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Need help fixing some mistakes


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While building my new tool 1/72 Academy F15E, I melted two pieces of the model. First, while using a heat gun, I moderately warped the section that the thrust nozzles connect to. Then, purely out of dumb luck, placed the nearly complete upper fuselage into a puddle of plastic cement. 

 

I have contacted the US distributor to get some replacement parts, but at the same time, I see this as an opportunity to learn something useful about fixing stupid mistakes. As such, I would love some advice on how to correct these issues. 

 

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6SpKvo0.jpg

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 For the cement spill, just leave it alone until it dries. The bare plastic will look funky, but it should be good with primer or maybe Mr Surfacer. I've done this more than once... :bandhead2:

 

As for the burn crater, you've got some filling, filing, and scribing ahead of you.

 

If you did try to wipe the cement away, you'll need to do the same there. 

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8 hours ago, dnl42 said:

 For the cement spill, just leave it alone until it dries. The bare plastic will look funky, but it should be good with primer or maybe Mr Surfacer. I've done this more than once... :bandhead2:

 

As for the burn crater, you've got some filling, filing, and scribing ahead of you.

 

If you did try to wipe the cement away, you'll need to do the same there. 

 

Thanks for the tips, but im a bit confused. Which should I fill with Mr. Surfacer? And which should I be filing and scribing? The glue on the top pic, should I scrape it off to get an even surface and then fill with putty? 

 

For the heat warped piece, should I try to heat it up and warp back into shape?

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Looks like I'm the one that's confused.

 

The first picture will need filling, filling, and scribing. Was that the cement puddle?

 

The third picture looks like the problem is the kink on the lower left. I would try rebuilding the plastic there. Cut/file away whatever is now out of alignment, glue in some new plastic, either Evergreen or plastic from the kit you don't need, and then fill, file, and scribe to blend in.

 

If that 3rd picture has more damage, then I'm not sure what to suggest. 

 

I don't know what the 2nd picture is showing. 

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First of all...put the heat gun away!!!!!!! I can think of no reason to use that on a model!!

 

First photo.....sand away all that mess of glue and melted plastic until nothing sticks up beyond the surrounding kit surface. Then fill any depressions with putty, super glue etc., sand and rescribe. Repeat if necessary. I would try to mask over the circular area to try and preserve that as much as possible. Rescribing is minimal in this area.


Last photo.....stick ONLY the affected area into boiling water for a few seconds and then try to reform it by pressing it down onto a flat surface...board, table, work bench etc. Maybe even clamp the area between two pieces of wood and put in the water. Repeat as needed. Let cool or pour cold water on it to set it.

 

Boiling water is hot!! So will be the plastic!! Be careful.

 

Bob

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3 hours ago, dnl42 said:

Looks like I'm the one that's confused.

 

The first picture will need filling, filling, and scribing. Was that the cement puddle?

 

The third picture looks like the problem is the kink on the lower left. I would try rebuilding the plastic there. Cut/file away whatever is now out of alignment, glue in some new plastic, either Evergreen or plastic from the kit you don't need, and then fill, file, and scribe to blend in.

 

If that 3rd picture has more damage, then I'm not sure what to suggest. 

 

I don't know what the 2nd picture is showing. 

 

The 2nd/3rd are same piece, different angle. I am thinking I will just get a replacement for the 2/3rd pic part, and clean up and fix the cement melt. 

 

THe big issue with part 2 is that not only is it warped aesthetically, but also it will not sit flush on the part it connects to and that is where the thrust nozzles attach, so I doubt they will attach. I will use the piece to practice what you suggested, but will replace it and have a good condition part for the final product. 

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1 hour ago, Bob Beary said:

First of all...put the heat gun away!!!!!!! I can think of no reason to use that on a model!!

 

First photo.....sand away all that mess of glue and melted plastic until nothing sticks up beyond the surrounding kit surface. Then fill any depressions with putty, super glue etc., sand and rescribe. Repeat if necessary. I would try to mask over the circular area to try and preserve that as much as possible. Rescribing is minimal in this area.


Last photo.....stick ONLY the affected area into boiling water for a few seconds and then try to reform it by pressing it down onto a flat surface...board, table, work bench etc. Maybe even clamp the area between two pieces of wood and put in the water. Repeat as needed. Let cool or pour cold water on it to set it.

 

Boiling water is hot!! So will be the plastic!! Be careful.

 

Bob

 

Bob, 

Thanks for the tips. I will try the boiling water trick (carefully). I have 2 types of putty right now. Tamiya white putty, and Mr. Dissolved putty. I also ordered some Milliput superfine white as well. Out of the three, which do you recommend using to fill the cement spill? When you say circular area, do you mean the detailed area to the right of the cement melt? 

 

Thanks, 

Zach 

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Do what I do.........smack myself in the forehead and make an obscene comment.   I once knocked over a full bottle of liquid cement on a sheet of decals.  And that's not all the stupid things I've done.  Anyone who builds models has had one or more of "those" moments.

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On 8/19/2017 at 8:31 PM, Roberto123 said:

Do what I do.........smack myself in the forehead and make an obscene comment.   I once knocked over a full bottle of liquid cement on a sheet of decals.  And that's not all the stupid things I've done.  Anyone who builds models has had one or more of "those" moments.

 

Oh trust me, I did. Just last night, i put the cokpit together, and somehow forgot to put the joysticks into the cockpit prior to cementing the halves together. Gah, Well, this one will be less than perfect indeed. In many ways!

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Well, I decided not to rescribe (scared of making it worse), and have since assembled and moved on to paint. Here is the result:

 

2kcsjmt.jpg

 

zsS8e0c.jpg

 

Came out really well. Nice even coats went down and I am very hapy with the result. I did not realize how dark it would spray. It certainly didn't look this dark in the bottle. Nonetheless, I like it. 

 

HujOSPz.jpg

Paints I used. 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi all, 

 

Have a question unrelated to the main topic of the post but could use some help here. 

 

I am also working on another model in tandem with my F-15E. It's an SU-33 that I am doing in the Yellow 13 theme from the Ace Combat series of video games. Anyhow. I have the base coat down, but I stupidly used a darker color than intended for the base (going off the lightest to darkest workflow). 

PpLYRhv.jpg

 

My question revolves around the paint types I chose. So I have all three of the greys I want to use for the scheme in enamel, but I am realizing it is taking super long for them to cure. So, I grabbed some of the same colors in Acrylic and am wondering if it would be worth it (and if it would even work), to start over and spray Acrylic instead of enamel. If I sprayed it over the enamel, would it adhere and not peel? Or should I just stick with the enamel paints I already began with? 

 

Also, if i should stick with enamel, should I repaint the base coat with the lightest color, or is there a way i can integrate the above color (the mid darkness color) into the camouflage scheme? I had intended to go light to dark, as is customary. For instance, the above color is dark ghost gray, and I was wanting to use light ghost gray as my base. 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Roberto123 said:

You'll need to let the enamel dry very well, about two weeks or so and sand it before applying the acrylic.  Or.....remove the enamel and start over. 

 

Would you strip it then? Or just carry on with the enamels? I could go over it with the lighter color and then let cure, then do it with the darker greys again? Or use two darker shades of grey than the one already on? 

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So, you have the middle Grey down ... don't bother stripping it, just mask it off and spray on the lighter enamel colour. You'll need to lighten it up just a tad because it will darken (visually) just a 1/2 shade when put down over the middle Grey.

Let that dry and mask it off to spray on the dark Grey.

 

I don't see a problem with what you've done. It seems easy enough to 'fix'.

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23 minutes ago, K2Pete said:

So, you have the middle Grey down ... don't bother stripping it, just mask it off and spray on the lighter enamel colour. You'll need to lighten it up just a tad because it will darken (visually) just a 1/2 shade when put down over the middle Grey.

Let that dry and mask it off to spray on the dark Grey.

 

I don't see a problem with what you've done. It seems easy enough to 'fix'.

 

I gotcha. So basically i will need to mask off the mid grey and dark grey areas, shoot the light grey, then once thats dry, mask off all but the dark and shoot that? Makes sense. Just an extra step. 

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