Plumbum Posted July 26, 2017 Share Posted July 26, 2017 I just received this in the mail. It was an EviBay $7.00 bargain. The box was shrink wrapped and inner bags sealed. The problem is the fuselage halves are warped and twisted to beat the band. I have seen some warping and twists with Revell-Monogram kits, been building them since early 60s, but this one is the worst. Both halves are porpoised front to rear and twisted side to side. I guess I'll start by running them under hot water. They look like they were stored in a tin shed in Florida for a few years. Any suggestions are most welcome.---John OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA by jvandeu53, on Flickr twisted tomcat 2 by jvandeu53, on Flickr OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA by jvandeu53, on Flickr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plumbum Posted July 26, 2017 Author Share Posted July 26, 2017 I ran the top fuselage under hot water near the area where the wings fold into the rear fuselage and ran the bottom fuselage under hot water where the forward fuselage joins the body by the intakes, gently twisting when the plastic was pliable. It was still a bit warped but I got it taped together for a test fit. It's too bad I can't do like we did at the shop I worked at, we fabricated metal parts then put them in a stress oven to relieve the residual stress. Dare I take the tape off????? Oh well it's only a model!---John twisted tomcat 7 by jvandeu53, on Flickr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plumbum Posted July 27, 2017 Author Share Posted July 27, 2017 What's really got me scratching my head is the antenna on the fuselage spine near the RIOs cockpit. If you look at it in the 3rd picture down it is bent over to one side, not really bent but has an arc to it. I straightened it as seen in the 4th picture and the bend area turned really almost from gray to white, looked like the plastic was going to snap. A couple hours later the antenna curled over back to it's arced form.Why? What happened to this model, severe heat for a long period of time? It's got me baffled.---John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 (edited) That'd be my guess. It could've been a storage issue or a plastic problem. Poor mix on the chemicals and it turned rubbery. Years ago there was a LHS here in chicago that would take returns like this. Instead of contacting monogram/revell or whoever he'd would just re-shrink wrap and resell it to some other customer. The guy thought he'd pull a fast one and maybe someone would'nt return it. He went out of business pretty fast once word got out. Bad kits, missing parts miss decals. Sounds like this is one of his re-wraps to me Edited July 27, 2017 by Corsairfoxfouruncle 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisrope Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 Makes the Airfix 1/48 Buccaneer look like a Tamiya kit 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plumbum Posted July 27, 2017 Author Share Posted July 27, 2017 Yeah, I remember in the late 90s and early 2000s I built a couple Revell NASCAR kits made in China. They had a funny texture and didn't take well to glue or paint. There was a big "brew ha ha" at one of the car sites about that strange rubbery Chinese plastic.....hmmmmmm.---John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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