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Showing results for tags 'repairs'.
Found 4 results
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An interesting read. https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/43613/incredible-images-of-stripped-down-f-22-raptor-being-rebuilt-after-belly-landing
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I recently bought, sight unseen, a Fonderie Miniatures 1/48 Halifax kit. The kit came shrink wrapped so I was fairly confident it would be complete but worried about the condition of the vac-form clear parts as I remember there were damage issues when the kit first came out. The kit provides duplicates of all the transparencies so I hoped at least one of each part would be usable. Sure enough, one of the tail turret transparencies was somewhat crushed as were both of the clear nose parts. One of the nose transparencies also had white stress marks in the plastic. Then I remembered something about plastic having memory. If you heat it up it will return to its original shape. With nothing to lose I heated some water to just below boiling and dipped the damaged tail turret in briefly, not even for a second. It looked better so I did a couple more quick dips and pretty soon it looked as good as the undamaged one. I did the same with the the two nose transparencies and both of them were quickly back in shape and the white stress marks disappeared as well. The key is to get the water hot enough and to do quick dips. I was actually surprised how good the parts looked after I was done; you can’t tell that they had been partially crushed. They really were unusable when I started. There are probably limits to how much damage is recoverable using this method, but if you don’t have an alternative to replace a damaged vac-form clear part this is worth a try.
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- vacuum form
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Have been manipulating a few 1/72 plastic figurines. Example, I amputate an arm and then relocated it to make another gesture. However there are gaps at the point of fixture. What can I use as a gap filler?
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First off, please excuse my amateurish photography; I just wanted to show this new, to me, product and grabbed the first model I could find to display it. I have just received this resin bonder set that I ordered a couple of days ago and was keen to test it and show the results here. The 'pen' comes in two parts; the bonder dispenser and the UV torch, and these can be clipped together or used separately. I found a scrap resin casting I made a while ago and noticed a couple of air holes in the hull, plus a little gouge along the side. These should be ideal areas for this repair test. Air hole in the bow small gouge in the side To get the bonder to work it is best to apply in very thin layers, up to approx. 2mm, and curing each layer with the UV torch before adding another layer if necessary. Here is a view of the side having had the bonder applied and with the UV torch illuminating the bonded area. The UV only needs about 8 - 10 seconds to completely cure and harden the bond The bond dried/hardened virtually instantly which means the area can be sanded almost straight away. I have applied a light primer here to help show the filled holes I gave the model a very light sanding and then brushed on more primer. This shows that the holes have been filled and there is still a little bonder showing proud of the hole. I'll give this further sanding tomorrow when the primer has dried. the bonder has filled the air hole in the bow and is now ready to be filed to shape. This test took about 15 minutes to undertake. I am impressed with this bonder set and am looking forward to seeing what else I can achieve with it. The fact that you get virtually instant resin, without mixing 2 part solutions and no mess is ideal for me. Be advised, this is not a glue, it is a bonder which will adhere items that the UV light can see, so it won't glue parts together where the glue is encased between two items or the UV light cannot penetrate. Mike
