What is the best way to straighten thin white metal pieces?
I have a 1/48 Scale Aircraft Conversions F4U Corsair Landing Gear set which has a badly bent arrester hook and a 1/32 Scale Aircraft Conversions P-51 Landing Gear set which has a badly bent tail wheel strut.
Thank you for any assistance.
Bend it with heat. Use a small butane torch as I believe that a propane torch would be too big (too much heat at once). Wearing leather gloves and holding the part with a pliers, heat it up slowly and then press the part against a hard surface, or use two pliers and straighten it, and then quench it in water. Go slow as you could melt the part as the white metal could have a melting point like solder. Very low melting temp.
I suggest you send Ross a quick note about the bent parts. He’ll probably have some exact suggestions on how to make the repair. It’s also just possible that he’d be willing to replace them.
Here is Ross’ email address off of his website. sacmactexas@aol.com
I’ve found it easy to just gently bend it back into shape with my fingers, no heat required. For the price they get for that stuff, you would expect it to be in perfect shape from the start. I’m tired of buying it and find it adds little appearance to the finished model. Once you paint it, no one knows the difference.
[2cnts]
Just my 2 cents worth.