, well plated good sir well played.

I have not been able to get to the bench this past month, but I am trying my best to restart the fires.  The last wonky issue I had to deal with was the floppy-loose machine gun pods on the sides of the turret.  I didn't think about the problem until the turret was zipped up, making the solution more complicated than it needed to be.

I used to hoard polycaps from Japanese robot kits back in the 1980s, as a lot of them didn't have them.  Aftermarket polycaps were non-existent at the time, so when I wanted to retrofit a mech, I had to turn to the extra polycaps that came from other kits.

I ended up sliding a plastic tube with polycaps into one side of the turret.  But now the gun pods articulate and hold their position.

The running gear have gone thru their first round of cleanup, so next up is filling all those mis-matched mold lines on the road wheels.

Clever use of the poly caps G! I got a pile of the things where Hasegawa gives you a sprue of four for a single prop plane. I just can't force myself to toss the other three spare ones out!!! 

Gamera

Clever use of the poly caps G! I got a pile of the things where Hasegawa gives you a sprue of four for a single prop plane. I just can't force myself to toss the other three spare ones out!!! 

 

Yes, they can prove to be quite useful!  A lot of the Chinese kits, including the good ones like Takom, often use vinyl instead of polyethylene for polycaps.  Beware, beware.

I had a Takom Mark I Female tank that had to have its gun mounts torn up to replace the vinyl polycaps that had MELTED their mounts!  I replaced them with polyethylene polycaps from my stash.

Real G

 

 

Gamera

Clever use of the poly caps G! I got a pile of the things where Hasegawa gives you a sprue of four for a single prop plane. I just can't force myself to toss the other three spare ones out!!! 

 

 

 

 

Yes, they can prove to be quiter useful!  A lot of the Chinese kits, including the good ones like Takom, often use vinyl instead of polyethylene for polycaps.  Beware, beware.

I had a Takom Mark I Female tank that had to have its gun mounts torn up to replace the vinyl polycaps that had MELTED their mounts!  I replaced them with polyethylene polycaps from my stash.

 

Since I am never sure what caps are made out of what material I always paint any surface that touchs them. Same with car tires and tank tracks since I have some old kits where they melted right to the wheels in a goopy mess.

   Loosely following Neal, thinking of getting one, stepping out of my comfort zone, and building as a future Sci- Fi type vehicle. Neat looking beast.

I'm telling ya Perry... COOTIES!  They spread real fast!  

My friends like to call making each other buy stuff out of their genre "cross contamination"!

Tcoat

 

 

Real G

 

 

Gamera

Clever use of the poly caps G! I got a pile of the things where Hasegawa gives you a sprue of four for a single prop plane. I just can't force myself to toss the other three spare ones out!!! 

 

 

 

 

Yes, they can prove to be quiter useful!  A lot of the Chinese kits, including the good ones like Takom, often use vinyl instead of polyethylene for polycaps.  Beware, beware.

I had a Takom Mark I Female tank that had to have its gun mounts torn up to replace the vinyl polycaps that had MELTED their mounts!  I replaced them with polyethylene polycaps from my stash.

 

 

 

 

Since I am never sure what caps are made out of what material I always paint any surface that touchs them. Same with car tires and tank tracks since I have some old kits where they melted right to the wheels in a goopy mess.

 

Good idea! Painting them to keep the bare plastic from touching is a very good idea too. 

One caution is that I have tried painting a barrier with Future, gloss varnish, and acrylic paint, but none worked.  But others have had success, so experiment.

I am not a gambling man, so I just reach for the bag of spare polycaps, which has since been supplemented by high quality aftermarket items.

Gamera

 

 Since I am never sure what caps are made out of what material I always paint any surface that touchs them. Same with car tires and tank tracks since I have some old kits where they melted right to the wheels in a goopy mess.

 

 

 

 

Good idea! Painting them to keep the bare plastic from touching is a very good idea too. 

 

Oh paint the parts not the caps! Paint won't stick to caps worth beans. Have to sand down the plastic shafts a but as well or the paint won't let the caps slide on. 

Real G

One caution is that I have tried painting a barrier with Future, gloss varnish, and acrylic paint, but none worked.  But others have had success, so experiment.

I am not a gambling man, so I just reach for the bag of spare polycaps, which has since been supplemented by high quality aftermarket items.

 

Ahh yes I should have qualified my statement with using enamels. I have never had spares so had to find a work around. Also works with vynil tracks and tires which I never seem to have enough of either.

Tcoat

 

 

Gamera

 

 Since I am never sure what caps are made out of what material I always paint any surface that touchs them. Same with car tires and tank tracks since I have some old kits where they melted right to the wheels in a goopy mess.

 

 

 

 

Good idea! Painting them to keep the bare plastic from touching is a very good idea too. 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh paint the parts not the caps! Paint won't stick to caps worth beans. Have to sand down the plastic shafts a but as well or the paint won't let the caps slide on. 

 

LOL, I meant to paint the plastic but I did write to paint the caps- my mistake!!! 

No, your intent was clear.  I have attempted to protect the plastic parts by painting them, not the polycaps.  But none of my attempts were successful, as they all got sticky over time.  

   With the discussion of poly caps I almost want to buy a lathe and turn bushings out of alumium. I was an electrician and not a machinist so maybe not such a good idea LOL.

    I like the " cross contamination " scenerio.....keeping my idea under my hat for now but the gears are grinding.

Oip?

      Jeez, whatta mean looking Death Dealer!

armornut

   With the discussion of poly caps I almost want to buy a lathe and turn bushings out of alumium. I was an electrician and not a machinist so maybe not such a good idea LOL.

    I like the " cross contamination " scenerio.....keeping my idea under my hat for now but the gears are grinding.

 

You know Perry, your idea is not so far-fetched.

I once had to make custom polycaps by shoving melted poly runner into a hole drilled into a block of resin, drilling a hole through the center, then slicing up segments.  This was for a kit that I was retrofitting polycaps into. It strangely had sockets that were neither metric nor imperial!  I had to turn down the blanks until they slid into those oddball sockets.

BTW, it was the old Imai Queadluun-Rau battlesuit from Macross.  Many years have taught me that it is sometimes better to walk 10 miles around a mile high mountain rather than trying to climb it.  The kit was built for a friend, but when I get to mine, I will gut the old joints and replace them in their entirety with modern ones.  With standard-sized polycaps!

With all the talk about robot tanks, here are some pics of my Shelf of Doom Terminator HK tank:

This kit also has a wonky turret lock setup where you just shove the part on and it snap locks forever.  So I retrofitted a normal locking tab system to allow the head and body to be removed at will:

And as if to continue my dislike of indy link tracks, the kit has thick flexible track that is quite unappealing, so I made new ones:

Anyway, I'm in the process of cleaning up the indy link bits of the Objekt 490B.  I so hate indy link tracks...

That looks cool Real G, I'd love to see what either of these look like finished. 

I don't remember the Terminator tank as ever being shown that clearly in the movie. Didn't we only see parts and pieces of the thing? I really need to go back and watch both movies (there are only two Terminator movies- that's my story and I'm sticking to it).

"Aftermarket polycaps"? Really? I'm seriously curious....

RBaer

"Aftermarket polycaps"? Really? I'm seriously curious....

 

Yep:

WAVE P CAP SUPPORT - HobbySearch Gundam Kit/etc. Store (1999.co.jp)