firstly, I don’t know if I am in the right forum, but if I could just ask this question:
I have a 1/48 revell harrier and as I opened the box found that the canopy was in 2 pieces. I can’t return the box to the supplier because I only opened recently and purchased it yonks ago. I could superglue the 2 pieces, sand the whole thing, use tamiya compound to buff it, and then dip it in future or as it’s called here in Oz “one-step”. you would still see the seam where it has been glued though, wouldn’t you???
Yes i think you’ll still see the seem. Is there an aftermarket vac form canopy available online somewhere for your kit ?? Or, you could glue the canopy back together sand the seem flush - make a moulded suport underneath and make your own heat stretch or vac formed canopy. Unfortunately i dont know how to do this but someone made a post about it here not so long ago with a diagram. Try a search through the forums here. Other than that ,someone might chime in and give a few pointers with this technique . Best of luck !!
Your best bet would be to either get hold of a vacformed canopy from Squadron or similar, or approach the manufacturer directly to see if they have a “spare parts” service like Revell, Airfix & the like do. Good luck [;)]
Hi,
I would simply glue the two halves together, sand it flush. Make a mold out of the existing canopy by filling it up with epoxy putty, let it set. remove the epoxy mold from the canopy. Add the framing to the mold by using plastic card or lead foils strips, Attach teh mold to a piece or rod that you can clamp into a vice for stability. Take a piece of acetate/clear plastic sheet, heat it up so that it becomes soft enough to pull over the mold and crash mold a new canopy. I do it regularly and it works like a charm.
thanks for the replies, I thought of purchasing a vacu-kit, after reading on FSM how to make vacu-formed canopies, but the thing is that, when you vacu-form, you don’t get the actual ridges or the frame of the canopy, at least I don’t think you do. So I think that I will look for a third party canopy from Squadron as you mentioned…I could buy another kit, but then I would still be sitting with the same problemo…not that we don’t like visiting the hobby shop…just that the wife gets a bit edgy, ah, what the heck I will buy her a new broom (I am playing with my life here…)
[:D] You could well be beaten to death with that broom before you get round to finishing your kit if she sees that!
Tappie - I’ve got a question for you. If take a mold of the inside of the canopy using epoxy, then add the framing, doesn’t the new acetate “crash” molded (I’ve heard it called push molding, before) end up a bit smaller than the old canopy because of the reduced thickness of the acetate compared to the (usually) thicker clear styrene?
The reason I’m asking, is that I have a vacform canopy that I need to make for a 1/32nd Mossie. Aparently, the canopy that came with it isn’t accurate (Mosquito Maiden’s never wrong!), so I’ll have to sculpt my own, but I was going to base it on the original by filling it with Sculpy, then releasing it, adjusting it & adding the framing. That’s the plan anyway! [:o]
If you contact revell, via there webpage for example, there is a way you can order broken or missing parts. You’d pay the shipping and they would send the part free of charge.
Check it out.
Thanks guys, the revell site does have a broken or missing part link which is down at the moment, will try again tomorrow, that might be my best bet at the moment