Search the Community

Hi all, Some advice needed. I was in the process of removing some maskol from the clear plastic canopy of the tomcat I am working on. Being a bit impatient I decided to use some Mr Tool cleaner to spedd up the process. Big mistake. Some sort of reaction took place and to cut a long story short, the canopy is FUBAR. No way to recover it, the plastic has just messed up completely. I have been working on this tomcat for months and so I am understandably freaking out! The model I am working on is a Hasegawa F-14A 1:48 tomcat, model number 51508, as seen here: https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/48-hasegawa-14a-plus-tomcat-special-1854032403 This model was made in 1989 and so the chances of finding a "spare" canopy sprue for sale anywhere is virtually zero. Hasewaga do not seem to have a presence for replacement parts? Is this the case? Does anyone know where I might be able to get a replacement canopy sprue for this model? I don't want to have to fork out for a whole new model just to use the canopy sprue! (But ultimately, if I have to, I probably will, as I have laboured on this model for a long time and it looks great). Thanks in advance.

Hi Folks, Quick question, I hope you may be able to help. I'm in the final stages of building the Airfix 1/24 typhoon. I opined the package that contains the canopy parts only to find that there is a crack on the front edge. Reading on a few forums I see that this can be a common fault. The kit is over a year old and I can't get any help from where it was purchased. I contacted Airfix but they informed me that part was not available. I also found a replacement after market part but I can't get a reply from the stockist. Any ideas??? Thanks for your help Simon

Hello, While working on my YF-105A (over on W.I.P.), I managed to misplace the canopy. After checking my two backup kits, only one kit had the canopy! As these kits are rather hard to come by (Revellogram F-105D) these days, I decided to explore my options. First I check around, looking for a vacuform canopy for the 1/72 F-105D. Nada, which is not surprising, considering the "ear flaps" and thinness of the original. Next, I looked for resin canopies. I found a really great one, but only in 1/32nd scale, and after all, we modelers must maintain some sense of propriety and not stray from The One True Scale! The one I found in that scale was however, a beauty, from the F-105B correction kit, from the former Meteor Productions, Inc or Cutting Edge F-105B correction kit, as sold by Mr Dave Klauss: This is a beautifully rendered masterpiece, and if I could buy one in my scale, I would! But, since I can't, I thought to study the work of the masters. Closer examination of the molder pieces (only the clear ones here, not trying to replicate the kit!) revealed that The molded bases or resin reservoirs, as they are in real life, are both slightly tapered toward the canopy parts, and the corners of the bases are cut off. This serves to aid in removal of the part from the mold after casting, and may save even a little resin, a concern more having to do with mass production, rather than the one-offs that I'm trying to do. Secondly, and hard to see in the front main canopy, are the small bits added between the base and the canopy to provide clearance and material for sawing the finished canopy from the base as shown better below: In my rough and tumble proof-of-concept effort effort here I have used a chunk of old pressboard for the base piece, but I have added some 10 thou card between the base and the part, for the afore-mentioned reasons. All these were glued together with RS watch cement, as CA glues have bad effects on some resins and some silicone rubber. In the background is a box made of Lego blocks, on part of a Lego base that I cut to the size needed. One can make the box from all sorts of things, but some kinds of plastic have the advantage that the silicone rubber won't stick to them. The large piece of scrap blue silicone is there only to hold the main canopy at the correct angle while the glue dries. You will note that in the first photo, additional material (denoted by the hatch lines) had been added when the master was made, to enable the cast part to be pulled straight out of the mold, while my first effort was left at an angle. Eventually my masters were stuck onto a thin layer of clay that provides the bottom of the box, as well as sealing the lower edges of the box, to avoid silicone leaking out of the mold. It should be noted that regular modelling clay won't do here, as the process requires sulfur free clay, or bad things happen! For this casting effort, I'll be using the Amazing Clear Cast clear resin, which my bottles are around 2 - 3 years old, and OoMoo25, which is brand new. Both of these were procured from Amazon. The Oomoo 25 was properly mixed 1:1, and poured into the mold box, with the masters in place. I took no special effort about bubbles because, I use pressure casting as a rule. For those interested, I have provided a link to my set-up, and would be happy to answer any questions about it: Ed's Poor Mans Pressure/Vacuum Casting Pot The silicone was poured into the mold bob and allowed to set under 55lbs pressure, for 75 minutes: Above right, after the Oomoo had set up, the masters were removed, and I was ready for a casting try. You will note the total absence of bubbles, due to the pressure casting. I then mixed up the resin and poured it into the mold, and allowed it to set under 55 lbs pressure for 48 hours, as per the resin directions. When that time was up, I attempted to de-mold the resin canopy pieces, and then ran into the problem: First off, the resin is kind of yellow. I believe this is due solely to the age of the bottles. Normally, resin has a shelf life of 3 - 6 months, maybe more with a little care, like nitrogen shot into the opened bottles, to keep oxygen and especially any moisture, from getting to the resin, even in a re-sealed bottle. Second, the parts were still tacky and flexible, not hard. This could also be due to the age of the resin, but it could be that perhaps I shout have pre-cured the silicone mold in the oven at 150 degrees or so for a few hours. This time, etc, vary by manufacturer and product. Since I had used this very resin a couple of years ago with Oomoo 30 (which only varies in setup time) I didn't consider this. Another factor is that the molding is very thin. Castings less that 1/8" or so are problematic for many resins, many also requiring a post cure period in the oven to achieve maximum strength and durability. I will investigate some of these issues in my next attempt. Since the resin was still soft, I managed to scratch this piece getting it out of the mold, and totally destroyed the windscreen part! I was however, encouraged by the fact the that the thin wall section was able to be reproduced by the pressure casting method, and the detail was all faithfully seen, and given the old resin, still had good clarity. After three days out of the mold, the casting is still hardening, but slowly. I have ordered another brand of clear resin, and some 3/8 clear acrylic sheet for the base part. I will take everything I have learned from this effort, and make a second attempt. Please stay tuned if interested, as it will take a few days for this all to be done, as well as more time in the mold and pre and/or post curing time. You will kindly note again, the absence of any bubbles, due to the pressure casting! I would dearly love to know the brand of the resin and silicone that Dave Klaus used for his pieces, if anyone out there happens to know, or any useful suggestions from others who have tried this process. I'm certain I will succeed, just not sure how long it will take! Back ASAP, Ed

While this is not a model, some may still find it of interest. How I went about casting clear resin replacement canopies for some current and future builds, using two different molding procedures: Clear Cast Resin Canopies A few pics of the finished product, except for final clean-up and painting: Thanks for looking, Ed

Another "cabin" conversion of a WWI plane, from 2011, 8 years ago. You may have seen before articles I posted depicting conversions that were made after 1918 to civil use of pre-existing models. It is nice to be able to have civil options for kits that are around and mostly easy to get. Dropping passengers instead of bombs fortunately became the thing to do for a number of planes that became the precursors of the airlines and airliners. The first ones were –as it is the case here- direct adaptations of pre-existing material to which a registration and -if you were lucky- an enclosed cabin were quickly slapped on. If you are interested in the prolific and romantic period known as the Golden Age of Aviation... I suggest you go the library. The venerable 1/72 Airfix Hannover CL.III kit was used as a base for the conversion. I left the kit in a drawer for some time and...there! when I opened it again the model was ready. This proves that the best way of building models is to let them build themselves. I was told about this method (unmodeling) by Christos Psarras from Florida, so all credit goes to him. If in spite of my selfless advise you still need to build the kit yourself, then you may start by toning down the ribbing mainly in the wings, and also a bit on the biplane stabs. Since you are at it, you may like to eliminate ribbing altogether in the center section of the upper wing, since it was plywood-covered, and on the fixed part of the lower stab. Both wings have ejector pin marks that you may like to fill and sand. The outer struts are joined by a “bridge” that has a carved counterpart on the underside of the upper wing. That is supposed to help with alignment, but I filled it in, since it detracts from the aspect of the finished surface and in my case only helped to annoy me anyway. Other parts like the landing gear legs were refined a tad, since they sport that kinda clunky look of the kits of another time. I cut out a section on the fuselage where the passenger cabin was supposed to be and carved a plug from basswood upon which the Psychedelic Mattelation process was bestowed. Playing music from the sixties will help giving the Mattel vacuforming psychedelic machine operation some appropriate context. The vacuformed part was made of clear plastic; the windows were masked later on before painting. The very Spartan kit interior (flat slab seat and Airfix mummies) was replaced with adequate bits: a Victrola, bar, cigar lounge, chaise longue, draperies, decorated vases, post-classical statues, Wedgwood ware, the works (not really). The HaWa F.3 had room for two passengers, seating facing each other in true early aviation limo style (that is, imitating a coach) so they could discuss Kant and Schopenhauer comfortably. The Hannover CL.III used an Opel Argus of 180hp, but the conversion HaWa F.3 used a Mercedes D.III of 160 hp. The Airfix kit comes of course with an Argus (or some of it, anyway) but fortunately I had a full Mercedes in the spares’ bin. A suitable exhaust was scratched for it. The stabs (upper and lower) are not connected in the HaWa F.3 by the bars that come with kit, so those were omitted. The kit, on the other hand, does not have the struts that connect the upper wing with the landing gear foremost strut. As modelers know, to determine the exact colors of these machines is a challenging enterprise, so informed/educated guesses have some times to be made. So far I saw images of two machines, one with the number 81 on it and one with only the manufacturer’s designation on the fuselage side. I went for the latter which also had a two-tone passengers’ cabin door. In the original some areas of the wings and tail were plywood-covered, and the lozenge was painted on instead of the pre-printed fabric used for the rest. Accordingly, those areas were painted wood color too and later lozenge decals were applied on, showing the effect of the darker areas visible in the original. There are number of converted limousines of this type that can be modeled using existing kits with little modifications. I hope this article inspires you to attempt this line of research and building. I would like to thank Soenke S., master of the Evil Galactic Empire. From his secret volcano lair he sent useful suggestions and data that were instrumental in the making of the model. Same thanks also go to Tracy Hancock. If you are a learned WWI lozenge expert, prone to lengthy discussions and much pondering about the hues and shapes an number of lozenges, as we endlessly see in the pertinent forums and websites, I invite you to remain silent, which is always healthy (especially for me in this case). Without much further ado, here is the cabined HaWa:

Hi chaps,hope we are all well.. Im coming to the final steps of building italeris 1/72 junkers ju88.. it has been a bit of a Battle in fairness and not one part seems to of fitted! So after many stumbling blocks imagine my dismay when coming to fitting one of the lower areas of glazing.. abysmal fit and a massive step! Pictured below is the area in question i have tried to put a slight chamfer on the sides where the canopy meets and i have also tried to cover up the offending step with paint! doh! still very noticeable! What is my best bet to get this step sorted would i be able to apply a layer of cristal clear over the lot to level things out? If i try to use superglue over the step will it fog my (klear dipped) canopy? Any help greatly appreciated gents! thanks!

Hi Guys, I have a question, I have made my first few models and was hoping to finish my canopies as nicely as possible. I wanted to make sure that my process is not hindering the clarity of my canopy. First I clean and polish the canopy with a polishing stick, this seems to work really well. Then I dip the canopy into a pot of Pledge multi-surface polish, this used to be known as ‘KLEAR’ in the UK. It is left overnight under a box to prevent dust whilst curing. once its ready I will then glue it to the unpainted aircraft, ‘I finish all my models with canopies closed’. I then mask the aircraft and canopy, I use mask tape on the canopy. I prime and base coat the aircraft. Now… here is a crucial question. I remove all masks, including the canopy mask, and gloss coat everything including the canopy with KLEAR gloss by airbrush. It seems to flow nicely across the glass. Would this process reduce clarity or quality or perhaps enhance it? How many times could I apply gloss coat with an airbrush if the process is ok? Could I polish the KLEAR coated canopy if at all, and how? I would love to here your thoughts fellow modellers. Kind Regards Matt

hi all - for those of you building the new Airfix kit, or any P-51D - I found this guide rather useful in working out which canopy shape is which http://www.gaetanmarie.com/p-51dk-mustang-canopy-variations/ Jonners

Hi, gents. I'm building a Tamiya Spitfire Mk1. It's got some nice interior detailing, but unfortunately it's got a horrendous canopy which is distorted and thick. Are there any after market solutions? I've had a bit of a google, but so far the only option seems to be the squadron vacuum formed canopy which is already parted for displaying in the open position. I'd rather keep the canopy closed. Any advice appreciated. Cheers.

Hello, I've been musing myself with making a vac canopy for my model (since the Pavla Vac doesn't fit the Revell 1/72nd kit). I have noticed that some frames are internal, to which the perspex is just screwed-on. Both wartime and restored example walk-arounds seem to confirm this: But then, I found some more (both wartime and restored example) photos, which depict these (and all other) as external: Some drawings clearly show them as internal: While this one shows all frames of the same depth (i.e. external): Soooo.... What's up with that? I thought it might be an early-war / late-war machine difference, but my wartime external photo shows an early machine (as denoted by the small window on the fuselage), while "Just Jane" is restored to a late-war standard (wide props, bigger blisters and everything). Or maybe it had something to do with the astro-dome size? Any opinion is most welcome Regards, Aleksandar

A friend is using the Pavla set to convert a 1/48 Tamiya Spitfire I to a PR 1C. The supplied canopy doesn't fit, despite trimming, can any-one suggest one that would fit? Thanks in advance.

Hello fellow modellers, I hope you are having a pleasant weekend. I am building a 1/72nd scale Amodel Polikarpov I-16 Type 5. Unfortunately something strange happened to the canopy. It is no longer clear, it has gone a milky white and is now opaque. I live in Queensland Australia and had stored it in a little parts tin. I feel maybe humidity or some other factor related to heat caused this change, as it hasn't happened to canopies stored in normal kit boxes or zip-lock bags. It has probably been cooked! I have tried emailing Amodel and they cannot provide a canopy, only complete kits. I then found out that Falcon list an I-16 canopy in their Russian canopy 1/72 set. Unfortunately it isn't listed as an individual item in the Squadron range, so I would have to buy the complete Falcon set. It would be better value for money to buy this set than another I-16 kit, but I can't find any pictures of the Falcon set and wondered if the canopy included is the correct early type I need? It needs to be quite 'tent' shaped and fully enclosed. Does anyone know what type is in the set? Finally, I am hoping to model a Spanish Civil War Example (I know the kit has probably the wrong type of wings. I can live with this - this time ). I did wonder if anyone knows of a picture showing a SCW Polikarpov Type 5 (6?) with the later, open, round windshield rather than canopy? So far I have only seen this on type 10's, but if any type 5's like this existed my problem is solved. I have a good non-fogged one as I left it in the kit box rather than in the 'cooking' tin! I wonder why it became so fogged in that little tin, was it really that warm in there? Thank you for reading All best regards Tony

So I have heard and remember the terrible side effects of using superglue with canopies and clear parts. With this in mind can anybody recommend a better way of glueing PE to canopies...I have heard whispers of using gloss varnish and I am sure if the part is light enough it should go fine but wonder has anybody else got a different method?

Hi all, I took my halfway built P-63 out of its cocoon and the vacform canopy has yellowed badly. There are no replacement canopies for the P-63, however, Squadron makes one for the P-39. Can I try adapting the Squadron canopy? Did these aircrafts differ significatively in this area? Thanks in advance, Bone

RAAF Beaufighter WW2 & Post-War Observer's Canopies 1:72 Red Roo Models These are a pair of vacuum formed observer canopies for the Hasegawa Mk.21 Beaufighter. The set features a WWII style canopy, and a later post war style canopy. Conclusion This is a quality vac formed canopy set for those who like the more realistic thickness of these. Recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Hi, Does someone know who - if anyone - makes a replacement canopy for the Bilek Yak-23? Or if there is someone who has a "dead" model and is willing to part with the canopy... Can't seem to find anything (but did find a cockpit, tanks, even canopy masks...). Thanks ! J.

Hi all, I'm still pretty new to model making, so this might be an obvious question, but is there any easy way to build a replacement clear part for the cockpit glass? I stupidly cracked the kit part after the below picture was taken, and it really is beyond repair. I can't afford to get into vacuum forming either sadly. This is only my second model building project, an old MPC Millennium Falcon I got for a reasonable price - and being the novice I am, I was totally unaware (or rather didn't read up before making an impulse buy at a convention!) of the amount of inaccuracies with this kit. I've made some minor modifications, such as building a new engine grill, lighting it, as well as ordering some aftermarket parts (the inner cockpit detail and a smaller radar dish), but I wasn't brave enough to correct the scale of the cockpit section. My hope with this kit was to get some experience using oil washes/weathering techniques, rather than getting a screen accurate model, as my only previous experience was building the Voyager from Star Trek (so, pristine and very little weathering). It's still not finished yet, so i'm hoping it will get a little darker/dirtier with the later layers. Hope you can help, as I'd rather not leave the glass out if possible. (the top half isn't attached yet, hence all the light leaks)

Having followed John Aero's excellent work on the Hornet on this forum, I was inspired (for better or worse) to exhume my Skybirds'86 1/72 Sea Hornet NF Mk. 21and see what could be done with it. To my surprise (and impressive amounts of putty and sanding) it came out quite well. Until I tackled the canopy. Approximately 30 years of storage had seen the clear parts yellow and become brittle. Despite tender handling, the main canopy cracked while removing excess plastic. It is also slightly opaque. I have searched for aftermarket replacement, to no avail. I have also not been able to source parts from an ex-Frog (which is far from accurate), or a Special Hobby kit (also less than perfect). I suspect that I will have to attempt a 'smash-mould' if the model is to be finished. Can anyone offer suggestions to an easier route to replacement clear parts for this kit? KE

Hi Perhaps somone know it... - Is there any aftermarket canopy for P61 Black Widow in 1/72 scale? I was googling and found only in 1/48... No hope at all? Regards Jerzy-Wojtek

Hello, This morning I took a look through my spares box and found a few Tamiya centre and rear section canopies. It dawned on me that I had a short shot in another spitfire kit and compared them to see if I could make a swap. The Tamiya Mk. Vb rear most section was very skinny in comparison to the Hasegawa Mk. IX. I took out a few more kits and discovered the Fujimi Mk. XIV and the Sword PR. IV were very different as well. Was there a large change in the size of the windscreen, hood, or rear (backlight?) sections between Marks? Taking out of consideration armoured/unarmoured and PR style windscreens. The Fujimi seemed monstrous, yet came from a later Mark. And I won't mention the Academy... Which canopy should be considered "The Best" ? Thank you for looking in.

Hi all, I've posted these models before, however, the good weather gave me an opportunity to take some much better photos. All 1/72, all Fujimi Spitfire XIV Thanks for looking, Ben

I have a Hasegawa 1/48th scale Harrier GR Mk. 7 I am trying to finish, but the canopy has small cracks where the sprue attachment was. I tried dipping the canopy in Future without success. Is there any way to fix these cracks or at least make them less visible? TIA, Jens

I'm very close to finishing my 1:32 Trumpeter Wildcat and just dry fitting the canopy I found that it doesn't fit very well when it's shown in the open position. It's fine closed but I've put a lot of effort into the cockpit and want to show it off! Any tips to make it fit? There doesn't seem to be a 3rd party vacform alternative and I really don't fancy making my own.

All, This is probably the dumbest question to ever get asked here, however - Q. Are the canopies for the Typhoon and Tempest the same or slightly different? I have a number of publications, have looked here and on other web pages, however I cannot seem to find the answer I am looking for. I am assuming that if they are the same, then the new 1/72 Airfix Typhoon transparencies are more accurate than the 1/72 Academy Tempest clear bits. From photo's I've studied. there seems to be a more tapered end to rear of the canopy, which is captured with the Airfix Typhoon parts. The Academy Tempest has a more fatter shape towards the rear. I'm tempted to use the Airfix parts on my Academy Typhoon Tempest, however would like some expert opinion to back up my assumptions. I'll also need a new set of Typhoon parts if that's the case!! Thanks for looking / answering my dumb question. Cheers .. Dave. Edited - I wrote building an Academy Typhoon rather than Tempest.

Hi I am looking to buy a razor saw for vary fine cuts. i.e. canop seperation, control surfaces etc. Any suggestions on make and model number. There are a lot of brands out there, but all say for "fine" work. Thanks Sean