VF-17D Canopy Repair - Plastics

[arcoregon]

Hi Folks,

My Yamato VF-17D came from the factory with the canopy painted shut on the support rail. I cracked the canopy hinge off the pin by forcing it open and now I'm repair mode. Got the metal pin out and the slide mechanism disassembled. Tried gorilla glue 3x but all fail; I think its to brittle to hold the plastic together.

Would anyone know what type of plastic the canopy is made of?

If it's ABS I've been reading about using acetone to either directly melt them together or make acetone 'glue' by dissolving some scrap ABS in the acetone.

Any sugguestions? Mahalo!

[mechaninac]

Use off-the-shelf plastic weld formulated to work on ABS (Ambroid Pro Weld should do the trick). It may also be a good idea to drill and pin the two pieces to be welded in order to add a bit more support/post repair strength, as long as there is enough room to do so without interfering with any hinge pins or other parts that may come into play when the canopy is opened and rotated.

Edited August 15, 2013 by mechaninac

[coronadlux]

I agree, some modeling glue would work too. The pin idea would work only if they wont be visible, being the canopy and all. You can always try transparent epoxy.

[arcoregon]

Finally got around to getting the Ambroid. Looks like its holding. Thanks for the heads ups folks!

[Loop]

How did you get the cockpit removed from the main body? Also how did you remove the pin that hinges the canopy to the cockpit? I have a D variant that I had the same problem with. As of now I just popped the cockpit on and it stay well enough, but I dont want to lose the little piece of plastic that is shaped like a "U". I should work on it before I forget or lose the little piece.

Edited September 15, 2013 by Loop

[arcoregon]

How did you get the cockpit removed from the main body? Also how did you remove the pin that hinges the canopy to the cockpit? I have a D variant that I had the same problem with. As of now I just popped the cockpit on and it stay well enough, but I dont want to lose the little piece of plastic that is shaped like a "U". I should work on it before I forget or lose the little piece.

The pilot seat locks down the cockpit mechanism. I was lucky enough to rock it free from the glue. Then the joystick and throttle arm and the back part of the canopy support all slid out. I used the point of a metal compass to carefully push the pin out. One side is gnarled which locks it in the plastic support. Needed to be weary of this so i didnt force it thru the hole and split the plastic pin support loops. Needle nose pliers did the rest. I also used a pin vice with 1mm drill bits and sandpaper. After the glue cured, i would go through the purple plastic with the pin vice and carefully drill out excess glue from the pin tunnel. I sanded the canopy support and the sliding mechanism which had the paint on it (original culprit). Took iterative test fitting to make sure i wasnt over doing it.

Yes! My fear was losing the little broken piece of purple plastic that comprised the pin tunnel. I had it taped on for a long time. I got my 17D like around March; broke it the first try. After the super glue failures, it just sat. I'm grateful the ABS weld is holding. If you need more info, drop me a line. Good Luck!

[Astro_BS-AS]

Hi guys. The same thing happened to me with a VF-17S.

Luckily I didn´t lose the small purple piece that broke. And it stays well with superglue.

The problem I found too was excessive friction on the sliding piece, as arcoregon mentions, and that stress the purple hole that holds the metal pin to the point of fracture.

Take some account on that because if it still is too stiff, it´ll broke again someday.

[Loop]

Mine was so tight it was not going to ever open properly. I had to basically break a "seal" to get the sliding mechanism to move. I did not really inspect it well because I was in a dimly lit room at the time and put him straight to battroid mode. I would swear though it was glued, but I will examine it before I make the repair.

Edited September 18, 2013 by Loop