I have read in articles and books that it is best to remove the aligning pins. I had a kit of an A-10 Watrhog (1/48th scale) where I did remove the aligning pins and nothing was aligning properly. I align the top seam as best as I could. I sanded/filed the raised seam where it stuck up. In the process I deformed the shape of the fuselage of the aircraft ruining it. How can you avoid this? What part of the seam shoukld be aligned the best? I had the top aligned in certain spots perfectly but the underneath of the fuselage was misaligned very badly. This model was an old Revel kit that came with a Russian counterpart the SU-76 Frog (I am not sure about the actually 76 designation since it is not in front of me). Has anyone built this kit and did anyone encounter the same problems? I have a bunch of aircraft models I would like to put together but I really do not want to screw things more than I already have with other kits.
As far as removing the aligning pins. It depends on the kit some work very well with the pins others don’t. If you do remove the pins. Tape the parts together before gluing to see where possible trouble spots are. Hope this helps.
One thing I have found is you need to be very careful with clamping. Without the pins, a surprisingly little amount of clamping force can bow out a large part like a fuselage.
I also found that it’s best to glue large parts together in sections, working front to back (or back to front), letting one section cure overnight before proceding to the next. A liquid cement (or weld) is really a necessity for this.
On the other hand, if everything does line up just fine and the two halves fit perfectly when you test fit them, then don’t remove the pins, or at least not all of them. It seems to me that it is a trick to use only when things don’t line up properly out of the box.
Uhh… why would anyone remove the alignment pins?
If it ain’t a “Shake n Bake” kit I remove the alignment pins…you can’t trust them.
A lot of times they don’t line up the halves correctly. Not so much of a problem with the newer kits hitting the market but those of us that build Vintage kits run into it. Break out that Spad, you will find out [;)]
The two halves of my Spad were assembled back in 1975 with the pins in place and it’s aligned… and aligned real good too!
Hmmm…
I’m trying to remember if I’ve ever had problems from alignment pins… I don’t recall…
If your going to remove the alignment pins I strongly suggest you back it up by super gluing tabs to the inside around the model where the seam joins on both halves. This will help you get the best alignment possible. I have done this with several kits and I have never removed alignment pins. I only use this alignment method if the plastic is warped.
I has a single alignment pin out of whack on a Lindberg X-3 I built last season. I removed that one pin to get everything into alignment. I wouldn’t suggest removing all the pins under most circumstances.
Unless I am familiar with the kit I am building from past experience, I always cut free the parts and test fit, test fit, TEST FIT!!!
If I see any problem areas that would benefit from removing the pins (like the trailing edge of the 1/48 Tamiya Corsair) I remove them and test fit again. Hope that helps! [tup]
Everybody knows that the Tamiya Skyraider is one of the best shake-n-bake kits around. Even so, the ONLY problem I encountered was the alignment of the drop-tank halves. It was off by JUST a hair. So I had to shave off the alignment pegs. Welded the tank halves together with Tenax, and everything ended up looking fine.
PB
Another reason to remove the pins is so that you can sand the mating surfaces flat.
To do this, I pin a large piece of 220 or 400 grit sandpaper to my workbench and sand the entire part (mating surface down of course) on it. This obviously would take the pins off, so I just slice them off with an exacto first.
I cant shed much light on the matter, as far as removing. But as far as clamping goes, Ifind using those like… blue clear clamps they sell for like potato chipbags works wonders, they give just enough pressure,but not enough to damage the piece (unlikeosme clamps I know)