In a thread at Amorara I mentioned in passing that the lower hull on my Dragon differed in width to that of my Tamiya. On getting the correct measurement (thanks David Byrden) I went back and did some investigation. The width of the lower hull across the top (if you add the side panels) will come out to approx that of the Tamiya, BUT ONLY IF YOU CAN ELIMINATE THE SERIOUS WARP ON BOTH SIDES.
Heres the pics:
This shows both lower hulls with the rhs edges aligned - highlighted is the lhs edge difference
This shows daylight between the rear panel and the lower hull - when bending the hull to eliminate the warp this becomes much worse
This really highlights the warp - the upper hull fitted to the lower - forcing the lower hull apart to fix this then applies pressure across the top deck - which then warps
I have only modeled Tamiya and have not touched Dragon before. I might be off base here but I find this appalling. To have put so much effort into the detail, and then produce a (to me) serious fault in the item to which virtually everything else attaches is insane.
Does anyone else have the same problem? Am I being unreasonable? Any help would be greatly appreciated
Have not heard anything about this in any review of the kit I’ve read. Perhaps it’s just an isolated incident. You could try to contact Dragon customer service and see if they’ll send you a new hull.
Also, I’d call something like this far from appalling. Either putty it up, or stretch the hull to a best fit by pure muscle, then clamp it with whatever you have and can get, and putty up the few gaps left.
This certainly doesn’t look good and is probably a consequence of poor quality in the molding process (parts ejected before proper cool down). This kind of thing happens when the manufacturer is in a big hurry to produce parts and probably isn’t a reflection on the quality of the tool (mold). Hopefully once the pipeline gets filled with enough product and production (rate) normalizes, these quality issues can be corrected.
In the meantime, that doesn’t do you a lot of good unfortunately. There are some techniques that might help, i.e. the boiling water (dip and bend) thing is one that comes to mind. Also, you can make some relief cuts in the hull and reposition things, putty and sand those up, or you could simply cut styrene fillers and just live with the warped plate.
While I am able to fix most things, this hull is unusable. The warp starts in floor and extends to both sides. It cannot be ‘bent’ out as its in the thickest parts of the bottom and sides. Using the upper deck to force the sides apart is then warping the deck. These pics might give a better idea:
C’mon man, unuseable? draw some very hot water in a pie pan and lay some weight across the top, if you soften up that belly plastic she will move for you. From other reviews and the talk around town there isn’t anything wrong with this kit, it looks like you got a lemon, but I believe you CAN fix this my friend.
Thanks for the suggestions but:
Have looked at this every which way and applying heat is not really going to help - heres the reason:
Applying weight at 1 will bend it at 2, but not 3 or 4
Applying sideways pressure at 2 does not bend at 3 because the joint is very thick, and the whole side is also held by the torsion bar mounts which cannot be bent
Applying down ward pressure at 2 bends the floor upward at 4 because this is a weak spot in the sill.
I’m just going to bite the bullet and ask Dgragon to replace it.
This is easily fixable with hot water, a right triangle, and paitence. You won’t be able to simpily apply pressure at one point. In properly heated water you will be able to bend one point without the other bending. You should have seen the warping on my Monogram 1/48 A-10. You would have died of shock.
Hey buddy, this reminds me of an engineer that told me it was impossible for a certain design to work, all the models showed -no way! But when we actually tried it - well you get the picture.
My point is, if it is unuseable anyway, why not try to reshape the thing, what have you got to lose at this point? Try it you may be pleasantly suprised.
I can tell you some real horror stories around warped parts with some Williams Bros. kits in the past, I 've been dealt the same bad cards that you are dealing with now and have been successful, just give it the old college try and see …
OK, I checked my kit for the warpage problem. It’s not quite as bad as Dsotm’s here, but it’s still there. By no means is it unusable, and I don’t forsee it causing any major fit problems, at least in my kit.
EDIT: Forgot to mention, my slight warping is only present on one side.
Checked mine too and there is little to no warp. On the left side it’s warped by a 1/2mm from bottom to top and thats very usable. It’s got to be your kit.
Though I don’t expect perfection in a kit, that is a bit disappointing coming from a new mold in today’s market. I’d think Dragon would have gotten it right.
This may not be from the mold at all. There are many factors that could have caused it to warp. How was it shipped and stored before it got to the retailer? How did the retailer store it? Etc., etc. I wouldn’t knock the kit for such a minor amount of warping. All the above seems like it is totally usable to me. They are not really seriosly, or unusably warped if you ask me.
hahah you guys are complaining about the kit, and we lowly peons are still blue in the face waiting for our LHS’ to get them in! LOLLOLOLOL man… what a world we live in… I’ll take all yer scraps and work with 'em LOL
Although I keep seeing the words ‘minor’ and ‘slight’, its hard to get an idea from the pic just how bad this is. The warp has reduced the hull diameter by 5mm. I feel that 0.5mm is ‘slight’ and fixable, but 5mm is appalling.
It cannot be fixed with ‘a little hot water’ because the main problem is the angle along each side of the hull at point 3 above. It cannot be straightened because the torsion bar mounts are moulded to both the sides and the floor, and as such, hold the warp angle together. Applying pressure the sraighten the sides simply bends the hull foor upwards, along its length, right down the middle (and does not affect the warped angle anyway). As I am detailing the engine compartment, and have built the firewall, side panels etc, they now become distorted when inserted because of the pressure from the warped sides.
Even if this was a normal build, I would not be happy that the top deck distorts when forced into place on the lower hull. I have registered a ticket with Dragon and will keep you updated with replies
I would think that you could use the firewall and side panels to help straighten it out. 5mm is a big gap but that’s only 2.5mm on each side. Maybe use a dremel to put a few relief cuts in the hull where it’s too thick to bend and cover 'em up with the floor. Just a couple thoughts. Keep us posted as to how you make out with Dragon’s Cust. Service Dept.
