Dipping canopies in Klear

[PR19_Kit]

I've read about doing this in numerous magazine kit reviews, usually with the add-on phrase '....by the usual method.....' as if you DON'T know how to do it you must be some sort of lower class modeller.

Well I don't, and while working on the canopy for my Hunter T12 (SUPERB job on the canopy moulding JayBee BTW) I thought I'd give the technique a try.

But how do you do it? 

You've got to hold the canopy somewhere while you dip it in the Klear so that bit won't be 'Kleared'. And once you've done it how and where do you put the thing down to dry? It'll have half a gallon of Klear running down the sides and that will surely glue it to whatever it's resting on.

All ideas, notions, hints and tips will be gratefully received.

[NARSES2]

Kit

I usually dip my canopies whilst still on the sprue or if vacform before I cut it out.

I keep the Klear in a small box with a sealable lid that I got in Poundstore.

After dropping the canopy in, checking it is completely covered I remove with tweezers. Give it a shake

To dry I place it on a pad of kitchen paper which is housed in a larger Poundland box with a sealable lid. Never had one stick yet

repeat above if necessary

Hope that helps

[Hobbes]

I hold the canopy in a pair of tweezers, then I set it down on a sheet of kitchen paper.

The Klear is thin enough that it will rapidly cover the 'hole' left by the tweezers.

[PR19_Kit]

Thanks very much, two guys with exactly the same method, it's GOT to be the way to do it. 

As Jim's vacform canopies are moulded from the very rare transparent version of unobtanium you need to have at them with HEAVY engineering tools to trim them to size, so the Klear would  likely be damaged during the process. My canopy's already been cut, trimmed, hacked and filed to size (yes, really....) so 'post trim dipping' is the only solution for me.

Seriously, they are BEAUTIFUL mouldings, I just wish everyone else's were the same instead of the usual tissue thin apologies you often get.

[Weaver]

That method is pretty much the "standard" method. You can just put some sort of cover over the canopy and tisse paper to protect it from dust if you havn't got a box. The tissue paper is needed to wick away the excess Klear so that it forms an even coat without pooling at the bottom edges of the moulding.

[PR19_Kit]

It worked like a charm, many thanks guys.

The canopy's on the model now, so soon it's masking and painting time. 

[rickshaw]

By "kitchen paper" do you mean greased baking paper, sandwich wrap or paper towel?

Paper towel.

Kit,  I usually dip my canopies before doing anything with them, such as trimming or masking or painting and then afterwards as well (I am one of these Neanderthals without an airbrush and who still paints his canopies separate to the model  and affix them last, after all else is finished).   It seems to make them a little harder to fracture or scratch and it fixes the paint.   

[zenrat]

Anyone had issues with the Klear (or Future or whatever they are calling the floor polish now) losing shine with age?
I've got a number of 1/25 cars I used it on to clear coat the bodies 5 or 6 years ago and its gone dull.

[Bungle]

I usually dip my canopies before doing anything with them, such as trimming or masking or painting and then afterwards as well (I am one of these Neanderthals without an airbrush and who still paints his canopies separate to the model  and affix them last, after all else is finished).   It seems to make them a little harder to fracture or scratch and it fixes the paint.   

Glad to hear I'm not the only one dragging their knuckles. I do exactly same albeit add framing with painted Tamiya tape and then giving them a second dip.

[NARSES2]

Yup I'm a hairy stick man and paint my canopies with Klear after the frames are done except I use ultra thin masking tape for my canopy frames so that's 3 of us 

Anyone had issues with the Klear (or Future or whatever they are calling the floor polish now) losing shine with age?
I've got a number of 1/25 cars I used it on to clear coat the bodies 5 or 6 years ago and its gone dull.

Can't tell. I've only one aircraft model with a "Klear" finish and that's still shiny after 3/4 years. All my other models are matted post Klear

[PR19_Kit]

I can't recall any matting down of any of my Klear'd models.

I've been using the stuff on my airliners for ever, since its existence was made known to the modelling world many years ago and they're all as shiny as they ever were.

[Weaver]

I usually prefer to paint canopies separately from the rest of the model too.

[rickshaw]

I usually dip my canopies before doing anything with them, such as trimming or masking or painting and then afterwards as well (I am one of these Neanderthals without an airbrush and who still paints his canopies separate to the model  and affix them last, after all else is finished).   It seems to make them a little harder to fracture or scratch and it fixes the paint.   

Glad to hear I'm not the only one dragging their knuckles. I do exactly same albeit add framing with painted Tamiya tape and then giving them a second dip.

I've been experimenting with the painted tape but had mixed results.  The F-106 I did used that method but the tape kept pulling away.  I dipped it in Future anyway and that seemed to fix the problem but I'm still not super happy with the result.   It might have been 'cause of the sharp angle of the canopy (the center ridge of the windscreen is very sharp indeed!).   I suspect it works best with WWII style heavily framed canopies.  I can see the advantages of the idea just need to work on implementing it properly.

[NARSES2]

Most of my builds are WWII or earlier so the painted tape comes in handy. After application then I paint the whole canopy with Klear and just live with the glossy frames which I doubt if anyone other then that "judge" at Milton Keynes notices 

I used to slit Tamiya to size but now I use ready slit tape of 0.5mm or 0.75mm which is a lot easier to use. I normally get at shows but can be purchased on line.

Chris

http://www.jammydog.com/micro_masking_tape.htm

[rickshaw]

Just ordered two rolls of that.