I was starting to piece together the DNG and had some serious resistence putting the suacer to the engineering hull. Well, the neck snapped. Part of it is still partially in the Ehull.
I'm curious if anyone thinks it will be worthwhile to work the patial neck out, re-attach to the rest of the nec and try again, or should I put the whole thing in my spare parts pile.
Help? Need a fix for the Glownthedark DNG.
Moderators: mjwest, Albiegamer
Tough part to fix, given how thin it is. If you don't have any emotional attachment to the mini (and/or it was cheap), I'd say you just found a source of engines for kitbashing.
If it's a mini that really needs to live to sail another day, I have salvaged such thing with very careful work with a pin-vise drill. Put a pair of holes down the length of the neck (really, really tough to do), drill matching holes in the saucer, and use small lengths of brass pin to reinforce the joint when you glue it. Just gluing it will probably never be strong enough to take normal handling abuse.
In my case I did this on some metal DNs that managed to have their upper engine struts severely mangled, due to bad case storage.
I also salvaged one of my old plastic CAs this way (the engine struts had both broken off, at the base). It was a royal pain in the keester and took more than one run through to get it right (one pin alone just makes a handy axle for the part to spin around when it breaks again...). I had to do it though, as it was my very first SFU mini (1985-vintage) and there was a lot of sentimental value. I'm glad I did, as she looks like this now:
(you can still see some flaws in the joint between the strut and the hull, but I'll live with it).
If it's a mini that really needs to live to sail another day, I have salvaged such thing with very careful work with a pin-vise drill. Put a pair of holes down the length of the neck (really, really tough to do), drill matching holes in the saucer, and use small lengths of brass pin to reinforce the joint when you glue it. Just gluing it will probably never be strong enough to take normal handling abuse.
In my case I did this on some metal DNs that managed to have their upper engine struts severely mangled, due to bad case storage.
I also salvaged one of my old plastic CAs this way (the engine struts had both broken off, at the base). It was a royal pain in the keester and took more than one run through to get it right (one pin alone just makes a handy axle for the part to spin around when it breaks again...). I had to do it though, as it was my very first SFU mini (1985-vintage) and there was a lot of sentimental value. I'm glad I did, as she looks like this now:
(you can still see some flaws in the joint between the strut and the hull, but I'll live with it).
Last edited by djdood on Thu Jan 05, 2012 12:35 am, edited 2 times in total.
Hmm, more work than I can justify with my limited hobby time. My only emotional attachment was that I only ordered one of the plastic glowinthedarks and it looks like they are off the cart now.
Oh well, spare part pile it is. At least I have 5 or the 'clocked' plastic DNGs. The first one I put together was much easier.
Nice pic! I don't blame you for going to such lengths for such a piece.
Oh well, spare part pile it is. At least I have 5 or the 'clocked' plastic DNGs. The first one I put together was much easier.
Nice pic! I don't blame you for going to such lengths for such a piece.
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Steve Cole
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