Mog’s a Low-Down, Dirty Rotten Copy-Cat (Modded Matchbox SDF-1)

[Mog]

4 hours ago, tekering said:

I'm still blending edges and scribing panel lines, and I'm nowhere near ready for painting...  

Nice!  That's some impressive and seamless work.

Can't even see where the original plastic ends and the styrene(?) extension begins. 

Very clean look!

[MechTech]

Looks great Mog! HUGE improvement over the stock version! Congrats on a great mod Mog! - MT

[Mog]

Thanks for the compliments everyone.

In any case, more pics:

 

Attack Mode with the guns up:

 

Chest flared out:

 

Ultra-double-top-secret GERWALK MODE!!111!!!!!! :

 

You'll notice I haven't posted any pics in cruiser mode . . . . . . .welp, this quote came back to bite me in the ass:

On 5/3/2020 at 12:58 AM, Mog said:

 Still have to panel-line a few spots, paint up one set of foot boosters, and confirm the main guns mesh and hold up in cruiser mode.

One of the main gun booms was floppy in cruiser mode.  And the magnets I placed in the right boom didn't hold the damn structure up.

Add in that you could really tell that one boom was longer than the other, and boom (pun intended), it was emergency repair time:

• Added magnets inside the styrene extensions to help link and connect the booms together (and use the more solid holding boom to support up the floppier boom).
• Trimmed the polystyrene to get the main guns to match a little closer in length.
• Cut down the styrene rod to help shorten the longer main gun boom.

Of course, while doing all this, I tried to open up the front landing gear and wound up breaking the landing gear cover.   Superglue repaired that, and I learned to always open that front gear up by pushing in the front part of the cover.

I'll post pics of cruiser mode in a few days.

[Mog]

As promised, cruiser mode pics:

You can see where the front landing gear cover cracked in this pic and the gappy chest seams due to the mods/repairs I did:

 

Close-Up Shots:

Bridge work :

 

Even after making some repairs, you can kinda, sorta see that one main gun boom is just a smidge longer than the other (maybe 5mm difference?):

 

Flying on a Flexi/Flightpose stand:

 

Despite some challenges, I'm really pleased with how this all turned out.

Finally got my large-scale TV-STYLE Macross!!!!

 

[nightmareB4macross]

You’ve done extremely well.

That would be a crown jewel in anyone’s collection.

[slide]

very nice

[Mog]

2 hours ago, nightmareB4macross said:

You’ve done extremely well.

That would be a crown jewel in anyone’s collection.

And a tip of the cap to you, @tekering, and @Rogueload for the tips and pics that gave me a bunch of ideas and examples to utilize.

[big F]

Looking good 

[Rogueload]

19 hours ago, Mog said:

And a tip of the cap to you, @tekering, and @Rogueload for the tips and pics that gave me a bunch of ideas and examples to utilize.

No problem! Looks great!

[tekering]

Well it's certainly an improvement -- there's no denying that -- but I'm surprised you didn't at least straighten out those shoulder cannons, Mog...  

[Mog]

Yeah, I didn’t have any ball-hinged or ball-and-socket joints for that particular mod.

I think I was more focused on making sure the shoulder repair/workaround worked and the main gun extension succeeded.

Plus, the places that I found the joints were shipping out of Japan (while I’m based out of the US).

Like I said before, I tend to be impatient. 

Edited May 10, 2020 by Mog

[big F]

6 hours ago, Mog said:

Yeah, I didn’t have any ball-hinged or ball-and-socket joints for that particular mod.

I think I was more focused on making sure the shoulder repair/workaround worked and the main gun extension succeeded.

Plus, the places that I found the joints were shipping out of Japan (while I’m based out of the US).

Like I said before, I tend to be impatient. 

3d print them. I have several packs of the Wave joints bought the last time I was in Tokyo. But so as to not “waste” them have printed some at various sizes. Seems to work well, not up to constant toy play standards but for display and occasional moving, more than up to the job.

[Mog]

This is probably amateur hour/“no duh” stuff, but I found the following tools and items to be helpful in modding this toy.

I know we got some great threads here for modeling.  And I know other folks here have more experience working and cutting polystyrene than I do.

But I found these items useful for working on toys, especially when working on this mod/custom.

1). Instead of slathering every screwhole with WD-40, I found this set-up worked best to get those stubborn, years-old screws to finally get loose:

It’s basically just a precision screwdriver being held by self-adjusting groove joint pliers.

It allows me to push down and torque the screw loose without killing my fingers or grip.  Usually hear and feel a distinct pop/squeak when the screw loosens.

 

2). When fixing the broken shoulder with a screw, I had to trim/shear the screw with the following:

The “fun” issue:  If you cut the bolt/screw too short, you won’t have enough room to get the nut to hold.

Cut It too long, and you wind up with the bolt/screw impeding the arm from rotating between cruiser and attack mode.

 

3). When panel-lining the Macross, I used the following pens:

I also used these to panel-line my assorted Valks.  Easy to use, and wipes off with just spit and a tissue (when you mess up).

I usually use the light grey on the white areas (for a more subtle line).  And the black pen on the colored areas to make the line “pop out” more.

When using these pens, make sure you point them at an angle, never straight perpendicular to the surface.  If you point them straight down, there’s a chance you’ll ruin the tip and the pen will no longer work.

[big F]

Good tips 

that screwdriver and plumbers grips method scales up too

Edited May 13, 2020 by big F

[Chronocidal]

On 5/9/2020 at 10:49 PM, Mog said:

Yeah, I didn’t have any ball-hinged or ball-and-socket joints for that particular mod.

I think I was more focused on making sure the shoulder repair/workaround worked and the main gun extension succeeded.

Plus, the places that I found the joints were shipping out of Japan (while I’m based out of the US).

Like I said before, I tend to be impatient. 

Do you actually need ball/socket joints, or would it work to just cut the cannons free from their mounts, and add an elevation pivot?  I'm assuming they already rotate at the base though.

[Mog]

I'm honestly okay with the angle of the railguns.  I'll probably be posing her in cruiser mode once everything is settled, and the angled guns give her a little more of a dynamic look (than if the guns are all pointed straight with the rest of the ship).

For anyone who does this, the challenge is that the railguns themselves are about 5mm thick.  So, there's not a lot of room to work with to drill in a joint or connection point.

I came up with one possible alternative:  instead of using a ball-socket or ball-hinged joint, you could probably make a swivel cut on the railguns and use magnets at the cut.  If you ever bought Star Wars figures back in the early 00's, there were a lot of figures that used a swivel-cut for the elbows.  Basically, the swivel-cut joint allowed you to pose the arm straight or with a bend at the elbow.

In the case of the Macross, a swivel cut at about 80 to 85 degrees on the railgun (basically just slightly off from 90 degrees perpendicular) would give the railgun two pose options:  one position angled out and then swiveled on the magnets to position them lined up straight.  The tricky part is to cut the railguns at just the perfect angle so that they'll look straight.  And you'd be limited to only two poses, as opposed to the unlimited options of a ball-socket or ball-hinge joint.

Considering you'd have to purchase magnets anyways to hold up the main guns or to extend the main guns, this is a cheaper/"sunk costs" alternative.

[nightmareB4macross]

On 5/16/2020 at 9:30 AM, Mog said:

I'm honestly okay with the angle of the railguns.  I'll probably be posing her in cruiser mode once everything is settled, and the angled guns give her a little more of a dynamic look (than if the guns are all pointed straight with the rest of the ship).

For anyone who does this, the challenge is that the railguns themselves are about 5mm thick.  So, there's not a lot of room to work with to drill in a joint or connection point.

I came up with one possible alternative:  instead of using a ball-socket or ball-hinged joint, you could probably make a swivel cut on the railguns and use magnets at the cut.  If you ever bought Star Wars figures back in the early 00's, there were a lot of figures that used a swivel-cut for the elbows.  Basically, the swivel-cut joint allowed you to pose the arm straight or with a bend at the elbow.

In the case of the Macross, a swivel cut at about 80 to 85 degrees on the railgun (basically just slightly off from 90 degrees perpendicular) would give the railgun two pose options:  one position angled out and then swiveled on the magnets to position them lined up straight.  The tricky part is to cut the railguns at just the perfect angle so that they'll look straight.  And you'd be limited to only two poses, as opposed to the unlimited options of a ball-socket or ball-hinge joint.

Considering you'd have to purchase magnets anyways to hold up the main guns or to extend the main guns, this is a cheaper/"sunk costs" alternative.

There definitely is more than plenty of room for a ball joint. Just need to be creative and source the right tools and joint to utilize.