pengbuzz

Well, I finally found one. An SDF-1 in 1/3000 scale. Not the best condition of course, but enough there to being with. Here's what I bought: Booms were broken off at the lower rotational joint, the antennae are all loose and in poor shape, the rail guns (save one) were missing, and Prometheus and Daedalus were gone as well. Get it out of the shipping box, and 30 or so minutes later: Yes, the shoulder joint let go. This was followed in short order by the right shoulder. All I did was sit there in disbelief. I wasn't going to blame the seller; with the age of these, this can happen at any time without warning. And even if I were to get my money back, what good would that do me? I'm lucky to be able to buy anything before an unexpected bill or another stupid "family need" eats up the money and my wife just buries her head in my shoulder in tears. This was my birthday gift (B-day is next month but we had the money now, so don't wait for March to inflict more bills!), and its' first act was to fall apart. After about 2 projects that pretty much tried to end themselves, this was the last straw. I began by tearing the ship down and removing the shoulder boxes. As confirmed: the plastic was brittle from age and cracked posts were inside. I promptly removed and cleaned these, and set them aside. I then disassembles both chest/ boom parts into their respective components: I promptly took all the blue pieces, and put them in boiling water for one minute. Before any objections accrue: this is a technique that RC races use for their car shells when they get brittle. By placing the plastic parts in boiling for just one minute, the plasticizers in the plastic redistribute throughout the piece, removing the brittleness and restoring at least some level of functionality. But I was far from even started..... My next act was to redesign the shoulder/ boom joint. The peg for the shoulder and the peg for the boom are slightly skewed from one another, making any sort of repair nearly impossible under normal circumstance. With a pengbuzz, "normal" never applies.... I took a look at the setup for the boom joint: a metal part that was hollow on one side and had a slot cut into it, with a spring and part to connect to the internal peg: So, I removed the other stupid peg from the inner chest: Sanded it flat so anything that needed to slide could do so unimpeded. After this, I took the metal boom joint, used a file to widen the slot a tad, and slid a nice, hefty 1/4 inch bolt into place to hold it. With hat done, here is my setup: The nut for this remains on the inside, plastic-welded in place so it won't work itself loose in any way. Meantime, the head of the bold ends up in the actual shoulder, where the rotational forces aren't able to affect it. I had to grind down both the nut and the head, but they fit respectively where they are. Meanwhile, the boom slider slides just fine on the bolt (the threaded end goes past where any parts are located), with the spring tensioner part in place. One metal bolt acts as the shaft for both, and the stupid "staggered post" is GONE. The spring tensioner and the bolt: Once the plastic welder was cured, I ground a "hollow" into the metal piece that the legs and chest connect to (to make way for the bolt head, which now protrudes through the inner blue housing via a hole that I had Dremeled into it). This is so the bolt could be glued to the spar and further secure it: (Yes, that was quite a bit of metal dust. My mask came in handy!) And since I don't use the "splay the booms out to the sides" feature that is built into this, I could simply plastic weld and screw the chest boxes back onto the figure: So now, my SDF-1 is back to it's old self: Only this time, it has drop-forged steel bolts running through each shoulder, which could probably take getting plowed by a linebacker and ask for seconds!!! The shoulder joints ratchet and click as they should, and no sighs at all of any stress or anything coming loose is even remotely showing. All stresses now reply on the bolts, which are connected directly to the metal frame, as are the boom joints. So, the "impossible shoulder repair "has been made possible. This is only the beginning though; I have the materials to manufacture two new booms, the carriers and the antennae for the ship. I'm also seeing about getting new rail guns done up for the shoulders by a friend with a lathe (really good guy all around!), and reworking this using all the plans I've made since discussing this toy in the other thread! Or, to put it another way: Stay tuned...

*turns in Macross fan card, hides in bushes and weeps*

I would tend to think that in the way of the engines, the thirst nozzles would be replaced with ones more suited for space (i.e. Sketchley and Master Dex's comments). A high-tech bandaid to bridge the gap in a desperate situation. Hmmm...wonder if they could have made larger fuel tanks for the VF-1? Well...someone had to!! I promise though: next time, we'll get you a McMuffin, hash brown and a coffee! Like sticking a Lamborghini Countach engine in a Ford Pinto? I'm looking forward to when they simply draw power from heavy quantum to operate the engines...

He probably wants them to kiss his shiny metal (ahem)...

This is why I value all you folks' input here: everything I learn here goes into my projects in some form and helps with refinement of the ideas, concepts and finished parts that I come up with! Sometimes, you just gotta go with what works, even if it turns out to be "looping the belt around your shoulder and crotch" (from an old Gallagher skit) instead of around your waist. "It would hurt, but it would work!!!" In other words: they trade off efficiency for utility to some extent, right?

Would it also be fair to say that UN Spacy also revised the designs for the engines based upon the theatre which the craft would operate in (atmosphere vs deep space)? I've read that some fighters like the VF-17 Nightmare were intended for space ops primarily (also, the VF-2 SS, albeit a different Macross reality); would that have any impact on on the design of the engine thrust nozzles?

Ah.... guacamole.

I can only imagine the inside of the pilot's helmet after that one! Ewwwwwwwwwww....

😭😭😭😭😭

Finally found an SDF-1 1/3000 I could afford (missing the booms from the lower rotational joint on up, and the carriers). Should be here sometime next week; then I can set about piecing together the last grail of my Macross collection. (early b-day gift for next month)

I dread any "Starfleet Academy" series, as it would probably just devolve into Dergrassi Junior High in Space (props to anyone who doesn't have to google that reference! lol ). Never been one for that setting, and I recall Harve Bennet proposing that setting around/ shortly after Star Trek V: https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_First_Adventure Anyways, didn't we already get the "academy" thing in the JJTrek™ film, not to mention, Prodigy?

Okay, thanks for the clarification Seto. I wondered about that for some time now...

Just looks like it wouldn't be built as strongly as Daedalus; I know ARMD's would be built for being at least partly air-tight in space, but SLV's would seem to be built more strongly to resist ocean stresses (twisting, torsion and "keel buckling"). I know the bow of either would have the pinpoint barriers and all, but while the barriers would absorb the initial shock, wouldn't them being compacted by the impact press them into the framework and superstructure of the hull?

Okay, but I really don't think an ARMD would be as suited towards that as Daedalus is. JMO.

No surprise there.

Yeah, that does make a lot of sense. Although I can't imagine them trying the "Daedalus Maneuver" with one of those. O.o

When you have a TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury), it makes it a thousand times harder. In my case, depth perception issues along with nerve injuries (same incident) complicate matters. I do the best I can with what I have to work with; still struggling with my injuries since 2007.

Okay, I'll give that a try! I'm just feeling clumsy because I wanted to do a "clean: build" (as in no glue drips or mistakes), but even when applying as little glue as possible, it always seems to smoosh out.

I found using a bit more thinner and letting the paint level itself helps to a certain degree. That said: some paints are just crud no matter what you try.

One of the great mysteries of the universe; the other is why toast always lands buttered side up when dropped on a floor...

E-I-E-I-O

That's why I just go with craft paints (albeit with white or grey primer underneath). The "pro" stuff can often be too much.

Is it still too early to reveal who Luke's father really is?

Panel lines are one thing, but there are these small tiny rectangular "vents" near the seams on the legs that just got demolished my glue-molten plastic.