Fixing Britains pak 40 limber (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter tora7770
- Start date
Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio
Command Sergeant Major
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2005
- Messages
- 2,113
In case my private message did not come through, or others collecters have broken or damaged items in your collections let me give you this tip on repairs and retouching paint. NONE OF YOU SHOULD BE AFRAID TO DO THIS!
Almost all of the vehicles and scenics offered on the market...no matter what you want to call them, are resin with an inert filler. These fillers can be any number of materials. An example here is that one particular resin, call this a 'binding agent' can be filled with any number of fine fillers. In one case you might use micro balloons, and for another you might use fine bronze powder. They will produce very different looks, weights and prices, but in many ways they are the same.
Back to the point... Many of these products can be brittle and they can be damaged or destroyed by dropping, stress or impact. In many cases they can be fixed to the point that only very careful examination will detect the repair.
The first thing you should do is to collect all of the parts and dry fit them back together. Please consider using magnification when examining the parts...the many years spent working here have always yielded better results using magnification...this can be a simple as an inexspensive hand held glass from the drug store!
Check for distortions: A model dropped will often have the area that suffered the initial impact distorted...it will appear compressed. Also look at areas that might have been broken by stress as they may be enlongated, thus distorted.
After examination you can decide that a simple glue repair will do. In almost all cases you can use a Cyanoacrylate adhesive, or 'super glue'. I would recommend that you go to a hobby store and request a medium viscosity glue rather than a super thin. There is more control and a slightly forgiving set time with the gap filling or medium viscosity glue.
A simple break can be glued with a very small amount...in this case more is not better.
Any small cross section part, or in the case of the split trail of the Pak40, I would also use an internal pin to add to the mechanical retention of the bond. This is really simple to do. use a small drill, approximatly 1/16" or smaller and drill a hole in the center of each of the mating parts. use a small section of metal rod, brass, copper, steel or even part of a hat pin to join the parts. Test fit the parts dry to insure that you have lined up the holes, and that they are deep enough for the length of rod, or wire that you will be using. If all looks good then add some glue to both holes and press the parts together untill the glue is set.
For more catastrophic damage you may need to replace small areas that are lost or distorted with a combination of pins and epoxy putty. These are the putties that are designed to sculpt models and figures. The brand that I use is 'Magic Sculpt' and it can be obtained from better hobby shops. This kind of putty is mixed in 50/50 proportions. Mix it well and then use a simple tool like a nut pick to push and smooth the material into the void that needs repair. I use rubbing alcohol on the tool to prevent the putty from sticking to the tool. It is also useful to smooth the area once it is where you want it.. With practice you can apply this so that no other work is needed after it cures. For some of you, you may need to lightly sand it with fine, 300-400 grit wet and dry sandpaper the next day.
Now for the last step you will want to blend in the color and/or hide shiny glue residue. I now use water based paints as they are non toxic, and easy to use. Although you can use fine model paints like 'Model Color' by Vallejo, again availible at fine hobby shops, you can also use water based craft paints as sold in Michael's and Hobby Lobby stores. These are sold under several name brands such as 'Americana' and "Accent', but they all work well.
These colors can be applied directly over the repair... in some cases you will be repairing an area with 1 to 3 color camoflage...this is easier than you might think. Mix up a base color, remember that you will usually have to tint a color that is close to you models color to get a good match. In many cases to get a good German overall sand, you may have to add yellow or green to a base tan that you purchased. You can put a small dot of a color yu mixed on the model and check to see how close it is after you let it dry. If there is a second or third color you can do the same thing. When blending you can soften the edges by using the same color, say dark green thinned down to blend the edges into your base overall sand.
The last two steps are importnat for finishing; Dry brushing: If your vehicle is weathered like some of the vehicles that design in 'mud' to strengthen the track areas, you will need to mix a close color to the 'mud' and then apply it to the repaired surface. This is also easy to do...dip your paint brush into the color then wipe almost all of it off on a rag. Now lightly 'scrub' the area with the brush and it will deposit small amounts of color to weather the area.
The final step will be to apply a dulling agent over the entire model to blend it all in. In this case I would recommend using Testors 'Dullcoat' in a spray can. Shake very well and dust the entire model with this and let dry for several hours before moving. With patience yu should now have a model that looks as good as it did when it left the factory!
Ken Osen/Hudson & Allen Studio/ONWTC
Almost all of the vehicles and scenics offered on the market...no matter what you want to call them, are resin with an inert filler. These fillers can be any number of materials. An example here is that one particular resin, call this a 'binding agent' can be filled with any number of fine fillers. In one case you might use micro balloons, and for another you might use fine bronze powder. They will produce very different looks, weights and prices, but in many ways they are the same.
Back to the point... Many of these products can be brittle and they can be damaged or destroyed by dropping, stress or impact. In many cases they can be fixed to the point that only very careful examination will detect the repair.
The first thing you should do is to collect all of the parts and dry fit them back together. Please consider using magnification when examining the parts...the many years spent working here have always yielded better results using magnification...this can be a simple as an inexspensive hand held glass from the drug store!
Check for distortions: A model dropped will often have the area that suffered the initial impact distorted...it will appear compressed. Also look at areas that might have been broken by stress as they may be enlongated, thus distorted.
After examination you can decide that a simple glue repair will do. In almost all cases you can use a Cyanoacrylate adhesive, or 'super glue'. I would recommend that you go to a hobby store and request a medium viscosity glue rather than a super thin. There is more control and a slightly forgiving set time with the gap filling or medium viscosity glue.
A simple break can be glued with a very small amount...in this case more is not better.
Any small cross section part, or in the case of the split trail of the Pak40, I would also use an internal pin to add to the mechanical retention of the bond. This is really simple to do. use a small drill, approximatly 1/16" or smaller and drill a hole in the center of each of the mating parts. use a small section of metal rod, brass, copper, steel or even part of a hat pin to join the parts. Test fit the parts dry to insure that you have lined up the holes, and that they are deep enough for the length of rod, or wire that you will be using. If all looks good then add some glue to both holes and press the parts together untill the glue is set.
For more catastrophic damage you may need to replace small areas that are lost or distorted with a combination of pins and epoxy putty. These are the putties that are designed to sculpt models and figures. The brand that I use is 'Magic Sculpt' and it can be obtained from better hobby shops. This kind of putty is mixed in 50/50 proportions. Mix it well and then use a simple tool like a nut pick to push and smooth the material into the void that needs repair. I use rubbing alcohol on the tool to prevent the putty from sticking to the tool. It is also useful to smooth the area once it is where you want it.. With practice you can apply this so that no other work is needed after it cures. For some of you, you may need to lightly sand it with fine, 300-400 grit wet and dry sandpaper the next day.
Now for the last step you will want to blend in the color and/or hide shiny glue residue. I now use water based paints as they are non toxic, and easy to use. Although you can use fine model paints like 'Model Color' by Vallejo, again availible at fine hobby shops, you can also use water based craft paints as sold in Michael's and Hobby Lobby stores. These are sold under several name brands such as 'Americana' and "Accent', but they all work well.
These colors can be applied directly over the repair... in some cases you will be repairing an area with 1 to 3 color camoflage...this is easier than you might think. Mix up a base color, remember that you will usually have to tint a color that is close to you models color to get a good match. In many cases to get a good German overall sand, you may have to add yellow or green to a base tan that you purchased. You can put a small dot of a color yu mixed on the model and check to see how close it is after you let it dry. If there is a second or third color you can do the same thing. When blending you can soften the edges by using the same color, say dark green thinned down to blend the edges into your base overall sand.
The last two steps are importnat for finishing; Dry brushing: If your vehicle is weathered like some of the vehicles that design in 'mud' to strengthen the track areas, you will need to mix a close color to the 'mud' and then apply it to the repaired surface. This is also easy to do...dip your paint brush into the color then wipe almost all of it off on a rag. Now lightly 'scrub' the area with the brush and it will deposit small amounts of color to weather the area.
The final step will be to apply a dulling agent over the entire model to blend it all in. In this case I would recommend using Testors 'Dullcoat' in a spray can. Shake very well and dust the entire model with this and let dry for several hours before moving. With patience yu should now have a model that looks as good as it did when it left the factory!
Ken Osen/Hudson & Allen Studio/ONWTC
OzDigger
Colonel
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2006
- Messages
- 8,221
For smaller jobs such as broken off arms I use super glue gell that will fix metal as well as slightly absorbent materials such as polystone, but it won't take much direct force to break the bond.
For larger jobs I prefer fast setting (five minute) two pack epoxy resins that you can lightly hold the pieces in place for a few minutes while watching tv if you can't find any other suitable soft clamping devise.
For larger jobs I prefer fast setting (five minute) two pack epoxy resins that you can lightly hold the pieces in place for a few minutes while watching tv if you can't find any other suitable soft clamping devise.