So my lady bought me this for my birthday. Will see if I ever get the IT-01 i ordered from ebay given what is going on in China. The MP figure from bbts has a different plug than what I have seen on here and on youtube videos. Won't budge with pliers. Have not yet tried using pliers with hair dryer. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Update--so heating from hair dryer and pliers did not work. So what I did is take a modelling saw and saw the cap up just above the rim, then carefully sand it down so its flush. I can now see the glue seem bonding the shaft of the plug with the barrel. I do not think it is affixed with ca glue, so I need a solvent that will remove the bond without harming the paint or finish of the barrel. Hope someone can help. Thanks.
Lazy Eyebrow got needlenose pilers and slowly twisted the orange plug off. Be wary of paint and damaging the toy overall. Note: He said it might not work for everyone.
Yeah mine was glued on with a bit more conviction. As I said, I have to saw off the protruding portion, and I have drilled a whole through the remaioing shaft. Now I have to figure out if it is possible to find a solvent that soften the hardened glue but nor hurt the finish of the barrel.
I was able to get it off just now. I just took some pictures with success, more or less. Will see if I choose to share them. Unfortunately there is some minor scuffing around the rim of the barrel. I will likely use apoxy sculpt to fill in the minor gouges scrapes then sound down, and paint chips with vallejo. So at first I used nail polish I use for modelling to remove ca glue and other purposes. It was not getting the job done so I did some research confirmed that mineral spirtits dissolve rubber glue. I was a little worried this might harm the paint finish but I do not see that so far. It took some prying and picking away with an exacto to hasten the loosening but I just pulled it off. In any case it seems that big bad toy store and others are aware of youtube videos and posts like these, and they have escalated their measures accordingly. The glue job on my mp 36+ seemed a lot less half assed, ie they mean it for it to stay on and want subject the owner to undertake a real risk of ruining the figure should they try and remove it. Given the glue they use I do not think a hair dryer would have worked, so it seems you need to take a jewelers saw, cut off the top just a little above the rim, then drill a whole in the center of the shaft. Then, fill the barrel with acetone or even mineral spirits to loosen the bond from underneath. Sorry for the poor quality of the pics. I am a little hesitant as the edge of the barrel is a little nicked in certain places. I can see some of the glue residue sticking out at the inside from the front. It definitely needs to be sanded bc I can feel the rough texture from the glue residue. I must say pulling out that orange shaft was most satisfying, like lancing a nasty zit with minimally broken skin, or what I imagine pulling a bad tooth might be like.
