Why me?

[suicidehummer]

I was taking the tape off of the challenger, when I noticed how wobbly and
weak it felt, but I kept unraveling the tape, and when I came to the roof,
I freaked out...
MY PILLARS BROKE!

I tried to glue them back together, but it pulled apart, so I taped the pillars
in place, and they pulled the tape apart! What do I do?

Here's a ms paint drawing of the problem, since i'm between photo sites
right now.

[stevenoble]

Use some thin plastic card on the inside of the pillar secured with liquid cement to brace it from the inside.Then use some super glue to repair the crack from the outside.You can then sand down and filler the join line and repaint the affected area.

[suicidehummer]

Is liquid cement the same as testors model cement?

If so, i'd have to hold it for four hours till it's dry,
otherwise it'd just bend back off of the support
plastic.

[stevenoble]

Use some plastic weld liquid cement it sets almost instantly.

[Jay!]

I've broken the pillars on almost everything I've built...

[white97ex]

try a little bit of heat. Not necessarily from a lighter, but maybe from steam. I would definately invest in some liquid cement. Plastruct, ambroid or the like. Tamiya even sells some. Quicker and stronger joints than the Testors stuff. If Testors is all you have. Squirt some on some spare sprue or something and apply just a dab with a toothpic. Attach the plastic support first. Let that dry and then go about moving the pillar. Another option is superglue. If you have a walmart locally see if they have the testors superglue and kicker. the kicker will set the superglue almost immediately. Use the same process, affix the plastic support with a SMALL bead of superglue. Then hit it with the kicker, it only takes a drop. You might have to hold it for a bit until it fully sets. No more than a min or two. Then go about attaching and moving the pillar using the same procedure. Then run a small bead of glue on the outside, and go back on the inside with the model cement. That will be about as strong as you can get. And just remember, the thinner the plastic the more fragile you need to treat it.

[suicidehummer]

I didn't break them, the paint must have dried and
shrunk on the body until it cracked.

Thanks alot steve!

[LarryA]

Too bad for you body. That kind of stuff happens to me all the time.
I'd stay away from heat to attempt a fix. Some kind of instant cement might work but I'd test it fisrt on some tree pieces from the kit. I've used CA type glues already for other things like remote control cars and it can attack certain plastics. It might be pretty hard to make that repair that it is not noticable. It may be best to just buy another kit and start over with the body? At any rate, I hope you get it fixed. Good luck with whatever you decide.

[suicidehummer]

Buy another rare, $35, out-of-production kit from japan? I don't think so.

[suicidehummer]

OOOOh, sorry, I didn't realize you were new.

You probably don't even know about my
Challenger, do you?

Well, welcome to AF!

[blubaja]

What rare kit from japan?

[suicidehummer]

I'd say it's pretty rare, and I got it from hong-kong.

[blubaja]

Yea..I mean what are kit are you talking about?

[white97ex]

Originally Posted by suicidehummer

I didn't break them, the paint must have dried and
shrunk on the body until it cracked.

Thanks alot steve!

I seriously doubt that this is the case. I've yet to experience or see anyone experience paint shrinking to the point of breaking a-pillars. It must have happened in handling, unknowingly. You can cut the pillar off, straighten, lengthen and paint it and then reattach it. I am afraid that without using some procedure that you have yet to attempt is the only way to fix it without buying a new kit. Another thing you might try is to compare the pillars of a Revell challenger to those of the kit that you are using. If they are correct, and would not look out of place. buy a Revell kit for 10 bucks and replace the pillar. And there is always the option of making a replacement pillar.

I would recommend one of the previous routes first. If you have an LHS that sells styrene stock. go buy some thin narrow strip and use the Super glue method I laid out earlier. Don't worry about the glue attacking the plastic I've used locktite, WM brand, Testors brand, Anything you can get off of the shelf at walmart, and ZIP brand with no problems.

[freakray]

Originally Posted by blubaja

Yea..I mean what are kit are you talking about?

It's the Arii 1973 Challenger kit in the American Muscle collection, and it's not as rare as folk would make you believe.