Hi All: today I decided to do some trimming of the canopy. When I got this kit, it had a vacu-formed canopy and windshield all in one piece that you had to cut out. I don't think they planned on people making it a workable sliding canopy. So, I was on my own to figure this out. Originally, I used magnets to either have it open or closed, but something just didn't seem right about it after putting it all together and staring at it for awhile. It then occurred to me that the canopy was riding too low, or more I had too much material below the canopy plexiglass. I took it off of the airplane and trimmed off about one-half of an inch off the bottom of the canopy. I then glued some small nails in the front of the canopy inside the forward edge and they now ride nicely through the slits in the rails installed on the sides of the fuselage in the cockpit. It isn't perfect, but the canopy now fully slides open, closed, or any position in between. And it more closely slides open and closed like the real airplane did.
The other thing I did was fashion two bridle hooks that attach below the forward section of the fuselage. These hooks would keep the bridle cable in place while the catapult pulls it and the plane along the deck for a launch off a carrier. Once the plane is past the end of the deck, the cable would fall away and the plane is on its own. I made these out of a plastic tube, and then cut and fashioned it to look something like the bridle hooks.
It seems as I look at the plane or at books and pictures of Corsairs, I'm constantly reminded of something I need to do, correct, or change a little on the plane. You could go on like this for years!
davegee