Help! How do I fix this - crushed roof

[MrBowcat]

Hi guys,

I recently bought a second hand kit (Tamiya F40). I got it out of the box today to make a start and found this.



I'm not sure of the best way to go about fixing it. I assume heat will need to be applied and I recently bought the hot air gun as recommended by Paul, but is this the right tool or should I be looking at hot water?

[Twokidsnosleep]

Oh shite

I would not suggest either flame or heat gun…too fast and loose do you will melt everything; or at least I would
Hot water soaks, try to get things as close as you can, likely multiple soaks and the pillars may break but can be recemented

[MrBowcat]

Cheers Scott, appreciate the advice.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Cheers Scott, appreciate the advice.

No worries. Good luck with it, show us how it turns out

[Garion77]

I would go with what Scott recommended. I had the same problem a few years back for my Peugot 206 and did several soaking and it doesn't show at all at the end.

[digger303]

Oh shite

I would not suggest either flame or heat gun…too fast and loose do you will melt everything; or at least I would
Hot water soaks, try to get things as close as you can, likely multiple soaks and the pillars may break but can be recemented

How hot would you make the water....near boiling or much less ?

[Twokidsnosleep]

Oh shite

I would not suggest either flame or heat gun…too fast and loose do you will melt everything; or at least I would
Hot water soaks, try to get things as close as you can, likely multiple soaks and the pillars may break but can be recemented

How hot would you make the water....near boiling or much less ?

Yes near boiling
The styrene cools very quickly as well when pulled out, so a few seconds of bending back to form and then back into the water; repeat as needed. Bends it back bit by bit.

[ForbesHutton]

Assuming the glass is one of those single pieces, use that by pushing it into place. That way you won't go too far.

But don't warm or heat the glass! Keep it separate while you warm the body.

[bfrd]

You could experiment with bits of sprue tree to help determine the proper water temperature. Every manufacturer's plastic mix is a little different. It would also give you a better idea of how the plastic will move.

[MrBowcat]

Thanks for all the advice guys.

I was partially successful, I did manage to snap one side where it meets the bottom frame (which I can glue back), and I now have a somewhat S shaped pillar on the other side. However after test fitting the rear engine cover it seems its bent at the back as well.

Hobbyco emailed me back today to say a replacement part with P&P is £11 and a 4 to 5 month wait, I think I'm just going to go that route and put this back in the stash for now.

On the bright side it means the Kawasaki Ninja H2R just got bumped up the build list.