Help with Canopies

**ccoyle** · #1 01-23-2012, 11:45 PM

My order from Karton Modell Shop arrived today, hooray! Included in the order were five canopies, including the one for the Yak-3, which I can now finish (a year later!).

I'd like to get some tips on how best to work with these canopies. What type of glue works best for gluing the paper frames to the plastic canopy, but without fogging the plastic? How much of the frame does one cut out before gluing it to the canopy (it gets a little flimsy if cut out entirely, but if one leaves a little excess paper to work with, then some edge coloring will have to be done after attachment to the plastic)? Any other general tips??

P.S. Included in my order were five sets of laser-cut frames for various Halinski kits. I feel a Halinski build coming on?

Cheers!

**Tim Crowe** · #2 01-24-2012, 03:05 AM

Only ever done glazing on vehicles. Always use UHU glue, seems to work, but is very stringy

Also found you have to colour the back of any parts that are joined to the transparent parts, to avoid any white showing through.

Tim

**GreMir** · #3 01-24-2012, 05:12 AM

Double sided tape works best for me.
I cut the entire frame out and attach it to the canopy, then trim the canopy to correct size.
Tip about coloring the backside of the frame is worth remembering, even if there are frames for the inside as well.

**cardist** · #4 01-24-2012, 08:23 AM

Try the technique as recommended by Dr. Zarkov, that is print the frame onto sticky-label paper. You can get these as full sheets, so print as many as needed onto one sheet. Also means that you can print interior as well as exterior frames. In some instances it may involve cutting and pasting to a separate sheet of parts, but that shouldn't be too much bother if you are familliar with graphics packages.
Hope this helps,

Bernie

**cMags** · #5 01-24-2012, 08:49 AM

I agree with the sticky label frames, you may need to scan your kit if its a pre-printed model, but worth it. When I use paper frames and make my own canopies, I will use white glue to attach the frame, as it will be repositionable for a short time, and the glue easily wipes off the canopy when dry, then go around the lower edge (where the whole assembly gets glued to the plane) with CA glue. It would fog and make a mess if you go around the inner edges against the visible portion of the canopy, but along the low edge keeps the frame in place. At least it does in my 1:72 scale fighters.

**ashevilleangler** · #6 01-24-2012, 04:36 PM

Don't forget the Future,.... floor wax that is. Make sure the canopy is super clean then dip it, mist it or brush it with this stuff. After that cover it with a bowl or other suitable dust blocker. Wait at least 24 hours and you'll have a much more durable and smudge forgiving canopy.

Curt

**richkat** · #7 01-24-2012, 05:58 PM

I second what Ashevilleangler said, Future floor wax is fantastic...will make it look clearer and keep it from foging from the CA glue. The best way I have found is to pour some Future in a small bowl then, hold the canopy with tweezers and dip it in the future. try to kind of roll it in (but completely under) and let it run off as much as you can, then stand it on a paper towel and cover with a bowl or something to keep dust off while it drys (over night). Makes a BIG change in how it looks!.....Rich