What's wrong with my Yamato, Bandai, etc.

[Nerd-linger]

Not a big deal but thought I'd mention it. I just got a VF-1A TV Production Type (Canon Fodder) from the second HLJ sale, it's one of the later runs as it has the updated swing bar nose hatch and no rainbow canopy. However the canopy does have a fairly prominent seam line down the middle. A little strange as I have a few 1/60s with the non-rainbow canopy and they do not have a seam. Not a big deal as this canon fodder is my second and I plan to display it in battroid mode anyway, but still something people might want to watch out for.

[Scream Man]

My VF-1J Hikaru's shoulder just exploded

So that sucks ass. Meanwhile I'll buy the 1J with GBP when i can afford it and hope the shoulder son it are ok.

[mickyg]

SNIP:

...However the canopy does have a fairly prominent seam line down the middle. A little strange as I have a few 1/60s with the non-rainbow canopy and they do not have a seam.

I've got a (first release?) VF-1A and VF-1J (both Hikaru) and I never noticed the seam line. I ordered a 1S kit and noticed it quite prominently. I then went back and noticed the first two I had also had a seam, it was just a lot less noticeable.

Perhaps the newer mold for these toys is responsible? Or maybe it's an older mold for the canopies? Either way, if you want to get rid of it, a bit of sanding with increasingly fine sandpaper and a dip in future will sort it out. That's if you can get the canopy off, mind you...

[Shaorin]

this is how i always hold my VF-1Jv.II when manipulating either arm during transformation.

i keep pressure on the shoulder assembly of the arm unit i'm rotating, with my thumb applying the pressure.

i feel that this lessens/eliminates any flexure-induced stress normally imparted upon the mechanism's joints from the action of the required 180 degree rotation;

Edited February 14, 2011 by Shaorin

[ps99042]

just opened up my Garland as I'm trying to make space for my new wife and the right shoulder just popped off from the slightest touch! Then the arm popped off cracking the hole it fits in! Anyone know where I can get replacement shoulder parts since I read this is really common?

[markoN1]

this is how i always hold my VF-1Jv.II when manipulating either arm during transformation.

i keep pressure on the shoulder assembly of the arm unit i'm rotating, with my thumb applying the pressure.

i feel that this lessens/eliminates any flexure-induced stress normally imparted upon the mechanism's joints from the action of the required 180 degree rotation;

I use the same tehnique on my vf-1j ... so far without any problems with shoulders.

Edited February 14, 2011 by markoN1

[Shaorin]

My VF-1J Hikaru's shoulder just exploded

So that sucks ass. Meanwhile I'll buy the 1J with GBP when i can afford it and hope the shoulder son it are ok.

sorry about that. what version was it?

[anime52k8]

I just had my VE-1 fall off a self and the radar dish's strut snapped in half. I was able to glue it back together but now it's stuck in the collapsed position so I can't display it in battroid mode.

Is there anyone in Japan who would be super cool and be willing to contact Yamato customer service for me?

Edited April 29, 2011 by anime52k8

[Lynx7725]

Seems like a bad week for Elintseekers...

Finally broke open my Elintseeker, and promptly scratched the internal coating on the canopy. Seems like a lot of questions on how to remove that, but not many reply. So here's my technique:

You'll need 4, maybe 5 things.

1. Thinner, preferably arcyllic paint thinner. I used Vallejo thinner.

2. Tissue. (obvious reason)

3. Brush. Something smallish but not too small.

4. Water.

5. (maybe) Brush cleaner. I used Vallejo Brush cleaner.

The coating seems to react well to thinner, but you have to be careful not to use thinner that is too strong -- some plastic will react badly to highly concentrated thinner. I used acryllic paint thinner as that is guaranteed not to eat into plastic. You use acryllics to paint on plastic model, if thinner meant for that will eat plastic, then that's really not right... No preference on brand, it's just that Vallejo happens to be what is on hand.

Apply the thinner to the inside of the canopy; take care not to spill over to the outside as the black lining are all on the outside and we try not to take that off if we can. The rainbow coating is all on the inside as a layer and you want the thinner to sit and eat into it a bit. The initial reaction will be a metallic glitter sitting around in the pool of thinner, and subsequently you will see a oily/ red/ pink film on the canopy's inside that is quite resistent to thinner, especially on the edges.

You'll need to take your brush and gently abrade the film off. Note that this might end up as a gel that you need to gently remove from the crevices; use either thinner or brush cleaner to "float" and prod the gel loose. You need quite a bit of patience on this and will take an hour or two. Don't rush the job and don't use anything too hard as this can scratch the canopy plastic.

The brush cleaner is just because I had it handy. It seems to have a slight effect but you might be able to get by with water.

You'll need to flush the end result with water to get rid of residue thinner, but that's trivial. You need to get the water into the canopy joint if you did not dissemble the part; I did not and as a result it's a bit tricky.

You'll also have to accept that you won't be able to get all the film off. This is particularly true for the film at the front and back corners of the canopy. How acceptable that is, is really up to your personal standards.

Hope this helps people. Any questions please PM me as I don't really check this forum.

[boyarque]

Hi, I'm not sure whether I've asked this before, so I'll just ask to be on the safe side.

It's about my Max VF-22; is it normal in battroid mode, the figure tends to fall backward at the knees? The ratchet joint is there, it's just that the knee joints cannot really hold any extreme poses without falling backwards.

[raptormesh]

Hi, I'm not sure whether I've asked this before, so I'll just ask to be on the safe side.

It's about my Max VF-22; is it normal in battroid mode, the figure tends to fall backward at the knees? The ratchet joint is there, it's just that the knee joints cannot really hold any extreme poses without falling backwards.

Hmm i don't have that issue on any of my Sturmvogels, but depends what you mean by extreme poses though. Is it markedly different from your other 22s or 21?

[boyarque]

@raptormesh: I meant that it can hold its standing mode, but quite precariously. Change the angle of the stance a bit, or try to move the torso around, the figure will just fall backwards on its knees.

Unfortunately I dun have any other vf21/22 to compare with.

@raptormesh: I meant that it can hold its standing mode, but quite precariously. Change the angle of the stance a bit, or try to move the torso around, the figure will just fall backwards on its knees.

Unfortunately I dun have any other vf21/22 to compare with.

[blackconvoy_D01]

Hi,

I did a foolish thing on my new VF-25S and put too much pressure on the shoulders and head in the transformation and I broke it. The piece is missing and I have the armored parts. How do I save my toy? Please help!

[m0n5t3r]

Hi,

I did a foolish thing on my new VF-25S and put too much pressure on the shoulders and head in the transformation and I broke it. The piece is missing and I have the armored parts. How do I save my toy? Please help!

just keep it in Fighter mode and pretend it's not broken... it's not your fault. the plastic on that is total crap. I myself have sworn off buying any more of Bandai's DX Macross stuff after discovering a cracked shoulder joint (the part where the hollow pin is inserted) on my DX Monster... there were no cracks when I first got it and I just transformed it once to its destroid/gerwalk mode and displayed it like that ever since.

after the v.2 VF-1 and VF-25S cracked hinges episodes, i've grown tired of complaining and just display them in a mode where I can't see these cracked plastic parts.

[blackconvoy_D01]

just keep it in Fighter mode and pretend it's not broken... it's not your fault. the plastic on that is total crap. I myself have sworn off buying any more of Bandai's DX Macross stuff after discovering a cracked shoulder joint (the part where the hollow pin is inserted) on my DX Monster... there were no cracks when I first got it and I just transformed it once to its destroid/gerwalk mode and displayed it like that ever since.

after the v.2 VF-1 and VF-25S cracked hinges episodes, i've grown tired of complaining and just display them in a mode where I can't see these cracked plastic parts.

Well its not too bad. I was able to put on the armor parts in battroid mode, then convert into fighter, with most of the armor on, minus wing armor. I was given the idea of epoxy. But after that, I may take that advice.

Edited May 16, 2011 by blackconvoy_D01

[BeyondTheGrave]

I can't get the VF-11b Heat Shield to lock into place. Any advice?

Edited May 19, 2011 by BeyondTheGrave

[blackconvoy_D01]

I just got a new YF-19. The limbs at the joints are real loose. I used to use a bit of glue on transformers toys and it worked. I'm a bit hesitant to do it on these toys. Has one elese another idea?

[m0n5t3r]

I just got a new YF-19. The limbs at the joints are real loose. I used to use a bit of glue on transformers toys and it worked. I'm a bit hesitant to do it on these toys. Has one elese another idea?

you can check here - http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=21130

i remember i tightened the hip joint by disassembling it and coating the metal ball joint with nailpolish a couple of years ago. i think for the shoulders i just tightened the screws.

[Chronocidal]

What screws can you even tighten on the arms of the YF-19? Mine won't even support their own weight they're so limp, but none of the relevant screws are even accessible, and the couple that are barely reachable are the ones that the upper arms broke around, and I had to basically fuse the entire upper arm with super glue to fix it.

[m0n5t3r]

I just got a new YF-19. The limbs at the joints are real loose. I used to use a bit of glue on transformers toys and it worked. I'm a bit hesitant to do it on these toys. Has one elese another idea?

since everybody's bustin' out their YF-19s, i decided to fiddle around with mine...

here's the screw that i tightened. it's for the outward movement of the upper arm:

unfortunately the screws that should tighten the rotating motion of the whole arm assembly are covered by that I-shaped piece of plastic at the armpit area of the YF-19... and it looks like it's been glued on (at least on mine).

what you can do if it's loose is you can try to squeeze some super glue between the light brown colored shoulder part and the rotating gray colored upper arm part to increase the friction between those parts. mine isn't too loose yet, but when it does become too loose, i'll probably do that.

aside from that, i put some super glue to the sliding "spine" and the hinges for the chest part (to help tighten that part in b-mode). most of these parts/hinges can't be seen in any of the 3 modes, so putting super glue on these parts is not an issue for me. the super glue fix i did for the hip joint seems to be holding up.

Edited June 9, 2011 by m0n5t3r

[blackconvoy_D01]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26350372@N04/

Here is my collection so far. I have to update when I get the rest of my stands. I was able to tighten the joints with screw tightening and nail polish. Much sturdier. Now I love my YF-19!

[Chronocidal]

here's the screw that i tightened. it's for the outward movement of the upper arm:

See, this is one thing that's bugged me to no end.. I have never been able to get my shoulder pads up that high. If I could have gotten them to do that, fixing the upper shoulder joints would have been easy, but it was a royal pain, because I couldn't get the shoulders to raise high enough that I could get to the screw easily, and I was constantly having to push them up to even see the screw to try and tighten it.

I also did try smearing some superglue into the shoulder rotation joint, but in a possibly related issue, it's too close to the tan shoulder mount to get anything on the shaft. Or maybe I just need thinner glue to drip in there.

I would say though, as a warning.. don't over-tighten that shoulder screw. Those shoulders are not very well constructed at all, and turning that screw too far could cause the threaded peg on the opposite half to just shear off, forcing you to glue the whole thing together so it will even stay attached.

I dunno. I might dig mine out later to look at again, but I think in my mind I've pretty much written off that YF-19 as a failure and given up on fixing it, in hope that a new one gets made. The only reason I have it is because it felt wrong to have the YF-21 and VF-11 without it, but it's of such different quality, it's almost painful to set them all next to each other.

I know a lot of people love their YF-19s, and it does look good from certain angles, but I just can't understand many of the design choices that went into that thing.

[m0n5t3r]

anybody else experiencing paint transfer between the metal shoulder hinges and the sides of the head of their 1/60 VF-11B in fighter mode?

i don't mind the paint chips on the shoulder hinges but the ones on the orange stripe on the head is not okay.

and the tab that's supposed to keep the front fuselage/cockpit section in place when in fighter is slowly crumbling away.

[sivar]

How do I disassemble the forearm on the SV-51? Mine suffers from floppy tailfins. I've read that someone was able to work super glue into the joint without taking the arm about, but I don't think I could manage that without messing up the arm.

[Chronocidal]

Short of drilling out the screw covers, no, it's not really possible to pull the arm apart. I tried on my first one, and nearly broke the entire thing.

The way I fixed it was to put thick super glue on the tip of a pin, and dab it onto the main support. Once a little had accumulated, I kept spinning the tail around to keep it from sticking in place. It did fog up the plastic around the joint some, but it's a very small area, and it was worth it to get the tail to stay in position I think.

[blackconvoy_D01]

Can anyone post a successful closed heat cover on the VF-11c? I can't do it! Id appreciate any tips too... thanks.

[sivar]

Short of drilling out the screw covers, no, it's not really possible to pull the arm apart. I tried on my first one, and nearly broke the entire thing.

The way I fixed it was to put thick super glue on the tip of a pin, and dab it onto the main support. Once a little had accumulated, I kept spinning the tail around to keep it from sticking in place. It did fog up the plastic around the joint some, but it's a very small area, and it was worth it to get the tail to stay in position I think.

Thanks. I tried using a pin, but the drop of glue didn't stay on long enough for me to get it where I needed it. However, I did remove the screw at the wrist which allowed me to spread open the forearm halves a bit. This gave me a little more room at the swivel join to work in, and I was able to get the glue in there.

[Chronocidal]

K, good to hear you got it. The trouble with opening the arms is that the magnets in them tend to pop out, and can be a pain to get back in correctly.

[blackconvoy_D01]

I think I bought either an old yf-19 or a bum one. Has this ever happened to anyone?

Edited June 21, 2011 by blackconvoy_D01

[Chronocidal]

Ouch. That area shouldn't even be under stress, unless someone tried to pry the intake assembly apart. Really makes me question the plastic the YF-19 is made from though, it's not the first time people have had random parts just crack.

Frankly, what scares me is how much the texture of the YF-19's plastic reminds me of the shattertastic explodium they used in many of the VF-0's components.

[blackconvoy_D01]

Ouch. That area shouldn't even be under stress, unless someone tried to pry the intake assembly apart. Really makes me question the plastic the YF-19 is made from though, it's not the first time people have had random parts just crack.

Frankly, what scares me is how much the texture of the YF-19's plastic reminds me of the shattertastic explodium they used in many of the VF-0's components.

The YF-19 has been one dud for me out of the 8 Macross Valks and Mechs I've picked up so far. Same ratio I had for the Robotech MPCs.

[nightmareB4macross]

Ouch. That area shouldn't even be under stress, unless someone tried to pry the intake assembly apart. Really makes me question the plastic the YF-19 is made from though, it's not the first time people have had random parts just crack.

Frankly, what scares me is how much the texture of the YF-19's plastic reminds me of the shattertastic explodium they used in many of the VF-0's components.

Even if someone tried to pry the parts open at that partiular area, there is no glue present. The glued area are aft of the intake blades.

"shattertastic explodium", I think you could be right about this.

[m0n5t3r]

I think I bought either an old yf-19 or a bum one. Has this ever happened to anyone?

sorry to hear about your YF-19... kinda like what happened to this YF-19

the plastic on the YF-19 is definitely iffy, but i think what eventually made it crack might be an over-tightened screw...

afaik, there were 2 guys who had that happen back then... i checked my YF-19 when i read their posts and saw that mine was showing a white line, exactly where theirs cracked ,where the plastic was clearly stressed... i loosened the screw that connects the two halves of the neck part and the white stress line disappeared. i didn't bother tightening that screw at all after that. on yours, the (hidden) screw that keeps the 2 halves of the lerx part together might have been over-tightened. after seeing your post i promptly disassembled that part from the hip and loosened those screws.

guess you'll just have to display your YF-19 in battroid so that crack isn't visible...

[blackconvoy_D01]

I had it in battroid, on the 6 inch flightpose for over a week, and then I wanted to reposition it due to what I saw on the flightpose thread. So I figured why not fighter mode with the fold booster and fast pack. While converting, nothing would stay in place. So I thought I would apply more pressure specifically on the rear of the fighter to hold all the limbs in place. Next thing you know, crack!

[Alex]

Goddamnit!! I broke my 1/3000 SDF. Those little antennae at the back are made from the most fragile plastic. I don't know why they couldn't make those from the same plastic as the ones on the bridge.

One broke off and the other has some serious stress marks.