Fixing a molding defect

On a rare occasion a part will separate prematurely from a runner; and on a rarer occasion it will take a chunk of the part with it. 

Unfortunately this occurred to the tip of the MG Epyon's tail. 

There are a few ways to handle this, you can:

Request a replacement from Bandai.

Or

Purchase a replacement from Gentei Kits.

Or

You can put your big boy pants on and fix it yourself.

Here's what you'll need to affect a repair:

Extra thin cement


X-acto knife

Sand paper

Tweezers

Optional:

Putty white or grey

The process

It's important for you to save the piece that has broken off from the part. Because the piece is a perfect plug for the missing part.

First start by applying the extra thin cement to the female end of the break. Ensure that you cove the entire surface area inside of the break. Allow the glue 10-15 seconds to start affecting the plastic and then insert the male end into the female. 

Inserting the broken section can be tricky; ideally you want to perfectly align the part in all three dimensions. Because of the size of the broken piece you may need to use a pair of tweezers like I did. 

Allow the glue to fully set; this usually takes a few hours, but I typically wait until the next day. 

Once the glue has fully dried use your X-acto knife to trim the nub off of the part. And follow that up with various grits of sand paper. 


Optional:

For particularly bad breaks, or if the fitment of your repair is off you may need to fill in your parts with putty and sand them down. Fortunately this part didn't require this extra step!

All done! After a coat of primer and paint this will be completely hidden.