I started prepping the fuselage to receive the canopy. First up was to cleco all of the skins back on. Next, I put some masking tape over all of the places the canopy could touch to prevent scratching it. Next, I marked a centerline down the cabin frame. This will be the eventual split point between the forward canopy and the rear window.
I also taped up the ears on the canopy frame skin to prevent them from scratching up the inside of the canopy.
Finally, I finished cutting all four sides of the canopy, smoothed out the edges, and then placed the canopy on the fuselage. This looks so fucking cool! The edge finishing technique I’m using is to clean up the rough cut marks with the vixen file and then sand with 80 grit sandpaper to smooth things out. I tried breaking a piece of the scrap without edge finishing, and it takes a surprising amount of force, so I’m confident that edge finishing to this degree is more than sufficient. The shop was between 75º and 80º though, so that definitely helps keep the plexiglas soft.
