Whats Lying on your Workbench MK IV

[pengbuzz]

Well, I finally found one.

An SDF-1 in 1/3000 scale. Not the best condition of course, but enough there to being with.

Here's what I bought:

Booms were broken off at the lower rotational joint, the antennae are all loose and in poor shape, the rail guns (save one) were missing, and Prometheus and Daedalus were gone as well.

Get it out of the shipping box, and 30 or so minutes later:

Yes, the shoulder joint let go. This was followed in short order by the right shoulder.

All I did was sit there in disbelief. I wasn't going to blame the seller; with the age of these, this can happen at any time without warning. And even if I were to get my money back, what good would that do me? I'm lucky to be able to buy anything before an unexpected bill or another stupid "family need" eats up the money and my wife just buries her head in my shoulder in tears.

This was my birthday gift (B-day is next month but we had the money now, so don't wait for March to inflict more bills!), and its' first act was to fall apart.

After about 2 projects that pretty much tried to end themselves, this was the last straw.

I began by tearing the ship down and removing the shoulder boxes. As confirmed: the plastic was brittle from age and cracked posts were inside. I promptly removed and cleaned these, and set them aside. I then disassembles both chest/ boom parts into their respective components:

I promptly took all the blue pieces, and put them in boiling water for one minute. Before any objections accrue: this is a technique that RC races use for their car shells when they get brittle. By placing the plastic parts in boiling for just one minute, the plasticizers in the plastic redistribute throughout the piece, removing the brittleness and restoring at least some level of functionality.

But I was far from even started.....

My next act was to redesign the shoulder/ boom joint. The peg for the shoulder and the peg for the boom are slightly skewed from one another, making any sort of repair nearly impossible under normal circumstance.

With a pengbuzz, "normal" never applies....

I took a look at the setup for the boom joint: a metal part that was hollow on one side and had a slot cut into it, with a spring and part to connect to the internal peg:

 

So, I removed the other stupid peg from the inner chest:

Sanded it flat so anything that needed to slide could do so unimpeded. After this, I  took the metal boom joint, used a file to widen the slot a tad, and slid a nice, hefty 1/4 inch bolt into place to hold it.

With hat done, here is my setup:

The nut for this remains on the inside, plastic-welded in place so it won't work itself loose in any way. Meantime, the head of the bold ends up in the actual shoulder, where the rotational forces aren't able to affect it. I had to grind down both the nut and the head, but they fit respectively where they are. Meanwhile, the boom slider slides just fine on the bolt (the threaded end goes past where any parts are located), with the spring tensioner part in place.

One metal bolt acts as the shaft for both, and the stupid "staggered post" is GONE.

The spring tensioner and the bolt:

Once the plastic welder was cured, I ground a "hollow" into the metal piece that the legs and chest connect to (to make way for the bolt head, which now protrudes through the inner blue housing via a hole that I had Dremeled into it). This is so the bolt could be glued to the spar and further secure it:

 

(Yes, that was quite a bit of metal dust. My mask came in handy!)

And since I don't use the "splay the booms out to the sides" feature that is built into this, I could simply plastic weld and screw the chest boxes back onto the figure:

So now, my SDF-1 is back to it's old self:

Only this time, it has drop-forged steel bolts running through each shoulder, which could probably take getting plowed by a linebacker and ask for seconds!!!

The shoulder joints ratchet and click as they should, and no sighs at all of any stress or anything coming loose is even remotely showing. All stresses now reply on the bolts, which are connected directly to the metal frame, as are the boom joints.

So, the "impossible shoulder repair "has been made possible.

 

This is only the beginning though; I have the materials to manufacture two new booms, the carriers and the antennae for the ship. I'm also seeing about getting new rail guns done up for the shoulders by a friend with a lathe (really good guy all around!), and reworking this using all the plans I've made since discussing this toy in the other thread!

Or, to put it another way:

 

Stay tuned...

Edited March 7, 2022 by pengbuzz

[Bolt]

The trouble with( giant, mutated) Tribbles..

Nice lights !

[Bolt]

48 minutes ago, pengbuzz said:

Well, I finally found one.

An SDF-1 in 1/3000 scale. Not the best condition of course, but enough there to being with.

Here's what I bought:

Booms were broken off at the lower rotational joint, the antennae are all loose and in poos shape, the rail guns (save one) were missing, and Prometheus and Daedalus were gone as well.

Get it out of the shipping box, and 30 or so minutes later:

Yes, the shoulder joint let go. This was followed in short order by the right shoulder.

All I did was sit there in disbelief. I wasn't going to blame the seller; with the age of these, this can happen at any time without warning. And even if I were to get my money back, what good would that do me? I'm lucky to be able to buy anything before an unexpected bill or another stupid "family need" eats up the money and my wife just buries her head in my shoulder in tears.

This was my birthday gift (B-day is next month but we had the money now, so don't wait for March to inflict more bills!), and its' first act was to fall apart.

After about 2 projects that pretty much tried to end themselves, this was the last straw.

I began by tearing the ship down and removing the shoulder boxes. As confirmed: the plastic was brittle from age and cracked posts were inside. I promptly removed and cleaned these, and set them aside. I then disassembles both chest/ boom parts into their respective components:

I promptly took all the blue pieces, and put them in boiling water for one minute. Before any objections accrue: this is a technique that RC races use for their car shells when they get brittle. By placing the plastic parts in boiling for just one minute, the plasticizers in the plastic redistribute throughout the piece, removing the brittleness and restoring at least some level of functionality.

But I was far from even started.....

My next act was to redesign the shoulder/ boom joint. The peg for the shoulder and the peg for the boom are slightly skewed from one another, making any sort of repair nearly impossible under normal circumstance.

With a pengbuzz, "normal" never applies....

I took a look at the setup for the boom joint: a metal part that was hollow on one side and had a slot cut into it, with a spring and part to connect to the internal peg:

 

So, I removed the other stupid peg from the inner chest:

Sanded it flat so anything that needed to slide could do so unimpeded. After this, I  took the metal boom joint, used a file to widen the slot a tad, and slid a nice, hefty 1/4 inch bolt into place to hold it.

With hat done, here is my setup:

The nut for this remains on the inside, plastic-welded in place so it won't work itself loose in any way. Meantime, the head of the bold ends up in the actual shoulder, where the rotational forces aren't able to affect it. I had to grind down both the nut and the head, but they fit respectively where they are. Meanwhile, the boom slider slides just fine on the bolt (the threaded end goes past where any parts are located), with the spring tensioner part in place.

One metal bolt acts as the shaft for both, and the stupid "staggered post" is GONE.

The spring tensioner and the bolt:

Once the plastic welder was cured, I ground a "hollow" into the metal piece that the legs and chest connect to (to make way for the bolt head, which now protrudes through the inner blue housing via a hole that I had Dremeled into it). This is so the bolt could be glued to the spar and further secure it:

 

(Yes, that was quite a bit of metal dust. My mask came in handy!)

And since I don't use the "splay the booms out to the sides" feature that is built into this, I could simply plastic weld and screw the chest boxes back onto the figure:

So now, my SDF-1 is back to it's old self:

Only this time, it has drop-forged steel bolts running through each shoulder, which could probably take getting plowed by a linebacker and ask for seconds!!!

The shoulder joints ratchet and click as they should, and no sighs at all of any stress or anything coming loose is even remotely showing. All stresses now reply on the bolts, which are connected directly to the metal frame, as are the boom joints.

So, the "impossible shoulder repair "has been made possible.

 

This is only the beginning though; I have the materials to manufacture two new booms, the carriers and the antennae for the ship. I'm also seeing about getting new rail guns done up for the shoulders by a friend with a lathe (really good guy all around!), and reworking this using all the plans I've made since discussing this toy in the other thread!

Or, to put it another way:

 

Stay tuned...

Nice work on that old girl .

[arbit]

2 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

This is only the beginning though; I have the materials to manufacture two new booms, the carriers and the antennae for the ship.

If you have seen files online you like, maybe a friend can 3D print the 2 ships for you.

[Thom]

@pengbuzz Nice find! Congrats on getting one. As for it falling apart, better now than when you are 'done' and putting up on a shelf later. You could say, it was helping by disassembling itself. And now you know that part ain't going no where! Will be staying tuned in, as I foresee great things in store!

[pengbuzz]

1 hour ago, Thom said:

@pengbuzz Nice find! Congrats on getting one. As for it falling apart, better now than when you are 'done' and putting up on a shelf later. You could say, it was helping by disassembling itself. And now you know that part ain't going no where! Will be staying tuned in, as I foresee great things in store!

Definitely on all counts, Thom! And thanks!!

I knew the shoulders were an issue on these due to the blue plastic's fragility ("blue plastic syndrome"?); I just wasn't expecting it practically right out of the box!

8 hours ago, arbit said:

If you have seen files online you like, maybe a friend can 3D print the 2 ships for you.

I don't know anyone IRL who can do it (or anyone else for that matter!). But it's for the best anyways: I wanted to make the carriers' hulls narrower on the bottom and more like they're supposed to be.

[Grayson72]

2 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

Definitely on all counts, Thom! And thanks!!

I knew the shoulders were an issue on these due to the blue plastic's fragility ("blue plastic syndrome"?); I just wasn't expecting it practically right out of the box!

I don't know anyone IRL who can do it (or anyone else for that matter!). But it's for the best anyways: I wanted to make the carriers' hulls narrower on the bottom and more like they're supposed to be.

Need any 1/3000 scale Zen ships to go with that?

[pengbuzz]

35 minutes ago, Grayson72 said:

Need any 1/3000 scale Zen ships to go with that?

Not at the moment, but thanks! I'll keep that on the side of my mind!

[derex3592]

@pengbuzz - Dude - if you need parts, I'll ship you mine if you wanna pay for shipping.  It was perfectly fine until the arm literally fell off in the display cabinet. It's just sitting in the closet, in the original box I might add. PM me. 

[Grayson72]

43 minutes ago, pengbuzz said:

Not at the moment, but thanks! I'll keep that on the side of my mind!

Ok, just to tempt you for the future here's a 1/4000 and 1/5000 Thuverl Salan

 

Edited February 14, 2022 by Grayson72

[pengbuzz]

On 2/14/2022 at 2:12 PM, derex3592 said:

@pengbuzz - Dude - if you need parts, I'll ship you mine if you wanna pay for shipping.  It was perfectly fine until the arm literally fell off in the display cabinet. It's just sitting in the closet, in the original box I might add. PM me. 

PM sent to discuss this. Definitely would love to take you up on this!

Edited February 18, 2022 by pengbuzz

[Bolt]

So i had to clear the workbench this weekend for an emergency patient. Pulling out Valks to sell and found this. The yellow strikes..!

Awww, Shazbat !! I wept, but mostly because I'm letting her go. So , not to be deterred, i put the patient into "the position ."

And began masking. First Tamiya tape , for the detailed edges. Then blue tape and paper..

The inside of the  intakes were an exorcise in patience.

I did go ahead with some light wet sanding and wipe down with a damp cloth, then..Some color mixing and some airbrush time..

A few coats of matt clear and then off with the masking.  
 I believe the yellowing issue with that is solved. I hope..

See ya'll next Deculture.

Edited February 15, 2022 by Bolt

[pengbuzz]

Minor update: removed the main "canopy" from the SDF-1 Bridge; going to scratch build the interior of it with a transparent canopy. But for right now, I'm on hold pending possible parts coming in.

 

Stay tuned...

[Mog]

So @pengbuzz, the shoulder bolt fix doesn’t impede the arms from rotating between cruiser mode and attacker mode, right?

I know that was an issue when I was making a similar repair.

[pengbuzz]

33 minutes ago, Mog said:

So @pengbuzz, the shoulder bolt fix doesn’t impede the arms from rotating between cruiser mode and attacker mode, right?

I know that was an issue when I was making a similar repair.

Not one bit: I ground down the bolt head to allow clearance for the arm to rotate.

 

I did my best to get the bolt head about level with the black piece's upper edge all around; a dremel tool and a grinding stone should work. You don't need the absolute hardest steel (even aluminum bolts will do), but metal is preferable to plastic here. On that note: make sure the upper shaft is smooth about 1/4 of an inch from the bolt head before the threads start! This will prevent the shoulder from "riding" the thread and trying to undo itself.

Since I'm modifying mine anyways, I also took the precaution of grinding down the top of the bicep slightly and beveling the "squared-off" edge on it, so there would be no issues with the shoulder. But yeah: the shoulder ratchets ("clicks" ) with no issues whatsoever and is very stable.

 

I'll try to get an internal pic of the shoulder with housing in place in a bit.

[nightmareB4macross]

Wow. Great progress Pengbuzz!

Can’t wait to see the finished project.

[pengbuzz]

21 hours ago, nightmareB4macross said:

Wow. Great progress Pengbuzz!

Can’t wait to see the finished project.

Thanks! Hoping to hear word soon so I can get going!

Planning on looking at all the mods everyone has made in this thread:

A lot of good ideas , suggestions and fantastic groundwork done by some really talented folks!! Also recall some folks in that thread with unfinished projects; I'd love to hear if they ever got back to them!

[MechTech]

@Lolicon Great looking refit! You gotta watch those cat-ons. They don't abide by Federation treaties - unless there's a can of tuna involved!

@pengbuzz CONGRATS on bagging a rare ans classic item! Are you trying to outdo Peter with the most hardware used in a build😄 You're fix to the joint looks GREAT and you'll never have to worry about it again either. Great save too with heating the plastic, I've never heard of that. I wonder if heating it re-aligns the molecules too like steel when it is heat treated? I also know most things get brittle with age, even glass. I wonder if boiling it adds water back to the plastic? Inquiring minds want to know.

By the way, if you ever need to glue the plastic (which I believe is ABS), use a bit of straight acetone. It also worked on the Patlabor model that had ABS to styrene joints.

@Bolt That is a nice and clean fix to the intakes. I doubt it will yellow again in our lifetimes! - MT

Edited February 18, 2022 by MechTech

[pengbuzz]

3 hours ago, MechTech said:

@pengbuzzCONGRATS on bagging a rare ans classic item! Are you trying to outdo Peter with the most hardware used in a build😄 You're fix to the joint looks GREAT and you'll never have to worry about it again either. Great save too with heating the plastic, I've never heard of that. I wonder if heating it re-aligns the molecules too like steel when it is heat treated? I also know most things get brittle with age, even glass. I wonder if boiling it adds water back to the plastic? Inquiring minds want to know.

By the way, if you ever need to glue the plastic (which I believe is ABS), use a bit of straight acetone. It also worked on the Patlabor model that had ABS to styrene joints.

What it does is re-distribute the plasticizer in the plastic (from the article I read), but you need to be careful to not melt the plastic. One minute in the boiling water is enough, and I don't recommend it for styrene generally. As for moisture: that's a possibility (not an expert on plastics per se).

As for the bolt: that's the idea! The bolt is now adhered via plastic welder (adheres metal too ast3500 psi strength according to the package) to the metal frame, so it won't transmit shock or stress to the plastic chest "boxes" on either side.

This project has been a distant dream that only now came true; I paid as much as I did because the arms were not broken off of it, only to have it happen out of the package! But returning it would have just put me back at "zero", and any of these are going to be vulnerable anyways. Hopefully, I can get the one derex is offering (waiting on him to check shipping for me) and then I can proceed.

On 2/16/2022 at 9:15 PM, Mog said:

So @pengbuzz, the shoulder bolt fix doesn’t impede the arms from rotating between cruiser mode and attacker mode, right?

I know that was an issue when I was making a similar repair.

Mog, I wanted to revisit your post; I promised you some internal pics, and here they are:

  

As you can see here, the bolt head is nearly flush with the black plastic collar for the shoulder. But to make sure the bicep cleared, I took off a little of the top of it and beveled the "square" end of it (had to hold it in place manually for the photo, as the spring socket for the bicep kept popping it off the shoulder block!)

My latest progress so far:

I removed the bridge "bubble" in preparation for installing a clear one and miniature bridge. I plan on completely fabricating the radar array and antennae, and scratching up a better radome for the left side. Meantime, I also did some rework on the separation mechanism for the bridge, and got the sliders to go out further. i don't like the blocky "undertackle" on them though; i may remove the sliders and work out a better slide system for it.

Stay tuned... Misa's probably gonna get grumpy while the Bridge is a mess!

Edited February 18, 2022 by pengbuzz

[Thom]

@pengbuzz Any good remodel is a mess before it gets better. Gut out the bad, keep the good and fab the rest!

[nightmareB4macross]

4 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

What it does is re-distribute the plasticizer in the plastic (from the article I read), but you need to be careful to not melt the plastic. One minute in the boiling water is enough, and I don't recommend it for styrene generally. As for moisture: that's a possibility (not an expert on plastics per se).

As for the bolt: that's the idea! The bolt is now adhered via plastic welder (adheres metal too ast3500 psi strength according to the package) to the metal frame, so it won't transmit shock or stress to the plastic chest "boxes" on either side.

This project has been a distant dream that only now came true; I paid as much as I did because the arms were not broken off of it, only to have it happen out of the package! But returning it would have just put me back at "zero", and any of these are going to be vulnerable anyways. Hopefully, I can get the one derex is offering (waiting on him to check shipping for me) and then I can proceed.

Mog, I wanted to revisit your post; I promised you some internal pics, and here they are:

  

As you can see here, the bolt head is nearly flush with the black plastic collar for the shoulder. But to make sure the bicep cleared, I took off a little of the top of it and beveled the "square" end of it (had to hold it in place manually for the photo, as the spring socket for the bicep kept popping it off the shoulder block!)

My latest progress so far:

I removed the bridge "bubble" in preparation for installing a clear one and miniature bridge. I plan on completely fabricating the radar array and antennae, and scratching up a better radome for the left side. Meantime, I also did some rework on the separation mechanism for the bridge, and got the sliders to go out further. i don't like the blocky "undertackle" on them though; i may remove the sliders and work out a better slide system for it.

Stay tuned... Misa's probably gonna get grumpy while the Bridge is a mess!

For bridge detail go with metal etched parts.

I hope you haven’t discarded the bridge widow. You can use this as a buck to clear form a new clear window from acetate sheeting.

 

 

[pengbuzz]

1 hour ago, nightmareB4macross said:

For bridge detail go with metal etched parts.

I hope you haven’t discarded the bridge widow. You can use this as a buck to clear form a new clear window from acetate sheeting.

 

 

Already gone, but I have one formed already.

[Bolt]

1 hour ago, pengbuzz said:

Already gone, but I have one formed already.

You're a busy Peng..😉

[Bolt]

11 hours ago, MechTech said:

@Bolt That is a nice and clean fix to the intakes. I doubt it will yellow again in our lifetimes! - MT

Yeet ! Now that that's done, (Hopefully no one buys the VF-22S and i get to panel line it!).  ahem, I'm back on the Spider Bug and Super Lancer. Here the Spider Bug is just about done. Been applying water slides , but i need to find some 1/72 red letters ! And I'll probably do a little more light weathering on it also. 
Meanwhile, the Lancer got a color change (I'm still tweaking the tone) and a few extra panel lines. And the supers are puttied and sanded and ready for paint. The extra bits for the Lancer will get a second and darker coat of gray. The mast for the radar will be cut and pegged (for optional change out) and i will sculpt a taller one in order to accommodate the supers. And i need to finalize the lower end armaments, such as missile packs..

Hope to check back in soon .

see y'all next Deculture ✨

[arbit]

@pengbuzz Loving your work on that old SDF-1. I look forward to a clean toy look finish. 

@Bolt That spider bug is sooo cool. And a nice old fashioned sculpt too. While 3D printing is taking over, the old school sculpts still win out on style in my opinion.

@electric indigo Very nice finish. You have mastered what I call the art of NOT-Painting, which is what I call a light, elegant, delicate style like yours.

As for me, on my workbench is a 3D Figure I processed and posed for printing from an XPS file by a lovely designer on DeviantArt. 

This is my first attempt at a larger scale (10cm) figure to pair up with her Figma co-star. She is at zenithal highlighting stage.

Can anyone guess which character she is? Hint: I started watching anime in the 70s.

Edited February 19, 2022 by arbit

[Big s]

Shouldn’t the left arm be forward while walking. I tried walking with right foot and hand forward while the left side was back after seeing that picture and I’m really bad at it

[arbit]

20 minutes ago, Big s said:

Shouldn’t the left arm be forward while walking. I tried walking with right foot and hand forward while the left side was back after seeing that picture and I’m really bad at it

Good catch.  But the outstretched arm is holding hands with someone while running.

[Big s]

Ok, I get it now. I was idiotically trying to walk around the living room for a few minutes, but that explanation makes sense 

[Bolt]

This just showed up.

I'll be cleaning it up in between airbrush time on other stuff . I've looked around a bit for instructions (didn't come with any) , I'm very familiar with the base Regult and i can reference pics for this project . But i like to have instructions. Does anyone have a set they can post or can point me in the right direction? 
Cheers 

[arbit]

4 hours ago, Big s said:

Ok, I get it now. I was idiotically trying to walk around the living room for a few minutes, but that explanation makes sense 

 Same here.  She is meant to be pulled forward by her hand, in an active pose.  But I agree with you, it might have been better if I had the legs in a more natural running pose. 

[pengbuzz]

31 minutes ago, Bolt said:

This just showed up.

I'll be cleaning it up in between airbrush time on other stuff . I've looked around a bit for instructions (didn't come with any) , I'm very familiar with the base Regult and i can reference pics for this project . But i like to have instructions. Does anyone have a set they can post or can point me in the right direction? 
Cheers 

WOuld this topic be of any help?

 

[Bolt]

13 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

WOuld this topic be of any help?

 

Thanks @pengbuzz i saw that. It's just the basic model. I need for the scout. Way more going on with it. Like I said, I could reference my pics, but prefer to have the legit instructions.

Edited February 20, 2022 by Bolt

[MechTech]

@Bolt The Spider bug is looking ready for service soon! I look forward to your pod build too!

@arbit I was thinking "Laputa", but that's 80's. "Future Boy"? I never saw it, just the models. Cool sculpt though!

The Ingram is getting there! I tried to post a GIF of the lights chasing on the shoulders. It looks like the lights aren't even on in the GIF creator software! So scrub showing you that.

Here's the head and cockpit lit up. The cockpit LED is one of those annoying multi-color changing LEDs like in toys. It looks like a CRT flashing images though in the cockpit. It happened to be purple when I took the shot. Still more work to do! Thanks for checking in! - MT

[ahiachris]

7 hours ago, Bolt said:

Thanks @pengbuzz i saw that. It's just the basic model. I need for the scout. Way more going with it. Like I said, I could reference my pics, but prefer to have the legit instructions.

 

[Bolt]

@MechTech thanks. That Ingram is looking awesome!

@ahiachris many thanks!