One of my biggest struggles as an airplane modeler has been getting clear canopy pieces to look both clear and like real glass. A few years ago I came across the technique of dipping pieces into Future. I tried a couple of times and had less than impressive results; however, I eventually realized the results were of my own carelessness. I have developed a system that I find works perfectly, so I thought I’d share.
First, I think it’s a good idea to do this early in the build process. Actually, this is the first thing I do when starting a new kit. That way my parts have plenty of time to cure before they are ready to be used.
- Remove large parts from the sprues and clean up the attachment points. Small parts can be left on the sprue, just reduce them to as few attachment points as possible.
- Polish the pieces with a soft cotton cloth and some sort of rubbing compound. I use Novus polishing compound. You can also use traditional white toothpaste (the gel won’t work).
- Once pieces have been polished and you’ve removed all the residue put the pieces in a clean container filled with alcohol or Windex and allow them to soak a while. This will clean the parts of any oils from your hands and mold release agent. I’ve used both alcohol and Windex. It’s usually just a matter of what it closer at hand.
- Remove pieces from alcohol/Windex bath and thoroughly rinse with cool water. It is VERY IMPORTANT that you make sure all of whatever cleaner you used is removed from the piece. If you used Windex it can actually dry on the surface and when you dip in Future it will cause it to not dry properly. Place the pieces on a paper towel and allow them to dry. I avoid towel drying because I don’t want to handle the pieces any more than necessary, and I don’t want any lint or particles settling on the parts.
- Line a box or plastic container of some sort with paper towels.
- Once the pieces are dry fill a CLEAN container with Future. Pour the Future slowly to avoid bubbling.
- Grab your piece with a pair of tweezers. Try to grip the piece at canopy framing if at all possible.
- SLOWLY submerge the piece into the Future ensuring coverage.
- GENTLY agitate the piece a bit. This helps work out any bubbles that formed on the surface.
- SLOWLY remove the piece from the Future. If you notice any bubbles or runs forming re-submerge and repeat. It can take a number of attempts before you get an even coverage.
- Allow excess Future to drip off the piece into the cup.
- Some excess will still flood the piece, so now you can touch a leading edge of the piece to a piece of paper towel (not the one in your container) to wick off the remaining.
- Place the piece on it’s leading edge in a box or container and cover.
- Allow to dry a least a couple of days. If you can smell Future it hasn’t cured.
- Mask and paint as necessary.
TIPS:
- You want as little excess Future accumulating in the bottom of the sealed container as possible. An excess coupled with a humid and/or hot environment can cause the humidity level in the box to keep the Future from curing.
- When you remove the masking after painting if you find yourself with a sticky residue from the tape you can use polishing compound to remove it. Use a soft cloth and a little bit of polishing compound to buff the clear piece back to a high shine. This will in no way effect the coat of Future.
- Check the drying pieces after 24 hours. If you find any runs, or particles that have found their way into the dry Future you can soak the piece in Windex to remove it and start again. This is ideal to opening your box a month into the build when you need the piece and finding you need to reapply. YOU WANT THE FUTURE TO DRY AS LONG AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE.
- Don’t worry too much about unevenness in the Future as it’s still wet. Future is self-leveling and unless it’s really bad it will level out as it dries.
- If you plan to assemble the piece with a solvent like Tamiya Extra Thin be sure to scrape away the leading edge just as you would paint.
- A coat of Future will protect clear pieces from fogging from CA (pro-tip: DON’T USE CA ON CLEAR PARTS EVER – regardless of this)
Look at the difference in the clearness of this part before Future:
And after:
Future makes clear pieces appear thinner than they are and it makes those pieces look much more like glass. Spending some time on these steps will really improve your models.
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