Boy do I need help!

Capt_Taggert

Never give up, never surrender!
Joined
May 7, 2009
Messages
169
I'm currently building a Blue Thunder Helicopter. It has to be the worst kit I've ever worked on. The fit on most of the parts was aweful. Anyway I've attached a pic of the canopy which i'm having trouble. It's scratched and fogged pretty bad (not my doing it came that way). Not only that but there's ejector pin marks in where the clear areas are suppose to be. I tried dipping it in Future but that didn't work. I then decided to try to scratchbuild a new frame. Since that's not going too well I thought I'd query you all to see what I should do next (besides punt). Any thoughts.

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You can try the myriad fixes for removing scratches on plastic eye glass lenses and the like .(youtube)
You can try polishing em out with Future or even Brasso ( iI've seenit work) (remove the excess Future with Windex ,it's gonna depend on the plastic but if they're hosed you got nothing to lose
Other than that you could vacuum form a new one if you really want .
Always a joy to discover mangled parts ;D
 
Or you could paint it a smoky color and not show the interior.

I have polished out small scratches before.
 
I ordered some polishing pads so i'll give those a whirl. If that doesn't work I'll probably paint it a smokey color and leave it. I'd rather not as i spent a lot of time working on the cockpit. This as to be the worst kit i've ever worked on!
 
Depending on your time and skill, you could "cast" the inside and use that as a form to build a new one over the top. Might be a lot of work and not something I have experience of, but if it was me I'd consider giving it a go. 8)
 
I will definitely be a challenge to repair. I've seen most people just giving up on entires models just because a clear part was wrongly manufactured. While I dont have a technical solution, I want to suggest you, is to contact the manufacturer for a spare piece due to molding errors. Trying doesnt hurt anyone, it may happened that you got a lemon.
 
worth a try. I'm considering vac forming the part. building a vacum maching doesn't look too hard.
 
Capt_Taggert said:
worth a try. I'm considering vac forming the part. building a vacum maching doesn't look too hard.

Making the perfect mold is the hard part. Since you will want it to be as smooth as possible, and vacuum forming doesn't forgive the tiniest mistake. I think that you should try to use all your other options first.

Luis
 
That rectilinear form is probably best obtained with TiM's method . Fill it with model clay then use that as a form to build it up with clear/smoked sheet stock .
This ain't novice class either way but doing it is 80% the fun IMO ;)
....If it were me and the kit is not that great and I was gonna start scratch-freaking on the canopy I would just keep on and trick the thing out . More enjoyable for me when I'm not worrying about matching original .

Post some picks ! Especially pics of methods and madness .
Good luck !
Keith
 
Something you can try is this... at Walmart in the automtive section is a kit for restoring headlights. It works very well. FOllow the instructions included in the restoring kit but before applying the final clear coating using a soft paper towel to buff the windows smooth. Then apply the last clear coating step in the kit. I works wonders!
 

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