Ghostbase Posted May 15, 2016 Author Share Posted May 15, 2016 I swear I'm cursed! Took my time this afternoon to glue the vertical tail fin back on, then for the second time used Perfect Plastic Putty to fill in the gap. This time I got it right as suggested above, added very small quantities and cleaned off the excess with cotton buds soaked in warm water, then left the Flogger to dry off. Result! Then knocked the kit box by accident and it all fell onto the floor and ... The tail fin broke off. I am cursed! Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skids Posted May 16, 2016 Share Posted May 16, 2016 Sounds like you are having a bad time Michael. Sounds like its time for the to appear and give it the beating of its life, well at least until it submits. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 (edited) That is a sad tail tale Edited May 22, 2016 by Col. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted May 25, 2016 Share Posted May 25, 2016 you do sound like you're having more than your fair share of dramas with that tail, I've had similar things like that happen before and the shelf of doom looks good at that moment! You may have to sand that area back to bare plastic again so you can give the glue something to bite into. plus to help with additional strength you could try using thinly stretched sprue to fill the gap. With the additional sprue and glue you'll have a much stronger join! I remember building on pf these years and years ago, it was a nice model. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonehammer Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 Suggesting extreme measures for an extreme case. Have you considered drilling through the fuselage to insert a pair of XXL pins? I built a pair of Floggers in my youth and although this didn't happen to me, I noticed that the looong slot makes the fuselage really flexible. This, coupled with the plastic thickness, leaves too little material for the glue to hang on, and the parts split easily. By pinning the tail you redistribute the stress away from the slot, but the letdown is that you have to drill trought the entire fuselage as there is no other place to anchor the pin, then restore the surface finish. A butt joint might've been better in this respect. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostbase Posted June 18, 2016 Author Share Posted June 18, 2016 Thanks Trickyrich and Bonehammer, definitely heading into 'extreme measures' territory here! I don't want to give up on this kit, I know it's accuracy is questionable to say the least but I like these old ESCI kits and I do get some satisfaction when I get one completed. In fact the last accident did more damage than I first thought, the complete rear fuselage has split apart on both sides so needs to re-fixed and maybe filled again: In retrospect I should have ignored the instructions and joined the tail fin halves together, then attached that to the top fuselage half. Live and learn The garden has taken all my spare time the last few weeks and am now half way through summer hols. Feels like I got my mojo back so should restart in about ten days time, wouldn't be any fun if it was easy would it? Michael 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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