@gblair - It's always good to step back when your feeling out of balance with the universe! The temp/humidity could have a lot to do with your 3D printer acting up as well. It does appear that the canopy will end up coming out incredibly well after all of the work you've put into it. The cockpit interior really does look fantastic. Keep on keeping on George!

Thanks, Spiros (@fiveten). I'm ready for the final push, now it is just a matter of pushing across the finish line. A lot of 3D printing is just learning what the settings on the printer do. You would think that the instructions that come with the printer would tell you what each of the settings does, but the instructions don't mention them. When you go on Youtube or Google and look for info, 90% of what you find is for a filament printer, which isn't what I have. Anyway, things are settling down. Thanks for stopping in.

The B52 looks really great, especially on the transparant stand, George @gblair
Thanks for sharing that wonderful idea of masking canopies. Been using your first mentioned technique as well, but the second one clearly seems a lot easier.

Thanks, John (@johnb) and gary (@gwskat). I have always used a big piece of masking tape on a canopy, which was then trimmed around each pane of glass. As I get older, the errant cuts have shifted from being a potential problem to an actual one. I had planned to use the method you talked about Gary, using short, thin strips to line each side of each pane. I was using tape that was 2mm wide, and the first piece just happened to be longer than the side I was masking. I looked at it for a while and decided that it would be possible to accurately cut each 2mm end rather than deal with a bunch of short pieces. At some point, I will probably irreparably scar a canopy while trimming the 2mm tape, but for now it seems to be working fine. I am hoping to finish the masking and glue the canopies today, following by some paint tomorrow. I am contemplating a couple more builds for the group (F4U-4 and T-6), so I want to get moving on this one.

George R Blair Jr (@gblair)
I completely understand your reasons to ditch the vacuum formed canopy. They look really nice, but boy what a pain to mask ! This is especially true when the canopy frame lines are not easily seen to begin with. Occasionally I have painted strips of tape, cut them to size and simply stuck them on the vacuum formed canopy when all else fails. This doesn't seem to last long though, as they tend to fall off sooner or later. They usually fall off sooner than later... for me. Thanks to Murphy's Law.

Sometimes it is best to walk away for a little while and start over again after a pause. Things seem to go better that way for me. It's also the main reason why I have many kits going on at the same time. Once in a while I'll run into a hard spot and I'll stop working on a project. So I will stop working on this particular kit, and think about it while I'm working on something else.

It might sound a bit odd but it works for me.

I like your idea on how to mask off the framework edges using thin strips of tape. I'll have to give that method a try soon. I normally use the Scotch masking tape for canopies. It's flat looking and kind of clear, so you can see through it good enough to cut out your canopy frame lines fairly easy. I use the kind that has a frosted look to it, and not the kind that is clear. I think they call it disappearing tape and it's used a lot for wrapping gifts. Anyhow, I will use a tooth pick or something similar to press it down along the framework edges. This shows the canopy frame panels better for me. It sticks good enough to paint. Sometimes I use a liquid masking in conjunction with the tape on compound curved areas. If I have a canopy where the tape doesn't want to stick well, I use Tamiya tape.

I'm also liking the idea of your building a Corsair and T-6 for the group.

It's nice to see you back at it with this one. It's really looking fantastic, and will only get better from here. Your B-52 is a nice change. It looks nice too. I'll bet it was a fun one to build. I can remember building a similar kit in the early to mid 1970's, but mine didn't have the X-15. I think it was a 1/144 or possibly a 1/200 scale... it could have been boxed by Revell at the time. Mine had markings for B-52's that were dropping bombs on North Vietnam, so it was camouflaged in the SE Asia scheme... which is one of my favorites. There's nothing better looking than a F-4 Phantom, F-101 Voodoo, or a F-100 Super Sabre painted up like this.

OK I have blabbed enough for now.

It's looking great, so keep it going.

Excellent work on the masking, George @gblair
Nice trick on using the black marker for the edges.

That's a LOT of masking George and it looks just fine. I enjoy masking. Whenever I cut my own , I find small pieces of tape all over me and sometimes track them around the house. I recently tried the marker trick which works as long as you don't have to remove the canopy again for some reason once the white glue dries. I used a Sharpie and the where it came in contact with the white glue, it turned an odd brown color but it looks fine from the outside.
Is it paint time?

Thanks, Eric (@eb801) and Spiros (@fiveten). I am hoping to start painting today. I still have two sections of the canopy to glue on, but I think I can start painting today. I ended my marathon taping session yesterday with both me and my workbench covered in tiny pieces of tape. Finally got them all cleaned up. I may start with painting the black wing-walks first, then I can mask them with a single piece of tape and move on to the rest of the plane. I also want to take a look at the engine and see if I can replace the pushrods that are a little too big.

I have never had the black marker change colors like that. I usually tack the canopy down with regular plastic cement, let it dry, then use some really thick white glue from Ammo. My last step is to use putty if I need to blend it in. When I first started using marker on the canopy edges, I worried that it would prevent the glue from adhering properly, but there doesn't seem to be a problem.