I use 2 parts Ivory Black and 1 part Royal Blue clothes dye to 1 gallon of hot (not boiling) water, with an added cup af vinegar. To mix the amounts I use a full Black tub and 1/2 Blue tub and leave the canopy submerged for 15 mins. Using more dye, but at the same rate will produce a darker tint. Make sure you mix the dye completely or you will end up with dark specks on the canopy.

Before and after pictures.

I am goint ot tint the canopy on my EF Yak and was wondering the best way. Someone at the LHS mentioned Vineger but this is obviously in combination with something else. The problem i have with the method above is that the Yak canopy has built up wood components and is also partially painted so staining the outside would change the colour, presumably and may even damage the exisiting paint. does anyone have any suggestions or advice they can give me in these circumstances?

Thanks

I just use some Testors translucent paint and paint the inside.
You can make it as light or as dark (by adding more coats) as
you wish. Quick easy and looks great.

Jerry

And it's easy to get a nice even finish?

Where do you get such paint or can any spray on stuff do the job as well?

Thanks

I have not had good luck with the Testor's car mist paint on canopies. Don't know why so I chock it up to another failed RC experiment.

Bought mine at the local hobby shop, has always worked well.
You might have to put 2-3 coats, about a minute apart to get
full cover but it gets tacky quick so no probs with runs.
Make sure you wipe it down with alcohol and dry it before spraying.


Jerry

I agree - It's quick and easy - just apply light coats -- don't rush it !

Thanks, I think that the route im gonna go down. Don't know if we've got testers over here but we have Tamiya.

Cheers

Giz a heads up on your progress with the Tamiya Flat Spin. I would be interested to see the results over dying, as some plastics will just not take.

No problem mate.

Actually I think I used Tamiya - worked perfectley - it's what the car guys use. Get the plastic really clean with alcohol (methylated spirits) - make sure what ever you use does not eat the plastic.

Yeah, I'm gonna get some tomorrow.

I have a feeling flat spin is wanting to tint the same canopy that I am...a YAK! Anyway, I used the RIT Dye method with great success on my small electrics but my latest two planes have prepainted parts on the canopy that will prevent me from using the RIT dye. I purchased some "smoke" paint to try it out and it look more foggy than tinted. What color should I have gotten to get the tinted canopy?

You got it Cad. Carbon Spinner, Carbon Prop it's just gonna look tooo good with a tinted canopy. I've spoken to a few people now and the Tamiya spray seems like a good bet. You can kask the parts inside the canopy as well so the wood and strip across the canopy arent affected.

I haven't liked Rit dye too much because it never gets the canopy as dark as I want it. But I'll try it again one day.

Usually what I do now is airbrush the inside of the canopy using Tamiya acrylics. You don't have to buy a translucent color because you can make it. Tamiya sells a crystal clear. Pour half the clear in a clean bottle and add a little of whatever color you want. Spray a piece of glass or scrap plastic to see if you like the color.

If it's too light you can add more color or you can spray more coats. I like to make the color a little anemic so I can build up to the color I want rather than risk making it darker than I want.

If you don't like how it looks you can remove acrylic with ammonia, polish the inside of the canopy and try again.