Canopy help

 

Posted By: Bill Steinberg <BSTEINBE@GENRE.COM>

Date: Wednesday, 2 June 1999, at 8:29 a.m.

 

I did a shoddy job on painting a canopy and wished to remove paint on the places it shouldn't be. I used a toothpick to remove the dry paint, which worked pretty well. Now the "clear" portion of the canopy is pretty scraped up. Is there a way to remedy this? I heard toothpaste works, but how? Any other ideas, aside from being more careful the next time?

Cheers,

 

Bill Steinberg

 

Re: Canopy help

 

Posted By: Tom Hall <hall41@ix.netcom.com>

Date: Wednesday, 2 June 1999, at 9:07 a.m.

 

In Response To: Canopy help (Bill Steinberg)

 

Dear Mr. Steinberg,

 

Yes, there is help for a scratched canopy, provided the problem is really scratches and not etching or fogging by the paint. You did not mention the kinds of paint and solvent, so let's hope all you have is scratches.

I've tried the toothpaste approach, but it always seems to take a lot of buffing, because the toothpaste isn't abrasive enough to be a good starting point for scratches. 

There are plastic polish sets. They tend to be more popular among car modelers. There are also some very fine grit sandpapers and abrasive wheels. The latter tend to be used by jewelers. Depending on the size of the area, you might try one of these approaches, but be aware that you will probably lose some canopy frame in the buffing.

 

Re: Canopy help

 

Posted By: Ronnie Murray <ronnie.murray@ncmail.net>

Date: Wednesday, 2 June 1999, at 10:17 a.m.

 

In Response To: Canopy help (Bill Steinberg)

 

I'd say dip the whole thing in "future" floor polish.  It will definitely take care of the scratches and will seal the paint with a glossy finish. You could then take a small brush and overcoat with a flat finish -- overcoat the painted canopy parts with a flat or semi-gloss finish...not the glass panes of course.

 

Re: Canopy help

 

Posted By: Bill Sanborn <bsanborn@psedd.com>

Date: Wednesday, 2 June 1999, at 3:26 p.m.

 

In Response To: Re: Canopy help (Ronnie Murray)

 

I'm with Ronnie on this one, if the problem is truly light scratches. Remove all of the old paint residue. Dip (don't brush) the canopy in Future and set it aside in a dust free environment to dry. Then paint as normal. If you don't like the Future coat, strip it off with ammonia. I treat all my canopies this way before I paint them. It seems to make them clearer and easier to work with.

 

Bill

 

Let us know what you end up doing and how it works.

 

Re: Canopy help

 

Posted By: Dan Salamone <dano@rust.net>

Date: Wednesday, 2 June 1999, at 3:36 p.m.

 

In Response To: Canopy help (Bill Steinberg)

 

Hi Bill,

 

I agree with what the other guys say, provided that the damage is not extensive. If it is, you may be better off making a new canopy using the heat form method, but even here it would help to get the first canopy as clear as possible before using it as a master since scratches will transfer over to any copy using this method. If you think you may need to go this route, ask and I can elaborate on it, but hopefully the Future will solve the problem for you. Take it easy,

 

Dan

 

Re: Canopy help

 

Posted By: Rob Graham <rgraham111@aol.com>

Date: Wednesday, 2 June 1999, at 10:04 p.m.

 

In Response To: Canopy help (Bill Steinberg)

 

Bill:

 

If you were to try toothpaste, I recommend Pearl Drops tooth polish. It's a little coarser. I had a CD that had a scratch in it, but I could salvage it with Pearl Drops. The scratch was still visible, but the edge was gone, and the CD worked.

I've had TERRIFFIC luck using silver polish. I sand the plastic with fine sandpaper, then polish it until it's perfect. It can be done. But if you wish to maintain the paint, "clearly" this can't be done (no pun intended). I have so far only done this on opaque plastic, but it works very well.

Just some ideas from a guy who does things the hard way. I like the sound of Ronny's approach better!

Take care,

 

--Rob

 

Re: Canopy help

 

Posted By: Ronnie Murray <ronnie.murray@ncmail.net>

Date: Monday, 7 June 1999, at 11:01 a.m.

 

In Response To: Re: Canopy help (Dan Salamone)

 

Hey Dan,

 

I just took a look at your Hasegawa Jack photos on the Flightdeck website gallery. I'm really impressed! The weathering you did makes the look as far as I'm concerned. I've done the Tamiya jack and really enjoyed the kit. I weathered mine fairly heavy but not with the same effect as yours. Did you airbrush the panel lines with a dark stain? What was the green you used for the overall finish? What did you use as the metal finish? It's very convincing as a weathered metal. Mine looks a bit too shiny. Great work, I'd love to see more.

 

Re: 1/72nd A6M canopy frame painting

 

Posted By: Grant Goodale <grant.goodale@sympatico.ca>
Date: Thursday, 29 March 2001, at 7:54 a.m.

 

Bill -

I generally give it a good coat of Future and then user Bare Metal Foil and a branch new number 11 blade. Burnish the foil down real tight on the canopy and the frame lines are really obvious. This really helps a klutz like me when cutting away the foil.

When you are finished painting, simply remove the foil with a toothpick and then wipe away any residue with a cotton swab dipped in one of those citrus cleaners like Goof Off or Goo Gone.

 

HTH

Grant

 

Vac Canopies

 

Posted By: Deniz Karacay <denizkaracay@yahoo.com>
Date: Sunday, 15 April 2001, at 2:22 p.m.

 

Can somebody advise on how to cut and paste vac canopies?

 

Posted By: Rob brown <rbrown1553@earthlink.net>
Date: Sunday, 15 April 2001, at 7:14 p.m.

Trim the canopy from its backing sheet leaving 1/16 inch of plastic. 2.Fill with plaster of Paris and let dry. 3.Sand the part on a flat surface until the 1/16-inch of "trim" falls away. For complex shapes sanding sticks are very handy. If the part can maintain its rigidity during sanding you can dispense with the plaster. This method is foolproof and will give you excellent results every time.

 

Rob

 

Re: Masking the Canopy 

 

Posted By: Roachie <roachdas@dingoblue.net.au>
Date: Tuesday, 3 July 2001, at 5:26 a.m.

 

In Response To: Masking the Canopy (Tony Feredo)

 

In this day and age where the canopy frames are at such a degree as being like channels with raised edges, why not hand paint?

Here's how I go about it - (the channels formed by the canopy framing are just that - channels for paint to be flowed into):

First - try and find an appropriate tool such as a toothpick or something inserted into the antenna post hole; or a clothes peg clipped onto a corner/edge of the glass-piece to minimize handling the clear part):

NOTE: for the application of Acrylics only!

I select the interior frame colour (Aotake, Black, Mitsubishi Interior Green and so on) - with a number 20/0 brush and a quite-thinned colour, commence flowing the paint. The capillary action of the thin paint runs along the channels and at the edges of the channels the colour becomes darker and easier to see because you will need to apply one, two or perhaps three runs using this method. It isn't as hard as it sounds, so if you have an old A6M or Ki48 canopy, give it a try.

Don't be concerned if you go outside and over onto a glass panel although you should try to keep this to a minimum - leave it and rectify later (see below).

After the interior colour has gone on, I wait a certain amount of time and then repeat the above steps using the EXTERIOR colour/s, but this time with less thinned paint because the tracks or channels are well laid out for you to see due to the first colour. Again, don't worry if you go over onto a clear panel.

To remove paint from clear panels, take a ROUND toothpick, cut one end at a bevel - soak the bevelled end in water for a couple of minutes to soften the wood - and carefully run the toothpick along the outside of the frame where paint has flowed over and gently scrape away excess. Gloss, semigloss and Matt Varnishes can then be placed over the finished exterior coat.

As I said, once you try this you may find it easier and less time-consuming than masking - this is a method I use on 95% of the canopies I do.

For enamels, you need to be aware that any thinner you use MAY craze the clear panels if you go over, though I have not found this to be a noticeable problem.

Appreciate any feedback for new "users".

 

Roachie  

 

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