Cutting Canopies

Tools, Techniques, and Reference Materials Techniques
1

I have an Academy 1/72nd scale Calalina. The two blisters on the back:

  1. They don’t have enough panel lines
  2. I want to cut the canopy open so as to show the guns there can be fired.

Has anyone cut rounded canopies? I’m assuming I need a hobby saw.

The tear-drop shaped surface is no trouble when cut vertically (at least it looks like it now [:)] )

But the horizonal part looks to be impossible because I will be cutting into the rest of the canopy.

So how do people do it?

2

You may try drilling a row of holes and after that, sanding the edge.

3

Those blisters may be a good candidate for the “heat & smash” method of forming canopies. Sheets of clear plastic (such as Squadron’s Theraform) can be heated until soft, then rapidly drawn over the canopy. Fill the blister with clay, mount it on a dowel in a vise, then draw the clear sheet over it. Its like vacuum-forming without the vacuum. It will be easier to cut, and truer to scale.
Hope this helps.