Hasegawa plastic...is it supposed to do this?

[j-basset]

One of my friends had a similar problem while building the Hase 1/48 VF-103 F-14B Last Flight kit.

He used super glue on the wing glove area joints, and while pressing the halves down together, fractures appeared on the areas where pressure was being applied, which caved in.

Jason

[William G]

Darren...

I had an older Italeri YF-12A that did the same thing...

Every time I tried to twist the fuselage a little to correct a slight warp in it I got a few cracks...

Plastic is a funny thing.

Almost behaved like Clear Styrene...

William G

[Impatient Pete]

I TRIPLE DOG DARE him!!

That, sir, is a complete breach of etiquette. Skipping the double dog dare and going straight for the triple dog dare!

[Tomcat RIO]

hmm..i have an idea. spray each piece normal ghost grey, then extremely weather the edges with burnt rust and soot.

Will remind us of the ending fate of many a Tomcat as the welding man flame torched his way through metal.

[tomcatter727]

Looks like it encountered a tweet.

[smithery]

I was trying to install an Aries wheel bay set into my 1/48 scale Tomcat. The kit parts kept cracking. I got so mad I started snapping plastic. It was as easy as snapping pasta into bits. Either I'm really, really strong, or something was seriously wrong with the plastic. Here's the end result from getting my aggression out. Those are the top and bottom rear fuselage pieces.

OK, to actually address the question, all plastics will do this over time. Plastic actually changes on a chemical level over time. The bonds break down, resulting in a product that is quite brittle. The plastic itself doesn't decompose, it just loses it's quality. Plastic is recyclable, because it can be melted down again and again (to a point anyway), which would reactivate the chemical bonds, and allow the process to start anew. Some palstics have better chemcial retention than others (ABS< PVC, etc), but styrene is a soft, weak plastic, so it doesn't take long for it to start to break down chemically.

I'd be willing to bet that Tomcat was an early boxing, and the plastic has been sitting around untouched for some time.

[G_Marcat_Italy]

In the photo there are some parts of the interior not exposed that have a unusual reflection.

There are parts that appear clean and do not reflect the light as usually the plastic of the kits do (egg shell effect) but in this photo there are parts that reflect the light as if they was covered with something: gloss paint? Superglue?

Could to be that in this plastic has missing a component:

By the my experience, in the place where I work we are currently replacing 2000 plastic container's tops because the firm that made they have put in the plastic too little amount of "OIL". They said to us that this "oil" in the plastic mix is is needed to maintain the plastic SOFT in the his entire existence.

They put little oil during the preparation of the plastic prior of the casting operations and all the container's tops instead of to be soft for many years as they must be, have become fragile in a period of only 6 months after the construction.

This should to be happened to the plastic of this kit.

[jholt]

Now that is the ultimate model Try putting that together

[Darren Roberts]

I didn't think the kit was that old. It was the original "Lantirn" release with VF-154 markings. Super glue was used to try and install the wheel bay and a little was used to keep the boattail in place. There are some good theories to why the plastic was so brittle. I'll have to check my other kits to see if they are the same or not.

BTW, while the Aries wheel bays look nice in the box, they take quite a bit of work to fit in...maybe more work than it's worth.

In regards to piecing it all back together, alas, the parts have already been thrown away. I do have a nice spares box now, though.

[I.Martin]

Ouch Darren,a very sad thing!!!.I understand very well what you´re telling,áctually I´m dealing with another Hasegawa Tomcat and I have seen that Aires cockpit and wheel bays do not FIT with kit pieces.First trouble was to close both pieces of the nose with the wheel bay and cockpit set,impossible!!!.Do not forget to erase the kit´s inside boarding steps section if you want to close it successfuly and extra resin sanding for a better fit.The wheel bays are nice BUT the shape of them makes impossible to glue the air intakes,a part of the intakes must be cut off if you don´t want to broke the plastic as Darren´s one.And be sure to sand off all the resin excess of the bays,if not,you won´t be able to put the wings in minimal angle possition.So Aires designers,please take care about those details to avoid a real mess!!

So be sure to check everything before the glue,then will be too late!!!

Darren.hope the second Tomcat will be done soon!!

Regards.

I.Martin

[VFA-103guy]

I didn't think the kit was that old. It was the original "Lantirn" release with VF-154 markings.

That probably doesn't make a real difference. I'm sure Hasegawa has mass produced all 3 variants of the

F-14 kit in 1/48 to a point where all they do is just insert the additional or newer parts as needed for the different boxings.

Theoretically speaking of course..

[Skull Leader]

YOU SICK, SICK MAN!! How could you do such a thing!?!?

(I agree with John and Jeff... I don't think you have "what it takes" to put it back together.... )

[DiamondBug]

Oh that is one sad sight to look at. It breaks my heart.. I guess the batch of plastic might have been abit 'cuckoo' to end up like that. Maybe there might be some other underlying reason. I don't know. But my condolences to the deat Tomcat.

-Bug

[LemonJello]

That's a nice diorama of a current-day turkey. All you need to add is a couple of figures with cutting torches and maybe the big guilliotine that they use to chop up old warbirds at the boneyard and you'd have an award winner on your mantle.

Edited December 24, 2007 by LemonJello

[SSgtd6152]

That's a nice diorama of a current-day turkey. All you need to add is a couple of figures with cutting torches and maybe the big guilliotine that they use to chop up old warbirds at the boneyard and you'd have an award winner on your mantle.

MAN kick the guy when he is down!! :D

[toadwbg]

Could to be that in this plastic has missing a component:

Not likely. The PS pellets used are pre-compounded by a raw materail compounder. The only oil contamination I can think of is during mold-prep and maintenence (mold release agent). It is possible the WRONG material was used, contaminated materials, or too much regrind.

Sunlight is a big enemy of these kind of plastics. Sunlight radiation breaks the molecular bonds leading to brittleness.

[smithery]

Not likely. The PS pellets used are pre-compounded by a raw materail compounder. The only oil contamination I can think of is during mold-prep and maintenence (mold release agent). It is possible the WRONG material was used, contaminated materials, or too much regrind.

Sunlight is a big enemy of these kind of plastics. Sunlight radiation breaks the molecular bonds leading to brittleness.

I'm going to guess that you work with blow molder. I thought I was the only one who knew what impact too much regrind had.

[FlyingSnowmew]

I've always found Hasegawa plastics to be shinier and more brittle than other manufacturers. However, their 72 He-111 seems to have a completely different type of plastic for the body than the rest of the kit. Much more flexible and isn't shiny.

[TonyH]

Do you sprinkle that on your dessert later! Oh man,some serious anger their Darren :) I feel your pain!

Tony