Wicked Ace

I sent this member a PM, asking kindly for a step-by-step to be put into the pinned YF-19 Fix/Modification thread in the Customization forum. Hopefully keeping all this type stuff in one place will save our sanity.

Sure, just "break" the fuselage piece loose and lean the cockpit back -- there should be enough room to get a skinny file on the square pegs.

You do know there's a whole thread on this stuff in the Customization forum, right?

Yikes! I think you were right to include the diclaimer.

Takatoys' gunpod fix works great.

I could see evidence of glue on mine as well, but the gray piece that did not break on mine dropped right out once the screw was removed.

It may just be me misunderstanding, but it seems you disagree with the cautions/warnings that have been posted in this thread. You state, "People shoudl try to transform and not panic." Let's see, "brute force" may have been a pretty reasonable explanation early on, but after Graham's review, Yamato's website warning/instruction, not to mention numerous posts on the subject, can you really sit back and blame the ham-fistedness of the members who have had these things break apart, right out of the box? I hope it is just your wording, because your reply seems dismissive.

I realize my posts (and maybe one other MW member's) may come off as a rant or -19 bashing, but my observations are posted to caution current and prospective YF-19 buyers; this is stuff I'd want to know before choosing to purchase. Keep in mind, I have not (and will not) tried to return my broken -19 to the seller, which I'm sure would take care of me -- that says something about how I feel about this thing.

Often times the hole is just as much at fault for the problem. Hopefully, we get an issue-free SV-51 from Yamato.

I disagree that most would find the broken fuselage issue "easily" fixable, and I think most would consider the problem to be a tad bit debilitating. As far as the other -19 gripes, I agree they're not really a big issue. To be clear, I was most certainly kidding about the VF-0 shoulder reports being exaggerations. I have the beginnings of a stress crack on one of my VF-0S's bicep/shoulder part.

I have one of these, and it's greatness. Naturally, you get the sword, pointed sheild, and all the lions have individual weapons. From what I can tell, it's just like the old-school one. I don't have any pictures of it as it packed away about 250 miles away from me right now.

I get so tired of chicks complaining to me about this one.

Those picture are definitely cool. I like how people appear to just be going about their business despite the fact that giant robots are standing in the street; I especially like the guy selling newspapers next to the CF foot.

It seems some -19s are better than others. I can only speak for myself when it comes to pilot error in transformation -- it was my second -19 that had the problem, right out of the box. Before I got my first -19, I watched Graham's transformation guide several times and managed to transform my first -19 about a dozen times, with no difficulty and certainly no breakage. So, in my case, the toy, not the operator is the problem. BTW, you VF-0 guys and your shoulders are exaggerating a bit aren't you?

Remove the gray piece and put the epoxy on it, then, after the epoxy has cured, screw it back down. I would check to see if this is enough, but in my case it wasn't, as my piece was completely snapped at the screw hole. If need by for added strength, add epoxy in the wedge the gray piece seats in. Note, this part will no longer be removable, so if you need to take the fuselage hinge apart, you'll have to unscrew the other gray piece.

Who, specifically has been "exaggerating a bit"?

Did you include some of this stuff with the -19s you were selling? Seriously, is there a particular brand you like to use, if so maybe you'd be kind enough to post a picture of it, so others can know what to look for, should the need arise.

Yes it can. If you haven't already, take a peek over at Robotech.com and see what the, ahem, "protoculture adicts" are saying. As one of the RT people put it, the dialogue was just "not as mature" as the original ("New Generation"); I agree. I will say that the two friends I went to this film with actually liked it -- not loved it, but liked it. I apologized profusely to them for making so many wise cracks during the film, but it turns out I didn't ruin it for them. There's just a few scenes that it's almost impossible for an MW'er not to bust out with something, if not just plain laughter.

"Rick" is a gray-haired, hard face lined, limited screentime figure in the film -- not recognizable in the slightest, as the script writers constantly remind you who this is supposed to be by having others say, "Admiral Hunter" several times.

I think it's too early to tell if BBTS received a bad batch of these.

I'd suggest looking here, especially the last few pages: Strike a pose thread

This is what the gap looked like on my new -19. Of course, I did not take pictures of it right out of the box, but this is only a slight exaggeration. If your -19 looks like this from the side, you need to either send it back or break out the small screwdriver to relieve the pressure.

I was fortunate in that both fuselage pivots did not break, so I was able to use a decent "glue weld" on the broken pivot hold-down. Note: this repair job looks messy, because I tried three different common glues to see what worked. I don't recommend the model glue or the Krazy Glue for this job -- the Seal All does the trick -- perhaps others can chime in on what's good, too. Anyway, this repair is rock solid as of now -- I'll post up if it breaks after a few more lock/unlock tests. I hope nobody else has to go through this fix, but hopefully my posts will help if need be. If I choose to clean up this repair job with Tamiya model putty, I'll post up pictures.

Believe me, I'd rather be posting pictures of modifications/improvements rather than fixes, but I got unlucky with my second -19. The quick rundown: 1. This thing broke upon very first transformation (note: I am experienced in transforming the -19, not a newbie); 2. I noticed the locking pegs were more pronounced than on my other -19; and 3. I've repaired the gray fuselage pivot holdown and filed down the offending pegs. Here are pictures of the repaired part, followed by where I filed to relieve undue pressure/effort on the fuselage:

I will say that the "Alpha's" transformation was pretty decent; however, you never get to see a "Beta" transform -- it only served as a booster/missle holder. I was disappointed in this. As I mentioned before, no ride armor transformation; I actually said, out loud, in my best Cartman voice, "That's f-ing weak." I just want to clarify that I would not make outbursts in a regular theater -- that's just rude. The theater where Shadow Chronicles was showing is a sit-down-and-eat-while-watching type thing, which had plentyof seating, as this thing was FAR from sold-out. The RT fans who kept applauding and cheering, behind me, actually got me going, as I was trying to give this thing a chance; these people had every chance to move to an equally desireable table at any time, but maybe they liked cursing me and throwing popcorn at me -- I don't know.