masking and painting canopys

Joe

simple answers are

1, I put them on the outside much easier

2, yes

3,yes interior first let it dry then exterior

4, you can polish a canopy (I never have) but you will need very fine grain to do it. You could try something like Tamiya's finishing polish, but I've never don't this so cant say 100%

5, after my answer to above I've have to say future paint then future again, I don't flat canopies as i think they look better with some shine to them

Phil

As far as polishing the canopy,  I generally do not unless I want to depict a plane absolutely fresh from the factory.  Plexiglas weathers quickly from UV sunlite, and isn't very scratch resistant. If I do want to represent a pristine canopy, dipping it in Future before hand saves a lot of polishing, and does the same thing.

The only time I polish a canopy is if I have had to remove a seam line by scraping it down.  ie: the Tamiya Mustang Canopy's had a line I had to remove. ...... I ended up using the Novus polishing sytem which worked well.

However the "future" wet finish would not stick to the canopy afterwards, so I ended up using some Alclad Klear instead...curious???

Joe,

if you do HAVE to polish a canopy (maybe getting rid of a seam line or flash) I use the following process: sanding with 600, 1000, 2000 grit automotive papers.  Next, I'll use a bit of brasso on a q tip and polish with that.  Finally, I'll use some toothpaste with a damp (not wet) q tip and polish with that.  Now it looks like crap and you're thinking what have I done, it's all foggy and it looked better before.  All part of the process. Next, I'll have a small container of Future, tweezers and a paintbrush.  Dip the canopy holding it with the tweezers, lift and use the brush to help the excess off.  Sometimes, though not often, I'll let it stand for a second on a paper towel to get rid of the excess.  Then, I have prepared an old margarine lid (or something similar, plastic and round) with a 'grid' of flat toothpicks laid out on it.  You're trying to make a bed to rest the canopy on so the future doesn't stick to the margarine lid, and I've found it peels away easily from the toothpicks.  Lay the canopy on its' bed, and cover it.  An upside down bowl works well for this, depending on size.  Anything domed that will cover it.  Last, make sure the cover is lifted slightly in one area (a toothpick underneath one spot) to allow it to breathe.  The cover keeps dust and hairs (I live with two dogs, there's a lot of hair around) from settling into the Future and drying in and making it look awful.  The really hard part is to leave it for 48 hours undisturbed.  The first time I did this, I kept thinking of how awful and scratched up it looked, and wanted to check if it was getting better, resist the urge.  You'll be amazed at how it went from foggy and crappy to new looking.