So I’ve run into an issue on a current project… I’ve delayed installing the pilot into the cockpit of this 1:72 A6M2b Zero, thinking it’d be easier to mask off if he wasn’t part of the picture. The pilot has already been painted.
I realise after closing up the hull sections and encasing the cockpit, that the central column of the instrument panel is too wide for the space available between the ankles. I could potentially rely on the flexibility of the styrene to force his legs apart, but the joystick suffered some trauma during assembly and I really don’t want to turn this process into the worlds sh**tiest game of Operation by forcing tools into the space.
Noting that the pilot has already been painted with Tamiya Acrylics, is there a way that I can safely deform his legs so that I can drop him right in as Airfix intended? I don’t own a heat gun, but some means of controlled heat application seems to be the obvious solution…
My pilot didn’t fit in my A/F-18C - legs wouldn’t make it so I did some surgery to get him to fit. Nipped off the legs about mid shin down. They aren’t visible in the cockpit anyhow.
Yeah, I’m trying to avoid a surgical option if I can help it but if other methods start wrecking the paint finish on the areas I want to manipulate then this solution starts to look a bit friendlier…
I would put the pilot in then stuff tissue in and around and over the pilot and cockpit till its all covered. Use a wet brush to get it to conform ( clear coat the pilot and cockpit if acrylics used). Use masking tape too.
I feel like mirroring your process of masking around the pilot is ultimately going to be simpler on future builds than the act of heat therapy at best or orthopaedic surgery at worst that will be visited upon this pilot…
There’s a top idea… The underside of the control stick is still exposed, so I might be able to just punch it out of the cockpit floor from below. That will eliminate the most nerve-wracking aspect of forcing the pilots legs apart with reverse-action tweezers to insert him… Brains trust wins again!
Soldering iron or wood burning tool (if you have one) in a stand to provide constant flameless heat. You might be able to soften the plastic just enough to widen the pilots stance. Shouldn’t affect the paint.
I like where your head is at. The good lady had offered her hair straightener, so I have actively contemplated sitting the pilot between the tongs and heating until the plastic becomes more pliable. The trick is getting the overall structure to be uniformly deformable, without creating a situation where I locally deform the plastic and create a dent where the pressure is applied.
I’m probably not going to be much help on this one because I’ve never actually tried to reshape an already-painted figure.
Without a heat gun, my first thought would probably be really hot water. Actually, even if I had a heat gun, I’d probably try the hot water first. It seems like you’d have a little more control and less chance of accidentally overheating one small area of the figure.
What I don’t know is what the hot water would do to the Tamiya acrylic paint. That’s the part that would make me nervous.
So I’m probably more curious than helpful on this one. I’m very interested to see what solution you end up with and how well it works.
It seems like you’d have a little more control and less chance of accidentally overheating one small area of the figure.
I’m very interested to see what solution you end up with and how well it works.