New view, New Canopy! Part 2

The next few post will be "playing catch up" on what was done over the long winter months.


Clean up and filling the holes and gaps in the frame!

The plan, as I mentioned earlier, is that I would like to paint the frame, since it looked grungy.

The voids, gaps and holes were filled with an epoxy resin mixed with the cotton flock.  After it cured, I sanded down excess resin.





I used a gray primer paint to fill the fine pits and then used a fine sand paper to even the surface.

The next trick was to replace the latch. I repainted the forward portion of the frame before re-attaching the latch.

I created a jig to hold the frame up, and then with the use of a hot glue gun, I tacked the forward edge of the frame to a board, this will prevent it from shifting,while the resin cures.

I replaced the steel pin in the latch, and created a tape and wax seal around the latch to prevent any resin from seeping into it.  Next, I used my favorite resin mix of cotton flock, and pressed the pin back into place. I worked the resin into the void slowly to prevent any bubbles of air getting trapped. as soon as I acheived the desired level, I placed peel ply over the filled in spot.

After the resin cured, I placed a thin layer of glass cloth over the repaired opening.





After the final cure, I did a test fit of the latch on the fuselage to ensure that I was able to securly close the canopy.

I needed to remove excess resin humps on the latch pin areas, but after that was done, the latch worked perfectly.

The frame is ready to be painted.
 

To protect areas that I don't what paint to hit, I covered the latch with a disposable showercap and taped it securly., I also taped the frame pins and alignment tabs.

The frame was then painted with the DCC gray paint used in the cockpit.




Now that the canopy frame is finished, I'm off to finish the seat back!