Yamato 1/60 scale YF-19 Fix/Modification Thread

[to177]

EVERYONE WHO BUYS A YF-19.... to avoid problems folding down the second part of the fuselage, simply fold down the nosecone, unscrew the grey blocks from the hinge, and file down the tan tabs so they angle towards the inside of the fuselage, and file down the angled edge of the grey blocks with the square hole in them at the same angle they are already molded at, adding a slight curvature for the tan tabs to ride on. Do this BEFORE you try and transform your 19 to avoid warping, stressmarks, or possibly breakage.

Hey promethuem5,

That's a very good tip bro. can you provide some step by step photos? Sorry, I'm illiterate.

[Pat S]

Another way to do the wings would be to cut them into 2 pieces, and reattatch with pegs. When you want to put them into high speed mode, seperate the pieces, and then sweep the wings back. I'll think about this some more.

So far I've made flaps for my wings, and done the shoulder mods. I had to remove a little bit of the leg, as well as dremel inside the shoulder to get them to sit flush.

One other thought I had was to add some nuts/washers/bolts to attatch the backpack piece permanently. I'm tired of things falling apart all the time :|

[do not disturb]

someone just bought a set of spare legs and wings, maybe hes going to mod it out for high speed mode?

[promethuem5]

TO177, I've been meaning to get some good pics up of what needs to be filed down since I did it, thanks for reminding me... hopfully I will have some time to get them up by this weekend.

[Mechamaniac]

Has anyone else tried Takatoys shoulder mods? I want to, but it looks like you have to file down a good part of a hinge, so I'm nervous.

[emajnthis]

Has anyone else tried Takatoys shoulder mods? I want to, but it looks like you have to file down a good part of a hinge, so I'm nervous.

I did it, but mine was slightly different/easier because i had my shoulders apart. You're creating room for the upper part of the joint that connects the shoulder to the swivel to move backwards in fighter mode. It doesn't ruin or affect its durability in any of the three modes.

[Mechamaniac]

I did it, but mine was slightly different/easier because i had my shoulders apart. You're creating room for the upper part of the joint that connects the shoulder to the swivel to move backwards in fighter mode. It doesn't ruin or affect its durability in any of the three modes.

So you took your shoulders apart, as in split them down the middle etc? They look glued to me, is there a trick?

[myk]

Yeah, 'Eman was pretty bold and broke the shoulders apart...

[takatoys]

So far I've made flaps for my wings, and done the shoulder mods. I had to remove a little bit of the leg, as well as dremel inside the shoulder to get them to sit flush.

How did you cut the flaps, did you use dremel too?

Although the dremel tool is fast for cutting, the round blade is a little bit thick and takes some of the plastic. The x-acto knife would be the best option, but I could only use it for cutting the tip of the flap.

[to177]

Has anyone else tried Takatoys shoulder mods? I want to, but it looks like you have to file down a good part of a hinge, so I'm nervous.

I tried Takatoy's shoulder mods, had no such luck. I ended up with a big ass gap and got nervous of removing more before the grey plastic piece falls off.

Takatoys- Did you also shave off some of the grey plastic part too?

promethuem5 - I sort of dive into it, and rather then sanding the tab down, I trimmed it. It's alittle lose when in fighter mode, but still holds fine. Transforming it, effortless

[Mechamaniac]

Well, I tried it and it worked for me. The only mistake I made was that I tried to separate the shoulder on one of mine resulting in a gap where the glued seam was...stoopid Yamato. Why do they glue crap where they have screws to hold it together...

[takatoys]

I tried Takatoy's shoulder mods, had no such luck. I ended up with a big ass gap and got nervous of removing more before the grey plastic piece falls off.

Takatoys- Did you also shave off some of the grey plastic part too?

No, you don't have to shave the grey piece, but I shaved it off a little due to the tight space.

Make sure you clean what you shaved off with the x-acto knife, any debris inside and the shoulder won't move forward.

[David Hingtgen]

I plan to do it, but not for a while. Need to build up Dremel experience. (It'd take forever and a day with a drill and X-acto). And I don't plan to take the shoulders apart--had enough bad experience with glued seams on the legs.

[Mechamaniac]

Here's mine...

[attachmentid=40130]

The port shoulder isn't as flush as the starboard, but I have shaved off all I am willing to inside which is quite a bit, and shaved down the inside of the calf as well. Shaving down the calf definitely bought me some more flushness. All in all, I'm happy with it. Even if the shoulders don't sit entirely flush, just lowering them 1/8 inch or whatever it was makes it look tons more streamlined in fighter mode.

I also did the gunpod fix as well, BRILLIANT Takatoys, thanks!

Now I just need to decide if I want to do the wing flap mod, I really like the way it looks, but I don't have any spare plastic that is close enough in color to make up the difference.

[takatoys]

That neck cover looks great, did you use the spray cap plastic this time?

[Mechamaniac]

That neck cover looks great, did you use the spray cap plastic this time?

Yes I did, thanks for the template, it was invaluable!. You can't really see it in the pic, but it's glossy since I didn't have any flat spray cans. I'm going to snag a can of dullcote and whack it with that.

[Pat S]

Now I just need to decide if I want to do the wing flap mod, I really like the way it looks, but I don't have any spare plastic that is close enough in color to make up the difference.

FYI: You don't need any spare plastic. Just use an x-acto instead of dremel. Worked find on mine, it's actually too tight, I need to do more sanding. And the flaps won't fall down if the needles on the ends are tight. I used safety pins and cut them with a dremel to connect the flaps to the wings. Take your time though, a little mistake will show up.

Also, I wouldn't reccomend going as far down the wing as the others I've seen. Juse use the 2 flap sections in the middle

Edited February 3, 2007 by Pat S

[Pat S]

How did you cut the flaps, did you use dremel too?

Although the dremel tool is fast for cutting, the round blade is a little bit thick and takes some of the plastic. The x-acto knife would be the best option, but I could only use it for cutting the tip of the flap.

I used the x-acto for the entire thing except shaving down the legs and inside the shoulders. I used a dremel and a sanding stone attatchment for that. Like I said above, I didn't cut the thick section close to the wing root, juse the two flaps in the middle, so I left one on each ends of the wing still attatched.

[David Hingtgen]

Oh, BTW--I sorta fixed the gunpod. I mainly just shaved down the pegs holding it to the forearms. Now it's just kinda "looser" and you can move it into the correct position, and it'll hold. It's no longer rock-solid, but it's not floppy, either. About the best that can be done without actually gluing pieces on to the gunpod. And doesn't affect battroid mode in the slightest.

[Pat S]

I guess I'm misunderstanding how to make the neck cover out of a spray can cap. When I cut one up, the arc of the plastic on the outside is not even close to what it needs to be. There is an inner piece to the cap that has a smaller arc, and that one was closer, but still no match. I'm probably missing something simple, like I'm using the wrong type of cap?

[Mechamaniac]

Any spray cap will do.

Here's what I did...

Downloaded Takatoys template, printed it, and cut it out.

Took a piece of blue painter's tape, and taped around the section of cap.

Traced the template onto the tape and cutout the piece of plastic.

From there, you will have to trim it to closer fit, and you will have to bend it more than it's standard arc. However, once you bend it, it will retain it's shape.

[Pat S]

Any spray cap will do.

Here's what I did...

Downloaded Takatoys template, printed it, and cut it out.

Took a piece of blue painter's tape, and taped around the section of cap.

Traced the template onto the tape and cutout the piece of plastic.

From there, you will have to trim it to closer fit, and you will have to bend it more than it's standard arc. However, once you bend it, it will retain it's shape.

Thank you!

[Pat S]

Here's one I just did. I tried it a few ways and screwed up the underside of the nose of the plane, please ignore that cut and focus on what I ended up with.

I wanted to raise the nose/chest up higher in battroid so it doesn't slouch down so much. What I ended up with was drilling a small hole in the tip of the underside lip between the nose and the crotch piece. I put a small piece of safety pin in there and drilled another hole on the underside of the nose further back than the notch that this part normally connects too.

This did 2 things. First it removed all of the floppiness in the nose part of the chest when in battroid (because it secures the two pieces together rather than relying on gravity. Second it raise the chest up higher so it's more level, and not pointing down so much. Also, the pin doesn't need to be removed. It hides perfectly in fighter mode.

A few prefaces before you look at the pics. The gap you see in battroid can be shortened by cutting down the safety pin, which I intend to do after this post. I already mentioned the cut I did above and messed up the underside of the nose. If you just want to secure the nose to the chest, and don't want to raise it up, you can use the normal spot that this piece connects to. This will make this mod 100% invisible. Finally, this does not get rid of all the floppiness in the chest, because half of that problem is caused by the chest not locking to the nose in any way. I'll look into a fix for that next.

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Edited February 3, 2007 by Pat S

[Kicker773]

any suggestions on a good dremmel/drill tool for toys or small enough you can use for models and toys? newbie here trying to do some modificiations

[Mechamaniac]

Nothing beats the original Dremel brand. I have a cordless Dremel that has proved to be absolutely invaluable. I have had it for over a year, and have always been able to pull off any project I've been working on with just the attachments that came with it.

[cyde01]

looks like everyone's covered most of the fixes (gunpod, shoulders lying flat, etc).

now on to the mods!! anyone care to share some how to's on beautifying the 19?

ex: ball joint mods on the wrists, ankles, and neck without ruining transformation into fighter, green lava lamp that would go on top of Isamu's seat, etc.

also, what paint color from what brand most closely mimics the tan plastic that yamato used for the 19? and what would be a good clear coat to use to achieve a semi-gloss/matte finish (something that would be durable enough to stay on a transformable toy)?

Edited February 5, 2007 by cyde01

[Kicker773]

[Eternal_D]

Any spray cap will do.

Here's what I did...

Downloaded Takatoys template, printed it, and cut it out.

Took a piece of blue painter's tape, and taped around the section of cap.

Traced the template onto the tape and cutout the piece of plastic.

From there, you will have to trim it to closer fit, and you will have to bend it more than it's standard arc. However, once you bend it, it will retain it's shape.

where's this template you speak of? i looked through this thread and didn't see it.

[do not disturb]

where's this template you speak of? i looked through this thread and didn't see it.

here ya go!

[attachmentid=40274]

[Gatillero PR]

Hi all, this is my mod to have Isamu with feet. I use katopolyclay that hardens when put in the oven. The feet are still soft, I didn't took it apart to harden them. I had to cut the tab in the seat and in the cockpit for the seat go further back. Now the pics!

[attachmentid=40304][attachmentid=40305][attachmentid=40306]

Also I may have a way to improve the appereance in fighter mode refering to the gullet and the angle of the nose. I don't have any skills for recast or customize, I'll post pics of my idea if anyone is interested.

[ruskiiVFaussie]

Like yayy Isamu can reach the foot pedals... lol cool man. I might try that myself.

Can't believe they didn't shrink the pilot or modify that the pilot could have feet in the first place.

They bloody well better give Guld FEET!

[Gatillero PR]

Can't believe they didn't shrink the pilot or modify that the pilot could have feet in the first place.

You're right, the VF-0 pilot is a bit smaller than the 19, they could have made Isamu a bit smaller.

[Mechamaniac]

I think it's because the VF-0 pilot's suit and helmet are so much less bulky than the Mac Plus stuff. Hell consider yourselves luck they aren't making Macross 7 pilots....

[cyde01]

Also I may have a way to improve the appereance in fighter mode refering to the gullet and the angle of the nose. I don't have any skills for recast or customize, I'll post pics of my idea if anyone is interested.

please post!! also, someone here's gotta make the green lava lamp that goes on top of isamu's seat!! that's one of the distinguishing features of the yf-19 cockpit!!

[Gatillero PR]

Well I was botheres too by the gullet and since it cant be modified I tried to do something about it. Its not really the gullet but the angle of the nose of the fighter, its like is looking up. So I did this:

[attachmentid=40346]

Its not much, but for me makes it look better. I'm in the process of doing it, here is the half way mod:

[attachmentid=40355]

Its more of looking at the gullet curve, by the way anybody has any side pics of the fighter to compare the difference?