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Canopy
Parts Required:
Canopy
•
Tools Required:
Masking Tape
•
Marking pen
•
Scissors
•
Canopy Adhesive
•
Clear Silicon (Silastic)
•
Syringe 30ml
•
Fitting the canopy is one of the areas that people seem to dislike!
Really it s not that difficult, and the SU-31 canopy fits in place beauti-
fully. Fixing the canopy to the canopy frame can be accomplished
with a good quality silicone sealant. That s right the same stuff plumb-
ers use!
You may opt to use an epoxy, a plastic CA, or specialized canopy
adhesive. But be careful, CA can run, as well as fog the canopy. Be
really careful with any kind of CA kicker, discolouration and fogging
can occur. Epoxy can also be used, but it can be pretty messy, how-
ever it is pretty affective. Canopy adhesive needs a long time to cure,
and is particularly runny.
Silicon works particularly well in this area, and provides a clear strong
bond. It is also easy to clean up and if you ever need to replace the
canopy, removing the old one is pretty straight forward.
The clear canopy needs to be trimmed first. Start by removing the
excess material, so you can fit it over the canopy frame for marking.
The canopy can be cut with sharp scissors (If you are in a cold cli-
mate you may need to warm the canopy before you cut. Test a waste
area first). Attach the canopy frame to the fuselage and place the can-
opy over it. Move the canopy into a settled position and mark the cut
lines. Leave about 10mm over lap. Take your time here, and make
sure you are happy with the positioning and marking.
After you have trimmed the canopy you will need to prepare the can-
opy frame before you start the final fit. You need to make sure that
you sand off any high spots on the canopy frame where the canopy
will sit. Occasionally during the moulding process some excess resin
can form high spots. Also there is a fibreglass band that runs along
the middle of the canopy frame. The edges of this band need to be
smoothed. This can mostly be done by hand with some sandpaper,
but if you use a Dremel be careful not to remove too much material.
Lightly sand all the area where the canopy will sit, then wipe clean.
Sukhoi SU 31—2.75m/2.6m
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