Spuetz

Hello everyone,

I have a great Giles 202 with a large, clear canopy. I bought it ARF with the canopy already glued to the frame. They did a wonderful job with that and I wonder how they did it. Unfortunatly I had a mild crash and the canopy broke. So now I have to glue another one to the frame. It is glued into the fiber glass frame from the inside.
What kind of glue do you use for that and - more importantly - how do you do it in such a way, that no glue will squeeze out onto the visible canopy? Do you mask the canopy?
Thanks for your suggestions.

here are some pictures of the Giles when it was still in one piece. On the last picture you can see a little bit of the inside of the canopy frame:

ecmiller

Go to your LHS and get a bottle of canopy glue. It looks like white glue during the application and dries clear.

Steve Collins

My Feedback: (8)

I use a glue called E-6000. Comes in tubes and can be found at craft stores. If you have a Michaels store near you, that is the place to get it. Lacking that, the exact same stuff is marketed to the hobbyists as PFM glue. Your hobby shop can order it for you but I guarantee it will be at least twice as expensive.

This stuff resembles silicone but definitely is not silicone. You spread a thin layer on the canopy frame surface and a thin layer on the canopy. Wait 10 minutes or so and then position the canopy where it belongs on the frame. If you have a goof and some of it is visible above the canopy frame, before it sets up all the way, you can just roll it up with your finger.

Usually less than $4.00 a tube from the craft stores. If you have to order PFM, the tube is slightly larger but more on the order of $12.00 or so. Either way, it is exactly the same stuff.

Steve Collins

My Feedback: (8)

OOPS,

I just noticed the original post is from Germany!

E-6000 can be ordered from Crafts Etc.: http://www.craftsetc.com/Store/ShowP....aspx?p=752923

PFM can be ordered from Hobby Lobby: http://www.hobby-lobby.com/adhesive.htm

GoMike

I second that emotion. E6000 is great for installing canopies and all I use now after trying many glues and methods. For those of us in the States, a tube is less than $3.00 at Walmart.

==Mike==

Spuetz

Thanks guys. Great advice! I must get myself a tube of that glue. Sounds great.
meanwhile I have glued the canopy and it turned out pretty good. I used a glue called L530. It is a styrene-type glue - fast drying - very good. However, it dissolves the clear a bit -thus forming a good bond - much like the glue used in plastic modelling. The downside is that you must be really careful not to leave drops or fingerprints on the canopy. It will leave ugly marks.

Therefore my concern was how to make sure that no glue gets squezed out past the frame onto the clear canopy. Rember, it is glued to the inside of the frame.

What I did is this: I took countour masking tape, like they use to mask designs on cars. It's only an eights inch wide and can be pulled around a tight radius. I masked the outside of the canopy right along the edge, where it meets the frame. Then I took wider masking tape of the same quality and stuck it right over the center, half on the frame, half on the canopy. Now I applied glue from the inside between canopy edge and frame and squeezed it so it would distribute. After it dried I could remove the masking tape. No glue hat passed the tape and I have a perfect finish.

Does that make sense?

Thanks again, Martin