Damaged Canopy

FineGrit Sandpaper, Polishing compound, and a dip of future!

No amount of finegrit sandpaper is going to help this canopy.  It went from bad...to worse...to trash can Maybe I should buy  a new model...yup that should do the trick

What grit of sandpaper are you using you should be using somewhere between 1000 and 2000 grit for canopy stuff then just do the polish and Future thing. But don't trash the kit either just because of one little thing

OR! You could make this an in-flight model showing the process of ejecting out of an airplane. This is the first step, the canopy is released........ No need for the canopy any more.

Never get CA close to clear plastic-use white glue or Kristal Klear. Don't give up-wet sanding and plastic polish will get ya there. Consider vacu-after market too!

clairnet_person wrote:

What grit of sandpaper are you using you should be using somewhere between 1000 and 2000 grit for canopy stuff then just do the polish and Future thing. But don't trash the kit either just because of one little thing

The sand paper is bit coarse...I need to go buy the grit you suggested...thanks

MontanaCowboy...excellent suggestion

trowlfazz..you got that right never will I get CA close to a clear canopy...too much of a headach.  I pulled it out of the trash and will keep at it.  As far as aftermarket stuff, none can be found yet.  I'll keep looking. 

lol I like your suggestion montanacowboy do an ejection in flight or you can always do an ejection on the ground to where the pilot accidentaly pulls the jection handle that way you keep the landing gear on if you want

I managed to get CA on the caopy of my Hawk/Testors P-51D (no pictures as masked for spraying). Even a klutz like me managed to get the canopy looking OK again! Basically, you need various grades of sanding sticks. I started with a medium (I believe), then a fine, then a superfine. Being an old kit, with a not so clear canopy I didn't bother going finer, but even so, it looked better than it did before the accident (some scratches came out). In short, just need a little patience, some faith, sanding sticks (fresh is best), and a tad of elbow grease.

osher wrote:

need a little patience, some faith, sanding sticks (fresh is best), and a tad of elbow grease.

Your absolutely right.  My modeling skills need to improve and this one of the ways it will improve.  Perhaps its not the way I would like to learn, nonetheless its a learning experience.

clairnet_person wrote:

lol I like your suggestion montanacowboy do an ejection in flight or you can always do an ejection on the ground to where the pilot accidentaly pulls the jection handle that way you keep the landing gear on if you want

The kit came with a little pilot...hmmm...now its becoming comical.  Lets see what can be done.

ua0124 wrote:

clairnet_person wrote: lol I like your suggestion montanacowboy do an ejection in flight or you can always do an ejection on the ground to where the pilot accidentaly pulls the jection handle that way you keep the landing gear on if you want The kit came with a little pilot...hmmm...now its becoming comical.  Lets see what can be done.

And you can have the cracked canopy buried in the dirt next to it. Let's do it! no, but I'm sure I will do one one of these days. The dio will be called "My Bad".

<BLOCKQUOTE><table class="quoteOuterTable"><tr><td class="txt4"><img src="/FSM/CS/Themes/default/images/icon-quote.gif">&nbsp;<strong>ua0124 wrote:</strong></td></tr><tr><td class="quoteTable"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="100%" valign="top" class="txt4">
Your absolutely right.  My modeling skills need to improve and
this one of the ways it will improve.  Perhaps its not the way I
would like to learn, nonetheless its a learning experience.</td></tr></table></td></tr></table></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's how I learned! That P-51D was (and still is) the lesson of hard knocks in modelling for me. I should have sanded that canopy earlier, but was afraid to. Dropping the CA on it forced me to learn a new skill. I've learnt a heck of a lot from FineScale, a very useful source of information!

If the canopy was dipped in Future before you used super glue, you can wipe the future and hopefully the super glue off with rubbing alcohol or denatured alcohol. 

I suggested this on another forum, the person used my suggestion and is very happy.

http://s3.invisionfree.com/readersforum/index.php?showtopic=5409

Happy New Years to all of you!!

Osher, the mistake I made was truely careless on my part.  Accident maybe...preventable absolutely.  The Model was nearing completion and I had to mess it up, thats the fustrating part.  I was working on a 1/32 F4U-1D Corsair and it was nearly painted until I screwed it up.  I ended up stripping the entire paint job with PollyScale ELO and took apart the entrie plane and put it in a box for someother time. Extreme measure. 

tyamada...I already started to sand the canopy down.  The damage was too bad.  The damage is in the inside of the canopy so I have to see sand paper and no sticks.  The inside curvature does not allow the stick to make a full contact.  Paper will do.  It has not gotten better yet...but I will keep on sanding.  I will post a picture if the darn thing comes out well.

ua0124 wrote:

Happy New Years to all of you!! Osher, the mistake I made was truely careless on my part.  Accident maybe...preventable absolutely.  The Model was nearing completion and I had to mess it up, thats the fustrating part.  I was working on a 1/32 F4U-1D Corsair and it was nearly painted until I screwed it up.  I ended up stripping the entire paint job with PollyScale ELO and took apart the entrie plane and put it in a box for someother time. Extreme measure.  tyamada...I already started to sand the canopy down.  The damage was too bad.  The damage is in the inside of the canopy so I have to see sand paper and no sticks.  The inside curvature does not allow the stick to make a full contact.  Paper will do.  It has not gotten better yet...but I will keep on sanding.  I will post a picture if the darn thing comes out well.

Being the inside of the canopy and dipped in future, you might try the rubbing alcohol. As for using paper, wrap it around a pen/pencil which will basically give you the ability to apply a little pressure but not too much tho.  Isn't modeling fun  This is how we learn, whether it be our mistakes or that of others. Good luck & keep us posted on your progress.

The three best friends I have found for cleaning up canopies are Future ( as mentioned before ), the nail polishing sticks that most women seem to have, and Goo Gone.  The nail polishing sticks have three different grits on them.  On one side is 1/2 white and 1/2 gray, and then the backside is completely gray.  The white and 1/2 gray are actually somewhat coarse, but the gray on the flip side is what I use to do the final polishing on my canopies.  A final dip in future and you are golden.

The Goo Gone is used to remove any tape or  Bare Metal Foil adhesive residue from masking the canopies for painting.  Looks bad when you get started, but comes off like a charm.

Good luck!  Chris