Need help getting YF-21 backplate flush in fighter mode.

[David Hingtgen]

Ok, at first I thought "that's just how it is" but looking at Graham's and Swoosh's pics, theirs is flush in fighter mode. I'm talking about the seam between the "fixed" and "sliding" parts, that runs between the engines. On mine, the sliding section is always raised up a bit. Is there supposed to be some sort of tab there to hold it down? And it's not related to the legs---I can completely remove the legs, and it will not stay down. (pushing it down when in fighter mode is guaranteed to pop the belly plates open though)

I really think it's an arm/hand thing, as if the arms aren't in fighter mode, it'll stay in position, and even sorta click down.

Anyone else have/had this problem? Regardless, I would like pics of exactly how the hands should be positioned, as I think that may be part of it. Mine was like this out of the box, but I can't imagine it's an actual defect, unless there's a tab or something missing. This bugs me way more than the plates, as you don't see the plates unless you're looking at the belly (and I can usually get the plates to mesh if I fiddle with them long enough---but the raised section never stays down without totally screwing up the entire bottom half of the plane) but I always see this gap.

[GGemini]

Ok, at first I thought "that's just how it is" but looking at Graham's and Swoosh's pics, theirs is flush in fighter mode. I'm talking about the seam between the "fixed" and "sliding" parts, that runs between the engines. On mine, the sliding section is always raised up a bit. Is there supposed to be some sort of tab there to hold it down? And it's not related to the legs---I can completely remove the legs, and it will not stay down. (pushing it down when in fighter mode is guaranteed to pop the belly plates open though)

I really think it's an arm/hand thing, as if the arms aren't in fighter mode, it'll stay in position, and even sorta click down.

Anyone else have/had this problem? Regardless, I would like pics of exactly how the hands should be positioned, as I think that may be part of it. Mine was like this out of the box, but I can't imagine it's an actual defect, unless there's a tab or something missing. This bugs me way more than the plates, as you don't see the plates unless you're looking at the belly (and I can usually get the plates to mesh if I fiddle with them long enough---but the raised section never stays down without totally screwing up the entire bottom half of the plane) but I always see this gap.

I had the same problem a while ago... and the section that was raised ended up unlocking the whole back part from the canopy.

I tried to fix it while in fighter mode but I couldn't fix it. What I ended up doing , and I know this might sound stupid (but it worked for me) was to transform it to Gerwalk then back to Fighter. It was a combination of arm/leg positioning and I think the main culprit was the shoulder cover that was positioned wrongly.

[m0n5t3r]

have the same problem on the left side (same side). i think the little fin or tab on the circular part of the metal swivel for the arms (you can see it from underneath if you open the little plastic cover near the intakes under the wing) should slot into the inside hollow of the wing to make it flush. for some reason it stays in for the right wing but keeps popping out on on the left. i've forgotten all about this for a couple of mos. now... but now i've been reminded of it, its annoying me again...

Edited September 26, 2008 by m0n5t3r

[David Hingtgen]

The "circle slot" area in the grey bar does seem to have a "two-stage" locking position, that the 2nd stage can only be "with certainty" achieved while the whole backpack's up and away. I'll see if fiddling with that area helps.

I did just now take apart the entire backpack, adjust some screws (one was a bit off kilter and had a part near the tip of the nacelle a few degrees off, one was physically deformed--swapped it with a non-important foot screw) and transformed it again. I got it mostly flush by just squeezing hard in some areas, and did get the plates flush---but I think it'll all pop apart if I look at it funny. Will see if it'll hold overnight. Still, there REALLY should be some sort of lock there---like the old one had. Maybe I can build one...

[m0n5t3r]

that would be a useful mod... i was able to lock that little tab in w/ a lot of squeezing but, yeah, if i even touch it just a little its going to pop out... oh well, everything is nice and flush now, i'm not gonna be touching it for a while....

[emajnthis]

Hey David, I had the same problem with the belly plates and it took me FOREVER to figure out what the problem was, but once identified, everything fits like a charm. Look very carefully at your knee joints, they're double jointed so if you've ever transformed the YF-21 into gerwalk mode, chances are the legs are not completely straight. They may look straight, but if BOTH are not completely straight, then the belly plates won't fit right. For the last three days, i've had the exact same trouble you've had, thinking it was the gray bar piece (as that had a tendency to give me trouble) or other parts of the engineering, but it is in fact mis-transformation. i can grab a picture of how the legs should look later if you think it would help, the main knee joint is not the culprit, it's the second knee joint that is used for gerwalk mode. The second joint looks like it's completely pushed back into place, but it takes a little extra pressure to truly put it back in it's place, and you'll notice because there is a black screw in the middle of the joint: if the black screw is fully visible the joint is not completely in place; if it is only half visible then the joint is completely straight. Let me know if this helps because i just figured this out about 10 minutes ago and it feels good to have fighter mode back. For me specifically, the right leg was in the correct position while the left leg was just barely off so the joint issue wasn't so obvious.

EDIT:

lol, nvm, just realized it was the bump on the rear, that's happens to me if i push the arms into the engine slots too strongly, it pushes the rear of the backpack up, if i let them in enough for transformation but not in so tight the backpack sits flush; that probably is an engineering issue.

Edited September 29, 2008 by emajnthis

[David Hingtgen]

Could you describe your last paragraph more?