canopy (pain)ting and cutting

[xircom]

easy question for all who painted their canopy, what colors did you use, and did you use special grounding on the "plastic bottle' ? Sanding first ? Or ?I ran into serious problems with my older VE, whereas after a while the color came off again, in small pieces :arggg: don't like to see that again with the lepton, I used Tamiya TS spray color, including stransparent finish.

Also in step 36 at the end (yes, I finish soon !!!) it says "when flying backwards, such as 3D ... attach the canopy w/o cutting the cabin" ?! What is this for, did you experts do this ?

Thanks !

[Finless]

Sand the canopy to get rid of seam lines and bust off the shinny look. Use 600 grit as a final sanding.

Go to a automotive paint or parts store and get a rattle can of "Bumper Adhesion Promotor" It a kind of primer for plastic car bumpers.

Take a butane torch and brush the flame quickly over the entire surface of the canopy. DO NOT heat it that is not the idea. The flame removes the oxidation layer. You just need it to quickly move over the plastic. Now spray 2 coats of the bumper adhesion promotor.

Now spray on a light primer coat that you will then sand smooth with 600 paper.

Now you can shoot your colors :)

Here is a Freya Canopy I did with this method.

[xircom]

wow, thanks ... that looks excellent !

[raahi]

Sand the canopy to get rid of seam lines and bust off the shinny look. Use 600 grit as a final sanding.

Go to a automotive paint or parts store and get a rattle can of "Bumper Adhesion Promotor" It a kind of primer for plastic car bumpers.

Take a butane torch and brush the flame quickly over the entire surface of the canopy. DO NOT heat it that is not the idea. The flame removes the oxidation layer. You just need it to quickly move over the plastic. Now spray 2 coats of the bumper adhesion promotor.

Now spray on a light primer coat that you will then sand smooth with 600 paper.

Now you can shoot your colors :)

Here is a Freya Canopy I did with this method.

I've been using this method for a while now. Works great on the "bleach bottle" plastic canopies.

[Learn to Fly]

I have done it too, looks great. Easy to do, just take your time and have a clean area to work in.

Raahi looks great, like the drop shadows...wish I could paint like that.

I also stopped cutting the cabin part out of my canopies, 1, it looks cool, 2 I think its a bit tougher this way. :glasses2:

Jeff :glasses2:

[xircom]

wow, that looks great indeed ... too beautiful to crash, probably I would not want to fly that one at all ! Today was in the shop, they gave me something japanese, looks bleaching (make white) and gives good foundation on plastic bottle canopies for the color, probably has cleaning effect etc too, going to try that on separate piece first ... and then I will have to study graphic designer for the next 4 yrs, so that I am able to do the same as raahi :lol:

[Finless]

raahi, nice paint job! I know how to sand and paint for a good finish but I wish I was that artistic to do designs like that!

Bob

[raahi]

Xircom, Learn to Fly, Finless, thanks for the compliments. I wish I could fly as good as you guys.

Xircom, you also might want to consider using automotive paint and clearcoat. It holds up much better. I use HOK paints and PPG 2021 clear. Be sure to use a good respirator. Supplied air respirator is rec. for clear. Some body shops will clear for you if you don't have access to proper safety equipment. The isocyanates in the catalyst of the clear are pretty nasty. Createx Autoair can also be used for color. This is a waterbased paint so is safer to shoot (non-toxic). It needs to be heat cured between coats (hot air gun) but the metallics don't seem to have the depth that the HOK paints have. They still need to be cleared with an automotive urethane clearcoat. I like the HOK paints better.

[xircom]

Raahi, that should have been a compliment too - I am not so bad flyer, but maybe strange way to express it - not using English often lately. Anyway, thanks a lot for the additional hints, helps me a lot !

[Michalm]

I just sanded a little bit the surface :)

http://www.epheli.pl/zdjecia/nied12.jpg

http://www.epheli.pl/zdjecia/nied8.jpg

[xircom]

uhmmm, I got this urethane from the shop - but did not sand/heat, so that is the result. Urethane and color just came off like nothing ! Guess sanding and heating makes the difference in holding the color ? :arggg:

[Finless]

Yep and dont forget the adhesion promotor (plastic car bumper primer)!

Bob