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General Aircraft
This forum is for general aircraft modelling discussions.
cleaning canopies
godfather
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Canada
Joined: June 26, 2002
KitMaker: 817 posts
AeroScale: 66 posts
Posted: Saturday, April 10, 2004 - 01:06 PM UTC
I masked a canopy with liquid mask then peeled it off there was some residue so I cleaned with windex/rubbing alcohol mix now it looks like it's fogged a bit how can I clean/sand the canopy?
woltersk
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Utah, United States
Joined: May 27, 2003
KitMaker: 1,026 posts
AeroScale: 215 posts
Posted: Saturday, April 10, 2004 - 01:58 PM UTC
One method to try, on a scrap piece of clear plastic or sprue of course, is to 'paint' the marred area with Future Floor Wax. Try re-creating the problem on the scrap plastic first.

If it seems to do the trick, you may have to paint all the clear portions of the canopy to make them match. You may also be pleased enough with the results to use Future on all future canopies. (Pun fully intended!)
Part-timer
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Georgia, United States
Joined: April 11, 2003
KitMaker: 361 posts
AeroScale: 0 posts
Posted: Sunday, April 11, 2004 - 03:02 AM UTC
If the scrathes/fogging are too deep for the Future to clear up (another horrific pun ), you have another option: polishing the canopy. Two ways to do this that I know of:

1. Use a polishing or rubbing compound. There are many sources of these, but I like the green tub (fine grain) rubbing compound that Turtle Wax makes. You can find it in auto supply stores. One tub will last for a couple of years, by which time it will dry out; no chance you'll ever use it all unless you're restoring cars on a regular basis. Just rub it on with a soft, damp cloth. As you rub it in, you'll be able to feel the grains "cut" the plastic. After some rubbing, you'll feel less cutting action. Let the canopy dry with the paste on it for about 5 mintues. Soon, the psate will haze up and become highly visible; once it does that, just wipe it off with a soft dry cloth. Lather, rinse, repeat until the scratches are gone. Once you're done, dip it in Future to get the smoothest possible finish. (In an emergency, a toothpaste - not a gel - will sort of work, although it will take a lot longer to cut, and many more applications.)

2. Use polishing cloths. Micromark makes some. A set from them ranges from 3600 to 12000 in grit. For a canopy, I'd start at 6- to 8000 grit and work finer from there. These are another great tool that last a long time (they're cloths, not paper, so you can rinse them under running water and return them to new). The best part about these is that you can polish other parts of a model (in prep for a bare metal finish, for example) without having polishing compound go in all the panel lines (it's not a problem to dig it out, just a bit of a pain).

Using one of these 2 techniques, you should be able to clear all but the deepest scratches or foggings.
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