JOINING AND POLISHING CLEAR PARTS

[Wizzel]

Good evening all,

I have some turrets to assemble.  They are the type that are all clear plastic, joined together vertically from front to back so would like some advice on how to avoid an ugly join line down the centre.  Fortunately, the turrets are heavily framed and the join line is part of the framing rather than the glass so I will be painting over the join line.  That said, are clear parts any different to work on than non-clear?  Which glue is best to use to avoid fogging and in the event that a join in clear parts falls outside the framing in a future kit, is there a way of making that join line vanish?

Thanks in advance.

Dave M

[Bigkev]

Hi Wizzel,

Aaaah............The Dark Art of Canopies!

I use ordanairy liquid cement, that Type S stuff sounds great. I actually use my dwindling Tamiya extra thin liquid glue, so I might have to jump ship sometime soon.

I also have used a 'watchmakers' clear glue from Little Cars, which has a syringe at the end for fine application. It dries clear and is very strong. The question of glueing parts along frame lines means the join will remain hidden if you have cleaned up your parts and mating surfaces before joining. Paint hides a multitude of sins(I know).
However to date I know of no method which allows a join to remain invisible if it is a clear panel. The only remedy is to mould your own turrets/glazing's 'a la RON'. Another subject in itself.

To make your clear parts more transparent, then a dip in Johnsons Kleer or Future or similar is a must.
What I do is dip the part(s) in a glass jar of the said liquid, and allow the excess to drain off, and then place the part(s) on some paper/card ensuring glazed panels are not in contact with the paper/card. Allow them to dry, which will take a few hours. Do not touch the parts with your fingers from the dipping process until really dry.The parts will appear much better, and can improve even more with subsequent dips (normally 2 or 3 is enough).

Cheers, Bigkev

[Haddock]

Hello.
I have some stuff for polishing canopies before dipping in future if the need it ( scratches etc ) I'll try to remember to bring it on Monday.
Haddock.

[Wizzel]

Brilliant (ahem, no pun intended).  Thanks to you both.  I'm still making the rickety steps from knocking stuff together over the weekend with tubes of Humbrol polystyrene cement (which was more air bubbles than glue if I remember correctly) and can highly recommend that Mrs Cement S stuff - the applicator brush allows for very precise placing.  In fact it was Terry (Kiteman) who put me onto it during last year's visit.

I'm looking forward to Ron's lesson on plunge moulding as well.  I feel I've had next year's subscriptions worth already what with all this help and advice 

[zak]

I use Slater MEK and like it a lot as a liquid solvent.

[Kiteman]

Ey up Dave, I can only confirm the use of clear as suggested by Big Kev. Rarely do I have canopies to deal with being mainly a WW1 freak, but I have had good results with clear myself (check out the canopy on the Walrus project). If you have a moulding line on a clear part there is not a lot that you can do as the material is joined throughout ist thickness and although you can polish the surface joint line away you will always be able to see the "internal" joint line. You can always do what I did on my Junkers 52....melt the canopy with thinners, set fire to it and then call it battle damage.

[Wizzel]

Just an update, having now finished the turrets in question; many thanks for the advice - I think it was a confidence thing as much as anything as I always used to be able to make a good job of this when I was modelling in a previous life.  The turrets have turned out fine now - I gave the joins a gentle rub with a fine sanding stick just to blur the seam and the paint did the rest.  I have painted them with Klear (one coat for the minute) and will do another one or two just to seal but the glazing looks pretty shiny.  Next I guess I'll have to paint the frames with matt varnish to stop 'em shining!!!  Aaaaaaaah.