The legend of the Cracked Canopy.

[Astralith]

Once upon a forum, the great QC apocalypse struck Collectors and Weebs all across the world, as they finally received there Yamato V2 VF-1's,  only to discover they had been cursed by the Cracked Shoulder Plague.

But legend tells of another Hope-Shattering, Cringe-Inducing, Valk-Killing, Money-Wasting QC issue....THE DREADED CRACKED CANOPY... which sadly (fortunately) was before my time.

Theatrics aside, was this really a thing? Are there any topics that discussed this at length? If so link me to it, or post pics of this terrible menace. I just want to know what this looks like and if the legends are true.          

Edited August 3, 2017 by Astralith

[jenius]

Was this the wrinkled rainbow finish? 

[Astralith]

If that what its called, then yeah. I've heard it brought up in reviews and other topics but I've never actually seen it with my own eyes.    

[technoblue]

Indeed. Some members had bad luck with the rainbow canopy, even though it added a cool finish to Yamato's v2 Valkyrie. This thread shows one such case:

 

[mickyg]

I have had 7 pass through my halls at one point or other, one of which was in pretty "well loved" shape and I've honestly never had this issue.  I must be lucky.  I can see how it might be an issue, given the kits of the Yamato I've built. The clear plastic has a decidedly softer feel to it and is certainly glossy, so getting the paint to stick to it (because it's just an iridescent paint after all) certainly might have had its challenges.  Either way, 7 copies I've had, from various sources and not an issue, even all these years after their release.

[Lolicon]

I have many rainbow canopies, and they're all fine.

However, problems with the finish are real and just applying it at the factory was enough of a problem for Yamato to discontinue them altogether.

I wish they would bring it back for the premium finish versions at least.

[Mr Bomber]

So there was a time before the mighty VF-1 V2 sucked

[Capedbaldy]

I've seen rainbows with fine edges in the coating. I guess you can say it's cracked or stressed but the plastic is fine.

[mickyg]

I'd also like to point out that in cases of the real thing, or actual canopies that I've seen on real aircraft, this rainbow effect doesn't exist.  Before everyone goes and posts real photographs, let me qualify that a bit. 

I started taking photos of aircraft at airshows some years ago and noticed in almost all my images where I had a polariser fitted to the lens, this rainbow effect was obvious and looked really cool.  I was carrying around a second camera, with no filter and to my surprise, photos of the same plane didn't exhibit this rainbow effect.

In short, this rainbow tint is something you'd really only see if you've got a filter in place on a camera.  It may also be visible with polarised sunglasses but I haven't tested it personally to say for sure.

Honestly though, I still think it looks cool on the VF-1, without a doubt!

[Chronocidal]

One thing to consider about the VF-1 that makes the coating make sense though... the canopy glass isn't just canopy glass.  At least in the DYRL versions, the glass is also acting as the HUD, with everything projected onto the inside.  So, the best analogy is probably the green-tinted glass of early model F-14s, who used that thick center plate as their HUD, and projected directly onto the canopy.  Obviously, this doesn't apply to the TV versions that had a normal HUD in the cockpit, but it does have a real life basis of sorts.

I can also vouch that polarized sunglasses do this, since that's all I use.  The glare reduction is just amazing, and I can immediately tell the difference in normal tinted lenses.  The real wackiness though is when you happen to see a polarized tinted window while wearing polarized glasses.  If the polarization doesn't match, you'll see all sorts of weird speckled and striped patterns in the glass tinting, which will change when you tilt your head.  The downside is that you also have to tilt your head to read LCD displays, since they seem to be polarized in some way.

Far as the cracking goes, I've definitely had at least one of mine slowly flake away over time, I believe it was my first edition stand-alone Roy.  I cleaned it out at some point with a cotton swab and some rubbing alcohol, but without removing the canopy, it's pretty difficult to get it all out, and there's still a bit in the back corners.

[David Hingtgen]

This is an F-35 canopy through my totally standard camera's lens--no filter/coating AFAIK: 

Kind of a pink-gold effect. 

[vt102]

I bought a used early V2 Hikaru A, and the rainbow finish has partially flaked off. I really like the finish on those canopies. The newer V2.5 's all don't have them. I'll try and post a picture of it later. I like the canopy on the 30th anniversary J. They tinted that one like the old 1/55 Takatoku super valk.