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Whoops! Heat and plastic, not a good mix.


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I bought the Tamiya Porsche 911 Club Sport Road Version last week at the LHS. I painted it and it was still tacky days later. This morning I was reading something about using an electric oven just barely turned on to "bake" the paint. I even checked the temp with a thermometer. It was at 110. Well you can probably guess what happened next. Yep, it was stupid, but now I know. Anyone know of a good resin body for this kit? Or if Tamiya sells replacement bodies? I seem to be having some issues with building lately. Last month I finished my first build of the year, An Italeri Volvo 940. While taking pictures, I gave it a crash test NHTSA would be proud of. Sometimes you've gotta laugh!

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What you have learned here is that your thermostat isn't close to accurate. 110* shouldn't faze model plastic at all. In fact, I had my whole collection stored in an attic that would get hotter than THAT and never had any damage whatsoever.

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Yeah, something doesn't add up.

Is it possible that the model was fairly close to the heating elements?  Even if it the thermostat is adjusted for 110 degrees, the heating elements will get much hotter as they warming up the entire oven.  Id the body was close to those elements it would have melted. Dehydrators use much lower power elements which are further away from the drying cavity, so there are no hot-spots. I use a dehydrator which is running around 110 degrees F and I have no problems with polystyrene deforming.

Edited by peteski
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In times past, I purchased a parts kit that had a melted hood. The seller had heard that you could "cure" the paint faster on your models by hanging the painted parts near a light bulb. So, he came up with a method to hang some parts inside of a lampshade. Needless to say, the paint "cured", alright. When he came back to inspect his handiwork, he found the hood warping into a weird mass of plastic. Too bad, as he had done a nice job on the paint job.

He was so discouraged by this event that he gave up on the project and sold the kit for practically nothing. I happened to have some spare parts for this particular kit, including an extra hood, and was able to rescue it. 

So, add this to the list of curing methods to avoid! ?

 

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Contact Tamiya America for replacement parts. Also for drying paint try a food dehydrator. See this thread Dehydrators     Next to my airbrushes and spray booth this is the best money I ever spent on the hobby.

Over the years I let my painted bodies "air dry" and it works great. No space needed for a dehydrator, no cost of a dehydrator, nothing to plug in, no temperature settings, etc. Yeah you might say I'm a bit "old fashioned," but it works for me.

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Over the years I let my painted bodies "air dry" and it works great. No space needed for a dehydrator, no cost of a dehydrator, nothing to plug in, no temperature settings, etc. Yeah you might say I'm a bit "old fashioned," but it works for me.

Don't knock it til you try it.

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I bought the Tamiya Porsche 911 Club Sport Road Version last week at the LHS. I painted it and it was still tacky days later. This morning I was reading something about using an electric oven just barely turned on to "bake" the paint. I even checked the temp with a thermometer. It was at 110. Well you can probably guess what happened next. Yep, it was stupid, but now I know. Anyone know of a good resin body for this kit? Or if Tamiya sells replacement bodies? I seem to be having some issues with building lately. Last month I finished my first build of the year, An Italeri Volvo 940. While taking pictures, I gave it a crash test NHTSA would be proud of. Sometimes you've gotta laugh!

C1 Models make a RWB body shell for that kit.....

http://www.hiroboy.com/124_C1_RWB_Porsche_993_Resin_Transkit_Basic_Kit_Version--product--9840.html

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I was trying a Rustoleum color that I liked. Unfortunately, this brand of paint has issues with staying tacky, hence the attempt at force drying..

On another note, I got an email from Tamiya and they have the body and will send it it for $4.15. I'll do that tomorrow! They responded quickly, very impressed.

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Well I have to confess, I have open the oven door and set a model on the door itself, it was fruitless, I think it baked the outer layer and left the remaining Model wet never did dry, after handling the Model I had thumb and finger prints all over it, blame it on the Enamel Paint, which I no longer use on the bodies.

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I was trying a Rustoleum color that I liked. Unfortunately, this brand of paint has issues with staying tacky, hence the attempt at force drying..

 

I've had that with some of their colors, not with others. Recently I had it with their semigloss black, which stayed tacky for several days.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just an update, I received a package in the mail this week from Tamiya with a new body in it. Not bad at all, $4 for the body and $5 for shipping. I'm really happy with the service and speed that they got me the replacement body. Also thanks to all those who suggested contacting them. I always forget that these companies sometimes have replacement parts available. I was on the verge of buying a whole new kit and consigning the rest of this one to the scrap pile.

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