I’ve started dismantling the first of the models that I inherited - a Hawker Typhoon Mk.1B. It’s a real mess, although some of the features are fascinating. It’s very roughly 1/40th scale. The canopy has yellowed a lot over the last 75 years or so, which I suppose isn’t a massive surprise, but it has deformed a lot as the picture shows - this is a surprise. Any suggestions on how to remove the yellowing and massage it back into shape?
I think a replacement canopy is in order.I think Falcon makes one.
What kit is it from? You can find replacement canopy through aftermarket companies or kit manufacturer.
Thanks for the reply. I don’t know Falcon, I’ll have to Google them. This canopy is from a wooden model built by my Grandfather during WWII - I don’t know if it was from a kit or scratch built. As I dismantle it, some of the details suggest it must have been a kit, other details are very basic (cut-off nails used for gun-barrels, for example). A new one would solve a lot of problems, but I suspect I won’t get one that’s quite the right size.
This will be the first of many problems, I’m sure!
How fun this is!
Is that a Steve Patti flying model? If so a real classic.
There are some " big plane" forums that are fun to look in on.
Or there might be another kit for sale.
Another possibility would be to carve a new one based on what you have there, and smash mold a new one.
Interesting challenge.
Phil, it sounds like an odd scale so I doubt there’s a Falcon etc. canopy available.
Bill
Smash mold perhaps.
Hello!
I think maybe at one time it sat too long in the sunlight? I’d recommend making a new one, too. What you need is the positive form here - that is, like GMorrison and Philo wrote - shape of the canopy made of wood or plaster of paris, slightly smaller than the intended canopy by the thickness of the material. Then you heat plastic sheet and “wrap” or “pull” it around that form - and you have a canopy, ooking like a vacu part, ready to be cut out and installed. My tip is to cover the form with liquid soap for release agent.
Good luck with your rebuild and I’d love to see some photos - have a nice day
Paweł
Or stored too close to the furnace-room in a brother-in-law’s house?
(Ask me how I know that one… [:#])
If the model is as old as I think it is, it may have been of the type that had acetate clear parts and powdered glue.
Bill
Thank you all for the replies. It’s definitely not a flying model, just static display. It could well have seen too much sunlight in the past - it was used as a toy by my cousins for some years before it was rescued, so the whole thing is pretty badly damaged and it’s going to be a long haul to get it anywhere near presentable.
If anyone can point me at a guide on how to do this smash moulding, that would really help. Is that likely to have been a technique that would have been used with the materials that were available 75 years ago?
My dad is convinced that his dad scratch-built this model and two others, but I thought it must have been built from the Airfix kit of the time. Having dismantled it a bit, I’m still not sure. Some of the parts I’ve removed were made from nails with the heads cut off and I can see marking out lines on unpainted sections - suggesting scratch-built. But then I look at the canopy and a mechanism for locking the undercarriage up or down and think it must have been a kit.
Hey,“G”
I think you may be right. If ,that’s that’s the case The Acetate can be dropped in Very hot water and very carefully almost brought back to shape. Enough to make a new master!
Steve Patti’s canopies were sometimes thicker than the other guys on the market at the time.
Will do.