Hello everyone -
Just joined today. Have gotten back into building models after 30+ years now that kids are out of the house!
Build a few over the past year or so (Sherman tank, P2V Neptune, C-47 are a few).
My question is about techniques to bend a model propeller without melting it. I’m trying my hand a building a ditched 1/72 Corsair but don’t know how I can bend the props due to the water impact. Any suggestions?
Thanks!
Your best bet is boiling water. The temperature is controlled and won’t melt the plastic, but will soften it. Mark the prop where you want the bend to be and get some kind of mandrel to bend the blade around so as to get a realistic radius of bend. A dowel works well for this. Get a good pair of gloves and dip each blade in the pot until it softens, pull it out and bend it around the mandrel. Repeat this until you have bent the number of bades you want to. Get some good crash references, the blades don’t always bend straight back, and often there will be one that doesn’t bend at all. Have fun!
Good advise.
The process I used hundreds of times was using a simple lighter over each propeller blade. The key is knowing where to soften the blade AND be extremely careful not to melt it. Worked for me…
Great info. Will definitely use this approach. Thanks!