Dying canopies

[Chuck Feldman]

How was this done before the Sig canopies come out? Can the new Sig canopies be dyed and how is it done.

[peabody]

Chuck....
I can tell you how NOT to do it....
A microwave causes some interesting shapes....

Have fun....

[Mark Scarborough]

I ,,, died dyed the canopy on my Avenger with Rit liquid dye, in a pan of very hot water, NOT boiling, it took some time, it seems like 10 or 15 minutes at least to get what I wanted,, but it worked well.

I am pretty sure that I got my "how to" info on here at one point, so perhaps a search would yeild effective specifics

[Mike Haverly]

Use a thermometer and do not go over 140 deg.  Use hemostats and swish around until you get the desired results.  It will only get *so* dark, don't expect miracles.  Doesn't hurt to take part of what you trimmed off to practice. 

Good Luck!!

[builditright]

Tinting canopies

things to know before tinting a canopy is that...

1. A canopy will always appear to be darker once mounted on the aircraft.

2. It is best to tint two canopies at the same time for 2 reasons,
   a) so you can test for desired darkness and
   B) you will always have an exact duplicate in the unhopeful event of an accident   

3.  better to test a lighter tinted canopy on the model before just making it too dark because you can never lighten one
if you have made it to dark but you can always darken a canopy if you made it too light.
 
 
what you will need

1. Large pot, preferably a pot that will be large enough to allow the untrimmed canopy to move around in it.

2. candy thermometer

3. Rite Dye (powder type & color of choice)

4. White/clear Vinegar


steps to tinting a canopy

1. fill up a large pot of water and bring water to a tempature of 125° F.H. and stabilize water temp.@ 125° for approximately 30 mins
 
2. ONCE water is stabilized @ 125° add in dye (1 whole box) and stir thoroughly

3. add 1 - 2 cap fulls Vinegar (just like doing Easter eggs)

4. add in a pinch of salt (don't ask.... it just works better with it)

5. mix well.... ** one thing to note is "DO NOT" trim any excess material off the canopy before tinting because
providing you do not over heat the water this will help your canopy hold it's shape **

6. add canopy

next is probably the most important part..

every 15 minutes move the canopy around in the water with a none abrasive object(wooden or plastic spoon works great)   

cook canopy for approximately 1 hour constantly checking the Temp. does NOT exceed 125° F.H..

after an hour you may remove canopy and check the darkness of the tint. If you are satisfied remove and rinse with warm water
and let dry on an old rag, if you wish to have a darker canopy then "DO NOT" rinse just continue the cooking process watching
every 15 minutes until desired darkess is achieved.

once satisfied remove and rinse with warm water and let dry on an old rag



Walter Umland





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or you can download a pdf file at: http://www.builtrightflyright.com/pdf/HelpDocs/TintingCanopies.pdf

[Jim Hoffman]

I have heard that canopy material is not the same as many years ago and that RIT dye process is problematic.

I have had great success simply airbrushing dope on the internal surface of the canopy.  Much less fuss and muss.  Easier to get the right amount of translucency (is that a word??)

Jim Hoffman

[builditright]

I have heard that canopy material is not the same as many years ago and that RIT dye process is problematic.

I have had great success simply airbrushing dope on the internal surface of the canopy.  Much less fuss and muss.  Easier to get the right amount of translucency (is that a word??)

Jim Hoffman

I have seen several canopies done by painting the inside but also seen that over a bit of time the paint shrinks and then separated from the canopy, so if anyone wants to do it that way, I would be very careful to only use the right paint. Sorry I don't know which paint is the right one to use.

[Chuck Feldman]

Someone told me that the new Sig canopes cannot be dyed? Do any of you know about this. Thanks for the process that yall have supplied.

Chuck

[peabody]

I have dyed SIG canopies.....
for something that gives a nifty effect, tape/seal the outside of the canopy...dye.....
the "clear" gives a nice look

have fun

[Mark Scarborough]

Someone told me that the new Sig canopes cannot be dyed? Do any of you know about this. Thanks for the process that yall have supplied.

Chuck

The canopy on the Avenger is a Sig canopy,, my description above is how I aproached it