I need help to repair a Zak the Neutrino

[cinzel]

Hello!
I had bad luck. The last figures I bought seemed to be in good condition but unfortunately they were not. Later in hand I found some problemas as you can see on this Zak the neutrino… The legs were broken. I had a Triceroton with a similiar problem on the tail but I was able to fix it easily with hot glue. In this case the holes to fit the legs are very tight and have glue residues.
I don't know how to repair this figure and how to clean the glue residues… I don’t know if I should use acetone to clean, I’m afraid that could damage the paint. Also I don’t know if super glue is a good idea to put the legs back together since it’s not very flexivel and it may broke again.
So, does anyone knows a way to repair efficiently this figure. Please let me know.
Thanks!

[tmnt transformer]

I had a figure do this to me recently. I used Loctite (sp?) super glue. Just oust some glue on the joint and boom. Like nothing ever happened. Just make sure you are gluing it in the right spot.

[cinzel]

I had a figure do this to me recently. I used Loctite (sp?) super glue. Just oust some glue on the joint and boom. Like nothing ever happened. Just make sure you are gluing it in the right spot.

One of the problems is that the previous owner repaired the figure poorly. Now it has a lot of glue residues I have to withdraw before glue it again. I am unsure how to procede to remove those residues...

[Meow]

One of the problems is that the previous owner repaired the figure poorly. Now it has a lot of glue residues I have to withdraw before glue it again. I am unsure how to procede to remove those residues...
Are you in posession of a dremel tool maybe? I can think of a small grinding stone accessory on it making it pretty easy being careful while trying to remove the previous glue's leftovers.

PS: Nice avatar picture by the way. One of my favorites, the storage shell raph :)

[go_ninja84]

pop the seam and replace the balljoint

[Huzzah]

I concur, try and get one of the super cheap vintage figures, pop the seam and replace the bar. It's probably the cleanest method of fixing it.

[tmnt transformer]

The glue I mentioned works well on parts that have been glued previously. Unless it's so thick that it messes up the position of the joint.

[Huzzah]

If the glue is too thick, a dremel is a god send.

[Meow]

If the glue is too thick, a dremel is a god send.
I couldn't agree more! Wise words dear friend! This and some sanding paper or sand-grinding tool :)

[Huzzah]

My dremel was one of the best investments ever when it came to customs.

[cinzel]

Thanks everybody for your helpful answers.
I do have a dremel, but I'm new on reparing or customizing figures.
I manage to get rid of the glue but then - silly me - I tried to glue it back with loctite super glue (extra strong they say), and failed miserably... So I had to get rid of glue residues again. Pfeeeeeeeeeeee, what a pain in the ass!
Now I don't know what to do.
Here in Portugal is not easy to get old vintage figures like this one, so I don't have any spare parts i could use for the fixing.
I'm thinking about epoxy glue but never use it before. Do you think that's a good idea?

[Meow]

Well, keep the following in mind: No matter how strong a certain glue is, it highly depends on which materials this glue is able to attach to plus you need to be careful with how much you apply to the parts, also the product description will tell you if only one side or both sides need glue applied.

Either way don't worry too much and let the glue dry out, remove it again and give it another go. Always be careful and you're safe.

Regarding epoxy: Using a strong one might work out very well but removing it if it doesn't work as planned could be quite some work. Depending on the epoxy of course.

[Meow]

I forgot the one thing I wanted to raise awareness of the most: No matter what glue you use the pieces you glue together need to attach absolutely well. Pieces fitting but not attaching to each other seamingless will never result in stable joints. Also most glues require you to push the pieces together with quite some pressure for a certain amount of time.

This is different with epoxy as this kind of "glue" fills the gaps if done correctly.

PS: Double post because I have no idea wether or not the OP read the previous post, not to miss this one!

[cinzel]

I forgot the one thing I wanted to raise awareness of the most: No matter what glue you use the pieces you glue together need to attach absolutely well. Pieces fitting but not attaching to each other seamingless will never result in stable joints. Also most glues require you to push the pieces together with quite some pressure for a certain amount of time.

This is different with epoxy as this kind of "glue" fills the gaps if done correctly.

PS: Double post because I have no idea wether or not the OP read the previous post, not to miss this one!

All right! Thanks a lot for your advices :)

[go_ninja84]

if you dont want to separate the seam and replace the ball joint you could try JB Weld, thats some pretty strong stuff i used it to repair a Leader Class Bumblebee figure and still holding up to date. but be careful it can be messy

[cinzel]

Well, i just fix it with epoxy glue. I know it's not a perfect repair, the interior of the seam doesn't look clean but is hidden, so nevermind. The balljoints seems to be safe and strong. Anyway the figure is for display, I'm not going to play (much) with it. I think it works :D

And now... Should I bother trying to repair this triceraton gun? The handle is broken and missing... Any ideas? :roll:

[Meow]

Glad to read you fixed your Zak :) Looks promising so far on the pictures provided. Fixing things like the cracked off and missing piece on the gun are unfortunately a bit more difficult jobs.

What you could do is use putty (milliput, aves, etc) to form and therefore restore the missing piece but for those to fit just glueing them together in the end won't work out too well. I'm not an industry/professional modeler so the following might be more of a backyard style attempt to fix this: drill a hole into the leftover stump, thin enough you won't damage the rest of the gun and still thick enough you are able to stick the newly modeled piece into there, fixating it with a drop epoxy glue then. Don't know if there is any other (and actually better) way to get this fixed material-wise.

Either way even you work things out to our liking you are still left with one hell of a job: paint that makes the pieces whole then.

If you aren't interested in fixing it like described above there is one more way I can think of besides buying a new gun: Get yourself an intact version of the gun, create a negative of it with forming silicone and then cast a new gun with resin. Depending on if you're in posession of a pressure chamber or not this could be either done quickly or messy.

Looking forward to read from you again because I enjoy seeing you making progress :)