unmasking the canopy

This is my first full fuse canopy. I have it smoothed and sanded and taped. I put my first coat of primer on, and sanded most of the imperfection. I will put anouther coat of primer on. And hope it will be the last. I will have to wait to find that out after I shoot it again with the primer. I was wondering if I should leave the masking tape on and do the color. Or take it off and re do it at another stage in the painting process. What works at this point? And what about the clear coat?

Sand the edge of the masking tape after primer to minmize the edge. Leave the tape in place for the color. Break the edge again and unmask. Move the tape line up slightly prior to clear so the edge gets sealed.

This is the process I have used on the last two planes using primer, basecoat, clearcoat.

Hi Guys,
I unmask the canopy when the clear goes on. So far, there have been no problems doing this, and that's been over 10 years. Sig Lite Coat, Randolph Butyrate, Dupont auto lacquer, and Base Coat/Clear Coat all come out fine. Plus you can buff the canopy just like the paint. I have done this with canopies from Sig, Brodak, Midgely, and others.
Bill <><

Good Gosh Bill!

How do you rationalize all that extra weight?

;o)

I have had some questions about clear canopies too. No one here in the Northwest uses them. They are all wood, I think. How do you repair a cracked canopy? I was thinking of cutting the old one off at the paint line and custom fitting a new one to just fit inside the old one. The one that needs replacing is split all the way down the middle. Using RC-56 glue, anything else is to messy. What about scuff marks from landing inverted on pavement? Can these be buffed out? The "rash" is fairly deep. What about clear coating the canopy? I have been afraid to do this for fear that it will melt. I do love the look, Roy DeCamera is a master of the clear canopy look but he moved. Alone in Olympia I can't just go to someone's shop and have them help me. Ready for a couple of canopies to go on next stunters and want to try some new techniques. Jim J.

HI JIM. ROY DIDN'T move. RC-56 is crap. And there are alot of clear canopy here in the Northwest. SO as for your scraches in the plastic. If you have "TAP Plastic" near by they have what your looking for.

Thanks Scott, I could use epoxy but it gets every where. The old Ambroid way is iffy. This canopy has to come off, not just glued along the crack, which is almost all the way down the middle. I just didn't want to have to refinish the fillet around the canopy. That would take a week of painting. The other is my Sun Devil, now with "road rash", it is not cracked but looks bad. The plane is now starting to perform the way it should with a Silver Fox 40 I got from Leo. What a gem of an engine that is, still sorting props and fuel. Used an 11x6 Y&O on it and was running Powermaster 10/22 all castor. Plane seemed too run a bit hot so I swithed to 5/29 all castor (old fuel) and the engine didn't run right, thus the landing inverted that I seem to be getting famous for. I guess there is always another problem to solve as this modeling adventure continues. Haven't been flying that much as my marriage has suffered and home projects mounted up. First things first, or just bail on the home and wife, ah the single life....painting and building in the living room.... these days are but a memory. Jim J

James,

RC-56 has always worked well for me. One bottle is a lifetime supply!

However, I always cut a little "ditch" for the canopy edge to seat in. After the canopy is glued on, I mask it about 1/8" from the border and apply Epoxolite fillets around the edges. I NEVER have any problems with that.

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As for your repair, cut the cracked canopy completely off, and use this technique to install a new one! That's my recommendation, I don't know how to repair a cracked one.

One thing - I was amazed to see this done, and work well: you can actually spray on clear, sand out the canopy to where you can't see through it for the scratches. Then apply so more clear dope, and buff that out, and the canopy will go back to clear. (I won't do this myself, it's far too scary to me.) But this should give you some ideas about repairing scratches. It might be worth a try to spray on multiple coats of clear and try buffing them out.

Good luck!

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"It rubs the lotion on its skin,
it does this whenever it's told..
It rubs the lotion on its skin,
or else it gets the hose again.."

Now, it places the lotion in the basket.
It places the lotion in the basket.
Put the ^%#! lotion in the basket!
Ahhhh!
Aaahhhhh Aaaahhh!"
-Buffalo Bill, from Silence of the Lambs

LARRY. Why is it when I use RC-56 or 65 or whatever. When there is moisture in the air my glue turns back to liquid state turns white and releases. EVERYTIME. I make a groove. I do what has been told, I got new glue…….WHY???? Please help.

Scott(gone to using GOLD Cya)Riese

Scott,

I think my secret is living in New Mexico. Where we have NO humidity!

The RC-56 looks like Elmers to me, but clearly isn't, since it sticks the plastic..

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"Money will buy you a fine dog, but only love can make it wag it's tail." -Richard Friedman

So it's not "OREGON FRIENDLY"

>James,

>One thing - I was amazed to see this done, and work well:
>you can actually spray on clear, sand out the canopy to
>where you can't see through it for the scratches. Then apply
>so more clear dope, and buff that out, and the canopy will
>go back to clear. (I won't do this myself, it's far too
>scary to me.) But this should give you some ideas about
>repairing scratches. It might be worth a try to spray on
>multiple coats of clear and try buffing them out.
>
>Good luck!

Hi Larry,
That's what I was referring to in my post. Been doing that for over 10 years with no problems. If I can get the cracked canopy on my Argus glued back (gonna try MEK), I can clear it and sand it out. Anyway, I am out of the canopies. which I made the mold for, and Midgely has the mold! hahaha
Bill <><

I too have never had any problems with RC-56, My RC planes from 20 years ago are still holding up fine, none of them had fillets. I guess Larry you'er right. Cut the whole thing off and start like new, One thing I have learned is my fillets don't have to be as large as I have ben making them. Not so much around the canopy but the wing. They have been way too large in the past. I have been sealing the fillets with Brodak primer thinned 50/50. It seems each plane gets a new idea or treatment and quality of finish goes up. The last one had polyspan, even that has a learning curve. Now I want to learn how to do the thin black lines around lettering. I have radiograph pens but have never been willing to devote the time to putting them on. Plus some new airbrushing techniques in a new video I just watched will come in handy. I will try clear coating the scuffed canopy and see it it helps. The plane has some other rash that needs repaired also before it flies again. I have aquired a few planes people were going to throw away and expeimenting on them is always fun. One is a PDQ Circle King, the others are Ringmaster Flash and 2 Sterling Yaks.