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I've been reading about sealing the clear plastic canopy of my StormTalon and have found articles about using clear acrylic floor varnish to do this.

Can I just use 'Ard Coat on it? Will that do the same thing? I already have 'Ard Coat and I'd hate to buy a huge bottle of floor varnish just for this one little canopy, LOL.

Thanks for any advice.

No, it won't.

You're talking about canopy dipping with Future / Klear, which is far runnier than 'ardcoat, which is a thicker varnish. It also self-levels very well when dipped, which is the purpose - it effectively fills tiny scratches and imperfections making the canopy look thinner, and 'glassier'. It also has a very similar refractive index when dry to clear styrene.

You MAY be able to airbrush 'ardcoat on, if thinned correctly, but the Future technique uses the product neat. I wouldn't like to guarantee the same effect. It's one to try on something that doesn't matter.

winterdyne wrote:
No, it won't.

You're talking about canopy dipping with Future / Klear, which is far runnier than 'ardcoat, which is a thicker varnish. It also self-levels very well when dipped, which is the purpose - it effectively fills tiny scratches and imperfections making the canopy look thinner, and 'glassier'. It also has a very similar refractive index when dry to clear styrene.

You MAY be able to airbrush 'ardcoat on, if thinned correctly, but the Future technique uses the product neat. I wouldn't like to guarantee the same effect. It's one to try on something that doesn't matter.

That was exactly what I needed to know. Thanks a bunch!

Off to look for some floor polish.

IMO floor polishing canopies is over rated. I'm not sure why it's so common among scale modellers because to me it just makes the canopies look more fake. And if you get a run in the varnish or a speck of dust on it, it'll look REALLY fake.

I think it was more important back in the olden days when canopies often came out of the box looking pretty average. I haven't bought a kit in several years that had a canopy with the flaws of the ones I bought as a kid 20+ years ago.

For the most part I just avoid scratching the canopy as best I can. If I do happen to (inevitably!) blemish it, I polish it back using a microfibre cloth and tamiya polishing compounds. To me it makes them look more realistic.

I guess on a wargaming piece it slightly helps protect the canopy from scratches later, but personally once the canopy is in place I don't think I've ever damaged one. Blemishes usually occur during assembly and painting for me.

Hmmm, I'm not using the pieces in an army as I don't play at all.

So just forego the polish altogether? If I can just polish out any scratches, I would prefer to just do that.

A compromise might be to just water down the 'Ard coat. I would say 1:1 water to 'Ard coat. You'll want to apply an amount that covers the canopy entirely, but isn't too much. Then continue to brush the mix around to prevent collecting in the corners. It will start to settle after a few brushes.

winterdyne wrote:
No, it won't.

You're talking about canopy dipping with Future / Klear, which is far runnier than 'ardcoat, which is a thicker varnish. It also self-levels very well when dipped, which is the purpose - it effectively fills tiny scratches and imperfections making the canopy look thinner, and 'glassier'. It also has a very similar refractive index when dry to clear styrene.

You MAY be able to airbrush 'ardcoat on, if thinned correctly, but the Future technique uses the product neat. I wouldn't like to guarantee the same effect. It's one to try on something that doesn't matter.

At a slight tangent, can you (or anyone else) tell me what name the proper stuff goes by in the UK, as I've scoured the main supermarkets and have either missed it completely or am looking for the wrong thing?

Unless you're doing something specific, dipping the canopy isn't needed as Skink says.

I'd advise against brushing on varnish on anything transparent, way, way too easy to get crap in it.

 Galef wrote:
A compromise might be to just water down the 'Ard coat. I would say 1:1 water to 'Ard coat. You'll want to apply an amount that covers the canopy entirely, but isn't too much. Then continue to brush the mix around to prevent collecting in the corners. It will start to settle after a few brushes.

I wouldn't expect this to work. I mean, if you have a spare canopy you don't mind wasting, give it a shot, but don't have your hopes too high.

The reason people use floor polish is it's an acrylic varnish that has extremely good self levelling properties, far more so than most hobby acrylic varnishes (which is why scale modellers use it even though there's a plethora of dedicated hobby and art varnishes out there).


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Mdlbuildr wrote:
So just forego the polish altogether? If I can just polish out any scratches, I would prefer to just do that.

You can definitely polish out scratches. Deep scratches are hard, but floor varnish won't cover deep scratches either.

Sometimes the canopy just has scuffs on it, in which case I rub it down with Tamiya polishing compound, first "coarse" then "fine". I recently bought the "finish" compound, but I haven't tested it yet to know if it's worth taking the extra step. You can also use car polish or the polish that comes in a headlight cleaning kit for cars, I just use the Tamiya stuff because I know what result I'm going to get out of it and the tube will probably last me a lifetime

For deeper scratches, sometimes you have to sand them out first. Don't go too coarse in the sandpaper otherwise it'll take forever to get back to a smooth finish, I start by trying to sand out the scratch with 1000 to 1500 grit paper, then polish it back to a shine.

Polishing sounds like hard work, and people act likes it's hard work. Maybe the first time you do it, it might take you a while until you get the hang of it. But unless it's really badly scratched (in which case floor varnish isn't going to save you either) then I can polish a canopy in a few minutes. A couple of times I've had to completely modify a canopy to make it fit, which involves shaving and carving it, THAT is a time consuming process because the scratches you create when reshaping a canopy are usually very deep.