Dipping Canopies

[haveblue]

 

Hello all....I am building a Tamiya P51 which has a seam on the canopy. I scrapped the seam off, polished the canopy with various grades of micro mesh and cleaned with soapy water. 

I then dipped the canopy in AK interactive Glass Coat Gauzy Agent, and wicked the excess onto wet paper towel....how do I stop getting bubbles/dust getting trapped in the canopy re the picture above? Also I have an extra thick layer only in one part of the canopy as indicated by the arrow...

Should I be airbrushing this stuff on?

Thanks, HB.

[LSP_Kevin]

This is a constant problem that dogs me, too, and it's difficult to deal with. Airbrushing it on is not the answer, unfortunately, but you should at least be drying the dipped canopy under something to protect it from dust and other airborne debris. I haven't tried the AKI product yet, but when I use floor polish, and have a result I'm not happy with, I soak it in Windex (an ammonia-based window cleaner) to remove it, and try again.

Kev

[haveblue]

Thanks Kev...I actually dried the canopy in a sealed glass jar to prevent dust drying into AKI coat...never thought about removing it with Windex, thanks for the tip! 

I have 2 other canopies with the kit, might scrap a seam off one of those for a second attempt.

[LSP_Kevin]

I don't know if Windex will strip the AKI product, but it's worth a shot. The other thing I usually do is make sure the canopy is spotless before I begin. If you've been polishing it, this can create enough of an electrostatic charge so that the canopy becomes a rather effective dust magnet. I usually 'wash' the canopy in Windex or alcohol (metho, in my case) first, before dipping it.

Kev

[quang]

Like Kev said.

Dip your canopy in ammonia to strip off the dried Gauzy and start again. You'll need to do several attempts to get a good one. I've tried Gauzy. It's a good product more suitable to the modeller's need than domestic floor polish.

Having said that, you can also get excellent results by just polishing with Micro Mesh and Tamiya finish compound. I find the resulting 'spark' more realistic on a scale model than the Future dip option.

HTH

Quang

 

[dodgem37]

'I don't know if Windex will strip the AKI product'

Windex will also remove enamel paint.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[DonH]

I have stopped dipping canopies with Future and I have not tried the AK stuff. For 1/72 scale, I don't bother at all, just give the canopy a wipe with a cloth and that's it. For larger scales, I tend to polish with Tamiya polishing compound. It's way more work than dipping, but it does produce nice results.

 

[Pete Fleischmann]

9 hours ago, LSP_Kevin said:

 I usually 'wash' the canopy in Windex or alcohol (metho, in my case) first, before dipping it.

Kev

Me to. Whenever using Future, I always clean the canopy with windex before dipping. In fact, I typically dip the canopy in Windex first, let it drip off, then dip in Future immediately. The Windex seems to break the surface tension of the Future.

 

HTH

 

Pete

[Hubert Boillot]

10 hours ago, LSP_Kevin said:

I don't know if Windex will strip the AKI product, but it's worth a shot. The other thing I usually do is make sure the canopy is spotless before I begin. If you've been polishing it, this can create enough of an electrostatic charge so that the canopy becomes a rather effective dust magnet. I usually 'wash' the canopy in Windex or alcohol (metho, in my case) first, before dipping it.

Kev

Yes, exactly. You need to remove the electrostatic charge. You can find in electronic shops and on Amazon static discharger guns, sold for removing static electricity from old vinyl records. Works like a charm to remove static electricity  from odels as well.

Hubert

[haveblue]

Thanks everyone  I’ll try and locate some windex today (bit hard to come by where I live)...

 

Cheers, 

HB 

[AdamR]

On 7/9/2018 at 4:19 AM, dodgem37 said:

'I don't know if Windex will strip the AKI product'

Windex will also remove enamel paint.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

The ammonia in Windex will fog some kinds of clear plastic.  It is a definite no-no for use on Plexiglass, for example.  Is it okay for clear polystyrene?

[AdamR]

I have the same problem with Future-type floor polish when using it to dip canopies.

 

However, I find if I immerse the part, remove, inspect for contaminating bits and repeat (while it’s still wet, I mean) until I get a clean "dip," I can usually get good results.  It usually takes no more than three or four dips, max.

Edited July 11, 2018 by AdamR

[LSP_Kevin]

1 hour ago, AdamR said:

The ammonia in Windex will fog some kinds of clear plastic.  It is a definite no-no for use on Plexiglass, for example.  Is it okay for clear polystyrene?

 

Absolutely! I do it all the time. The solution is very mild, and they even have an ammonia-free version of the product, though I'm not sure how effective it is for the tasks we're discussing here.

 

Kev

[williamj]

I Always have a spray bottle of Windex near the workbench,,even use it on my glasses and mag lamp.

[haveblue]

Thanks everyone much appreciated...I've actually been running a bit of an experiment with these canopies. I've ordered 5 more from Tamiya so I will relay my results. 

 

Things I've learned so far:

1. Windex does indeed remove the AKI product, thanks for the tip Kev!
2. I switched gears away from the scalpel and just micromeshed the seem off the second canopy. With this canopy I dipped it in Alclad Aqua Gloss Clear to see if the results would be different. 
3. Following the same process with both canopies...first placed in a jar of windex, and once removed and dry inspected against a light background for any dust etc. I wiped both canopies down with a reading glass lens cleaner: 
4. Then dipped canopy "A" with the AKI Gauzy agent and "B" with the Alclad Aqua Gloss, both left to dry under a glass container overnight.

 

Results:

 

I found that again the AKI product left a lot of bubbles (not dust) over the canopy (tried taking photos but similar to above). Now having said that this could in part be down to me as I've seen a video on youtube with the AKI product, and a brush was used to remove some of the bubbles. I tried the brush method but these bubbles seem to form on their own while the product is drying.

 

Canopy "B" had much better results with the Alclad, there are only about 4 pin head sized bubbles on the back of the canopy and you really have to stare to see them. Having said that I would probably have to dip the canopy twice with the Alclad because I can still see some evidence where I micro meshed the canopy.

 

Next round of testing

 

I've got one canopy left before the others turn up, so I'm going to try polishing that with Tamiya compound and then applying the Tamiya Gloss Coat Varnish afterwards.

 

Cheers,

HB