[Customs] Quick Work pt.8 - OCD On Full Blast

When I receive a Hot Wheels mainline and find the assembly is not perfect, I tend to overlook it. When these toys are sold at a dollar per, it'd be strange to hold such high expectations of its quality. When dropping $10+ on something on the level of a Kyosho minicar however, you bet quality control is a big deal. Unfortunately, it seems that even with a brand of higher status can make silly mistakes.

Breakdown of today's post:
1) Adjusted skewed ride heights on the Aoshimas.
2) Performed primitive surgery on Kyosho race cars.

Let's start with these two Aoshima models I picked up about two weeks ago:



What's wrong with it? It's hard to spot, but the rear sits lower than the front. It doesn't seem so bad, but check out this RX-7:



Hoot! That's even more terrible!

After an inspection post-assembly, I found out it was due to the construction of the inner content. None of the axles were warped. It was because the two axles weren't being held still at the same level. The back axle is held down by the interior plastic piece, whereas the front axle is kept down from two protruding tabs off the casting's inner rib. The fix could not be any more simple; just remove the tabs!

Much better! Could've and probably should've went lower though.





Mm! That is my favourite level of lowering: enough so the wheel
well's circumference maintains the same-sized gap all around the tire.

Consistency is what I like to see. When a gap doesn't maintain the
same dimension, it look fundamentally wrong. Speaking of which,
I have two Kyosho models I took drastic action upon:




They're a beaut and they weren't easy to get a hold of either. Auctions ended around $27 for each one, and when I'm putting that kind of money on a 1:64 scale model (not to be confused with a 1:64 toy), I have some mighty high expectations of it. Sad to say, I was terribly let down yet a second time by the crooked rear wings.



I don't know about what others think, but I did not bid up to twenty-something to have slanted wings. I didn't notice this until I saw, from the top view, that the gap between the wing and the body weren't parallel. This stuck out like a sore thumb from then on. Having beef with past Hot Wheels' crooked plastic wings, I definitely could not bear having to live with gorgeous diecasts ruined by something so silly. And so off I went gently twisting and bending the arms that hold the wing. It wasn't getting far, but I did notice the wings on both 787Bs had untidy glue on it, and that lead to me think the eBay seller must've broken it off and re-attached them, albeit poorly. Whatever the case may be, it still looks awful and I wanted to correct it, and so I continue pressing and warping, until...

SNAP!



It's ruined! Oh shit! Is the damage irreversible?!

Fortunately, yes. Having the wing broken off completely actually made the job a lot easier. I may have dropped the value of these two gems, but I value the accurate appearance of a model over whether or not it has had any slapstick modifications done to it. Still though, to a model builder, the sound of delicate plastic snapping into two is one hell of a heart-stopper.



Repair took less than 3 minutes to do. Totally worth it.




For more Kyosho-related repairs, I've a 911 GT3 R Hybrid that needs a wing adjustment as well.


But this fella's got more than just that coming. I've planned a full livery replica for it.
We may not see an update in a long while though, so hopefully it isn't forgotten!