Macross maintenance.

[Arkham]

Folks, sorry for the stupid question, but was wondering what do you guys use to dust your valks: cloth, air blower, a brush?

Mine are starting to get all white and grey because of the dust  and some cleaning is in order. Been a bit hesitant as I don't want to harm them, any tips?

 

Thanks!

[Sanity is Optional]

I use a microfiber duster.

[seti88]

I was abt to use some cheap supermarket wipes today on my valks and while pulling the wipes out, remembered I don't know what chemicals are in these wipes! Stopped dead cold...phew....

[no3Ljm]

Dusting one by one takes time so I use this. 

Hahaha!

Kidding aside I use microfiber duster or those compressed air cans.

[Arkham]

Thanks for the replies!

 

[Pulltoeject]

I use a blush brush.  

I dust them off every 2 weeks or so, and it reaches every crevice without scratching the plastic.

Edited January 30, 2019 by Pulltoeject

[no3Ljm]

1 hour ago, Pulltoeject said:

I use a blush brush.  

I dust them off every 2 weeks or so, and it reaches every crevice without scratching the plastic.

I'm also using the same from time to time. But don't let your better half finds out what you've been doing with their make-up brushes. 

 

[Xigfrid]

If you use the dark powder for eyes -sorry I have absolutely no idea of the exact name for this- you can even weather it ? 

[Pulltoeject]

No idea. I use hot pink powder blush on my face then I immediately go to work on my valks with the same brush......

[BlueMax]

Dear all, i’ve managed to score a VF-31A! But it is used and has a big problem: the wing root swivelling mechanism, specifically the tube/cylinder that swivels round the rod for transformation is broken. Can anybody advise how to go about doing that? The broken tube parts are safely in storage.

 

thanks in advance

[no3Ljm]

Sorry to hear about that. The canard wing looks beat up as well. Hope you didn't pay too much for it. 

 

Edited February 28, 2019 by no3Ljm

[Sildani]

Use a “hot” plastic glue like Pro Weld to cement the broken parts together. You’ll have better luck transforming it part way to get to them, plus you’ll be moving parts out of the way of the glue. Let it cure for at least 24 hours, and treat it with kid gloves afterwards. 

[Xigfrid]

I had so far no luck finding a good welding glue and living in France doesn't help sourcing the good US/Jap stuff. But I recently came to this thread which contains great tips. In particular the one using super glue to attach the parts together, then use MEK/Acetone to weld the parts together and keeping them together during the 24h curing.

[Pontus]

Has anyone tried this for yellowed plastic?

 

[UN Spacy]

WHELP I had a feeling this would eventually happen to my YF-29. I left the bottom half hanging to transform to Battroid and the plastic just gave.

Looks like it’s Fighter from now on. Be careful folks...these pre Delta DX Valks are showing their age.

[Reïvaj]

Ouch! I'm sorry to see that, UN Spacy! 

I've always distrusted the quality of the plastics Bandai were using till some years ago, I hope now I've always been wrong and this is just an isolated case...

[NeoMatter]

34 minutes ago, Reïvaj said:

Ouch! I'm sorry to see that, UN Spacy! 

I've always distrusted the quality of the plastics Bandai were using till some years ago, I hope now I've always been wrong and this is just an isolated case...

My YF-29B has a cracked neck piece that holds the ball joint.

A clean break too...

[davidwhangchoi]

Bandai plastic sucks

[DewPoint]

On 3/31/2019 at 4:02 PM, davidwhangchoi said:

Bandai plastic sucks

Speaking of....  This happened.  I've only transformed this twice! This is like my 6th HMR VF-1.

I tried Tamiya Extra Thin Cement (Quick Setting).  So far I've tried it three times and It dosen't seem to be holding.  I'm reluctant to fool around with it more at the moment for fear of the part fully separating and then I'd have to deal with alignment issues.  Is there a better product for the HMR plastic?  Did I use the wrong type of Cement?  I haven't done anything with plastic models in over 20 years!

[DewPoint]

Tamiya Extra Thin Cement (Quick-Setting) (Acetone, Butyl Acetate, Methyl Ethyl Ketone) was in effective.  Based on my research, that tells me that the plastic is not Polystyrene (PS), Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), or Polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

I just picked up a bottle of Plastruct Plastic Weld (Methylene Chloride (dichloromethane), Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK)). So far it seems to be working.  I'll try to apply a bit of pressure on it in a few hours.  If this fails, I'm moving on the the plastic specific super glues.

Going to give it a full 24 hours to cure before I try to reattach it.  You need to look really closely to see where it broke.

Edited June 3, 2019 by DewPoint
Added image

[slide]

On 6/2/2019 at 5:18 PM, DewPoint said:

Tamiya Extra Thin Cement (Quick-Setting) (Acetone, Butyl Acetate, Methyl Ethyl Ketone) was in effective.  Based on my research, that tells me that the plastic is not Polystyrene (PS), Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), or Polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

I just picked up a bottle of Plastruct Plastic Weld (Methylene Chloride (dichloromethane), Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK)). So far it seems to be working.  I'll try to apply a bit of pressure on it in a few hours.  If this fails, I'm moving on the the plastic specific super glues.

Going to give it a full 24 hours to cure before I try to reattach it.  You need to look really closely to see where it broke.

If MEK doesn't do it for you, you're probably s-o-l [in my experience]

[DewPoint]

10 hours ago, slide said:

If MEK doesn't do it for you, you're probably s-o-l [in my experience]

No surprise, it split when I tried to push it on.  I think I may have at least 3 options.  1) Coat the pin area in petroleum jelly and try to glue the part back together in place.  2) Ask my co-worker to 3D print me some replacements (maybe 10).  3) Try to find a parts Valkyrie.

[Slave IV]

2 hours ago, DewPoint said:

No surprise, it split when I tried to push it on.  I think I may have at least 3 options.  1) Coat the pin area in petroleum jelly and try to glue the part back together in place.  2) Ask my co-worker to 3D print me some replacements (maybe 10).  3) Try to find a parts Valkyrie.

That part is pretty tiny but if you can find a way to drill a hole in each side to glue in a support pin, it may work. For me, I'd just call it broken and live with it.

[DewPoint]

49 minutes ago, Slave IV said:

That part is pretty tiny but if you can find a way to drill a hole in each side to glue in a support pin, it may work. For me, I'd just call it broken and live with it.

True enough.  It will function fine with a single support.

[kkx]

3 hours ago, DewPoint said:

No surprise, it split when I tried to push it on.  I think I may have at least 3 options.  1) Coat the pin area in petroleum jelly and try to glue the part back together in place.  2) Ask my co-worker to 3D print me some replacements (maybe 10).  3) Try to find a parts Valkyrie.

Not sure if this is similar to what you have tried.

When I try to repair a few VF-1 1/60 v2 with broken/split shoulder hinges, I found this and it works great.

Loctite bonding system

The Yamato shoulder joint plastic is a bit smooth and oily (not sure what type it is), and nothing I tried works until I attempt this. The pressure on those hinges might not be as strong as yours, so not sure if it will work but worth a try I think.

You can also try to thin out the bar a bit to reduce some pressure on the hinge.

Good luck.

[enphily]

On 4/1/2019 at 3:15 AM, UN Spacy said:

WHELP I had a feeling this would eventually happen to my YF-29. I left the bottom half hanging to transform to Battroid and the plastic just gave.

Looks like it’s Fighter from now on. Be careful folks...these pre Delta DX Valks are showing their age.

Got this problem with my VF-25F too

[DewPoint]

On 6/4/2019 at 7:48 PM, kkx said:

Not sure if this is similar to what you have tried.

When I try to repair a few VF-1 1/60 v2 with broken/split shoulder hinges, I found this and it works great.

Loctite bonding system

The Yamato shoulder joint plastic is a bit smooth and oily (not sure what type it is), and nothing I tried works until I attempt this. The pressure on those hinges might not be as strong as yours, so not sure if it will work but worth a try I think.

You can also try to thin out the bar a bit to reduce some pressure on the hinge.

Good luck.

I looked at that.  It is my last resort before going to replacement parts.  My major issue, as you all know, is that the part needs to widen to go back in place.  Major stress on the re-bonded joint.  My co-worker is a Machinist by hobby.  He has milling machines, lathes, 3D printers, laser engravers, etc.  Doesn't hurt to ask!

Edited June 7, 2019 by DewPoint

[DewPoint]

11 minutes ago, enphily said:

Got this problem with my VF-25F too

I got into this hobby right before Delta aired.  I really like Frontier.  By the time I even considered getting a VF-25 they were like 8 years old and (arguably) not ageing well.  The plastic failures worry me more than the yellowing.  It's what kept me for hunting them down.

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

On 6/5/2019 at 2:06 AM, DewPoint said:

I got into this hobby right before Delta aired.  I really like Frontier.  By the time I even considered getting a VF-25 they were like 8 years old and (arguably) not ageing well.  The plastic failures worry me more than the yellowing.  It's what kept me for hunting them down.

What bothers me about the breakages(I have pics on the page before I think), is that the pieces cracked are made of POM(almost sure due to the texture, it's dense and grainy, lacks the gloss that the ABS parts have). So you'd think they wouldn't crack. Those pieces are found in the landing gear bays(for the landings gear hinges) and also the torso for transformation. Best scenario in the future is for Bandai to make those pieces in diecast as the spring pins used will have a much harder time cracking diecast apart.

On 6/5/2019 at 2:01 AM, DewPoint said:

I looked at that.  It is my last resort before going to replacement parts.  My major issue, as you all know, is that the part need to widen to go back in place.  Major stress on the re-bonded joint.  My co-worker is a Machinist by hobby.  He has milling machines, lathes, 3D printers, laser engravers, etc.  Dosen't hurt to ask!

What you can try(this is tedious but has worked for me on similar breakages before), is to leave the hinge clip on the bar, apply Krazy glue to the hinge clip and broken piece of the clip, press the hinge clip and broken piece together to bond. Then, keep moving it frequently before it dries. That's the tedious part as the pieces will bond to the bar if you're not moving the clip frequently. It doesn't help that these pieces are quite small.

You can also try this with Loctite or that glue that uses UV light to set/bond.

Edited June 7, 2019 by Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0

[levzloi]

On 6/4/2019 at 11:48 PM, kkx said:

Not sure if this is similar to what you have tried.

When I try to repair a few VF-1 1/60 v2 with broken/split shoulder hinges, I found this and it works great.

Loctite bonding system

The Yamato shoulder joint plastic is a bit smooth and oily (not sure what type it is), and nothing I tried works until I attempt this. The pressure on those hinges might not be as strong as yours, so not sure if it will work but worth a try I think.

You can also try to thin out the bar a bit to reduce some pressure on the hinge.

Good luck.

Thanks kkx, I tried this on two valks, and combined with BlueMax's post below, I think it worked great

I also first filed the knurled end, and then place the knurled end in the undamaged side when reassembling the shoulder hinge.  I think it worked great, just continue to handle the joint gently, and always lift it from below rather than pull it from above to get it over the notch.  Also, I ran a 1/16th drill bit through the holes twisting it by hand (ie not in a drill) to make sure the hole was clear for the pin. 

Edited September 2, 2019 by levzloi

[moose]

On 3/31/2019 at 8:15 PM, UN Spacy said:

WHELP I had a feeling this would eventually happen to my YF-29. I left the bottom half hanging to transform to Battroid and the plastic just gave.

Looks like it’s Fighter from now on. Be careful folks...these pre Delta DX Valks are showing their age.

I have a issue also with this valk shoulder c ring broken of any way to replace it.

 

I had to refund the buyer . I guess these things are showing their age. And I hardly transform them for this reason. Any ideas on how to fix it

Edited September 3, 2019 by moose
Pic

[moose]

On 9/3/2019 at 11:01 AM, moose said:

I have a issue also with this valk shoulder c ring broken of any way to replace it.

 

I had to refund the buyer . I guess these things are showing their age. And I hardly transform them for this reason. Any ideas on how to fix it

Any ideas on how to breakdown the glue so I can seperate thr to halfs

[Bobby]

^ to separate the two halves you're just gonna need a fresh x-acto blade and some patience (obviously don't forget to open the missile hatch) and just glue and clamp back together when you're done.

Man, that "c" clamp's a bummer...hard to fix those tension clips. Hopefully as these age the pieces that repeatedly break will draw the attention of Xigfrid, Plastic Soldiers, Rocket Punch Garage, 3dyeti, etc. (Calling all Shapeway creators) to come to the rescue!

As far as the fuselage joint break goes, mine cracked exactly like UN Spacy's but it really wasn't too bad to replace with a piece of square aluminum tubing instead of another piece of plastic. To get to it, this area came apart quite easily in a way that made sense to be able to put it easily back together. 

 I just cut a piece of 1/8" aluminum tubing to 7/16" in length and then drilled the 2 tiny holes for the hinge-pins all using hand tools. I added 4 tiny washes as well but I don't think they were necessary. I've transformed mine numerous times without any issue and can let it dangle with confidence. 

[Negotiator]

8 hours ago, Bobby said:

 

can let it dangle with confidence. 

you guys can also try fixit epoxy to fill in missing plastic, (sculpt and file to shape.)  or Sugru if it needs to flex

[moose]

23 hours ago, Bobby said:

 

Man, that "c" clamp's a bummer...hard to fix those tension clips. Hopefully as these age the pieces that repeatedly break will draw the attention of Xigfrid, Plastic Soldiers, Rocket Punch Garage, 3dyeti, etc. (Calling all Shapeway creators) to come to the rrescue.

I actually managed to get xigfrid to make me one I just to see what is the best way to seperate shoulder . What is the best way to dissolve the glue with out damaging the plastic , warm water ,acetone.  Any ideas?