Bobby

Great! Yeah, so like I said you'll have to cut it in half right down the original seam line where they glued it in the first place. There aren't any solvents that you can safely use that won't either ruin the paint or even worse start dissolving the plastic like acetone will totally do.

When I needed to fix the automatic door locks on my wife's car that totally stopped working with the remote, the door actuators themselves were listed at $65ea. I decided to have a look and took them out of the door and the actuators were self-contained molded plastic units that had been glued together (no screws) full of gears and control arms all powered by a single little electric motor just like you'd see in a toy car. After patiently cutting the whole thing in half along the original seam line with a fresh blade, I was able to remove the burnt out motor and plop in $2 motors acquired at (then) Radioshack, glue, clamp back together...and they've work flawlessly. Now was all that effort worth saving $60 per door? That's for each individual to decide  but as for me...it just meant more valk money 

^ looking good!

R-Jetan Metallic Version showed up today and honestly was not expecting the box to be so big (VF-1J DX for scale)!

Being a Fewture release I was thinking maybe a small shoebox for this guy, but a 16" x 15" x 6" box! Seems a little overkill for a figure looking to be about 8"...no wonder shipping was up there!

^ 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. 

Thank you jasonmacross83 for the easy transaction and the great communication! 

Thank you jeniusornome for a smooth and easy transaction! Really appreciate it!

Thank you Mechamaniac for a great transaction! Perfectly packed, great communication, THANKS!

Cool, thanks!

So I was helping a friend's son with some panel lining tips and couldn't think of the actual term to describe the behavior of the pigment when it moves itself along the panel lines.

Does anyone know the technical word to describe how the liquid pigment just moves itself up down along these tiny channels even against gravity?

I'm guessing it is either some sort of liquid capillary action or surface adhesion? Just figured someone here might be in a field that deals with these kind of fluid dynamics.

^ very informative and appreciate the detailed write up 

Been using SC40 for awhile but never tried trapping it in with a bin and the use of foil...now I'm wanting to go try it!

Wow...that came out really nice! Looks heavy too!

Does anyone know if there are any sales reports available somewhere regarding how well the different Hi-Metal R's have sold/are selling?

8 hours ago, Ridden001 said:

Thanks a lot, it worked.  That process isn’t in the instructions, I wonder how many people snapped the neck joint.  Thanks again.

Great! If you look down the neckline while pulling/pushing them in/out you can also see the the interlocking-grey pegs (when locked helps it stand) move in/out of the way to give the red swivel channel for the neck a clear path. But +1 on the racheted joints...I coated the leg joints with future floor wax which helped some.

And I agree about the sculpt being the best imo as well. The dynamic muscularity and overall robust shape really sets it apart from all other iterations. But especially the pose-ability and gimmicks like the telescoping thighs and rotating groin plates so the black lion can sit!  

^ Me too...I'd REALLY like a UNIT 3A!!! So much Saturn nostalgia for me...

All you gotta do is pull the upper arms out. If you expand the shoulders fully outwards...neck should go right down!

Ditto on mcfly50!!!

Thanks for the easy transaction.

Woah...that was a great price 

On 7/15/2019 at 2:05 PM, daBlah! said:

These are soooo coool...I just wish they were easier to obtain...I missed out when they did the first Garland.

Agreed...+1 on the GoodSmile version (8"- 9" tall) vs. MegaHouse version (4"- 5" tall). 

This would be interesting...

On 1/15/2019 at 6:48 AM, Axelay said:

...I do wonder what a VF-31A would look like with the YF-30's paint scheme...

Used this pic taken by Projekt03 to see what the photoshop would look like...

...it would be slick 

Tremendous thanks to Kidada for a great transaction.

Great communication and very trustworthy!

Buy with complete confidence!

11 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Nice heavy mod of the original, Bobby.  Looks fitting with those Macross kites, and I like that you kept the swing wing feature. Lovely all around.

10 hours ago, Bolt said:

That looks awesome !

Thanks...here's a couple more angles shots 

17 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

...have to give the set designers credit, because they're actually hitting some design aesthetics that I really love...But seriously, just look at the thing.  That might be the most attractive pseudo-aircraft design they've made in a very long time.  Could probably use a few tweaks to smooth out the structure, but I just love the shape of it...

15 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

I'll echo your sentiments regarding the redesigned Jay's Storm Fighter...the new improved Storm Fighter caught my eye immediately, and it didn't disappoint; as you said, it's one of the nicest fighter inspired aircraft sets within System to grace a box in quite some time. Too, the new model has about double the parts count, making a beefier model compared to the original...

Agreed. When I saw this kit I thought great design and decent price but I didn't buy it for whatever reason.  Sometime later I was looking on my shelf at the box art of my Arcadia VF-0D and it got my thinking about this kit again for some reason. I bought it the next time I saw it thinking of the intention of aiming for that color scheme. After swapping/adding/removing various parts, plus using some leftover Macross decals, I thought it ended up looking like a sort of prototype version of the VF-0D at a very nice size. I should try M'Kyuun's suggestion of changing out that hinge piece on the nose!

4 hours ago, Valkyrie Griffon said:

Nice custom build. In the comparison pic in the top right I see what looks like the McFarlane Toys bike. What are the other two?

Thanks! That is correct, McFarlane, then Bandai's Soul of Popynica PX-03 Tokyo Motorshow Limited Ed (this one had no markings), then the "e–scooter", then the other custom build from the previous page.

To continue from an earlier post in this thread, just another fun assembly with leftover parts of an  akira-ish "scooter-like" bike!