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Thanks, but all I did was drill the bullet holes out, then scribed the lines with my X- Acto knife, easy peasy. I'll probably add more as things progress.
The windshield glass is laminated, I want to try to figure out how to model broken tempered glass, for the side windows. I think that would be cool if I can pull it off.
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After nearly ruining my Yak-3 build I pulled it out of storage and hope to finish it soon.

View attachment 181594

I took bad advice and used Tamiya extra-thin on the open version of the canopy. Allegedly it is safe to use on clear parts, but I'm going to say do not do that.

View attachment 181595

It is a bit hard to see, but the rear most part of the one on the right is marred irreparably. The glue did not "fog" the way CA would do, but it definitely messed it up. Attempts to polish it out were fruitless. I even tried to clean up the "closed" version which I painted over as a mask, but the crack was a no-go. I now have a vacuformed one coming, I've heard horror stories and have never used it before, so wish me luck :-)
Frosted canopies. I've had my fair share. I've also had a run of good luck with a few tips I've picked up in the past five years. Here's what I learned will work:
  • White glue. Seems to work really well with canopies that fit well. Doesn't seem to hold if the parts are under stress.
  • CA glue used with Future or Gauzy (smells like the same stuff to me). The CA doesn't (in my experience) fog the canopies. Time will tell if the canopies yellow because of the Future or Gauzy.
  • CA glue with an open canopy and a fan forcefully circulating air inside the open canopy. I leave the fan pushing the air through the cockpit for about an hour. I have no idea how short a time will do. I've only done this a couple of times, and it worked.
Frosted canopy repair. Following some online advice, they said to sand the frosted canopy surface with sand paper until it was really frosted, then begin the process of sanding/polishing the surface back to clear. I had my doubts, but since the canopy was already useless, I gave it a try and it worked. In fact, the canopy looked better than before it was frosted. I believe it's because the canopies are less thick and any micro-waviness from the moulding process has been removed from the inside of the canopy. I haven't tried this on the outside surface of the canopies because I'm afraid of removing the canopy frame details.
 
ow to model broken tempered glass
Good luck with that, the "spidering" is basically everywhere, by design. Can it be replicated? Probably, but IMO what you have already shown tells the story better.
 
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Frosted canopies. I've had my fair share. I've also had a run of good luck with a few tips I've picked up in the past five years. Here's what I learned will work:
  • White glue. Seems to work really well with canopies that fit well. Doesn't seem to hold if the parts are under stress.
  • CA glue used with Future or Gauzy (smells like the same stuff to me). The CA doesn't (in my experience) fog the canopies. Time will tell if the canopies yellow because of the Future or Gauzy.
  • CA glue with an open canopy and a fan forcefully circulating air inside the open canopy. I leave the fan pushing the air through the cockpit for about an hour. I have no idea how short a time will do. I've only done this a couple of times, and it worked.
Frosted canopy repair. Following some online advice, they said to sand the frosted canopy surface with sand paper until it was really frosted, then begin the process of sanding/polishing the surface back to clear. I had my doubts, but since the canopy was already useless, I gave it a try and it worked. In fact, the canopy looked better than before it was frosted. I believe it's because the canopies are less thick and any micro-waviness from the moulding process has been removed from the inside of the canopy. I haven't tried this on the outside surface of the canopies because I'm afraid of removing the canopy frame details.
Lesson learned! I'd add the following product, but yeah. Point taken!

View attachment 181624
Does it smell like Lepage's wood glue? I bought the below product a while back and it smells like Lepage's glue. It worked.
I have a suspicion that they are all selling us the same thing in different packaging.
1772163068943.jpeg

Lesson learned! I'd add the following product, but yeah. Point taken!

View attachment 181624
 
selling us the same thing in different packaging
17722047592887662997441201646124.jpg


  • Added the Elmer's, now clear from the getgo, to the household adhesive drawer
  • MKK which I've been using for years for windshields and clear parts,
  • and recently, AMMO which is also marketed as PE adhesive, drying clear, but after SIX hours! Thins and cleans with water. I bought it as an alternative to CA with PE, but the fix and drying time means only useful in some situations... from a guy who has his CA accelerator primed and ready most of the time!
 
I've got a veritable assembly line set up.
1/35 Trumpeter KV-2 (almost painting stage)
1/1000 Space Battleship Yamato (ready to paint)
1/1400 Enterprise C (decals, final touches)
1/48 Soyuz rocket (commission)
After the Soyuz is completed I have the Estes New Glenn for the same customer.

After all of that...
1/35 Tamiya Abrams
1/35 Takom M60A1
1/72 U-Boat wreck diorama
 
Thanks, but all I did was drill the bullet holes out, then scribed the lines with my X- Acto knife, easy peasy. I'll probably add more as things progress.
The windshield glass is laminated, I want to try to figure out how to model broken tempered glass, for the side windows. I think that would be cool if I can pull it off.
View attachment 181611
That looks great!
 
selling us the same thing in different packaging
Someone I used to know once did an internship at a major glue manufacturer here in the Netherlands, where she had to test batches of glue to see if they met the company's quality standards. She divulged that supermarkets, department stores etc. sold the exact same glue under their own brand names, the only difference being that those batches didn't get tested as rigorously. Which means they're probably the same quality as the actual brand-name glue, but might not be.
 
I agree. Did you just thin down the green and red to get that faded look?
Yes, the red is Tamiya Red Brown, and the green is Vallejo Cam Lt. Green. I believe that is a model color paint, versus a Model Air color. So it is not optimized for airbrushing. Each color was thinned with the proprietary thinner and retarder in the case of the Tamiya color, and Airbrush Flow Improver for the Vallejo paint, to prevent splattering and tip dry on the airbrush. Fun fact, I never finished painting the top hatch on the turret, and had to spray the green and brown on that a couple of weeks ago, to match the rest of the model which I painted about 2012.
 
Yes, the railroad wheels were direct bolt on replacements to the rubber tired wheels, and the vehicle could be converted back to the conventional tires in a very short amount of time.
Thanks for letting me know. That makes a lot of sense.
Leave it to the Germans to figure that out.
 
Someone I used to know once did an internship at a major glue manufacturer here in the Netherlands, where she had to test batches of glue to see if they met the company's quality standards. She divulged that supermarkets, department stores etc. sold the exact same glue under their own brand names, the only difference being that those batches didn't get tested as rigorously. Which means they're probably the same quality as the actual brand-name glue, but might not be.
Always been the case. I used to do fire safety inspections in a local TV factory.
At the end of the line , someone would be there putting Toshiba, Panasonic or a supermarket own brand badge on them and putting them in different boxes.
These same TVs would be in the shops with a price range varying by over 200 quid in today's money.
 
Thanks @kevin , @locomotive and @Tommergun
That was a sigh of relief when the test fit worked out!
Funny thing is, I don't really plan that much ahead, so half the time it is blind luck when things work out LOL.
But to pull a music metaphor, if you have a good enough handle on technique, it is that much easier to improvise...
 

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