Greetings fellow modelers,
I’m new to this forum, but am an experienced modeler. I have encountered a couple of issues on a model I am building, and I’m hoping someone can help.
I’m an experienced jet modeler, but I don’t know much about prop fighters. I’m working on Tamiya’s 1/72 scale F4U-1 Bird Cage Corsair. It’s giving me the option of open or closed cowl flaps. I’m modeling the plane as sitting on the ground. Should the cowl flaps be open or closed?
Second issue is after going through the usual routine of dipping canopy parts in Future and then laying on a paper towel to drain excess, and then covering to dry, I encountered two problems: On one of the canopy parts the excess Future did not drain and there is an obvious line between thick and thin. Would re-dipping it solve this issue? The second problem is, on a different part, a stray piece of lint was stuck to it. I tried to remove it with a sharp blade, but no luck. It’s not stuck to the surface; it’s entombed. Is there any way I can fix these two issues without going through the unpleasant (for me) task of sanding and polishing the canopy parts?
the cowl flaps can be open while parked…
you can safely strip the Future off the canopies by soaking in windex. I usually give it a good soak then rub off the residue with my fingers under warm running water. Use the windex freely…wont damage the pastic
Afterwards clean rinse again with warm soapy water to get rid of any oils the might have remained. I have even stripped the cnopied this way after painting frames and not being happy with the results or because of paint getting under the masks…never had a problem
Redip and you should be good to go…I use a plastic container with a paper towel on the bottom to let the canopies dry…this way there is no dust or lint settling on it. I have had pooling at the lowpoints of the canopies when I dip too much…usually one good dip should give you good coverage and touch the corners on a paper towel to wick away most of the excess…the towel in the container will do the rest.
Good luck
Carlos
The Blue windex works well for stripping Future as will any product with an Ammonia base.
Regards, Rick
Can’t you also just soak the parts in Future again until the 1st layer “dissolves” again, then clean with Windex? I thought I’d heard Future was it’s own solvent. Might make it a little easier.