1/48 VF-1D conversion kit inquiry.

[captain america]

Update.

The following orders have shipped:

-Zeta Otaku

-The French One

-Sephiroth

-UN Spacy

-JoLe727

Shipping next Thursday:

-datterboy

-Roy's Blues

-wickedpr1nce

-Xstoys

-Exo

[Mechamaniac]

Any word on instructions?

[captain america]

Yes. They'll be done tomorrow as promised.

[Die, Alien Scum!]

Got mine yesterday and everything looks great! No gummy canopy, no broken antennae, no problems at all. Thanks again, cap!

[Knight26]

Got mine yesterday as well looks great, cap'n A you are the man. Wait Captain AMerica is from Canada, I'm confused, lol. 12 days to edwards.

[TheFrenchOne]

Update.

The following orders have shipped:

-Zeta Otaku

-The French One

-Sephiroth

-UN Spacy

-JoLe727

Shipping next Thursday:

-datterboy

-Roy's Blues

-wickedpr1nce

-Xstoys

-Exo

341389[/snapback]

Cool, i will let you know when i get it.

[Kurt]

Cap,

Thanks for the great looking conversion kit. A couple problems/questions here though.

1) There's a missing "antennae/aeleron tab" on the BP8 part, looks like it was snapped off. (see picture)

2) Is the canopy supposed to be so gel-like and rubbery? It warps considerably at the slightest touch...

Thanks,

-Kurt

340881[/snapback]

Hi Kurt.

Yes, the clear resin has a tendancy to be quite tempermental, and I've had words with Smooth-On over this very issue. You can cook the canopy in the oven at 150f (not higher!) for about 4 hours and let cool. This helps to harden the resin and increase it's physical properties. According to Smooth On, even when the parts come out soft like that, they WILL eventually firm up, but because the material is very fickle when mixing, some batches will simply take longer to harden.

341013[/snapback]

Captain,

The canopy in the one sent for fearyaks is gummy as well. I will place it in the oven to try and cure it. While in the oven, will it soften even more? Should I support it while it is baking? Thanks.

[captain america]

Cap,

Thanks for the great looking conversion kit. A couple problems/questions here though.

1) There's a missing "antennae/aeleron tab" on the BP8 part, looks like it was snapped off. (see picture)

2) Is the canopy supposed to be so gel-like and rubbery? It warps considerably at the slightest touch...

Thanks,

-Kurt

340881[/snapback]

Hi Kurt.

Yes, the clear resin has a tendancy to be quite tempermental, and I've had words with Smooth-On over this very issue. You can cook the canopy in the oven at 150f (not higher!) for about 4 hours and let cool. This helps to harden the resin and increase it's physical properties. According to Smooth On, even when the parts come out soft like that, they WILL eventually firm up, but because the material is very fickle when mixing, some batches will simply take longer to harden.

341013[/snapback]

Captain,

The canopy in the one sent for fearyaks is gummy as well. I will place it in the oven to try and cure it. While in the oven, will it soften even more? Should I support it while it is baking? Thanks.

341579[/snapback]

Yes it will. You'll need to place the part on a cookie tray, and preferably a sheet of wax paper between them. I cannot stress how important temperature control is in this instance. The oven should be set to exactly 150f, not higher.

For what it's worth, this technique does work in the long-term: I have a clear cockpit half from my Regult kit which I had never shipped-out, because it suffered from Gummy syndrome, so I baked it for 4 hours as suggested by Smooth On. THe effect was not immediate honestly, it took about 2 months, but the part is now completely cured and as stiff as it should be. This is the only reason I shipped-out the first few models with soft canopies: I knew that they'd harden with time, otherwise I would have simply replaced the parts before shipping 'em.

[Mechamaniac]

Yeah, the one that came with my colored kit was a little gummy, not as bad as some that I have seen.

Time will have to do the trick for mine though, cuz I checked my oven, and the lowest it goes is 170.

Ah well, I don't have any plans with it until Anasazi is ready for my custom job anyway.

[hirohawa]

What do the gummy canopies taste like?

[irishman]

Chicken...

Chicken and Panda Love.....

[Kurt]

Hi Kurt.

Yes, the clear resin has a tendancy to be quite tempermental, and I've had words with Smooth-On over this very issue. You can cook the canopy in the oven at 150f (not higher!) for about 4 hours and let cool. This helps to harden the resin and increase it's physical properties. According to Smooth On, even when the parts come out soft like that, they WILL eventually firm up, but because the material is very fickle when mixing, some batches will simply take longer to harden.

341013[/snapback]

Captain,

The canopy in the one sent for fearyaks is gummy as well. I will place it in the oven to try and cure it. While in the oven, will it soften even more? Should I support it while it is baking? Thanks.

341579[/snapback]

Yes it will. You'll need to place the part on a cookie tray, and preferably a sheet of wax paper between them. I cannot stress how important temperature control is in this instance. The oven should be set to exactly 150f, not higher.

For what it's worth, this technique does work in the long-term: I have a clear cockpit half from my Regult kit which I had never shipped-out, because it suffered from Gummy syndrome, so I baked it for 4 hours as suggested by Smooth On. THe effect was not immediate honestly, it took about 2 months, but the part is now completely cured and as stiff as it should be. This is the only reason I shipped-out the first few models with soft canopies: I knew that they'd harden with time, otherwise I would have simply replaced the parts before shipping 'em.

341582[/snapback]

Any suggestions on how to paint something so flexable? Any way to get it replaced with a rigid one?

[Majestic]

  Any suggestions on how to paint something so flexable?  Any way to get it replaced with a rigid one?

You could paint the part in-place after it hardens and everything else is in completed form, I suppose. That said, I wouldn't mind a replacement rigid one either.

[Mechamaniac]

So, how bout those instructions Cap?

[captain america]

As of Saturday morning, all paid orders will have been shipped.

If anyone else wants a conversion kit, now's the time.

[Roy's Blues]

I received my kit yesterday, but have yet to open it.

I saw this on Ebay today.

Since the seller is from Canada, I'm assuming that's Capt's Ebay ID.

If so, why not promo it in the Auction section?

Edited November 8, 2005 by Roy's Blues

[captain america]

Hi Roy. Yup, that's my auction.

I didn't bother linking in the Auction section since pretty much any MWer will know to buy from me directly; I'm just using E-Bay to reach the fans that don't frequent the forums here.

[Sephiroth]

I received my VF-1D vanilla kit today. The kit looks great overall, although I can't say I'm happy with the clear canopy that I received. The canopy is very rigid; however, mine came slightly warped on the left side which prevents it from sitting flush on the cockpit like it's supposed to. Most disappointing is that this particular canopy is missing the left nub on the hinge that keeps it in place when the top part is placed over it. Just in case anyone is wondring, it didn't break off, it was never there to begin with as it appears not enough clear resin was injected into the mold or something. Other than that, all the other parts appear to be fine. I feel the canopy is one of the most noticible and integral parts to this $80 kit and I don't think the kit is worth my time or effort building as is. Cap, is it possible to get a replacement canopy from you for this kit?

Edited November 8, 2005 by Sephiroth

[captain america]

*sigh* The canopy can be "unwarped" like any other resin: by placing it in warm water til it becomes a bit soft, then take it out, place it against the piece it needs to fit onto, and then, holding both parts together, run them under cold water to set the part.

[Sephiroth]

*sigh* The canopy can be "unwarped" like any other resin: by placing it in warm water til it becomes a bit soft, then take it out, place it against the piece it needs to fit onto, and then, holding both parts together, run them under cold water to set the part.

343389[/snapback]

I tried that before I posted, but I guess I didn't get the resin soft enough the first time as I was afraid it would break or something. I tried it again after reading your post and I got it to fit a lot better with a little more hot water soak time and a lot more pressure under cold water. It still won't latch down securely or stay in place when held vertically. That's probably due in big part to the missing left nub on the canopy hinge, which is why I asked for the replacement canopy in the first place. *sigh* I suppose I will just have to fix that problem myself by creating a new nub with some super sculpey or epoxy. At least the hinge is hidden so it shouldn't matter too much as long as the new hinge nub is durable. I knew this kit was going to take a lot of work to build, but having to fix unneccessary stuff like this right out of the box is somewhat annoying considering how much it cost.

Edited November 8, 2005 by Sephiroth

[captain america]

I'm sorry if you feel that my VF-1D kit is substandard. I've attempted to make it as user-friendly as humanly-possible, but I'm afraid that there are limitations to what I can do with even the best urethane resins and silicone molds.

[Sephiroth]

I'm sorry if you feel that my VF-1D kit is substandard. I've attempted to make it as user-friendly as humanly-possible, but I'm afraid that there are limitations to what I can do with even the best urethane resins and silicone molds.

343419[/snapback]

Is that your disclaimer? So what you're saying is that you are not responsible for the quality of the parts you produce and that receiving non-functional parts is to be expected...and that anyone who receives said parts can just bend over? Well, that's basically how it reads to me. I'm pretty sure I didn't see that disclaimer as part of your offer nor did I see a section in your VF-1D kit instructions that addressed fixing your mistakes.

I never said or alluded to your VF-1D kit as being "substandard." I simply pointed out that the canopy I received can not function as it was designed to because it was unintentionally molded without a crucial hinge piece. I understand that not every part you cast is going to be flawless, but at $80 per kit, I would expect you to at least stand by your work and offer a replacement for flawed parts. I'm pretty sure that the canopies you casted for yourself and other members here came with fully molded hinge nubs...hopefully.

John, I have a lot of respect for you and I really do appreciate all the hard work and effort you put into designing, sculpting and producing this awesome-looking VF-1D kit, but had I known that you only offer "luck-of-the-draw" kits, I would have chosen not to take my chances and I would have happily spent my money elsewhere. But hey, what do you care when you already have my money, right?

Edited November 9, 2005 by Sephiroth

[robokochan]

Jesus people. Normally I don't say anything when I am not really involved. But I have to say something. Why are you acting like babies? Waaaaa Waaa Waaaa. I can understand how Yamato feels. Nothing pleases you.

$80.00 a kit is a steal for what John had to do in order to make these things. Do you even remotely have a clue as to how much time it takes? What is involved? NO you don't.

But hey, what do you care when you already have my money, right

You actually think John is like that. You actually think John is trying to "steal" your money? If you had problems, why didn't you take it to PM so it could have been resovled in a decent manner. Nah you didn't think that he may have been more than happy to correct the errors. You didn't even give him a chance.

I have business with John for over two years now. NEVER has he just took someone's money, or not cared about the quality of his work. He has always gone out of his way to make the person buying his work happy. Making statements like the one you made about just shows how ignorant that statement was. Shows that you really don't know anything about him.

Actually I wouldn't be surprised if he decides not to do anything at all for you people anymore.......

Bah it is useless to say anything else....

Edited November 9, 2005 by samurai_m

[Sephiroth]

Jesus people.  Normally I don't say anything when I am not really involved.  But I have to say something.   Why are you acting like babies?  Waaaaa Waaa Waaaa.  I can understand how Yamato feels.  Nothing pleases you.

$80.00 a kit is a steal for what John had to do in order to make these things.  Do you even remotely have a clue as to how much time it takes?  What is involved?  NO you don't. 

 

But hey, what do you care when you already have my money, right

You actually think John is like that. You actually think John is trying to "steal" your money? If you had problems, why didn't you take it to PM so it could have been resovled in a decent manner. Nah you didn't think that he may have been more than happy to correct the errors. You didn't even give him a chance.

I have business with John for over two years now. NEVER has he just took someone's money, or not cared about the quality of his work. He has always gone out of his way to make the person buying his work happy. Making statements like the one you made about just shows how ignorant that statement was. Shows that you really don't know anything about him.

Actually I wouldn't be surprised if he decides not to do anything at all for you people anymore.......

Bah it is useless to say anything else....

343527[/snapback]

Please, tell me how you really feel.

Do you really think I'm the only one here that feels this way? I assure you that I am not. Are you the only person who has ever purchased a kit from him? How would you know how he has treated other customers in the past? Maybe not getting exactly what you paid for isn't a big concern for you, but it is for me. I guess you expect me or anyone else not to voice our concerns when we receive defective, broken, missing, etc., parts from a seller because we don't have intimate knowledge of how an item is made. Honestly, I care more about the end product that I actually receive than the process that went into creating it. Simply put, I am a customer who purchased a product from a seller. The seller sent a defective part and has made no arrangments to correct it when the issue was addressed, nor does he feel obligated to do so. That's the truth of the matter.

Anyway, my first post addressed a problem that I felt other members on this forum who purchased this kit would be interested in. In that same post, I also asked Cap about getting a replacement canopy due to the serious problems associated with the one I received. I took his response be somewhat insulting with his inclusion of the *sigh* remark and the fact that he failed to address the missing hinge part at all or my request for a replacement. He had the opportunity to do the right thing and help his reputation at the same time, but he chose not to which is why the situation escalated to where it is. BTW, I didn't say John was trying to "steal" my money; however, his responses make it obvious to me that he feels no obligation to correct his own errors. I mean, why should he when he has already been paid? If he really cared about the quality of his work or going out of his way to make his customers happy, we wouldn't be having this discussion right now would we? That's why I made that last statement in the previous post.

Anyway, this whole situation is fairly depressing and I'm not going spend anymore time dealing with it. I will more than likely piece out my kit for anyone who needs the extra parts.

Edited November 9, 2005 by Sephiroth

[captain america]

The reason why I didn't offer to replace your canopy is that the missing 0.6mm "nub" at the back-end is easily fixed by sanding the area of the missing nub flat, then simply gluing the equivalent length of styrene rod in its place... Takes all of 96 seconds.

I can show you some parts I have on japanese-made kits that cost upwards of

**wait for it**

-->$600.00<--

that have issues far worse than what you got in my conversion kit, but I don't gripe about them: garage kits are hand-made crafts, occasional flaws are common to EVERY gk, big or small, cheap or expensive.

Had there been a serious defect in the pane (main transparency) of the canopy (crack, air bubble, etc) it would either have been rejected during packing, or replaced completely. On that same note, if you were so disappointed with the model when you recieved it, you could simply have e-mailed me prior to starting to work on it and I could have issued you a refund.

Edited November 9, 2005 by captain america

[Sephiroth]

The reason why I didn't offer to replace your canopy is that the missing 0.6mm "nub" at the back-end is easily fixed by sanding the area of the missing nub flat, then simply gluing the equivalent length of styrene rod in its place... Takes all of 96 seconds.

I can show you some parts I have on japanese-made kits that cost upwards of

**wait for it**

-->$600.00<--

that have issues far worse than what you got in my conversion kit, but I don't gripe about them: garage kits are hand-made crafts, occasional flaws are common to EVERY gk, big or small, cheap or expensive.

Had there been a serious defect in the pane (main transparency) of the canopy (crack, air bubble, etc) it would either have been rejected during packing, or replaced completely. On that same note, if you were so disappointed with the model when you recieved it, you could simply have e-mailed me prior to starting to work on it and I could have issued you a refund.

343552[/snapback]

Thank you, I appreciate your response as it explains things in much more helpful and understanding terms. Had you simply wrote the explanation above the first time around, this situation would have been avoided. Not all of us are as knowledgeable or as skilled as you and we can't read minds, so it may be more beneficial for everyone if you take a step back and try to view things from our perspective every once in a while. I apologize for letting this get out of hand as I should have just contacted you directly.

[captain america]

No problem.

I admit that when you do this kind of stuff 9-14 hours a day, you tend to take even the simplest techniques for granted, and I sometimes have to put myself in the shoes of someone who only does these kits as a hobby, and things that may seem quite pedestriant for one modeler may be a daunting task for another.

[aaajin]

kit received~! but its at my friend's apt....when will I be less busy this semester?..*sigh*....maybe Ill have to wait till this week'n to see it myself

anyway, great kit~! though Ive never seen it face to face~! I have faith in Capt's work even though this is the first kit I bought from him

aaajin

till this week'n, rest in peace my dear ol 1D kit...

Edited November 10, 2005 by aaajin

[Mechamaniac]

Whew, I finally got done modding the cockpit for my kit. I had to make some very extensive modifications to make everything fit, but now it's great. If you guys want, I can post pics of my mods.

[kensei]

As if we'd say no.

[Mechamaniac]

OK, here's the pic...

As you can see, I have completely gotten rid of the screw hole in the middle of the cockpit. This is a pretty huge leap of faith, as it also requires you to remove the middle section of the piece that gets sandwiched between the fuselage halves. That piece is what links the fuselage section to the chestplate etc.

However, since there is no screw there any longer, there's not much sense in having the screw hole there since you are going to have to glue the whole thing together anyway. This way, you have plenty of space for the second seat, and the second pilot.

Also, notice that I have modded the first seat as follows...

I have removed the raised back section (where the tanks are) as well as the edges at the back of the seat. This gives you a place to secure the second console since it is to be attached to the back of the first seat, and it also gives you more room for the second pilot's feet.

[captain america]

Hi Andy. Looking sweet!

When I was doing the masters, I had the impression that the backseater's feet would end up resting more or less on the tires of the landing gear. My ideal solution was to remove that backseat screw nub completely, but I figured that might be a bit too much 'surgery' for most builders, and wouldn't necessarily interfere with the pilot's legs anyway.

[Mechamaniac]

Hi Andy. Looking sweet!

When I was doing the masters, I had the impression that the backseater's feet would end up resting more or less on the tires of the landing gear. My ideal solution was to remove that backseat screw nub completely, but I figured that might be a bit too much 'surgery' for most builders, and wouldn't necessarily interfere with the pilot's legs anyway.

343992[/snapback]

Thanks John!. Any praise from you is a compliment indeed!. As to the surgery, meh, no big deal. If you look in the background, you'll see my cordless dremel...

I strongly advise everyone building this kit to EXPERIMENT. Little bits at a time. I have hot glued this part together about 15 times now doing test fits. But, IMHO, the cockpit is the coolest part of the D, so I want to make sure it looks as good as I can make it with my lack o' skill.

John is right about the second pilot, if done correctly, the feet will rest pretty much on the tires, and if you mod the forward seat as I have done mine, you will give the rear pilot that much more leg room.

Right now, I'm trying to make sure that both DYRL and TV pilots will fit in there correctly. Back to work...

[aaajin]

Got the kit! its realllyyy awesome dude....Im sorry for those who hold back for the kit....

Dremel? who needs dremel...I just snapped all the parts from the "tree".... lucky me, none of the parts broke at "unintended" areas... as for the fragile parts, I just use my super handy dandy nail clipper and file em bits by bits....well, it took me a while but its fun ...if only my semester isn't this busy, I would have work on the whole kit by now...~!

but I guess Ill have to buy the micro drills to drill out the holes...

PS : parental advisory, do not try this at home.

Edited November 12, 2005 by aaajin

[captain america]

**IMPORTANT**

I just yesterday discovered that I forgot to include the RIO console (part 7) in about 20 of the conversion kits which I mailed-out.

According to my logs, the following people should have part 7 missing from their kits:

-Zeta Otaku

-Darkon

-aaajin

-TheFrenchOne

-Gabe Q

-min

-Mech Gojira

-Roy's Blues

-Sundown

There may be others as well. Please check your kits to see if you have this piece. If indeed it is missing, please post here in the thread, and I will begin mailing-out consoles starting Tuesday to all those affected. My sincerest appologies for my ineptitude in this matter.