u/ED-SKaR

I've seen a couple of modellers have trouble with this kit, and one even saying they threw the model in the bin halfway through building it. I was surprised, as I couldn't believe that a modern kit would have such a major flaw that makes it unbuildable. In fact I spend a lot of my time teaching the old school techniques so that modellers can build any kit even if it has a difficult element, when you've built a 1970's gundam kit, or a 1960's airfix kit, there's nothing that a modern kit that can possibly make it 'unbuildable'

However, this kit actually does have a single flaw, that will prevent it from being built correctly if you don't know that it's coming. And so I featured this kit in the above video to highlight what the issue is, and how to fix it.

The issue is the top piece of the hull, which has 3 main panels; front, top and rear, they should have sharp angles between those three panels, but each panel should be straight. when I started looking at this part, it was quite evident that the top panel of this piece is warped. This curve is around the area of the turret ring, making the turret not quite fit correctly, but it also means the front and back of the hull are bent upwards just enough to make it difficult to hold in place whilst the glue sets.

From my experience, the solution was fairly obvious, but it's something that a lot of modellers might not even think about; I grabbed my hair drier. I warmed the part up so that the internal stresses in the plastic released, this means I can gently flex the top panel back to being straight, as it should be, and by holding it straight as it cooled, it maintained nearly the correct shape. After it was cooled it wasn't perfect, but it was well within tolerance to be glued to the hull sides, which would hold the part in the correct shape.

Discussing the ways to use officers.