Done good mate....
**** DONE: 1/48 Hurricane MkIIc - Mediterranean Theatre of Operations
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JKim
Senior Master Sergeant
Great stuff... I really like what you did with the landing gear!
Looks great so far Andy!
- Thread starter
- #245
Crimea_River
Marshal
Have you been told today!?! 
My first use of a vac-formed canopy worked pretty good. First pic, cut and masked:
And here it is installed. Unfortunately, I didn't get the colour mix to match the dark earth on the fuselage and I'll need to try and do something about that. A happy discovery was that, after experimenting, I found that CA glue does not fog this type of clear plastic. Good thing too because I had to get a good bond for the canopy to sit properly.
My first use of a vac-formed canopy worked pretty good. First pic, cut and masked:
And here it is installed. Unfortunately, I didn't get the colour mix to match the dark earth on the fuselage and I'll need to try and do something about that. A happy discovery was that, after experimenting, I found that CA glue does not fog this type of clear plastic. Good thing too because I had to get a good bond for the canopy to sit properly.
Find the right shade of Pastel chalk Andy and you should be able to tone that canopy down a bit for a better match, without causing any damage to the finish.
Jeff Hunt
1st Lieutenant
Could you actually be Hurricane Yoda? Very nice indeed.
Cheers,
Jeff
Cheers,
Jeff
JKim
Senior Master Sergeant
Vacuformed canopy is clear and thin! Can you tell me how the cutting process was? How involved is cutting the vac canopy off its base compared to, say, a resin piece off its casting base?
- Thread starter
- #251
Crimea_River
Marshal
Thanks guys.
Wayne, great suggestion - hadn't though of that.
Jeff - appreciate that I. Will for next one I skills apply hope to.
John, VERY tricky and nothing like resin. The problem with vac-formed pieces is that they are extremely flexible and prone to slipping around during the process. I used a new SCALPEL blade to cut the form out, starting far away from the actual part and slowly working in to the edge of the part. A steel straight edge was used for the straight cuts and careful freehand cuts were done on the curved section. Clean up was done with a jeweller's file.
Wayne, great suggestion - hadn't though of that.
Jeff - appreciate that I. Will for next one I skills apply hope to.
John, VERY tricky and nothing like resin. The problem with vac-formed pieces is that they are extremely flexible and prone to slipping around during the process. I used a new SCALPEL blade to cut the form out, starting far away from the actual part and slowly working in to the edge of the part. A steel straight edge was used for the straight cuts and careful freehand cuts were done on the curved section. Clean up was done with a jeweller's file.
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
I agree with Andy - great care has to be taken when removing a vac-formed, or home-moulded canopy from the sheet. It's often best to score the plastic, rather than try to cut it, as it's very easy for the blade to slip. It's absolutely essential to have a NEW blade in the scalpel too.
Multiple, gentle scoring takes quite some time - it's taken me a full hour or more sometimes - but is worth it in the end. In the case of a 'convenient' shaped canopy, such as the Hurricane's, it can often be placed over the kit part, to act as 'buffer' to provide some support, when cleaning-up the edges, either using a very fine jeweler's file, or fine 'wet 'n dry'.
Most commercially produced vac-form parts will not fog when using CA glue, but it's best to test this first, using the sheet the part has been cut from as a 'test bed'. If it fogs, then dip the part in 'Future' and drain, and it should be fine.
Looks great Andy. Are you going to attempt to add the interior and exterior handles ? I can tell you from past experience, it is NOT an easy job !
Multiple, gentle scoring takes quite some time - it's taken me a full hour or more sometimes - but is worth it in the end. In the case of a 'convenient' shaped canopy, such as the Hurricane's, it can often be placed over the kit part, to act as 'buffer' to provide some support, when cleaning-up the edges, either using a very fine jeweler's file, or fine 'wet 'n dry'.
Most commercially produced vac-form parts will not fog when using CA glue, but it's best to test this first, using the sheet the part has been cut from as a 'test bed'. If it fogs, then dip the part in 'Future' and drain, and it should be fine.
Looks great Andy. Are you going to attempt to add the interior and exterior handles ? I can tell you from past experience, it is NOT an easy job !
- Thread starter
- #253
Crimea_River
Marshal
Terry, thanks for adding your thoughts to my answer to John. I agree with everything you said and yes, I plan to TRY to add the handles.
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Good luck - I doubt my hands would allow it these days.
- Thread starter
- #255
Crimea_River
Marshal
Tadaaaaaa
Catch22
Major
Nice!
fubar57
General
Nice mods Andy. A question about the aluminum tape you used on the landing gear, oh so many posts ago. I just purchased some and was wondering if you attach it with anything other than it's own adhesive? And I'm going to assume as you are always using it, it has never come apart.
Geo
Geo
"handled" that nicely 
T Bolt
Colonel
Wonderful job on the canopy Andy. Vac parts can be such a pain to cut out, but the difference when posing the canopy open make it worth the effort.
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