canopy help please

[john i am]

hi everyone i"ve aquired a very old hawker hunter and although its in reasonable condition the canopy as been rolling around in the box for a fair few years i was just wondering if anyone could tell me how to restore it to its original condition . also in some of the gallery photos some of you have your canopies in the open position and i would like to do that with my hunter. big thanks to anyone who can help this hunter pilot :-):smile1:

[Guest]

I'd replace it with a vacform one. Failing that, polishing sponges followed by a dip in Klear.

[john i am]

thanks for your help could you please tell me where i get the sponges and klear from and the replacement canopy. please excuse me as i"m a newbie and know very little cheers john

[Guest]

Hi John, I use Silvo silver polish wadding (can get it from Wilkos, etc) and that can go on the end of a cotton bud or used by hand, be careful about putting too much pressure on as it can crack canopy. Snapper's right about dipping in Klear I have also found that using a high gloss varnish brushed on can help to fill tiny scratches followed by a polish with stick or wadding.

IVOR

[Guest]

Hi John,

You can use a nail buffer (the sort the women use, available in most chemists, sort of like this example - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Leighton-Denny-Trio-Nail-Buffer/dp/B003H7DRVW

Make sure you are using the buffering side rather than the sanding side! - you'd be amazed at how well they clean a canopy up.

as Ivor says be careful about cracking the canopy when polishing - I fill the back of the canopy with blu-tak first to add a bit of support.

Loads of people dip with Klear (Although I don't seem to have the knack ), you'll find plenty of help on how to use it if you just search on here - it's sold in Asda and has been renamed as pledge multi surface wax - see example here :-

SC Johnson

[MORIARTY1177]

With the seam line on my Harrier GR.7 canopy a sanded it off and then polished it using toothpaste (a good white flouride one does the trick) which did take a bit of work but it did work. Then a dip in the multi surface wax....a tip here which I learned from the net is to leave a bit of sprue attached to the clear part for easy handling and once dipped I put mine in a tupperware tub which has some kitchen towel in the bottom which acts as a wick to soak up any excess and then put the lid on to stop any dust particles sticking to the wet pledge and leabve for at least 24hrs.

Regards

Chris

[john i am]

a big thanks to everyone for you feedback its really appreciated