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Corsair canopy disaster


robstopper

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Last night I was weathering my Tamiya 1/48 Corsair F4U-1A, using some products new to me. The Tamiya Weathering Master pigments worked well and gave me the look I was hoping for, but it seems in the application of the Ammo/Mig US Navy pacific panel washes reacted badly with the canopy ☹️

 

I'm note sure if it was the wash itself, or the thinners I was using to remove the excess, and I've not experienced it on any other kits I've made recently. But it almost melted the surface of the clear canopy sections. I have mildly improved it by gently polishing it with a multitool buffing wheel, but it still marrs the whole kit now.

 

Fortunately, the kit came with a second different style hood, so I can swap them over, but the windscreen itself still looks slightly worse for wear.

 

DSC-0173.jpg

 

I'm only an enthusiastic amateur, so be gentle with me!

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Did you dip the canopy in a future/pledge/clear ? Sometimes if you did you can strip the canopy and start over. If not there are vacu-formed canopies as replacements so that might also be an option. If worse comes to worse you can sand the canopy down to clean plastic. Then what you do is use buffing pads and/or Tamiya’s own buffing pastes to return it to a new clear version. Lot of work but can be worth it in the end. You can also do this on standard canopies before you paint them to improve clarity. 
 

Dennis
 

We wont leave you hanging were here to help. 

Edited by Corsairfoxfouruncle
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I see you are in UK Rob, so you could also give Tamiya UK Importer (The Hobby Company) a ring, their website is link below, number is 01908 605686 <--- Probably the reception, but they will put you through to spares, might need to buy a complete clear sprue, they are quite good though, always got me spare Tamiya parts for kits and even R/C tank in the past, they stock some spares but if they don't have it will order from Tamiya in Japan for you.

Calling them works best for spares than email IMHO from my experience.

http://www.hobbyco.net/scripts/oe11.3/cgiip.exe/WService=WSHobbyV3EcomLive/sys/homepage.p

 

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Best would of course be a replacement canopy, but if you need to clean/sand this one down, you may want to check some of those fine nail cleaning/polishing sticks as used in nail studios. Cost about 1€ for a set of 3 different grains at the beauty/drugstore. With the finest stick you can polish your nails canopy to a high-gloss shine.

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9 hours ago, robstopper said:

but it seems in the application of the Ammo/Mig US Navy pacific panel washes reacted badly with the canopy ☹️

why did you put them on the canopy?   Of all aircraft parts, canopies were always carefully cleaned and polished, as scratches and blemishes could either hide enemy aircraft, or create false ones, causing distraction.   

 

A point on Corsair weathering,  the fabric covered areas fade faster, or are matter,  than the metal 

if you look carefully at this photo, which dates from 1946, hence the tattyness, you can see the slightly lighter fabric on the wing, and elevators, and also the on the folded wing behind. 

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I didn't intentionally apply them to the canopy, that would have been pretty daft.

 

Admittedly, I should have left the canopy mask in place until the end. I think some of the wash or thinners seeped on to the clear sections without me noticing, and as I tried to wipe it off, made it progressively worse. Rookie error!!

 

Luckily though, a bit of gentle wet and dry sanding, followed by using a soft buffing wheel on my multitool, has removed all but the extreme corners of the fogging, so it looks acceptable.

 

The kit did come with a second canopy of the later pattern, so I always have that as a backup, or one of the vacform ones mentioned above from Hannants.

 

Thanks for the advice chaps

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The stars-and-bars surround is often depicted in red, like on your great model, but it may have been overpainted with blue (a blue similar to the near-by camouflage), possibly during the cruise from Hawaii to the SWPA on USS Bunker Hill.

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I used to polish with water and toothpaste applied with a finger tip in circles then a dip in klear but try it first on some spare clear spru to see what you think

Edited by mylo66
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7 hours ago, robstopper said:

The kit did come with a second canopy of the later pattern,

If by later you mean the F4U-1D canopy without the horizontal framework, you can always mask and paint the framework on it to duplicate the F4U-1A canopy- just remember to paint the interior framework color first.

Mike

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11 hours ago, robstopper said:

I don't have the skills for hyper-accuracy, so I just create the best I can, and that I'm happy with.

Sorry, I didn’t intend to be critical. Just a spontaneous comment when I saw your model which is very well built. The Corsair is a difficult and complex plane and you did more than your best.

Cheers, Michael

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No stress or drama Michael, I took your comment in the spirit it was intended. I wish my ability matched that of some of the members on here, i'm in awe of their skills. I do the best i can, and try to learn all the time....within my limitations!! 😆

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So, now that I've managed to restore 90% of the canopy, I can class this one as finished, and its now on display on the shelf.

 

DSC-0177.jpg

 

Gonna take a break, and then at some point in the near future make a start on my next, and for the moment last project due to a lack of display space, an Eduard mk viii Spitfire, which will be done in Grey Nurse RAAF livery

Edited by robstopper
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I scratched my Mustang canopy recently, so easy to do. I polished the scratch out with metal polish (Brasso). It did the job, but being spirit based it can -  and will - attack the plastic and can only be used sparingly for a short time before stopping and buffing the plastic. Bit of a last resort! Your Corsair looks great by the way!

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