I purchased a used Fansproject Crossfire02 set from a local comic shop yesterday and while it's mostly in really great shape, I have some questions.

First, I found out Explorer (Blast Off) has a potentially significant issue. There's a crack on the one of the struts that connects the gray panels to the rest of his body. Second, I just found cracks in 3 of the 4 hinges related to Swindle's toe tilts.

Anyone who customizes or restores figures on the regular: Is there a way to mend this? I own both J-B Weld 2-part epoxy and Tamiya Extra Thin Cement. Would either of those do the trick?

 

I can't speak for the epoxy but the tamiya cement will be of no use to you for this.

 

Is there anything you recommend?

 

Some kind of epoxy might be your best bet but I advise seeking out some more experienced customizers here for a specific recommendation. Most of my knowledge is second hand unfortunately.

 

I'm honestly at a loss without running the risk of getting glue stuck to the movable parts these work with. Unless you could remove the parts without causing further damage I don't think there is really a way to fix this.

If you can take it apart, a thin coat of super glue, the industrial grade with hardening spray, might be your best bet, but I would not recommend directly applying in its current state or it will most likely seize the joints.

 

Thank you for the tips. The issue with this set is that FP used hollow metal tubes instead of pins. I don't think I could knock those out.

 

I have to agree with this. For what it's worth, I only transformed my versions of these once and then they stayed in combiner mode since, so I'm pretty sure if I tried again they would show this damage rather quickly.

Another option that came to mind is two part epoxy putty. It's not the liquid you find at hardware stores, rather a soft clay like substance that you blend together which will harden into a plastic like structure. It's not cheep, and the rather small surface you are dealing with is an issue, but I have used it for many bashes for structural reinforcement and it still holds to this day.

Honestly, trying JB Weld might do the trick. A very thin coating that you press into the break VERY CAREFULLY to not bind to the other parts, it could work without taking it apart.

Good luck to you, this is a good set regardless and my personal Bruticus in the end.

 

Thank you for the well wishes! Perhaps I could apply with a toothpick at the outermost edge of the crack? Then work it in by clamping them down? Maybe using a clamp-style paperclip to help it stay firm while curing?

 

I would not clamp epoxy putty. That will force it into the movable part and cause a binding. It takes about 12-24 hrs to cure so it will smoosh like dough if your clamp it. However, using something a bit more flat than a toothpick to push slightly and smooth into place then let set will be your best bet. You will be using very small beads on the putty, VERY SMALL! It won't take much to bridge the gaps in this break.

 

I cannot offer any advice, but I CAN say that my "Swindle" has cracks in that exact spot too. I imagine it might be a problem for any copy of the toy. It never got any WORSE, but I was more careful once I noticed. I'm now a little worried about "Blast-Off". But they've been in storage since the Combiner Wars versions came out, I'll have to check it next time I have them out.

I hope you have success in your repair attempt.

 

Update: I used epoxy last week as per Kalron's recommendations. Things currently seem to holding well, even though I couldn't work the material all the way in. Thank you all for your help.

Now I just need to figure out how to get Blast Off's hips to better work as elbows. I've applied floor polish multiple times and they cannot support any significant weight.

 

You need to be careful with all these upgrades! It's like 20 year old fanstoys plastic, and very prone to degradation , I've already had one of the pinned joints that holds swindle's turret gun break on me

 

Thanks for the warning! I hadn't heard that Fanstoys kits age poorly! Maybe I'll just leave the right elbow as-is, then.

 

Bondene Plastic Solvent. There are 2 kinds. One for styrene. One for multi plastic. Get the multi plastic. Disassemble first if at all possible but don't pop any metal pins. Just be careful during application. Make sure to let it run into the crack but not to any adjoining parts. Apply a little, wait 60 sec. Repeat 3 or 4 times and then let it cure over night. Bondene is acetone based and wit melt the parts back together almost as good as new. Epoxy and super glue just hold the parts together.

 

In my experience the best way is to reinforce it somehow nu adding an extra piece(plastic) somehow. Superglue only sticks surfaces to each other. However, Tamiya has got ABS cement. Maybe that will help?

 

Thank you both, however, I already made my attempts at repair a few nights ago with epoxy.

 

I would have used Lazerbond UV glue. I use that shit on everything

 

I've done epoxy. for me i'll throw quite a bit on, and then after a long cure, i'll sand it down and touch up paint if needs be. I've had to on a Maketoys Axel, and a couple classics- hot rod and hound.

 

What I've seen in the Gundam modelling community is they would mix Tamiya cement with some small bits of runner together and use it to fill in gaps where the parts snap together.

I've only seen this done on non-moving parts and don't know what effect it would have on joints though, so continue with caution.

If you want to be extra careful you could oil or grease up the exposed pin and then apply a plastic cement, which would in theory prevent the cement from clinging to the metal pin. Of course, if you really want to be careful it'd be best to try it out on some other broken figure you don't care about first.

Demonstration video if you need it:

 

Yes. I have done that. But it has to be the same materials. So for TFs you need ABS plastic and not the sprues/runners from modelkits, wich is most of the time Polystyreen. Some older Bandai kits do contain ABS plastic however.
It's still a good method