better, but this works for me as you can see in the photos.
You see the structure in Photo 1 is just a stand and dowel handle. The stand can be any width, but should not be as wide as the mould. Make the stand so that its height plus the height of the mould is almost equal to the interior height of the bottle that you use. You want the bottle to fit as snugly as possible over the entire structure as you can see in Photo 3.
Dowel Handle Diameter
The diameter of the dowel depends upon the the mouth of the bottle. You want it to fit as snug as possible.
If you can’t find a bottle large enough, than split your mould into two halves. Shape each half and glue the two half canopies together using Canopy Glue. This glue is white but dries clear. I’ve noticed that pop bottles and beer bottles and such are getting larger these days, and that is a good thing for us pop bottle canopy makers.
Use a screw through the dowel so that it is hinged. You will see why in the next photo.
I usually carve my moulds from balsa. If you are going to mould a plug from an existing canopy, there is some stuff in the craft stores called Paper Clay . You thin it with water. Once it dries it is hard and can be carved and sanded.
Once I have done the final sanding on the plug with fine grit, I coat it with car body filler paste and give it another fine sanding. With this system I rarely have difficulty getting the canopy off the plug, but it is never a bad idea to use a release agent. Paste wax is good for this. Also Vaseline. If you rub on Vaseline hit it with a heat gun to thin and smooth it out.
When finished cut away the bottom portion of the bottle. For the final trim,
You see the structure in Photo 1 is just a stand and dowel handle. The stand can be any width, but should not be as wide as the mould. Make the stand so that its height plus the height of the mould is almost equal to the interior height of the bottle that you use. You want the bottle to fit as snugly as possible over the entire structure as you can see in Photo 3.
Dowel Handle Diameter
The diameter of the dowel depends upon the the mouth of the bottle. You want it to fit as snug as possible.
If you can’t find a bottle large enough, than split your mould into two halves. Shape each half and glue the two half canopies together using Canopy Glue. This glue is white but dries clear. I’ve noticed that pop bottles and beer bottles and such are getting larger these days, and that is a good thing for us pop bottle canopy makers.
Use a screw through the dowel so that it is hinged. You will see why in the next photo.
I usually carve my moulds from balsa. If you are going to mould a plug from an existing canopy, there is some stuff in the craft stores called Paper Clay . You thin it with water. Once it dries it is hard and can be carved and sanded.
Once I have done the final sanding on the plug with fine grit, I coat it with car body filler paste and give it another fine sanding. With this system I rarely have difficulty getting the canopy off the plug, but it is never a bad idea to use a release agent. Paste wax is good for this. Also Vaseline. If you rub on Vaseline hit it with a heat gun to thin and smooth it out.
When finished cut away the bottom portion of the bottle. For the final trim,
When it comes to plastic, you can learn a lot from the car guys. For example, they paint their cars on the inside. The plastic then becomes a clear coat on the outside, and the
paint on the inside is protected. You might consider using this idea when you paint your next engine cowlings.
Plastic Thickens
I am often asked if the wall of the canopy gets thinner because of all that stretching. The answer is no. In fact, that is one of the beauties of this system. Unlike vacuum forming where the plastic gets thinner, with this system, as the plastic shrinks it actually thickens.
Why a Hinge on the Dowel Handle
I discovered this technique when trying to shape a canopy for my 42-in. span Macchi 200 Saetta. I just could not get the bottle to shrink down enough to completely mould to the flat face of the windshield. By hinging the dowel I was able to lever the nick
of the bottle down as I heated it. Worked perfectly the first time.
Plastic Thickens
I am often asked if the wall of the canopy gets thinner because of all that stretching. The answer is no. In fact, that is one of the beauties of this system. Unlike vacuum forming where the plastic gets thinner, with this system, as the plastic shrinks it actually thickens.
Why a Hinge on the Dowel Handle
I discovered this technique when trying to shape a canopy for my 42-
first go down to the car section of your local hobby store and buy a pair of Lexan scissors that they use to trim plastic car bodies. When
Scale Canopies
I took the roughly trimmed canopy to my computer where I had some great walk-around shots of an actual museum example. I selected the canopy side view and zoomed the image on the screen until it exactly matched the canopy which I held against the screen. I could then mark out the cutaway top and sides to match the original.
So drink a lot of pop, beer, wine, or whatever comes in your preferred bottle size. Then make beautiful canopies from the empties. Caution: If it’s beer or wine, sleep it off first. Your canopies will look a lot better.
I took the roughly trimmed canopy to my computer where I had some great walk-
So drink a lot of pop, beer, wine, or whatever comes in your preferred bottle size. Then make beautiful canopies from the empties. Caution: If it’s beer or wine, sleep it off first. Your canopies will look a lot better.
Barry’s Macchi 200 Saetta canopy.
