The Energon Pub

News Credits: 3 · by **coolpop** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 11:16 am

Thanks for the heads up, hopefully Fansproject will be alerted and fix this problem and all other possible weak joint problems on their future releases.

News Credits: 767 · by **Dead Metal** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 11:35 am

coolpop wrote:Thanks for the heads up, hopefully Fansproject will be alerted and fix this problem and all other possible weak joint problems on their future releases.

I think those are the things they fixed for the Shadow Commander set.

News Credits: 194 · by **RodimusConvoy13** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 11:39 am

Bonger wrote:Jeez, bad news. This is looking like an epidemic.

Two cases does not equal an epidemic.

News Credits: 1 · by **rpetras** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 12:08 pm

Grimpoo wrote:Sand with 600 clean with denatured alcohol and then soapy water. Pray you got the release agent off then try to glue it again. If that process doesnt work Norton/3M some chemical company makes a TPO adhesion promoter for a 2 part urethane plastic/rubber repair made for sticking anything together...but hell you would spend more money buying that stuff. Or you could try a bumper repair kit...they range from $20 on up. But try the denatured alocohol first

This is pretty good advice.

If you have the right tools you can do the following:
1) remove the ball joint.
You will probably need to carefully heat the head with a hair dryer. I heat parts for 30 seconds - 1 min under a halogen bulb to soften the plastic. That works too. Then pry out with a small screwdriver, or pull out with needle nosed pliers.

2) Once you have the parts separated, drill out the post & ball with a thin drill bit. Use a vise if you have it so you don't stab you hand with the drill bit.

3) Put a pin of some kind into both parts. A thin bit of twist tie can work.

4) Carefully superglue the bits together. Don't get any on the surrounding parts!

5) Once dried you should be able to pop the parts back together and they will be many times stronger than before with no loss of articulation.

Good luck!

News Credits: 5 · by **Sledge** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 12:14 pm

RodimusConvoy13 wrote:Two cases does not equal an epidemic.

Really? Are you sure you're not thinking of another fandom?

by **turkishproverb** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 12:15 pm

Shadowstream wrote:

um... don't mind the background clutter

ugh. Thats not good, is it?

Well, lets see. you've got a couple good suggestions already:

Shadowstream wrote:
Mykltron wrote:My Magnus upgrade just came. The head came off as soon as a turned it. I've emailed toyarena.com to see if they'll do something for me, in the mean time his head is stuck on with blu-tak. It's non-glueable plastic

I don't like his enormous gun but I knew that before. It's rather hard to find good poses for him but I guess I'll just have to keep playing with him till I find more I like!

Quite the dilema this is. I half wondered if I aught not try the heated pin fix where ya put a tiny hot pin through the broken parts and meld them back together. I actualy meant to do that with my old Wing Zero custom kit.

You know, if all this isn't ironic enough I was talking about some other sap who breaks things at the exact time I broke mine.

has to be a bigger pin than any airhole within the broken piece, but this can work. leaves both a noticable mark inside, and a chance of breaking again with the pin stuck in though. especially if heating is only solution taken

Grimpoo wrote:
Mykltron wrote:My Magnus upgrade just came. The head came off as soon as a turned it. I've emailed toyarena.com to see if they'll do something for me, in the mean time his head is stuck on with blu-tak. It's non-glueable plastic

I don't like his enormous gun but I knew that before. It's rather hard to find good poses for him but I guess I'll just have to keep playing with him till I find more I like!

Sand with 600 clean with denatured alcohol and then soapy water. Pray you got the release agent off then try to glue it again. If that process doesnt work Norton/3M some chemical company makes a TPO adhesion promoter for a 2 part urethane plastic/rubber repair made for sticking anything together...but hell you would spend more money buying that stuff. Or you could try a bumper repair kit...they range from $20 on up. But try the denatured alocohol first

This one can work pretty well if you do it right. Problem is sanding the necks parts clean can make neck shorter and head go on slightly crooked if not perfectly done, have to make sure peg is thurned right way in relation to head.

If you can get the peg out first, it would be best. You might try soaking it, thought that can lead to other damage. Either way, I'd suggest a carefully placed clamp to hold the thing together overnight after re attatching it.

You might also be able to heat a flat bit of metal, apply it to each side of the peg, hold them together and then sand the wrinkle, but that would cause other problems.

rpteras idea is good too.

More ideas later.

News Credits: 194 · by **RodimusConvoy13** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 12:24 pm

Sledge wrote:
RodimusConvoy13 wrote:Two cases does not equal an epidemic.

Really? Are you sure you're not thinking of another fandom?

Oh. Yeah.. wasn't thinking...

News Credits: 5 · by **Sledge** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 12:29 pm

So where do you guys stand if you contact FansProject and complain? Do you have a legal right to demand... something? Spare parts, refund, whatever.

by **WolfDawg** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 12:40 pm

Yea, I don't really see what can be done about it. Only a finite number of of CC armor was created...so I can't see them stripping other molds for spare parts just because you like to play with your TF's. I'm getting the shadow commander set and don't plan on playing with it at all. That's like trying to play with brittle MP Starscream.

Sometimes figures are just for display, not play. That's said, it looks like you guys are up ****'s creek.

by **Dachande** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 1:18 pm

I've done a lot of miniature and model work over the years, and ball-joints are quite annoying when they break and very difficult to fix correctly.

If you have a pin vise with a tiny drill-bit (<1/8 is good), slowly drill two small holes side-by-side in the ball part, creating a channel. On softer plastic, you can forcibly drag the drill bit instead of making two cuts. Make the same hole in the broken post.

Using a very thin paperclip, snip two small pins and insert them side-by-side in the ball part. After lining up the parts, dip the pins in superglue (I prefer LocTite brand). This is the easiest way of making sure no glue gets on the moving parts.

Let it sit for an hour or two, allowing for maximum curing time. if successful, the head will regain some of it's mobility. Just be careful with it and it should last.

News Credits: 97 · by **Savage** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 3:28 pm

This is exactly why I havent tried to turn my Magnus' head at all. When I first got the armor on him, I tried turning his head slightly but it was so tight it wouldn't budge, and now I'm pretty sure I don't want to force it.

News Credits: 3 · by **Kibble** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 3:48 pm

Savage wrote:This is exactly why I havent tried to turn my Magnus' head at all. When I first got the armor on him, I tried turning his head slightly but it was so tight it wouldn't budge, and now I'm pretty sure I don't want to force it.

Mine turns side to side fine, but I didn't even know it was on a ball joint and should move up and down. Didn't seem to want to move that direction so I didn't push it. Guess I'll just continue to go under the notion he can't look up or down.

News Credits: 10 · by **Lapse Of Reason** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 8:08 pm

The ball joint on mine has some white plastic stress lines on it. I bet this turns out to be a common problem. That ball joint looks way too fragile.

by **Shadowstream** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 8:27 pm

Good news, I contacted BBTS and they intend to send me a replacement part. As for the already broken bit, I'm still probably gonna try to repair it and/or completely replace the joint just in case the new one should happen to break as well.

Thanks for all the advice guys, I'll be sure to put it all to good use if I can.

News Credits: 12 · by **robofreak** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 8:54 pm

I've fixed similar situations before with plastic that's about the same grade as what Fans Project used.

1. Use Purple Power on a Qtip and clean off the areas. Then clean off with water.

2. Use a pin vise with the proper sized drill bit to hand dril into the plastic on both sides.

3. Using a small bit of gauge wire or a paperclip. Insert it into one of the holes with a small drop of Loctite super glue.

4. Test fit the parts and shorten the pin of neccessary.

5. apply another small drop of glue to the other hole and apply the other part. Let sit for 24 hours.

After that, it should be as good as new and even stronger than what you originally got.

by **turkishproverb** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 9:31 pm

Lapse Of Reason wrote:The ball joint on mine has some white plastic stress lines on it. I bet this turns out to be a common problem. That ball joint looks way too fragile.

The upside to this is that eventually somone'll sell a broken one cheap on ebay and I can actually GET the darned thing.

by **diosoth** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 10:03 pm

Mine is moving as intended, but I'll play it safe. Head in a nice forward pose that I dont' need to move.

by **Bonger** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 10:22 pm

Sledge wrote:
RodimusConvoy13 wrote:Two cases does not equal an epidemic.

Really? Are you sure you're not thinking of another fandom?

Exaclty, this is a TF board, 2 cases is certainly an epidemic.

News Credits: 3 · by **Dread_Wing** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 4:34 am

diosoth wrote:Mine is moving as intended, but I'll play it safe. Head in a nice forward pose that I dont' need to move.

Mine is very stiff, moves forward and back, but will not turn, I think if I tried it would rip off. I am more concerned with the leg armour personally, I do not like the force required to fit it on.

News Credits: 9 · by **Mykltron** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 5:25 am

Wow, we've got a helluva lot of advice to consider. Toy Arena want me to send a pic and they'll see what FP will do about it. This could take a while...
If I get a replacement I'll try someones repair advice, if I don't, I'm not sure what I'll do cos blu-tak is working just fine! All the range of a ball joint with no mess.