ArchieNov

It's all cool. I've actually started getting into the RC hobby myself lately, but only RC tanks in particular. The RC culture is very different from my usual toy collecting since in the RC hobby (at least from what I've seen), it's almost expected that people customize their stuff. MISB or stock models usually hold the lowest value. I could be wrong but that's what I've experienced so far in the last 3 months.

5 hours ago, spanner said:

F#$% it's good to be back into this hobby!

Why'd you leave again? You used to have a massive collection. Then I remember you started talking more and more about model cars...

The problems with the SV-51 are far more than just misassembled ankles. Some of its engineering is the same as the old Yamato (which needed improvement), while some are even a step back.

The only new engineering on the Arcadia SV-51 which improves upon the Yamato are probably the nosecone and arms pegging in better because they have tabs instead of weak magnets. The folding canards and the openable VTOL intake cover in fighter aren't really needed as these weren't issues before IMO. I can't remember if the Yamato had extendable double jointed elbows, but this is an improvement if they didn't. 

Ankle articulation is horrible. Wings can still get floppy (they removed the locking tabs for no reason), the head doesn't position well unless you extend it making it look disjointed, tightness of the joints are very inconsistent (one of my shoulder joints is too tight while the other is too loose, same with the shoulder hinges and wings).

I know I probably missed some stuff but on the whole the SV-51 was not a good release. And that's coming from me who was one of the few who got the right ankles. The weathering job I had done actually saved it in my eyes, because at least it looks good enough now that I can temporarily forget about most of these other issues (as long as I keep it in fighter mode forever).

Hmm, you make good points. Alright, I think I'll go ahead and have him weather my existing 0D instead. He's currently working on my Weijiang OS SS Blackout so perhaps after that's done.

On a different note, my floppy wing strangely tightened up after I rotated it all the way to the other side, then rotated it back. It's still not rock solid, but it is probably 2-3x tighter than it was earlier. I can actually flip it upside down (gently) without the wing angling down. I'm wondering if the pin is not perfectly round so some areas in the rotation are tighter than others. Now I'm hesitant to transform it even again because I might end up loosening the wing back up.  

6 hours ago, borgified said:

Or IG-11 for the upcoming Mandalore series.

Since you have now a have a weathered Ivanoff 51, is Nora's going to follow suit or are you going to leave it as it is upon getting a copy @ArchieNov?  

Has Nora been announced? But good question. I still haven't decided. I had my Ivanov weathered to cover up a stupid mistake I did which messed up the look of the wing joint area. But it came out so nice that I'm contemplating whether I should have him weather the rest of my Zero toys. Was thinking of having him do my 0D next so I don't have to buy the premium finish version and he can make it look closer to the anime. But the advantage of the premium finish is that all markings are tampoed.

Ironically, the non-premium is worth more now on the aftermarket than the premium. So maybe I just buy the premium 0D and have him weather up my 1S and 1A instead?

1 hour ago, sqidd said:

Looks fantastic! Who did the weathering?

It's a local guy here in the Philippines. He has a website: http://www.transformerscustomtoys.com/

I'm too lazy to transform it to battroid, but here are some pics of it he sent previously.

4 minutes ago, chyll2 said:

How much did it cost you @ArchieNov?

2k PHP

1 minute ago, chyll2 said:

I love it (especially the subtle weathering) too bad, the stickers really stand out.

Yeah I thought so too when I first saw the pics of the work in progress. But once you have it in front of you, the stickers actually don't stand out so much. Must be the camera just making it look worse than it really does in person.

So here's my SV-51 after I got it back from having it weathered. What do you guys think? (Pardon the crappy pics). Good news is it covered up the mess I made when I used clear nail polish to tighten the wing (looks better too IMO). Bad news is the right wing is still floppy as hell. 

On 10/6/2019 at 12:49 PM, nightmareB4macross said:

But just from the first transformation it feels like parts already want to loosen. The left wing joint began to flail during transformation. The upper chest half does not lock down. And the hips are already begging to feel loose. I had high hopes for this and honestly expected more from this over the Yamato version.

This is almost exactly the same experience I have had with it.

2 hours ago, Kuma Style said:

Really surprised a red fastpack set hasn't been shown yet. 

I’m surprised that you’re surprised. Unless you were thinking of Jetfire, but this is Macross, not Transformers.

15 hours ago, chyll2 said:

Curious, how much does it cost to commission it?

2k php

Thanks. I do have that topcoat as I used it before on my Gundam models. But I'm having a professional do the weathering and stickering up for me. Hopefully it comes out well so I can have my own custom premium finish version. Who knows, maybe my mess up might actually turn into a blessing? Will have to wait and see.

I did test spraying the liquid on the plastic cap of my shaving cream and was able to remove it quite easily before I tried it on the plane. But I guess the matte finish is probably what's preventing me from simply scratching it off. The cap of my shaving cream was glossy.

Sigh, now I wish I didn't bother trying to fix this joint. Not only did I spend time and money to acquire the clear nail polish, I ended up making it even worse with no improvement to the joint.

The only thing I can think of now that will make me like this thing is if I commission someone to weather it. Hopefully that should cover up the primer spots and might even tighten up the joint.

On 9/17/2019 at 4:14 AM, Slave IV said:

Sorry, I'm not sure but you can look for something like methacrylate. When I bought mine, it was Pledge multi floor care and it said "With Future" on it. I think they have changed the packging since.

@Slave IV @whitestarSorry, I need your help. I wanted to send you a private message but I don't know how to attach pictures there. I bought what I think is a water-based acrylic, but it's called a base coat primer for use with nail polish. Here is a pic of the packaging and the ingredients:

However after spraying it on, it didn't really make the hinge tighter. Actually, it's even looser now than ever (but I don't think it's due to the primer, but instead due to me moving the hinge again. It seems that it always gets looser after every movement). But my main problem now is that I accidentally got it on other parts of the wing and now it looks like this:

I tried using both water and alcohol to try and get it off but it doesn't seem to be working that well. Although I didn't really put too much alcohol because I'm worried I might make it worse. Are these parts molded in black? Is it safe to use more alcohol to try and remove these marks? If not alcohol, what should I use to try and clean this up?

Honestly, I'm kinda fed up with this thing. I'm almost tempted to just shove it in storage and never look at it again.

On 9/13/2019 at 1:15 AM, Slave IV said:

The key ingredient is acrylic. If you get an acrylic based polish, including nail polish, you should be good. 

@Slave IV I'm having a real hard time lookong for one of these things (I've never bought nail polish before). Most of the ones I see on the shelf are Nail Lacquer or Polish that contains Butyl Acetate and a bunch of other chemicals). I don't see acrylic written. Can I use these or should I avoid?

2 hours ago, sqidd said:

Has anyone who ordered from NY get theirs yet? Mine hasn't even shipped. I wonder if they're trying to take car of it in house before shipping.

Mine was from NY

On 9/11/2019 at 11:18 PM, anubis20 said:

@ArchieNov can you take a pic of these parts since you have a good one. We are trying to figure out if they are also supposed to be facing the same way or if there should also be a left and right for these parts. Thanks!!

@anubis20 Sorry late reply. Didn't see your post earlier. But yeah, I checked mine and those parts are facing the same way.  

1 hour ago, sumyumgoy said:

Hope this helps:

http://www.swannysmodels.com/TheCompleteFuture.html

from that site:

"Philippines - Available at Ace Hardware, Home Hardware, the DIY Store, and grocery stores like SM Super/Hypermart and Rustans."

 

Thanks. I've tried Rustans and Ace Hardware but they didn't have it. Maybe I should look for Johnsons' Wipe and Shine?

In Japan and the Philippines it is known as "Johnson's Wipe and Shine".

On 9/10/2019 at 5:05 PM, chyll2 said:

Future or pledge liquid floor polish

@chyll2 Where can I buy this locally in the Philippines? I tried checking supermarkets and hardware stores near me but couldn't find it. I believe it's supposed to be the Pledge Floor Gloss.

50 minutes ago, wmkjr said:

This is his reply. Could be why your having that issue:

Lol so mine are reversed? Gosh what a truly disappointing release then. I wonder if it's easy to swap them around.

EDIT: Oh wait, my picture was taken in fighter mode. So if I twist the legs 180 degrees for battroid mode, it should look like the other picture. So does that mean mine are correct?

7 hours ago, wmkjr said:

@ArchieNov. Mind if I used your pic to see what is the correct installation? Someone had the ankles swapped the other way around.

Sure go ahead. Now I’m wondering again if it’s mine that’s swapped around and that other person has the right one haha.

28 minutes ago, anubis20 said:

Seems that way, Ive seen more defects than correct ones from users on twitter. So far I only seen two assembled correctly including yours  

That is a huge mess up then. That kind of mistake would demand a recall of the products.

But just to be sure, are mine really correct? I hope it's not like the left should be on the right and vice-versa.

I am also annoyed that every time I try to push the legs back in, the edges of the big toe keep snagging on the ankle housing unless I have the feet splayed out. Now I got some small dents (although it should be easy to hide with some black markers).

Was there anyone else besides me that got the correct ankles? It feels like there are more cases of incorrect assembly versus those that are correct, at least based on what people have reported here so far.

4 hours ago, Sanity is Optional said:

Also includes a good amount of metal content and a very complex transformation that (at least in my case) seems to lock together pretty well.

I didn't notice much metal content. Where is it?

The only part I know are those tiny hinges that are part of the shoulder joint, but it was like that already on the Yamato and is unfortunately prone to paint chipping.