real quick question

[kanedaestes]

When i recieved my first toy it was a vf-1s hikaru type, and i loved it, but the rubber parts in the joints of the legs were already coming off the minute i took it out of the box, and the left leg joint broken upon first transformation, now i have learned from my mistakes, but i have just recently purchased vf-1j hikaru with fastpack online, now how do i keep those from happening, the leg joint i understand, be more careful, but what about the rubber parts in the socket, and how do you place the strap on the gun? i had a hard time figuring that one out too.

[eugimon]

this is a case where searching the forums would be really usefull, there is actually a pinned topic called: what's wrong with my blah blah blah,

here's a link: http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=143

anyways, the rubber coming out is a common thing, there's really nothing wrong with it other than it is unsightly... what you can do is gently pull the leg away from the center swing bar. the leg will pull away and leave a small rectangular box attached to the swing bar. you can then unscrew it, reseat the rubber gasket and complete the repair... I think some people here have tried actually gluing the rubber gasket in place with a nice high quality sealant that is formulated for rubber. I have not tried this. however, I will say I had this problem on my 1s re-issue and after fixing it myself, the seal has remained fine.

sucks about the leg on your 1j though...

as for the gun strap, I would suggest some nice pliers which you can use to open the rings and close them again. carefully though, some people have had the strap tear apart at holes where the rings go through.

[kanedaestes]

yeah thanks, and the thing with the strap happened to me to, but you know it happens, i am new to the yamato toys, for the longest time i just couldn't afford them, and now i can, but i am not use to how careful one needs to be, anyway, what is the best sealent for the rubber? i already now how to take the leg apart as i have tried to fix my broken leg so that isn't a problem, but i want to know what the best sealent is, one that won't eat the rubber.

[Opus]

When you take the hip joint apart all you need to do is sand some of the paint out of the socket and the rubber piece should stay in. You shouldn't need to glue it.

For the gunstrap rings twist them to the side rather than pulling them apart so you don't distort the shape of the ring. I hope that makes sense.

[kanedaestes]

okay, one last thing, um what is the best paint to use, and is the best tool to use so that i can paint my panel lines, i remember trying to do it on my old gundam models, but i never got it right, they aren't too many people where i live that i know of who are good at modeling, so i have to ask

[eugimon]

check out the how to modeling forum... many masters there with many techniques