What glue for canopies

[Guest]

I have searched. One poster said that he uses Klear for gluing canopies. I have a bottle. Is it good for that?

If not, what others are there? I have seen Gator glue. Is it the best?

[Guest]

Kleer works OK but one of the easiest is any form of white PVA glue, prefereably watered down slightly.

[Guest]

I use superglue, drop some onto a piece of paper then apply in tiny dots to the clear part edge with either a toothpick or a darning needle, (I keep a needle chucked in a pin vice for this purpose)

Much stronger than klear, (which is a varnish not a glue), pva is good but slow drying, superglue can fog the clear parts so never apply directly or too much, for example a 48th scale canopy would get a typical 2 small dots front edge, 2 or 3 each side and 2 rear.

[John]

Much stronger than klear, (which is a varnish not a glue)

I think Steve was referring to Microscale Kristal Klear, I would say out of the 2 gator is better but not that much to choose between them.

[Dave W]

I use Microscale crystal clear which is similar to Gator glue (got some of that as well).As its water based,you can wipe it off with a damp cotton bud if you get it on the wrong part of the canopy.And it won't melt the plastic like normal glue.Plus you can fill gaps around canopies on older kits that don't fit too well with it.Good if you use an airbrush.Stops paint getting through gaps and getting on the inside of transparent parts.

[Adrian "Marvel" Reynolds]

I only ever use Micro Kristal Klear, never let me down yet

Adrian

[Guest]

Foam safe ca glue and the bonus it does'nt fog.

[Guest]

Right, I have ordered Micro Crystal Klear.

One more question please: my 1/72 Spitfire canopy fits well (just a little gap in one place) and clips into place (i.e.., it doesn't fall out). It is fully masked and my next steps arethe usual: prime, camouflage, gloss, decal and matt varnish. I notice most people have the canopy in place during all those stages.

My question is: should I glue the canopy in place as the next step, or as the last step? The advantage of not gluing it until the end is that if something goes wrong with all the spraying (I don't know what but I'm a pessimist — all those coats, perhaps 6 — could overwhelm the tiny canopy bars) I would be unable to remove the canopy to clean it down and and start again.

[Adrian "Marvel" Reynolds]

With Krystal Klear you can get the canopy back off if need be with a little gentle effort, if you ever need to strip the canopy back down use oven cleaner, I tested a spare canopy first to make sure it didnt melt it though.

Adrian

[stona]

Gator's Grip if I don't need a quick hold,GS Hypo Cement for ones that need to stick in place quicker. I also use the GS Hypo for those multi part canopies constructed from several clear pieces.

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

I use Krystal Klear too, but i'm another fan of GS Hypo Cement and i tend to switch between the two almost at random. And I now always fit the canopy before painting - I feel that if you don't you get an obvious "fitted later/stuck on look"

It's funny - I remember asking all the same questions, and it's this lot who gave me all this advice - good here innit! (I'm still not as good as most seem to be though, lol)

[Guest]

Steve, I use Evo-stick wood glue. Once it's dried it seems to stick quite well.

[Guest]

Another PVA user here ... mainly on winscreens though as i don't (can't) do aircraft very often.

Main bonus for me is that as PVA dries virtually clear in thin applications it tends to fill up any little gaps and cracks around the frame (don't know if that would be applicable or advantageous to canopies)

[Guest]

It's funny - I remember asking all the same questions, and it's this lot who gave me all this advice - good here innit!

I agree completely.