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ECO
8 - Customised Parts and Setup
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Part
2 - Canopy
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I am not very
good at painting canopy's but wanted to create something
that looked good. I am reasonable with computers however
so had a think about how I could use a computer to create
what I wanted.
As a teacher I used
inkjet acetate to display graphics to students in the
days when overhead projectors where cutting edge technology,
I figured that if I printed out some graphics on acetate
and fixed them in place on the canopy then I could achieve
a good result.
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Using the same principal as for the side
frames I scanned the original Ikarus canopy graphics
at 100% resolution and imported into AutoCAD. I then
traced the outline of the decals over the top of this.
I amended the outline to what I wanted
and added some additional graphics.
I printed the outline out on paper cut
out and trialed until I was happy with the results.
I then imported the outline into CorelDraw. Any vector
drawing or accomplished raster drawing package would
be capable of this.
Again I printed out and trialed to ensure
dimensional accuracy.
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I found an image of carbon-fibre on the
internet and used this as a background fill, next I
drew some curved coachlines and filled with suitable
colours.
I added some textual elements plus a couple
of graphics from some of the suppliers I used for components
on the helicopter.
Before printing I mirrored the whole drawing
for the other side of the canopy then reversed the image
in order to have the text reading the correct way with
the printed face next to the canopy. This way the printed
surface is protected whilst the shiny reverse side is
facing outward.
I printed all elements required onto acetate.
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I used a mixture of Tamiya PS and TS
paints which adhere well to the plastic of the Eco
canopy and are flexible enough not to flake off.
I used a base coat of dark blue to cover
the white of the canopy, then after this had dried
I went over this with a light even coat of translucent
silver, enough to cover but allowing some of the blue
to show through.
This way the canopy has ended up not
being too 'silver' I was pleased with the results.
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Next stage was to stick on the decals.
For this I used clear double sided Scotch
tape layign it onto the decal in carefully aligned
strips. This stuff is incredibly adhesive and does
the job well.
Then by taking off one backing strip
at a atime I was able to lay on the graphic carefully
aligning it and pushing it on firmly
I used the same principal for all the
graphics.
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Close up of the graphic stuck to the
canopy, the silver base colour shows through and alters
the colours a little, it also makes anything coloured
white in the graphic show through silver.
With this in mind it is important to
choose the correct backing colour, however it is possible
to print out on paper the parts of the graphic that
are desired to remain self coloured and stick this
in place prior to attaching the graphic to the canopy.
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I finished off with several coats of
pearl lacquer, this seals the graphics and adds a
uniform finish.
It is difficult to take a photograph
of the results, in the sunshine the pearl coat shimmers
fantastically, I am really pleased with the results.
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I applied the same principal to the
tail, printed out the decals and applied.
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The principal should apply to any canopy,
I think it is an easy way to get results although
I can imagine sharp compound curves would be a problem.
The CorelDraw file with the outline
of the canopy is available on the analysis page.
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