Major flaw in Tamiya kit!

[Jay!]

In my Tamiya Testarossa kit, the vent gills on the engine cover are incomplete!!

They must be injection-molded from either side, and two of the veins didn't meet in the middle. Any suggestions as to how to fix it?

This is the poorest-molded Tamiya kit I've seen. I know it's an old kit, because the box is yellowed, but it must have also been late in the production run, when the molds were wearing out. There's also a good deal of flash around the mold lines on the body and on some of the trees.

ARRGGHH!!!

[hiro]

Sounds pretty bad! You have to redo the gills in putty then?

[yater13]

I'm not sure about Tamiya, but with a couple Revell kits I've obtained in the past with bad parts, I've been able to get replacements from the company. If it's an old kit, it may not be possible, but it never hurts to contact them and ask.

[flyonthewall]

do u have a photo of the part? Its hard to say how best to fix it but i would guess build up the gap with styrene sheet then fill remaining gaps with putty.

[Guiddy]

If you don't mind waiting I can send you the one from my dead Testarossa?

[daggerlee]

My Ferrari Mythos is the same way Lots of flash, and some bad-fitting parts on the engine

In the future I guess I'll have to get all the Ferrari kits wihle they're still new on the market

[Jay!]

Originally posted by flyonthewall
do u have a photo of the part? Its hard to say how best to fix it but i would guess build up the gap with styrene sheet then fill remaining gaps with putty.

Well, I'm going to try something, but I haven't worked out just what yet. It's such a tiny gap in such a delicate area, but it's still totally notcieable

Originally posted by Guiddy
If you don't mind waiting I can send you the one from my dead Testarossa?

I may take you up on that, but I must have time to try and fix mine while you're still on your 18-month holiday!

Originally posted by daggerlee
My Ferrari Mythos is the same way Lots of flash, and some bad-fitting parts on the engine

In the future I guess I'll have to get all the Ferrari kits wihle they're still new on the market

I think the Mythos and the Testarossa share most of their parts (since the Mythos was based on the TR!) So you're probably in the same boat as me. At least the Mythos has flat body panels, not grills on every side! :cry:

[flyonthewall]

i had a look a look at my old tamiya catalogue ('89 - old school!!! ) to see what your dealing with. I guess u must mean the one of the 'bars' on the grill has the gap right? in which case i would attempt to fix it either by removing that one bar and replacing it with a strip of styrene. U should be able to buy a square strip of approximate size by Plastruct or Evergreen in your local model shop. Alternatively bridge the gap with off-cuts of plastic and sand to shape. I'd probably go for the former method myself.

[Jay!]

I was thinking of putty, but like I said, it's too delicate an area to deal with sanding and shaping. So, finding and grafting in a whole replacement "bar" would be best, I guess; at least the least messy alternative. 2 of the "bars" are affected, but I may cut 3 off, so I'll have a reference part...

This sucks!

[daggerlee]

Maybe you can call Tamiya up and see if they'll replace it for you?

[Jay!]

Originally posted by daggerlee
Maybe you can call Tamiya up and see if they'll replace it for you?

Yeah, I know. I'll still try that, but I don't expect much since it's such an old kit they probably don't stock it anymore...

[hirofkd]

The TR among other Ferrari kits are still in production after the deal with IDEA, the licensing dep. of Ferrari.

[Jay!]

Originally posted by hirofkd
The TR among other Ferrari kits are still in production after the deal with IDEA, the licensing dep. of Ferrari.

Really? Then I wonder why they didn't jack up the prices with the licensing tags like on the new-tool kits...