Has anyone had any success straightening out warped plastic shells? I'm thinking a hair dryer or more likely, a paint removing heat gun.
I would be interested to learn your techniques, tips, warnings, etc.
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Believe me, you do NOT repeat NOT want to use a heat gun. A hairdryer is chancey enough. If you are determined, I would clamp blocks of wood onto the plastic in the form you hope to change it before hitting it with the hairdryer. For myself, I'd try to find another shell rather than risk more damage.
Listen to Art....he hit the nail on the head. Chances are you are gonna do more damage than good....find a good shell or contact Len Caparelli @ L &L restorations....see if he may have a restored shell.....
Yes - get a new one. Life's too short, and the results almost always look like, well, you tried to de-warp a shell.
Wow! That's quite a consensus of opinion! So I guess rather than trying to straighten my $1.00 purchase at the last train show, I'll relegate this one to the "rusting and decaying old diesel sitting on a grass covered side track" status. Thanks!
I actually just love the looks of that engine so much I'll probably make a desk ornament out of it .... or maybe a hood ornament 
The problem lies in the quirk of it shrinking when too much heat is applied.
Unfortunately plastic has a 'memory'. You know those spring-loaded CD/DVD racks where you push in a CD and it pops out? If the spring is made of plastic, then after a year or two the discs no longer pop out because the spring adopts a new shape and lies flat.
I have a warped plastic frame for a boxcar. I was planning to clamp it flat between two pieces of timber then leave it that way for months and place it in the sun or in a warm place now and again. After reading these replies, I'm not sure I'll bother. I might take a long time to encourage the plastic to want to lie flat again.
