Various brands of glue are mentioned in this thread, but what's wrong with strong 1 second glue for plastics, ceramics and porcelain? It's strong stuff, even dishwasher proof. I can use an included brush to apply it to the right places, so no (big) chance of dripping somewhere. I haven't got any experience with gluing Masterpiece parts together, but I've used this glue on various of our children's toys and it holds well.
The Grey paint first XF20 , dry, then pearl TS65 I would retouch this with XF20 with a small paint brush slightly thinned. Buy Tamiya white and Black to mix and catch the tint, if XF 20 is not a perfect match. Once dried, apply top coat with Clear Pearl spray and let dry. You can test this first on a plastic spoon and match the tint.
Lol. That happened to me when I fixed the first leg. It took me a half hour to find both gears. I warned people in my video
Not sure if anyone missed this fix for lining up the tank panels in alt mode or maybe I missed it in this thread. Credit goes to Wotafa for explaining it in his video. 1. Unscrew the little tank panel 2. Shave this nub mark that was not removed properly and reassemble. The little panel should now sit closer to the blue part it screws into. Also make sure these pieces are tabbed in together in alt mode so the panels sit flush
They lock and ratchet now! Both of my knees are shot!! Thanks to @BrutiKing's suggestion with the fix! I also have zero experience on opening or performing fix on figures but the guide did help me alot. I also shaved the blue tab and applied lube as well on the inside ratchets as per @Jarrod's guide. But yeah, guaranteed the glue will fix the issue
Here’s the paint mixture for the grey I came up with. Here’s the comparison. Left unpainted, right painted. Sorry for taking so long :/ Paints required: Mr. Color Light Grey (97): 4 Mr. Color Black (33): 1 or 2 (add 2 if it doesn't seem dark enough) Mr. Color Silver (8): 1 Mr. Metal Color Rough Silver (GX 208): 1/32 (little bit) Mr. Color Blue FS15050 (328): 1/32
Thank you for the fix! I just did both knees, left the glue to set for 24 hours and reassembled. Both knees now have working lower ratchets! I've had a little play with the ratchets to see that its working ok, but have put the figure back in the box till xmas ...Gunna be fun on xmas day
UGHHHH!!!! WTF!!! NOT the way to fix this. Way TOO heavy handed for something that is, in nearly all cases, user error. I know some people are saying that theirs were broken right out of the box and I do not dispute this. I DO think there was a running change from Takara to taper the stop tab so that it slides into the knee easier. I have looked at the parts that people are showint in their vids and pix and they are not tapered like on mine. Best solution is to pay attention to what you are doing and make sure that the tab slides into the back of the knee as intended. The part that he cuts off is part of a very elegant articulation stop. The upper knee moves until this stopper hits the back of the knee and then the lower knee moves as this part slides into the knee. Why is the ratchet a separate part in the first place? I have discussed this with some factory colleges. They general consensus (though only Takara designers really know) is the ratchet is a separate part due to paint. The panel the ratchet is seated into is painted but the ratchet cannot be painted. If they were molded together and the panel was painted but ratchet was left unpainted, the paint would start to chip and peal. If the ratchet was painted or clear coated, it would start to chip and peal... So it was made a separate part. For a REAL fix... Do not use cyanoacrylate (aka super glue). It will eventually fail and the flaking debris could damage the joint even more. If you have already done this, then just pay attention for when the bond fails and be sure to clean out all the cyanoacrylate debris. The parts themselves should remain intact so long as you clear it out right away and do not manipulate the joint. You can then attempt another repair. Gorilla glue might be slightly better but you need to score/rough up the surfaces to be glued and it could fail in the future. These glues don't really work because they are just filling a gap. It might work a little better if the surfaces are rough and there is something for the glue to grip to but in the long run, they will fail. To do this for a long term fix, you need to chemically fuse the parts. Use Bondene (acetone solvent) to weld the parts together. There are 2 types of Bondene. One for just styrene (typical model kits and such) and one for styrene and ABS (which is a little stronger so be careful applying it). Get the styrene and ABS type. Brush in a little on BOTH parts. It won't work if you only do one surface. Do not use too much as it will melt the part and you are going to apply layers anyway. Wait a few minuets. Brush in another layer or 2, being sure to wait between layers. This will start the chemical reaction and the top layer of plastic will begin to soften. BE EXTRA CAREFUL not to let the Bondene touch anything painted on the exterior, it will destroy the paint/clear coat. Bondene is very fluid (like water) and will run if you use too much and are not careful. With the final layer, put the parts together and apply a gentle pressure for 5-15 minuets. If done correctly, this will fuse the parts into one part almost as strong as if it were molded as one part. I should add, that if you are not comfortable with using acetone, please do not do this. It is literally melting the parts together and there is a fine line between success and permanent damage. I am not going to do this myself until I notice problems.
Anyone else have stress marks on this tab slot right out the gate. I only transformed once and am concerned based on appearance it's going to snap if i try again. Contacted vendor asking to try and get a replacement panel. Fingers crossed.
For this part, I would like to say the piece ratchet fits in is not painted. It is bare blue plastic connected on a pin to the proper blue leg, which I would say makes this argument invalid. If you put a minimal amount, no sort of super glue will cause massive debris. The cyanoacrylate dried up also has no way of having access to the ratchet joints as the area where it operates is sealed. For the amount of force I put in order to have the ratchet pop back out from the glued area, I doubt this ratchet is even remotely strong enough to truly dislodge it. The original notches and slots for the ratchets also help to hook the ratchet into place. I have fixed many figures with much stronger ratchets with cyanoacrylate and it's more than strong enough. I have used bondene in many different cases to fuse plastic together, sure it will fuse the parts together, but it's nothing close to as strong as though it were molded as one part. Moreover, if it does come apart, (which is totally possible), the plastic will be more than ruined. I would also suggest not using chemicals for fixing figures as expensive, unless you have a lot of experience using it, and even then, would not risk it as we're only human as XIII mentioned. We're not perfect and accidents happen. Ha. This part. If you want a REAL fix, you would follow @Jarrod's advice and drill holes and insert brass rods. I would say that is the most durable and reliable fix. Even then, the superglue fix is durable enough to withstand the minimal force applied by the ratchet. To be honest, I'm sure the shaving off the tab works too, even though I don't support that. Here's my input I guess.
While I do agree that cutting the tab is not the best solution, claiming this is JUST user error is just flat out incorrect. If TT made a running change as you claim, then that means there IS an actual issue. Also, sorry, the housing/panel is most certainly not painted. It's a shiny, bare plastic. @flynnibus most likely has the best theory of why it's two separate parts: the housing needs to be softer and flexible for transformation, while the ratchet needed to be firmer, more robust. Likewise, depending on what type of plastic the ratchet and panel are (I suspect the the panel is nylon or similar) Bondene will likely be just as ineffective as some CA glues have been.
Interesting that! Thank you for this! Edit: Thank you @Jarrod and @BrutiKing, I would have probably done mistakes if you had not answered.
The problem with the pin fix is the pin is only as strong as the material it is inserted into. The pin into the soft leg piece is still into thin, soft material. It gives the ratchet piece more points of contact, and they are more rigid points that don’t move... all of that is good. But I think the pin mounts into the leg will elongate... just like the lip itself gets deformed. I’m still of the camp that a fusion with high contact area is best for the factory pieces.
I can see that, but installing several metal rods as well as super gluing it should work out, although I believe applying only superglue itself works just fine. I will update it if anything goes wrong, but I doubt it.
