Top Flite TOPA0140 - Manual (Page 53)

CANOPY
❏
1. Mask the canopy for painting with wide
masking tape (or several standard size strips of
masking tape). Apply the masking tape, then use
the frame as a guide to simultaneously press the
masking tape down while you draw a guide line
around the edge with a pencil.
❏
2. Cut the masking tape from the canopy frame
along the guideline you drew. Remove excess tape.
Do one section at a time until the canopy is
completely masked-off and ready to paint. Mask the
inside of the canopy to protect it from overspray.
❏
3. Spray paint the canopy frame with fuelproof
paint. Make sure the paint will not react with the
plastic. Test on leftover pieces if unsure. We used
Pactra Formula-U Olive Drab to paint the canopy
of our Prototype Spitfire. It’s a close match to
MonoKote film. LustreKote is not recommended
for painting butyrate.
❏
4. Position the canopy on the fuselage and
draw its outline on the fuselage with a felt tip pen.
Poke holes through the covering with pin inside the
line or remove a thin strip of covering just inside
the outline. Wipe away the ink with a cloth
dampened with alcohol.
❏
5. Glue the canopy in place with special canopy
glue such as J & Z Products’ Z RC/56 canopy glue
(JOZR5007). Hold the canopy in place with tape or
rubber bands. Use a balsa stick under the rubber
bands to hold the sides of the canopy to the
fuselage. Wipe away excess glue with a tissue
dampened with water before the glue dries. Make
sure there is no glue on the balsa sticks so you do
not inadvertently glue the balsa sticks to the canopy.
PROPELLER AND SPINNER
There are two methods to make a scale, static
display propeller for your Spitfire. For our
prototype Spitfire we modified the Top Flite P-51
Static Display Prop (TOPQ7906). This is only
recommended for those who have access to a
belt sander because there is much plastic to sand
off. Here’s how to do it:
❏
1. Trim the propeller hub of the P-51 display
prop as shown in the sketch.
❏
2. Use the Spitfire display prop template
provided on the plan to mark the correct outline on
each of the four P-51 blades.
Hint: Lightly spray the back of the template with
3M 75 Repositionable Spray Adhesive to hold it to
the blade while you
scribe the outline with a hobby
knife or something similar.
CAUTION: LustreKote will deform clear butyrate
plastics when painting large areas. If unsure,
test the paint on a leftover piece of plastic.
Butyrate plastic will curl after a few days.
- 53 -