
Many seams can be eliminated when assembling the parts. Dry-fit beforehand and make sure the parts fit properly. Sometimes it's easier to fix things before assembly than after. I've had real good luck with Tenax 7R glue in eliminating a lot of gaps. It is a "Plastic Welder" and melts the plastic at the joint which virtually eliminates the joint gap.