MG Epyon Wing Fix

This post kinds of ends my Gunpla hiatus (I have been working on the PG 00 Raiser's Wing Binder), as this July also proved to be a toxic month in terms of project schedules.

The MG Epyon is one of my favorite MS designs from the Wing Series, and I was very glad when Bandai announced its MG release.  Though I promised myself I won't get any new kits until after a few months have passed, but, an opportunity to get it at a discount arose when Gundam Broker M1gs gave me an offer I could have refused, but seeing that the offer involved a broken part, it was a chance for me to fix something that I didn't break.  

M1gs gave a brief description plus photo of the broken part (which probably broke during shipping), and after looking at it, I immediately knew it wasn't a critical part that that would be under stress.  It's one of the swivel mechanisms for the wing, and one that simply "floats" when the wing is spread.  The wing itself is spread by pulling the lower wing, so the part in question, regardless of how I fixed it, won't pose too much a problem later on.  As far as my previous experiences regarding broken parts (and modifications where I deliberately broke parts to extend them), this is a relatively simple fix.

MG Turn X Gundam ver MatX WIP Part VI

One of the difficulties I've encountered on this project is more about working and building around the existing parts to make way for the conversions.  Since I decided not to build a chest frame and use the existing frame, the shoulder connection also posed a problem.  Regardless, I would have to build new shoulders for the conversion.

Scrounging for parts, I finally found the extra wing connectors of my MG Strike Freedom FBM (which I have been madly looking for the past couple of months).  I modified the stock parts of the Turn A and so that it acts as an extension to the SF FBM connectors.  This was a good test for my home made cement, since these two ABS parts stuck well enough without reinforcement.

The X Walker Part V

 A very quick update:

Progress is a bit slow since I'm still avoiding having to use putty for this build, but I've managed to add volume to the main body. I also used a section of a Kotobukiya weapon set I got a long time ago which I've not found a use for until now. I believe DC23 has the same weapon set, since he used the rifle for his Kampfer.

First layer of HIPS.



Second layer.





I kinda like how the HIPS overlays form eyes, so I might exploit that when I do the final layering.

That's it for now.

  

The X Walker Part IV

Just a quick update.

With plenty of surplus parts still in my bin, I had plenty of options on how the X-Walker's main body would look. I'm sure I won't be able to use all of these, considering they are all mismatched parts that won't really fit what is on my mind.

More Sticky Stuff...

 
I bought a 15mL bottle of acetone to do further testing and comparison. Judging by the smells, I can now conclude that the similarities of acetone. reducer and cement ends there. The don't even smell the same when smelled simultaneously or one after another. Cement has a mild ketone/ethyl alcohol scent, followed by the reducer, with the acetone as most potent in vapor fume. Acetone also evaporates rather quick, cooling skin as it does. Extra Thin and the reducer evaporates slightly slower, but does not cool the skin.

This time around, I cut several pieces of red ABS runners from the PG Astray and soaked them in reducer (left) and acetone (right). Note that I've prepared the acetone soak a full 10 minutes earlier than the reducer.

Sticky Stuff...

I've upgraded this former part of my Concept Mecha X-Walker build into a full-blown tip/tutorial.

I discovered a very nice and CHEAPER alternative to Extra Thin Cement, courtesy of new friends from IPMS Manila. I've been wanting to try this stuff for months, but, I still had a couple of bottles of extra thin, so I delayed getting it until I ran out, which was during the Concept Mecha build.

One Liter of Madness

It's called Hudson Polyurethane Reducer. As it is, Tamiya Cement, or any branded plastic cement for that matter, contains "synthetic resin" and "Organic Styrene Solvent." Tamiya cement smells much like clear nail polish or acetone, and some people do use nail polish as an alternative to cement. The PU reducer smells much like acetone and has a stronger scent than cement, so I suppose acetone is the "Organic Styrene Solvent" component of cement. I've tried it on this build and I'm satisfied with the results so far. At 133~140 Pesos a liter, I've got around 20~25 40mL bottles of extra thin cement for the price of one.  It also comes in a 1 Gallon can, and the liter can I bought was the last one on stock. 

The thing is, with this, I've got an alternative for extra thin, but, I also use regular cement heavily for most of my scratch-builds so I thought of making myself a batch. (which, I noted, I have to buy a glass beaker and graduated cylinder to avoid spillage).

Remember your Basic Chemistry

Using a leftover amount from a batch I poured (which yielded a total of 3 extra thin bottles and two hybrid/mixed bottles, one of which is PVC cement and the other Tamiya Regular), I soaked a few pieces of scrapped styrene build parts from the Angelus. The picture above is about a few minutes into soaking, and as you can see, the PUR has started doing it work. In as little as 30 minutes, the solution has turned milky white, and more than half of the styrene has melted.

The picture below (l-r) shows the pure batch, the hybrid (half regular/half PUR), and the batch I made. Testing the stuff proved successful. I believe that because of the melted styrene, the bond it created between my test slabs is quite stronger than with regular cement. I tried prying the sandwich from each other with my knife unsuccessfully, whereas using the same amount of force, it was easy with regular cement.

One little Two little Three...

Testing the "MatX Cement" Formula.  I've been using my own cement concoction for the Concept Mecha build, and so far the results have been most favorable, if not better than Tamiya Regular and Extra Thin Cement.  Since I do a lot of modifications that involve marrying ABS/ABS and ABS/PS and have successfully achieved it with just a combination of Tamiya cement variants, I wanted to see if the stuff I mixed will work on cement-hardy ABS plastic.

I've tried the solution to both ABS label slabs and runners from my Red Astray stash, and was quite amazed with the results.

That's OOZE coming out from between the ABS slabs.  I believe the PUR alone can melt ABS, but the melted styrene also helps with the overall bond.  Although I've experience color staining when combining red ABS with white styrene using Tamiya cement, I haven't seen ABS ooze out like this when I apply pressure.

Here's something I've tested just a few days ago.  With enough curing time, the bond holds well (notice that I'm forcing the sprues), even without my usual "plug" reinforcements.