SV-51 Surgery

[Chronocidal]

So I was aiming to get a Nora, but HLJ finally ran out of them (been on sale forever), and I decided to grab an Alpha at the discounted price. I get it, and I was a bit shocked at the size... I was under the impression this thing was comparable to something like a Sukhoi... Even in 1/60, it's almost the same size as a 1/48 F-15.

Anyway, I get it out, and notice right away a few odd problems.

First, the landing gear doors are all terribly floppy, especially the rear. There's really no tension in any of the hinges, and while they will stay closed for a bit, breathe on them and they flop open.

Second, and this may be related, the nosecone will not fold over completely. The front doors don't open far enough to let it fold completely, and pressing it forces the doors apart unnaturally. Makes me think the doors aren't seated in their spots correctly.

Third, the right side tail is a sloppy mess. The left is fine, and only rotates on it's mount when I want it to, but the right has a lot of play in the pivot, and there's not enough tension to keep the tail up. Left alone, the rearward weight of the tail will make it pivot so the leading edge is facing straight up.

I dunno what to do about the gear doors.. they won't let me put the plane in battroid mode since the nose doesn't fold, and the ones on the legs pop open if you look at them funny.

The arm I'm working on as I type, I've got it disconnected at the elbow joint, and I'm trying to see if I can tighten up the tail (hoping there's an internal screw I can tighten). Anyone know of a good way to get the screw covers off the arm? Or better yet, anyone ever make a write up documenting how to take this thing apart?

I've been trying the search function.. but something about the website seems broken at the moment.

[David Hingtgen]

1. They're all like that AFAIK. Never heard of a fix. My YF-21's like that too (but even worse), and I tried everything, and never got them any less floppy. Gnats going by make them swing...

::edit:: Oh, you have a bit different problem. Mine all stay closed, but they flop around when opened. Anyways, you can probably guess the solution---clear nail polish along the edge of the doors. Works well on VF-1s to reduce door rattling. If you're really picky, you could try nail polish along the interior edge of the gear bay instead--same effect, but the door edges wouldn't be shiny.

2. Slowly and gently, force it in against the doors. It'll "set" over time and get easier with each transformation. The doors will always try to close it back up---the only thing really keeping it in place in battroid is the whole "crotch lock". I think I did do some sanding---the hinge part of the doors themselves IIRC (the top of the hinge as the plane sits on the ground, if the doors are opened). Try just a bit of that, combined with forcing the nose down, see if it'll improve to the point that it'll hold in place when locked in battroid. Don't expect it to hold in place unless FULLY transformed---it won't.

3. Never heard of that (but not surprised it's happened)---honestly don't know how you'd fix it, as that's riveted AFAIK. I can only suggest clear nail polish---somewhere somehow.

Opening up the arms---I know I tried to open up the forearm for some reason, but never got the screw covers off. They're REALLY on there, I think they're super-glued. Frankly, you'll probably never get them off without totally destroying them. I've already got a crack/chip there from my attempts.

[SchizophrenicMC]

Hell, I got a couple of lemon'd 1/48s! The 25th Anniversary even has loose RATCHET joints. The Angel, and I've heard this gripe a lot, has a very very loose aerobrake. So loose, I can't stand my working-joint valk in battroid mode because it fall so often. And, on that note, one of those useless tabs on the inside was missing, as was the screw cover on the backpack, and the wing lights have fallen off and so has the little finny thing on the center fuselage, and I'm so pissed off.

YAMATO'd I SCREAM!

[Chronocidal]

Well, good news.. I didn't break anything fixing the tail.

Turns out, the tails are screwed on.. in a fashion. The main mounting peg has a screw in it with a lip that catches on the inside of the mounting point. This screw wasn't loose, but perhaps it wasn't screwed in quite as tight as the other side.. this would've caused the peg to spread and fit the hole more tightly.

I never actually got the arm all the way apart, but I was able to push the end opened just enough to let the tail section come out. That was a bit scary really, and keeping the little arm magnet in place while using a screwdriver was a pain.

In the end, I don't quite know why what I did worked, but now the right tail is tighter than the left. Basically, I made a small washer out of clear plastic (taken from a sharpie package, yay for recycling), and put that over the screw before putting it back in the tail. Either some of that plastic got into the threads and forced the screw to widen the peg some, forming a tighter fit, or the plastic itself was thick enough to pull the tail closer to the arm.

I may see about getting a pair of replacement arms shipped if I can, just in case something goes screwy later. I may just drill out those two screw covers on the arms, and cut a piece of scrap plastic to make a substitute plug.

Btw, SchizophrenicMC, I dunno if your post was meant to go in here or not, but I found a quick, cheap, and easy fix for sloppy air brakes a long time ago. I basically just doubled up a tiny piece of scotch tape, and stuck it down to the inside of the brake. Not the most elegant solution, but it's kept my Hikaru 1J's airbrake closed for several years (I just dunno if I want to open it and see if the glue did anything to the plastic ). It may have killed some amount of resale value, but considering how hard Super Hikaru 1Js are to find, I have no intention of selling my only 1/48.

Edited October 3, 2009 by Chronocidal