Body Warpage Repair

[pulln4dejr]

Okay so this is an age old question: I have a Hubley ‘60 Ford Station Wagon that has a serious case of body warpage on both edges of the hood over the headlights. I know that the older promos and kits were made out of a different type of plastic unlike the styrene used today.  What if anything can be done to fix this problem or is it just a lost cause? Thanks for sharing any information that may cure this problem!

[stitchdup]

Does it scale to the amt sedan kit?

[Mark]

Hubley is 1/24 scale, AMT (both original and newer one) 1/25.

[pulln4dejr]

Already thought about that, swapping the hood but like Mark said scale is wrong.

[Mark]

If it's a promo model, it will be made of acetate as opposed to styrene.  Acetate doesn't just warp, it can be a combination of warping and shrinking.  I have heard about, and read articles about, various fixes but have never heard about any of them being permanent.

[Chris V]

Old acetate promos are very prone to distort from a combination of shrinkage and warpage - especially if subjected to heat and/or sunlight. Unfortunately there’s not much you can do about it. 

[GoodbuildNY]

On 5/3/2025 at 2:55 AM, pulln4dejr said:

Okay so this is an age old question: I have a Hubley ‘60 Ford Station Wagon that has a serious case of body warpage on both edges of the hood over the headlights. I know that the older promos and kits were made out of a different type of plastic unlike the styrene used today.  What if anything can be done to fix this problem or is it just a lost cause? Thanks for sharing any information that may cure this problem!

I’m not sure if this will help but I do have a technique for straightening warped body’s that I actually posted about years ago. It works for me almost every time but it does take time to work. I have a jig made of legos that will rest at key points ( evenly) inside the warped body. I apply clamps externally to force the body down onto the supports and then let the set up rest over a low but consistent heat source ( for me a few feet above an electric baseboard) for a few weeks. Inevitably it relaxes to where  I have it held. 

[W-409]

Like Chris said above, I don't think there's much you can do to unwarp a promo that is made out of acetate. Even though you got it fixed, it will most likely warp again at some point. It's a bummer, because many interesting bodies that were never produced as a model kit, have been made as an acetate promos.

In case of the Hubley '60 Ford Wagon, I'd suggest you finding the model kit version of that. Hubley made a model kit of that car and it's made in regular styrene, which doesn't have the warping problem. The model kit is not that easy to find though, at least at a reasonable price tag. I found mine a while ago on eBay, compared to their normal prices, mine was fairly cheap at around $100.