My cracked FAB1 canopy is sure perplexing.
Rob's idea of Kitsugi is appealing, the uniqueness of the crack. I like it!
I consulted keen modeller Paul A and he agreed toothpaste might remove scratches. Teeth fixative powder too and complete with clear varnish. I did try toothpaste but I just couldn't get it to work. Maybe it was too smooth.
I've read on Richard's, a previous reader's resto effort, that T-Cut does the job too, on both body and dome.
Bill Ev had another useful tip: replace it entirely with one from from the Imai Amerang FAB1 model kit. Good call! Typical, I sold a loose Imai FAB1 last year ( a lockdown donation from Wotan), but if I recall it didn't have a dome, so I don't feel too bad!
Another way forward, if any at all, is the paper method. Simply cover the split with a parcel tape band, as it would have come packaged in its box back in '65!
Here's one, for sale, like that, courtesy of online dealer Modellers' Loft.
Here's my copy! The cracks gone!
Another more technical solution comes via a modeller I just discovered online today, Marc Brassé.
Marc's method is to create a whole new canopy from a plastic bottle. Yes! I can relate to that, as I've done it before myself, albeit on a smaller scale with my Matchbox Draguar.
Marc used a Reddy fritturollie bottle, which, with his obvious skill, gave this amazing result, completed with beautiful pink stripes.
You can see more of Marc's fabulous work on his website:
https://www.brassee.com/scalemodeling.html
Attempting to emulate Marc I found some old water and pop bottles in the greenhouse and using the FAB1 canopy as a template, drew the shape and cut it out.
I repeated this four times but none of them fitted well enough to be deemed an ersatz. The bottle shape has to be spot-on I reckon, which is a feat in itself!
Anyways, here's my less than satisfactory efforts. I've realized I can't cut curved plastic for toffee!
I may just leave it up to Lady P!
Have you made your own domes readers?
I have made them. I carve the shape in balsa and then heat form acetate sheet over it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip Kev.
DeleteRepeatedly! I'm glad you've tried. Recalling my replacement for the Husky Piranha
ReplyDeletehttps://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com/2023/11/looeys-fender-shop-3-man-from-uncle.html?m=0
I'd be tempted to cast the outside of the bubble in thinnish plaster, use it as a waste mould to make a plaster plug and plunge mould it like the Piranha above.
Of course, the fact the bubble is probably six inches long makes this a Moon Shot grade mission, but it is doable.
Maybe shopping for more drink bottles and honing your cutting skills is the way to go!
Thanks for all the tips Looey. Love what you did with that Piranha!
DeleteIts probably too late, and I don't know if it works well wirh canopies/clear plastics, but perhaps others can say whether methylene chloride or Tamiya extra thin cement might work. Both actually dissolve (if thats the right word) the plastic so that it sticks together as though it had been remelted together. Works well for model building, but repairs to clear pkastic? Dunno.
ReplyDeleteThanks a bunch Anon. Very useful tip that. I may have some of that stuff!
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