StephenBierce Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 Hey. I bought a HC 1/72 F-86F Saber from an IPMS buddy and found that the vertical tailplanes had warped. So with little to lose, I decided to see if I could undo the warpage. I have a vinyl/leather repair kit that includes a little handheld iron for heating the repair putty. So what I did was lay a sheet of cardboard on my work table, then the plastic part with the warp, then another sheet of cardboard over the part. With the iron heated up, I pressed it down on the cardboard over the warp, with careful pressure and not holding it in one place longer than a second. I got most of the fold undone, and will undo the rest when I get closer to building time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Nardone Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 Interesting Tip. Does anybody have any suggestions about doing similar "repairs" on resin kits? I've got a PBM-3D from POMS (shudder) with fuselage halves which are out of true... I've heard that I can soften the resin in hot water, then reshape it - but I don't have a clue how/where to apply redirection pressure without distoring the parts in an undesirable way. One suggestion I've received was to heat them, then tape them together tightly... Any suggestions would be much appreciated... Either tape the halves together or get the warped half to the point that the mating surface lies flat on a table or counter (make sure the surface is close to level). Taping the halves together may be the better idea, since you will be able to see if you are introducing any other distortion at the same time. Another thing you might want to ponder is to actually cut the warped half at the warp in order to release tension in the part. You can add the pieces to the other half and fill any gaps with strip plastic and filler. We had a club member who did a lot of resin ship models, and his view was that if you heat and reshape, the part can always re-warp when inadvertently heated. When you cut the part, it can't re-warp. I recall a Blue Water Navy kit where the hull looked like a jigsaw puzzle--but once he got it straight, it never warped.... Ralph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Pruitt Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 Interesting Tip. Does anybody have any suggestions about doing similar "repairs" on resin kits? I've got a PBM-3D from POMS (shudder) with fuselage halves which are out of true... I've heard that I can soften the resin in hot water, then reshape it - but I don't have a clue how/where to apply redirection pressure without distoring the parts in an undesireable way. One suggestion I've received was to heat them, then tape them together tightly... Any suggestions would be much appreciated... I heard on another forum about the hot water trick...but the guy said NOT to try to reshape the parts manually...just suspend them (without them touching the sides of the container) in the hot water and the part would regain it's shape on it's own... I'd suggest trying it...worst thing that would likely happen is the resin would get wet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GHonanie Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 tried the resin in hot water trick, and it worked, just have to lay it down on something flat. if water is too hot it will really soften the resin. so be careful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sumterIII Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 Hot water worked for one of my resin kits, for other (non-resin) I sometimes use a light bulb. Example: the Ferrari F-1 kit I'm working on had a warp on the upper body. I used a brace on the underside and rubber bands to pull the front and back down, then heated the plastic with a light bulb. After the plastic was hot I placed it in the freezer to rappid cool. This helps to keep it shape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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