I would love a "how to" take apart a 1/48 Yamato

[wm cheng]

Hi all,

That diagonal seam along the front nose fuselage splits when I extend the front landing gears on my Roy's VF-1S - it really bugs me. Has someone successfuly opened up the fuselage and filed/sanded down the protruding part from beneath the cockpit and still have the landing gear lock properly in the down position?

How about a step by step photos of how to take this baby apart?

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

It’s not too hard to take apart the cockpit area, but here it goes:

First, remove the nosecone and raise the wheels. Lift open the nose hatch where the leg posts go. Remove the three screws highlighted by the red squares. Be sure to use a large screwdriver so the screws won’t be stripped.

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

Once the screws are removed, the parts shown below will easily come apart. Be careful of the pegs inside the hatch assembly (the hinged pegs used to cover up the holes for the leg posts), they may fall out.

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

The parts that need to be looked at are the wheel assembly and the underside of the pilot seat. The areas highlighted in red are the surfaces that could be sanded to reduce the gap in the nose when the wheels are down. It’s just a matter of sanding the right amount to attain the smallest gap possible (or none at all) and get enough grip for the wheels to stay in place when lowered. The cockpit area can be assembled separately to see if the sanded amount is just right. If it’s not enough, just take it apart and repeat.

One of my 1/48s actually had the opposite problem: the front wheels were too loose when lowered. It could support the valk just fine, but rolling it forward would make it take a nose dive. Anyways, I hope this helps.

[wm cheng]

Hey thanks so much for the step-by-step.

This is great!! I am only worried that right now, my landing gear is a bit loose (with no modification). When I push it to roll it, the forward gear pivots back a bit - slightly, I am worried that if I eliminate the seam, then that makes my existing problem worst - especially when the fast packs come out and the bird is always nose down slightly adding to the problem.

Is there an alternative solution that will even tighten up the landing gear lock-down and prevent the diagonal seam for splitting?

Thanks though.

(I will definitely be referring to this thread often)

[EXO]

Yikes! That's too scary. You can either have the gap or end up with a loose landing gear. Thanks anyway, VHD.

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

Is there an alternative solution that will even tighten up the landing gear lock-down and prevent the diagonal seam for splitting?

Yeah, I wish Yamato chose a better method of keeping the front wheels locked. I've been thinking of a way to add some bumps on the front landing gear door that could lock into some dimples carved into the sides of the wheel well once the gear has been lowered. BTW, only my DYRL valks have the nose seam prob, the low-vis' seam is neglegible.

[Commander McBride]

I just checked my bro's Max, and it splits, too, but at least the gear is quite secure.

[min]

im trying to remove the feets of the vf1s1/48 so i can paint them black and also the tail fins so i can correct the crooked skulls.

can someone help out by showing me how to remove the pieces? im pretty sure the proper screws are hidden underneath the plastic but i havent figured out a way to remove the covers.

and you know those rivets? is there a way to remove those? they seem to be super glued in.

is there a way to dissolve super glue?

tons of questions, thanks in advance!!

[mslz22]

as far as the legs are concerned, there are only 2 screws, one under a rubber plug rivet at the top of the leg, that is not glued, and under an easily removable rectanglular panel, the rivet that is superglued does not need to be removed to disassemble the leg.

[min]

thanks mike! it worked! i also figured out the tail fins too. just lift up that piece of plastic carefully.

now if i can just figure out how to dissolve the super glue, i can get those rivets out.