Post by tasuke on Jul 5, 2016 12:14:32 GMT -5
one of my earlier Japanese import Mecha toys, i came across this in the late-90's
while in dogged search of the Variable SDF MACROSS VF-1 i so desperately desired,
all in the old-fashioned way, no Internet, nothing but old-world tenacity and blind luck to rely on.
paid $20.00 USD for it, customized by a previous owner for the battle-worn look western Mecha fans seem so inexplicably fond of,
this unusually-designed, somewhat Insectoid-looking affair was most certainly not the MACROSS VF-1 i was after,
but it was engaging all the same.
maybe a year later, in the midst of a hectic move, this item was knocked off a high perch straight to the floor,
managing to break a leg clean off. i managed to repair it to a degree by super gluing the shattered black nylon hip-joint boss.
i could not properly tighten the assembled hip joint all the way, however, lest the detented, ratcheted joint action cause the repaired boss to come apart once more.
just recently, a full 15 years later, largely thanks to a bin full of screws of every imaginable shape and size,
all high quality strong Japanese metal, culled from vintage VCRs and such, i was able to devise a rigid reinforcing sandwich
that seems to have rendered these repetitively fragile nylon bosses virtually indestructible.
while i was about it, i managed a total tear-down/rebuild, applying electrician's tape to all joint shafts, restoring firm friction to all joints.
all this resulted in this old toy's metamorphosis from a damaged toy with loose worn joints throughout,
to a veritable ROCK, likely far tighter and firmer in hand then even when brand new...
with my first 1/55 VF-1, a loose TF JETFIRE re-purposed into a SDFM DYRL -1S Max;
It looks more dirty than weathered. 
