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I have a 1970 RMS Camaro I bought 8-10 years ago that got warped and when I was twisting it the right front fender and driver's side front window post snapped. I almost cut it into pieces for junk yard scenery, but recently decided to see if it could be fixed. I used super glue and a hot glue gun to put the breaks back together. So far so good, but it's still got a severe warp to it. When the back of the car is resting on the table the left front is about 3/4" up in the air.

What can I do to get it to sit flat so I can build a chassis for it? I'm guessing maybe soak it in warm water and hot glue it to a flat surface while it's still flexible. Then let it cool and stay in that position for awhile.

What do the experienced resin builders suggest?

Slothead

I use hot, (very hot) water but 3/4" is a big twist.

I had this problem not so long ago and munters advice headed me in the right direction then and his advice is still the same. To make it a bit easier I had a tub filled with cold water at the ready then immersed the body in hot as water, too hot to hold my hand in, for about 15 seconds then fished it out twisted it straight and immediately immersed in the cold water. I tried this a couple of times and it came right.

In addition to the above advice, instead of hot gluing it to something, use the chassis attach points and screw it to something non-flexible, that way if you have to repeat the hot water bath it won't soften your hot glue.

When the Tiny Alice ARR came back from Trans-AM 2016 it arrived in Tejas at a time of triple digit heat. After spending the afternoon in the mailbox at the front of the property, we found the resin body roof line had warped and she was no longer pretty! I knew about the warm water trick, however, Tiny Alice ARR was (as all our cars) painted with acrylic craft paint, so hot water wasn't a great idea. I pinged Mr. RMS himself and he recommended using rubber bands, a base, and something like leggos to shim the roof along with careful use of a hair-dryer. We did something similar to his suggestion using basswood squares (from Michael's) and a basswood square dowel through the window frame. This was not as extreme a situation as described above, but it worked great. Just thought I'd throw this in for those of us who use acrylics for one reason or another (again, Thanks to David).

Val...

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. As I attempted to straighten the body more cracks appeared, starting with the roof coming off, so it was a lost cause. Too far gone to be fixed.

If I go ahead with building a Showdown car a Revell Mustang will be my default unless I find an older style body. I've definitely had more practice and success with plastic bodies.

Slothead