Arcadia VF-1J Milia backpack broken

[Saviant]

I recieved my Arcadia VF-1J late last week and when I went to transform it for the first time the backpack broke, it was beyond difficult to lift up and this happened to it.

I brought it from Amiami but don't know if they are going to help me about it, if not does anyone have some suggestions?

Thanks

[recon]

The best is try to glue back the hinge joint using epoxy or gorilla glue.

Now im scared to even transform my PF VF-1J millia ver. Is there any guide on how to properly rotate the backpack?

[chyll2]

That part is stressed out every transformation. Even on loose yamato toys, I have observed that it is being lifted by a few mm before snapping into place.

 

YOu can glue it but when you transformed it again, it will snap again.

 

 

[Saviant]

5 minutes ago, recon said:

The best is try to glue back the hinge joint using epoxy or gorilla glue.

Now im scared to even transform my PF VF-1J millia ver. Is there any guide on how to properly rotate the backpack?

I watched this video multiple times before I attempted this

 

[Saviant]

1 minute ago, chyll2 said:

That part is stressed out every transformation. Even on loose yamato toys, I have observed that it is being lifted by a few mm before snapping into place.

 

YOu can glue it but when you transformed it again, it will snap again.

 

 

That sucks, I am hoping Amiami will do something as it is brand new, but after reading around I guess I am not going to have much luck.

[Saviant]

Well seeing they aren't that expensive from amiami still, plus the fact I worked 16 hours last Friday I thought screw it I will just order another and will use this one for parts like the hinges for a vf-1a I got coming from jungle that I got for a decent price.

I will just have to be super careful with the second one cause I am not buying a third lol

[recon]

Found another video on how to rotate the backpack safely

https://youtu.be/GqBjKv8rc3g

Edited July 30, 2018 by recon

[Gabe Q]

3 hours ago, recon said:

Found another video on how to rotate the backpack safely

https://youtu.be/GqBjKv8rc3g

Around the 6:30 mark is where you'll find the relevant backpack part. They even display a big red X over the wrong way to fold the backpack!

[Shizuka the Cat]

Since your original post indicated that the backpack was not broken when it arrived to you, I doubt AmiAmi will refund anything that could be attributed as user error.

[Xigfrid]

Looking closer to your picture indicates that the two plastic bits that snapped were supposed to hold the little flap and not the entire backpack. 

The little flap applies no pressure at all during the transformation, compared to the arm that is a double hinge that is prone to breakage in the video from @recon. If you glue them back with the flap (avoid glueing the flap together with the plastic bits!) you should be good, and even transform this valk without problem

My main question however is how the hell did these tabs have been snapped off, there is no collision with any other part from the valkirye. 

[Zx31]

Leveraged off by the exhaust flap, maybe?

[Sanity is Optional]

I had one of those little covers break off on my VF-1S Roy. Before you reassemble and glue them back on, take a look at the flap pegs for rough areas, mine had some leftover nubs that were stressing the covers. Sand the rough spots, or trim with a hobby knife to help prevent re-breakage.

[HardlyNever]

44 minutes ago, Sanity is Optional said:

I had one of those little covers break off on my VF-1S Roy. Before you reassemble and glue them back on, take a look at the flap pegs for rough areas, mine had some leftover nubs that were stressing the covers. Sand the rough spots, or trim with a hobby knife to help prevent re-breakage.

This.  I had the exact same issue.  I suffered several re-breaks after gluing,  before I realized what was causing it.

Edited July 30, 2018 by HardlyNever

[Saviant]

3 hours ago, Sanity is Optional said:

I had one of those little covers break off on my VF-1S Roy. Before you reassemble and glue them back on, take a look at the flap pegs for rough areas, mine had some leftover nubs that were stressing the covers. Sand the rough spots, or trim with a hobby knife to help prevent re-breakage.

Thanks I will have a look at this when I got home tonight, and re glue together.

[Sanity is Optional]

Just now, Saviant said:

Thanks I will have a look at this when I got home tonight, and re glue together.

Careful when gluing, so you don't glue the pegs as well. I just kept flexing the flap while it dried to prevent it.

[recon]

4 hours ago, HardlyNever said:

This.  I had the exact same issue.  I suffered several re-breaks after gluing,  before I realized what was causing it.

What was causing the flap hinge breakages? Mind sharing so that we can take note?

[Saviant]

24 minutes ago, Sanity is Optional said:

Careful when gluing, so you don't glue the pegs as well. I just kept flexing the flap while it dried to prevent it.

Thanks, did you use any special glue or just run of the mill super glue to reassemble?

[Sanity is Optional]

Just now, Saviant said:

Thanks, did you use any special glue or just run of the mill super glue to reassemble?

Tried plastic cement, but it didn't hold so I used superglue the second time. Haven't had any issues since.

2 minutes ago, recon said:

What was causing the flap hinge breakages? Mind sharing so that we can take note?

The flap has the gates (places where there's extra plastic sticking it to the runner) on those round pegs. When they're not removed properly it makes the round peg into a square peg, and those corners will get caught on the gap between the parts holding the peg and force them apart, breaking off that little piece.

The simple solution is that if it breaks, you check your pegs and shave or sand them until they're round again before gluing it back together.

[Chronocidal]

2 minutes ago, recon said:

What was causing the flap hinge breakages? Mind sharing so that we can take note?

There seem to be two ways that those cups holding the flap tend to break free.

Early on during the first releases from Yamato, some folks reported that those little cups broke off when moving the backpack back into fighter mode from the folded up gerwalk position.  In those cases, it was due to the edges of those cups being caught against an edge of the backplate, and stressing them as the backpack was pushed down.  There is a way to avoid this by making sure to rotate the backpack in a specific way.

The second cause of these breaks just sounds like mold degradation of either the caps, or the backpack flap.  When this issue popped up again in the past year or so, it was reported that the pegs on the backpack flap were mis-molded, and stressing the caps when the flap was folded over.

I'm hoping the cause is one of these two issues, and that we don't have a third root cause to track down. :P

[recon]

2 hours ago, Sanity is Optional said:

Tried plastic cement, but it didn't hold so I used superglue the second time. Haven't had any issues since.

The flap has the gates (places where there's extra plastic sticking it to the runner) on those round pegs. When they're not removed properly it makes the round peg into a square peg, and those corners will get caught on the gap between the parts holding the peg and force them apart, breaking off that little piece.

The simple solution is that if it breaks, you check your pegs and shave or sand them until they're round again before gluing it back together.

Gotcha. I presume there is no way of removing the backpack flap now and doing some repair work on those pegs so that the movement is smooth? My opinion is that flap pegs should have being designed in a way that they are rounded stubs which you slot into the backpack holes instead pegs which causes unnecessary stress on the backpack joint

Edited July 31, 2018 by recon

[dapro]

I haven't transfer my M&M since I got it 4 years ago. The plastic seems fragile.

[Sanity is Optional]

You could try prying it open, but frankly I'd say leave it alone unless it breaks.

[Saviant]

Well I just got my Max I ordered from HLJ and took it out of the box, tried to flip the backpack over and it was no where near as tight as Miria's, it seperated and flipped over with ease.

[DewPoint]

From my experience, you basically broke it.  I almost broke mine as well.  Arcadia stated that they tightened up a lot of the joints starting from the Millia release.  You can't fold the backpack the way you see in Jenius' transformation guide anymore.  The backpack seems to hook into the bottom of the back plate just beyond the hinge.  Because they tightened up the joints, the rear hinge dosen't move as readily as the previous releases.  So as in the Chinese video posted, you need to make sure you bend the rear hinge to unhook the backpack from the back plate before you fully bend it over or you end up blowing out the hinge just like you did.

[jenius]

I should update the video!

Switched my guides to private. I'll re-post them with more care around the backpack in August/September when my PF Max arrives and I have a lot of V2s out.

Edited July 31, 2018 by jenius

[recon]

1 hour ago, jenius said:

I should update the video!

Switched my guides to private. I'll re-post them with more care around the backpack in August/September when my PF Max arrives and I have a lot of V2s out.

I always use your guides as a precursor to transforming any valks. That saying, the V2.5 valks from arcadia needs a new guide on how to handle the backpack hinge and flap

[wmkjr]

Here is an English translation for that part of the transformation.  The rest of the instructions are in the link and It's for the old Yamato VF-1 but should still be relevant.  Images courtesy of Mech9 http://www.mech9.com/2011/10/yamato-160-perfect-transfirmation-vf-1a.html

[DewPoint]

The backpacks on my Arcadia Roy and Hikaru folded over without issue. When I got Millia, straight out of the box, the backpack hinges were super tight. When I tried to fold it over it didn't want to go past 80 degrees. At that point the backpack looked like it wanted to separate. I could see a gap forming between the tail fin top plate and the  thrusters. At that point I stopped to examine the hinge and review the instructions. My Max had a similar very stiff hinge. It doesn't seem to be that much of a problem after the initial transformation. But that first time is scary.  

[Sanity is Optional]

Well, guess I'll find out how bad in a month or so, NY just put the premium Milia on Sale, so I grabbed one.

[Xigfrid]

I think there is a misunderstanding, half of the answers concern the STEP 4, flipping the back pack in Gerwalk position, but to me it seems that the thread author has broken the tabs in STEP 5, 2nd illustration: when you open the flap.

thanks @wmkjr for the picture.

[DewPoint]

5 minutes ago, Xigfrid said:

I think there is a misunderstanding, half of the answers concern the STEP 4, flipping the back pack in Gerwalk position, but to me it seems that the thread author has broken the tabs in STEP 5, 2nd illustration: when you open the flap.

thanks @wmkjr for the picture.

If you do not "unlock the part" in step 4 and go right to step 5, you can break the hinges out just as seen in the 1st post. 

[no3Ljm]

6 minutes ago, Xigfrid said:

I think there is a misunderstanding, half of the answers concern the STEP 4, flipping the back pack in Gerwalk position, but to me it seems that the thread author has broken the tabs in STEP 5, 2nd illustration: when you open the flap.

thanks @wmkjr for the picture.

I think what happened is that when he's trying to fold the backpack, the tabs or the part broke that connects the exhaust flap, that part is connected to the hinge in the middle of the backpack. So when the backpack is tried to fold the wrong way, it creates stress on those small parts which eventually will lead to snapping. It almost happened to me because when I'm trying to transform my Arcadia VF-1S Roy before, I see that part opens up when I'm forcing the backpack to fold.

 

[wmkjr]

Like others have stated, if you try to fold the backpack over from how it looks like in the 1st pic OP posted, it'll either give and fold over,  leave a stress mark, or break if you force it.

Edit: I could've sworn we were discussing this in another thread.

BINGO! http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/topic/44652-arcadia-160-super-vf-1j-max-millia-release/?do=findComment&comment=1368523.

Edited July 31, 2018 by wmkjr

[no3Ljm]

21 minutes ago, wmkjr said:

Like others have stated, if you try to fold the backpack over from how it looks like in the 1st pic OP posted, it'll either give and fold over,  leave a stress mark, or break if you force it.

Edit: I could've sworn we were discussing this in another thread.

BINGO! http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/topic/44652-arcadia-160-super-vf-1j-max-millia-release/?do=findComment&comment=1368523.

Yes! That's the one. Thanks for posting the link, wmkjr. 

Ok. Back to our regular programming. Let's continue the discussion in the appropriate thread. 

 

[recon]

1 hour ago, wmkjr said:

Like others have stated, if you try to fold the backpack over from how it looks like in the 1st pic OP posted, it'll either give and fold over,  leave a stress mark, or break if you force it.

Edit: I could've sworn we were discussing this in another thread.

BINGO! http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/topic/44652-arcadia-160-super-vf-1j-max-millia-release/?do=findComment&comment=1368523.

Yeah there is one way to fold the backpack up when transforming from fighter to gerwalk or battroid and another way to fold it down when transforming back to fighter. Lucky i still got my old V2 to monkey around