A question about using Gundam Stands with Yamato Valkyries

[EXO]

Also is it fair to say those stands are easily painted and customized?

Hey Benson, In case you're asking about painting the adapters. I think they're better off being dyed with clothes dye. But I've seen people color them with permanent markers. Their really pourous so they suck up the marker colors. But paint tends to build up with out first repeated primer and sanding.

[Froy]

Went through and placed and order for a set of adapters taking advantage of the free shipping. I have the stands but not how to attach the weird yamato elintseeker stand adapter to the bandai stands.

Edited November 26, 2012 by Froy

[Sandman]

I bought a set of five today. I already have 4 gundam stands. I'm hoping this is a great solution for the pricey yamato stand and paint removing flightpose stands.

Not a moment too soon. I just noticed that my vf-171 just lost a tiny dot of paint from the flightpose stand it was resting on. I guess the bandai stuff is not safe as well.

[CoreyD]

Ok, here are some real quick shots. Just um, ignore the mess in the background...

It's pretty clear that anything heavier than a VF-1 with super strike packs is gonna be pushing it. Even with the strike packs, I'm probably going to have to glue the arm to the base in order to keep it from wobbling too much. Either way, it's still cheaper than $100 OOP yamato stands.

Skull Squadron atttaccccckkk!!!

[EXO]

Nice!

Don't forget! Free Shipping for today only!!!

Promo Code:

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[Chronocidal]

Easy partial solution to the weight problem.. mount them sideways, and the pivot won't be under stress from the mounting point being so far off center.

Just ordered two sets of 5, so let's see how these work out. Sadly, I somehow missed the place to stick the promotional code, so I wound up paying shipping, but it only came to about $6, so not a huge loss.

[Kelsain]

I ordered a pair, along with a couple prototypes I had designed. Now I just need to put some stands in my warehouse @ hlj.

[sreichma]

Thanks for those pics it clearly shows you can get level flight and the height that's possible. More gundam stands and another round of EXO's adapters are getting ordered after my detolfs. So hard to stop buying valks in order to buy display cases.

[Benson13]

So hard to stop buying valks in order to buy display cases.

Ain't that the truth. I got a shelf and a crappy bookcase. I need a serious upgrade. It's gotten to the point where when I came home the other day and all my valks were sitting in a circle for an intervention regarding their poor living conditions.

[sreichma]

I woke up at night with a bunch of GU-11's pointing at my face, none of them said a word, they just stood there aiming down on me. I pleaded with them and told them I was going to Ikea on Saturday. . .they paused for a moment. . . transformed into Gerwalk and left. Damn Stick Bernard stayed behind though on his bike as a Recon scout. He's been there everynight since. . .just watching. Hope he leaves Saturday.

[Benson13]

Thankfully it hasn't come to that.

[EXO]

I woke up at night with a bunch of GU-11's pointing at my face, none of them said a word, they just stood there aiming down on me. I pleaded with them and told them I was going to Ikea on Saturday. . .they paused for a moment. . . transformed into Gerwalk and left. Damn Stick Bernard stayed behind though on his bike as a Recon scout. He's been there everynight since. . .just watching. Hope he leaves Saturday.

That's because you didn't get him Saddle Bags!

[wm cheng]

THANKS EXO! Just got my stands and I can't wait to try them out.

However a little word of warning for Canadian residents. I was dinged with a $15.31 customs, duty and brokerage fee from UPS at the door! It was $10 alone in just brokerage fee, then $4.01 GST and an additional $1.30 in "brokerage GST" (WTF?!), so it all ended up costing $53.74cdn for five of them, or just over $10 a piece (a little shocking in the end). I wished I knew, I would have paid it anyways for these great parts, but I just hate being nickled and dimed every step of the way!

[EXO]

Awww. crap. That sucks. Why is it so hard to get stuff into Canada. I'd have an easier time driving it to you personally. But whenever I mail stuff there sometimes you can't even track it.

[Froy]

THANKS EXO! Just got my stands and I can't wait to try them out.

However a little word of warning for Canadian residents. I was dinged with a $15.31 customs, duty and brokerage fee from UPS at the door! It was $10 alone in just brokerage fee, then $4.01 GST and an additional $1.30 in "brokerage GST" (WTF?!), so it all ended up costing $53.74cdn for five of them, or just over $10 a piece (a little shocking in the end). I wished I knew, I would have paid it anyways for these great parts, but I just hate being nickled and dimed every step of the way!

Wow, I just got dinged the past week with almost $50 due to import fees for my VE-1 and the SSP (from HLJ via Fedex). Hope this won't happen this time.

Edited November 29, 2012 by Froy

[wm cheng]

Awww. crap. That sucks. Why is it so hard to get stuff into Canada. I'd have an easier time driving it to you personally. But whenever I mail stuff there sometimes you can't even track it.

Hey if you drove it up here I would give you a personal tour of my model collection ;-)

Good thing I bought 5 - the brokerage would have been the same if I only bought 1.

They work great! A little loose maybe (I would guess that's the tolerance of the 3D printing process?), but nothing a piece or two of paper within the openings couldn't take care of. Very sturdy, more so than the stands themselves, you might be able to shave down some of the side walls a bit or add some "ribbing" (vertical strips) within the holes to take up that looseness that can be "compressed" when the pegs slide into the hole.

The VE-1 leans a little due to the looseness and the off-centre axis of the Yamato adapter's peg, but I'm sure a pieces of paper wedged inside the opening will cure that - I just wished Yamato placed the stand adapters closer to the toy's natural centre of gravity!

[Sandman]

THANKS EXO! Just got my stands and I can't wait to try them out.

However a little word of warning for Canadian residents. I was dinged with a $15.31 customs, duty and brokerage fee from UPS at the door! It was $10 alone in just brokerage fee, then $4.01 GST and an additional $1.30 in "brokerage GST" (WTF?!), so it all ended up costing $53.74cdn for five of them, or just over $10 a piece (a little shocking in the end). I wished I knew, I would have paid it anyways for these great parts, but I just hate being nickled and dimed every step of the way!

UPS is the worst for that. When i ordered my set and i saw they were the shipping company i cursed to myself. Everything that i order that is shipped through UPS gets dinged with custom, brokerage, handling and any other fees they can think of. I once ordered cd for $15 and had to pay close to $60 in fees. Like WTF? Another time a friend send me some blank tapes of old Japanese shows he recorded. Customs considered them goods bought and charged me $27 per tape. Want makes it sting worse is that there is no one to call and complain or dispute these charges. It's either pay or not get your stuff. I use USPS whenever i can to avoid this. Not sure why it's so different but it hardly ever hits customs and they don't charge any of those extra bs fees that UPS does.

[Mechapilot77]

Exo I was able to order some of these and give it a try. A few first impressions.

1. The Strong white flexible material from shapeways seems to be very powdery. The white powder flakes off and that will effect the tightness/looseness.

2. I think it could be a tiny bit tighter on there.

3. That hinged joint (and keep in mind I've only built one of the action bases so far) is pretty weak. I can really only have it in a couple different positions before it wants to fold over. I'm not sure how you managed all the dynamic poses on the previous page (although i see that is a different design but theoretically the new ones should cause less moment/torque on that joint).

4. Its pretty cool to see the valk flying that high above the desk ( i bought the clear stands and can stretch out the main arm of the action base pretty far).

5. AND THIS IS THE BIG ONE - Do you think it makes sense to design a few different fixed angle "collar" type things to put over the hinged joint (bracing it from the outside) so it doesn't want to fold over. To be honest my super packed Vf-1J (Sorry millia!) tumbled onto my desk a few times while i was trying to see what could work and what wouldn't. OR, do you think its a good idea to design an adapter that removes the screw hinged joint altogether? Granted this second option would limiit the stand to one angle only.

What are your thoughts EXO?

Anyone else have different impressions they'd like to share?

[EXO]

I can make a tighter version but it's harder to deal with a tighter tolerance than a looser one. I'll put it up tonight.

The fixed angle is a great idea. You can actually just take off the collar that has the screw and replace it with one whole piece. I'll play with that also.

If anyone else experiences looseness let me know, but the one I have fits just right. I'll put up a tighter version and order it with the fixed angle version.

How about the hole that holds the Yamato adapter?

[EXO]

Ok. Here's what I got as far as an angled adapter. This won't require a separate adapter. It'll take the place of the part with the screw, so you just have to remove that piece and pop this in. The thicker dimensions and the additional material needed to angle it makes this $8.95 before shipping. But I have to test it first...

top (attaches to Yamato adapter)

Bottom (attaches to Bandai stand)

[Froy]

Wouldn't be easier just glue the joint in place?

My adapters should be in home tomorrow afternoon. As soon I got them I'll up load pics.

[Mechapilot77]

wow you're fast EXO. haha. let me know how it works out! i'll probably order some asap if they do work out fine.

[EXO]

Finally got the adjusted adapters... I cleaned the crap out of the powder first and tested it... It's a nice tight fit. I also got the angled adapters. The fit is great also. I'll test out the stability later and take some more photos.

[Mommar]

I guess when I ordered my adapters I missed the angled one's you worked. In other news I can confirm a modified VF-0C will work on the stands in Gerwalk. I wouldn't want to attempt fighter mode though. Not with those heavy legs plus the added weight of the larger wings.

[Mechapilot77]

cool exo...looking forward to pics

[EXO]

Removing the piece with the screw actually makes it more stable. I'm going to make some in different angles and send it on to Shapeways. Also again, all tolerance are checked so the adapters fit tighter after all the powder is cleaned off.

As you can see, it can actually hold a 1/48 with Fast Packs even at extreme angles. You do need the extra square piece for sure to stabilize the base. It tips over with out it. Like mechtech suggested, maybe weighing it down wil make it more stable but for me I think it's enough. I even shook the base slightly to make sure it doesn't tip over. It sways just like the adapter with the screw with a 1/60FP but it never fell over.

[Benson13]

How's it attached to the 1/48? I never got any special adapters with mine.

[EXO]

I think it came with the Yamato stands. It's been a while.

[Benson13]

I think it came with the Yamato stands. It's been a while.

So, I'd have to have the connection piece from the Yamato Launch Arm stand? That sucks. Lucky 1/60's.

[EXO]

I'll see if I can design some for the 1/48s... I wont be able to test it tho... spending too much on r&D and not enough on actual current projects. I'll make it so it won't be dependent so much on tolerance. The ones that come with the stands can't hold the valk with the gun anyway... I'll see if there's a way to resolve that.

[MichaelS]

Thank you so much for your time and effort EXO.

[sreichma]

Works great for Battroid mode. Your adaptor is great EXO. The stand is extended to the maximum and it holds fine. I love this stand with the adaptor

Edited December 30, 2012 by sreichma