Canopy Attachment

[Bob S]

I have never been too pleased with how I attach canopies. Basically I just glue them down and consider it done. For the Panzl I am building, I'd like a little nicer look.

I was going to paint the inside of the cockpit with the speckle paint including the top of the hatch that is inside the canopy. Glue the canopy down and apply covering up to the canopy. After that I'm not sure how to get a nice finish. Filler and tape or what?

Thanks!

Here is how the canopy looks after I roughed it out.

[jack01]

Depending on how thick your balsa sheeting is, you may be able to cut a small groove, where lexan and balsa meet, and recess the edge. I can't really tell how thick the sheeting is though. Then you can cover right up to the lexan, and maybe overlap slightly. That should produce a nearly seamless setup.

[bodywerks]

To do it right will require paint around the canopy/hatch line at the least. The best way to do it would be to just paint the whole hatch because it will eliminate any mismatches between the covering and paint and would match the paint on the cowl exactly. But it can be done with a combination of covering and paint:
Trim the canopy to the point that you are ready to glue it down.
Position it where you want it and secure it with a few pieces of tape.
mark around it with a marker and remove the canopy.
Take some 60-80 grit and sand a groove in the hatch behind the marker line so that the canopy fits nearly flush with the balsa.
Sand the under side of the canopy where it will attach to the hatch and glue it down with some 30+ minute eopxy/milled fiberglass.
Decide where your paint line will be on the canopy and then mask about 1/8" below that.
If there are gaps or voids or high spots around the canopy/hatch joint line, fill them with a high-quality body filler, like corvette repair filler/bondo and then sand a smooth contour.
Once close, paint with a sandable primer. You will find that it is easier to fair it into the hatch by moving the mask line on the wood after each coat. Once dry, sand to a smooth contour that fairs into the wood and the canopy seamlessly.
Now paint the area of the canopy line that you are sure you will not be able to make it to with the covering. You'll want to blend this seamlessly into the hatch as well or it will show up under the covering.
Now take some 1/8" fineline tape and make a mask line up to where you think you can apply covering and leave it there and start applying the covering. The masking tape will show up as an impression under the covering to tell you that you have applied it far enough up. Once the covering is applied, use a fresh #11 blade to trace around the mask line and remove the excess covering and masking tape.
I might have a few pics at home of the canopy install I did on a 34% CHP that I will post when I get home.

[Fixed Wing]

Thanks Bodywerks for a nice detailed explanation.

[bodywerks]

Here's a couple pics. Not sure if they are much help but its all I got...

[sweetpea]

Couple of other tricks.

You can actually cover on the canopy itself. It is a little tricky because excess heat will deform the canopy but it can be done. With this method the inside of the canopy is the same color as your covering.

Another trick which is also difficult is to mark the inside of the canopy to the point you will paint or cover. This enables you see where the covering/paint will be seen from inside the canopy. So you don't see a primer or glue from the covering you paint that inside portion black with some Lexan spray cans. Where it gets tricky is that now you have to match that inside black with your outside colors so there is no over or underlap.

I did this on my 35% Edge I built.