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Seriously,

I bought a Monolith and one of the side panels was warped, presumably by heat. No other portion of the model was damaged as far as I can tell - I found out during dry fitting.

The GW CS team was very helpful and offered to replace the model completely (it's in the mail), but I'm wondering if I can salvage the side panel. The warped portion is a bottom corner that looks like someone peeled it away from where it contacts the base. Any ideas on how to straighten the piece out? I thought about using a blow dryer, but the heat might be too concentrated on one side to bend it back into position.

Help!

Why not try the forge world model approach, dunk it in boiling water for a few seconds and it could be bendable,
alternatively you could use a strip heater

I'd say a hair dryer or recently boiled water would work well. Be very careful not to burn yourself though, especially if its your first time using this technique!

The last thing you want is to leave a fingerprint imprinted into the plastic and have to explain what happened to your finger!

So did GW post you out a new monolith and let you keep the old one? sweet!

i was just wondering that, if they did then thats two for one, which on a rather expensive model is gr8!!!

A free Monolith? Cool.

I would suggest modeling it as battle damaged if some of the other techniques don't work to well.

ahhh now thats a good idea, battle damaged, although with living metal im not sure if it would allow there to be battle damage showing

Well with the living metal it could be in the process of fixing itself.

yeah spose so

Going on what bureaucraticom wrote, why not try putting wires and pistons going from the warped bit to the inside, like it is pulling itself back together

Goliath wrote:Going on what bureaucraticom wrote, why not try putting wires and pistons going from the warped bit to the inside, like it is pulling itself back together

That's cool you should try that.

yea in the process of fixing itself would look awesome really. get some small gauge wire and have it "shooting out" in places trying to reconnect to the Monolith itself. Things like that would look friggin cool. Then youd have a nice conversion piece

maybe I should of read the whole shebang lol oh well we had the same basic idea

The idea of modding it to look like it's self repairing would be very cool. Barring that, I'd say just surgically remove the bad area then replace it with plasticard. Corners would be a problem if there are any to deal with. Boiling water is iffy at best, if you leave it in even a microsecond too long the plastic starts to shrink up on itself.

Thanks for all the feedback, guys. The big Gee-Dub did indeed send me a new 'lith and were incredibly friendly about the whole thing once I explained the situation.

I hadn't thought about converting it to show the damaged portions healing - that's an ace idea.

Someone recently recommended that I fill a casserole dish with sand, heat it in the oven to 250-300 degrees, then sink the portions I need to mold in the sand until they're malleable. He said that's how plastic lenses are molded for eyeglasses... I'm worried about overheating and damaging the model, but then I can always do the healing conversion if I need to!

heat it up with a hairdryer, you can then bend it. I've done this with plastic kits before.

Gavin Thorne wrote:Someone recently recommended that I fill a casserole dish with sand, heat it in the oven to 250-300 degrees, then sink the portions I need to mold in the sand until they're malleable. He said that's how plastic lenses are molded for eyeglasses... I'm worried about overheating and damaging the model, but then I can always do the healing conversion if I need to!

I've seen it done before with salt to bend standing legs in to a kneeling position. If you go down that route you should be fine as long as you don't leave the plastic in for very long.

Knew I seen it somewhere there's a post on bolterandchainsword about how to do it, it's called "salt dipping"

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.php?showtopic=112647&hl=salt

Sometimes, you can hunt down monolith parts on the cheap off of ebay. I had a friend who left a 'lith in front of the space heater and warped part of it. He scavenged some parts and rebuilt it for $8 or $10 dollars with shipping, and didn't have to use a hair dryer.

Rymafyr wrote:The idea of modding it to look like it's self repairing would be very cool. Barring that, I'd say just surgically remove the bad area then replace it with plasticard. Corners would be a problem if there are any to deal with. Boiling water is iffy at best, if you leave it in even a microsecond too long the plastic starts to shrink up on itself.

That was going to be my idea.

Dude just but the pirece from bitz box or any bits site for that matter cost you at max a fiver

da-chaos-orks wrote:Dude just but the pirece from bitz box or any bits site for that matter cost you at max a fiver

Does this post not highlight the need for a forum editor, someone who can make sense (not sence or since) of the mish-mash we sift through on a daily basis?

"Dude, just buy the piece from Bitz Box, or any bits site for that matter. It will cost your $5 at the most."

To reply: I haven't had great success buying bitz for a monolith, as the bits sites I've been to do not sell the panels/parts individually, but rather as a sprue at a price considerably higher than $5. This leaves me with an extra panel, which I honestly have no need for.

If you know of a site that has the side panel in question for only $5, I would appreciate a URL or hyperlink to take advantage. If you have the same difficulty I had, I'll stick to the easier, more creative, and less expensive option of converting battle damage.

Do you know anyone who plays Orks?

A partially-uncovered Monolith, possibly being excavated from a hill, would also make really cool scenery. Maybe add some scaffolding, tools, and tents and you've got an Imperial horror movie ready to be shot!

I wanted to let everyone know that I repaired the monolith this weekend through judicious and persistent use of my wife's hairdryer - don't let her know, though! The side panel still bends outward just a tad during dryfitting, but not enough to keep glue from bonding it in place.

Also, I visited a model train expo Saturday and was given a very thorough clinic on wiring LED's and optic fibers. Of course I picked up some LED's after the clinic and look forward to working them into the monolith's glowy bits (following Aduro's fine example).

Lol i swear 'Rama you've made everything out of everything.

i like the light LED idea
top job

HeHe, this happened to me when i bought some ogre ironguts for ushabti conversions. i got a single warped torso, called GW up and they sent me a whole brand new box. i know have 3 ogres i am waiting for inspiration to strike so i can use them.

all the best with the monolith.