[Black 6]

I just got my HM A-10 tonight (the green Playtime) and it's a beaut!

However, it suffered from the drooping horizontal stabilizers as mentioned in another thread. I got to looking at how it was put together and noticed the droop appears to be more of a result of how the part, which constitutes the tail assembly, meets with the curved fuselage. The sharp angle of the inside of the two horiz. stabilizers pinches the fuselage. Also, the part of the tail assembly itself is just a bit too fit to fit into the fuselage flush. So I did a little tinkering..

WARNING: TRY THIS AT YOUR OWN PERIL - I MAY HAVE JUST BEEN LUCKY!

1. Before adding the missles, etc., I turned the model on its back (on a soft towel). The tail assembly is secured to the fuselage by a single screw which is hidden under a rubber plug. I carefully removed the plug from the fuselage to expose the screw.
2. The screw head was filled with glue to secure the rubber plug. I CAREFULLY scraped enough out of the screw head to allow my phillips screwdriver to turn and remove the screw.
3. Carefully lift and remove the tail assembly from the fuselage.
4. The plastic is too brittle to bend into the correct shape (don't try it if you know what's good for you). So I used my daughters hair dryer to carefully heat the plastic until I could safely straighten it out. It took a little time, but it worked pretty darn good and did NOT hurt the plastic. The stabs were much straighter now with only a slight angle/droop.
5. Now that the stabs were straight, they pinched the fuselage so I did some light trimming / filing and reattached it back to the fuselage. Much better fit now!
6. A small drop of white glue to the screw head to secure the rubber plug and I was done.

I now have an A-10 that looks great!

[STARMAN 352ND]

Thanks for the tip on that problem...
Do you have to take it off like that ?
What if you just turned upside down like you said and then use the hairdryer will that work or not?
I was thinking of doing the same thing myself as the way you did it.

JP

[flyXwire]

Thanks for the very instructional technique you wrote down, B6. Much appreciated.

It's a good thing the vertical stab and tail assembly is made of plastic, and I could deal with plastic quite comfortably.

[Black 6]

Originally Posted by STARMAN 352ND

Do you have to take it off like that ?
What if you just turned upside down like you said and then use the hairdryer will that work or not?
JP

You might be able to do it that way Star, but I think it helps to heat the plastic from both sides somewhat evenly. I think you also have a little more control over the pressure you use when bending the plastic to shape. In my case I also had to remove it as the tail assembly did not fit into the fuselage correctly so a little shaving and filing was needed.

[Old Crow]

I saw both of the A-10s today (Showtime and Mil Killer) and they are absolutely beautiful. However, every one of the 25 or so on the shelf had this problem.

Black 6, did you have to do anything to keep the hair dryer from damaging the paint finish?

Hawkonevoodoo, do you know if HM has plans for a fix of this issue?

[Black 6]

Originally Posted by Old Crow

I
Black 6, did you have to do anything to keep the hair dryer from damaging the paint finish?

Hi OC: I kept the hair dryer on hot and about three inches away from the plastic. I also didn't hold the dryer still (so that the heat/air flow was directed at a certain spot for long), but instead waved it a bit and turned the piece over every few seconds (about the length of time it took for my fingers to get uncomfortably hot). Doing that I didn't experience any problems at all.

[hawkonevoodoo]

Originally Posted by Old Crow

I saw both of the A-10s today (Showtime and Mil Killer) and they are absolutely beautiful. However, every one of the 25 or so on the shelf had this problem.

Black 6, did you have to do anything to keep the hair dryer from damaging the paint finish?

Hawkonevoodoo, do you know if HM has plans for a fix of this issue?

The first two were already too far along to stop their release but release 3 and on will be corrected.

[hawkonevoodoo]

Originally Posted by STARMAN 352ND

Thanks for the tip on that problem...
Do you have to take it off like that ?
What if you just turned upside down like you said and then use the hairdryer will that work or not?
I was thinking of doing the same thing myself as the way you did it.

JP

I would recommend removing it because you actually have to bend it a little bit past where you want it to finally end up. It will spring back just a tiny bit plus it makes it easier to handle the one piece instead of trying to fumble around with the entire plane and less likely to break some other part. Light heat does work well, I used low heat over a stove burner with the piece held far enough above the element so not to apply too much heat and melt the plastic. You only want to mildly soften it like Black 6 said and I don't know if soften is the correct word. Just enough warmth to be able to flex the stabilizer ever so little where it meets the fuselage piece it is attached to. I would also recommend doing the bending in 2 or 3 stages this way you never have to apply very much pressure at any one time.

[STARMAN 352ND]

Black6 it worked check out the pictures.
I did just as you and Hawk said...
Very easy to do if you are carefull.
Thanks for the tip on this.
JP

[hawkonevoodoo]

Glad it worked for you. I found it a very easy fix as well as long as you don't rush things, take 5 minutes instead of 4 to do it.