Tamiya F-4E Phantom II: Sharks Mouth 388th TFW, Korat, Vietnam 1968-69: More stencils..

[CANicoll]

Following on from Peter's problems with his 3D printed seat, my attempts to separate the clear resin canopy pieces from their pour blocks was 95% successful.  Yeah, not 100% successful.  Ugh

I got nearly all the way around, using my small razor saw when at the very last connection, a small part of the canopy frame snapped off and I have no clue where it went.

and what it SHOULD look like on the other side:

SOO CLOSE!!!!    ARRGG.

The windscreen also seems a bit out of whack as well, running just a bit long (the windscreen rear needs a little bit more trimming).  Will have to see about may be adjusting the HUD which may sit a bit proud, for both windscreens.

Compared to the kit piece:

I may end up just using the kit pieces.  

Here they are test fitted:

Lots still to do.

[BlrwestSiR]

Ugh, I feel your pain there Chris. I'm currently working on the Eagle's canopy myself. 

Looking at the break, it seems to be just the frame is missing and not the clear section. You could try using styrene to patch it but you'd have to be careful around the clear bits. 

The biggest challenge with the kit pieces is the spot that they attach to the sprue. I would recommend cutting it off the sprue leaving a stub on the part. This way you don't get the splintering effect. Then carefully sand off the stub. There may still be a small scar showing but I hide that under a coat of paint to replicate the sealant that goes around the edge between the glass and the frame. 

 

[CANicoll]

Carl, excellent idea about the sealant.  I was very careful about how I clipped the sprue attachment point but I like your idea of cutting it a bit long then carefully sanding it down.

I'm not as clever with the styrene bits so that would take me a fairly long time to fix.  I really am trying to hit the deadline, even if not with the full armament build out.

[CANicoll]

Using the kit pieces for the canopy did some painting of the frames while the Future-dipped clear pieces dry.  There is still a bit of final painting to be done on the center piece to match the fuselage camo line, but while that dries, worked on some of the nose stencils.   Should make more progress this weekend.

[FullArmor]

Looking really good👍

[Peterpools]

Chris

As we use to say back in the day; what a bummer. For my money while 3D printed detail parts are incredible, they are very fragile and more then extra care needs to be taken. For chunky parts like the entire Aces II ejection seat, no issues but for the finer and more delicate parts (canopy rails) just oh so delicate.

I'm in your corner and would just go with the Tamiya parts as they fit fine and you won't have to worry about breaking parts so easily. 

 

[CANicoll]

Made a bit more progress on the nose stencils (over 30 of them just on the left side!!) as well as touching up the canopy framing and matching the fuselage camo pattern.  

With the canopy piece in place and I notice there is a huge scratch on the side of the front canopy - lower left corner.  Dipped it in Future again and it looks better but will see how it turn out when the future dries.

Overhead view.  These are the kit pieces after an initial Future dip are extremely clear.  I may have an errant stencil in there - white stencils are for green backgrounds.  Black is for tan/brown backgrounds.

[BlrwestSiR]

Nice work on all those stencils and the paint work. 

If you need a replacement canopy, I have a spare one around.

[DocRob]

Looking great with all those stencils, Chris. Somehow you seem to have some serious bad mojo with clear parts right now. I couldn´t really see the scratch on the photo and might let it be there, If I were you.

Cheers Rob

[CANicoll]

13 hours ago, BlrwestSiR said:

Nice work on all those stencils and the paint work. 

If you need a replacement canopy, I have a spare one around.

Carl, thank you but I'm going to keep up with the kit one for now. I appreciate the offer.  If it was more noticeable I'd jump at your offer.

For the life of me I can't think of how the scratch got there but oh well!  I just looked at the canopy after a second Future dip and while I see the scratch there, I don't think I'm going to mess with it, as Rob suggested.  Part of it will be covered by painting.  Like you, I may display with the canopy up, but may display it down as the canopies are pretty clear.