To those who've taken apart Alt. Meister

[FreedomGundam]

So I'm trying to take apart my spare Alt. Meister to repaint him.

 

Most of his disassembly isn't too much trouble, except the following:

 

A: The pin/nail-thing that holds the black inside of the front doors to the white outside

B1 and B2: The 2 pin/nail-things that hold the black inside of the rear doors to the white outsides

C: The pin that holds the rear door to the white chassis

D: The pin that holds that section beneath the rear doors to the white chassis part

 

Could anyone give me some strategies in plucking those out?  For pins A, B1 and B2, I've tried using DLP's solding iron trick and it doesn't seem to work.  For pin C, I've tried tapping it out with a nail/pin and a hammer, since it's a bit in a tight spot for the soldering iron trick, but still can't get the pin out.  For pin D, I'm just at a loss of ideas...

[plowking]

I can help with Pin "A"

 

You need a Dremel like tool with a small grinding "rod" attatched to it.

All I simply do is grind two sides of the circle flat.

(carefully, don't gouge the plastic surround)

Then using needle nose pliers turn the pin so the flats are now parallel with the flats of the inner door panel and the two will seperate easily.

When done with painting, just reverse the removal procedure.

This is the easiest and most problem free method I know of.

I've tried the soldering iron on the door pin before and it didn't work either.

Oh yeah, that back door just "pops" off the hinge just like the front door.

Crude illustrastion

[Lobo]

I'm in the process of tearing one apart myself.

 

I like plowkings idea for pin A.

 

For the others, the only one I'd say to remove is pin C.  Sounds like you had the right idea of just tap it out from under the wheel well.

 

For the rest, I'd say leave them be.  Remember, whatever pins you take out, you have to put back in.  Some are pretty risky.  Take for instance the 2 pins on the side door.  You could take them out but when you put them back in your going to have the door against something solid when tap on them.  That could lead to scratches in the new paint.  :tdown

 

Masking them off is your best bet.

 

Also, when using the hot pin technique, remember that the iron needs to be hot!  Before I even started taking the wheels off I let the iron sit for 15 minutes.

[FreedomGundam]

I managed to get Pin C out.

When it doubt, hammer harder. ;)

 

I think I'll give Plowking's idea for Pin A a shot soon; I'll have to get my hands on a dremel first.  :P

[plowking]

You may be able to use a small file, just may take a while longer. I like this method better because, as Lobo stated, you have to put the pins back in, that usually requires force, and we all know that aint good for the paint or plastic.

 

Trust me it will work like a charm. I first tried it on my custom Alt Torch and I'll be using this technique from now on with that styled door.

 

Good luck on the bash!  :thumb

 

Love your new custom sig too Lobo  :thumb

[FreedomGundam]

Sweet.  Will file it down tomorrow then.  Too late and too lazy right now to dig for a small file somewhere in the house.

 

I'll probably just mask off the interior of the rear doors like you both suggested.

 

That still leaves Pin D not accounted for, which I'm thinking of drilling a small hole at the top of the black piece, and hammering out the pin...

 

I've also run into another complication.  I can't seem to pull off the metal pins used as axels for the wheels.  I managed to get each wheel off (the soldering pin technique softened the wheel itself enough to slip over the head of the pin and re-harden), but the pin is stuck.  I've tried to heat the pin to pull it out, but to no avail.  I'm running into this issue for all 4 wheel too...

[Lobo]

Sweet.  Will file it down tomorrow then.  Too late and too lazy right now to dig for a small file somewhere in the house.

 

I'll probably just mask off the interior of the rear doors like you both suggested.

 

That still leaves Pin D not accounted for, which I'm thinking of drilling a small hole at the top of the black piece, and hammering out the pin...

 

I've also run into another complication.  I can't seem to pull off the metal pins used as axels for the wheels.  I managed to get each wheel off (the soldering pin technique softened the wheel itself enough to slip over the head of the pin and re-harden), but the pin is stuck.  I've tried to heat the pin to pull it out, but to no avail.  I'm running into this issue for all 4 wheel too...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Mask off the piece for pin D.  It won't hurt anything.  You might have to move the piece in and out when painting in order to color inside the hinge.  It's much safer than tearing everything apart to get a stubborn pin out.

 

The wheels pins will come off with the iron.  Hold the tip of the iron almost flat on the pin.  This will give more surface area for heat transfer.  Also, push down on the pin just a little.  When the pins hot enough, it'll actually move just a bit.  That's when it ready to come out (Be sure to use your pliers!).  Also listen for a cracking sound.  It's another tell.

 

The rear wheels will take a little longer to heat up then the front because the pins longer.

[FreedomGundam]

Plowking: your door-removal technique is genius.  :thumb

 

So, I managed to do 2 things about those axle pins.

 

On the plus side, I took out the pins for the front wheel axles.  Soldering iron didn't work, so I basically hammered harder.

 

On the other hand, the pins for the rear wheels wouldn't come off no matter how I tried.  I ended up warping one of the axles with too much heat, and I cracked the other side's axle by doing something stupid.  So yeah, I busted both rear axles. 

 

So I chopped 'em both off entirely.  The good news is that I'm now making a new set of rear axles, with a screw in the middle rather than a pin, so it'll be a lot easier to assemble afterwards...

 

Not to mention I cut my right thumb open with the Exacto when I was chopping off the old axles...

[plowking]

Plowking: your door-removal technique is genius.  :thumb

 

So, I managed to do 2 things about those axle pins.

 

On the plus side, I took out the pins for the front wheel axles.  Soldering iron didn't work, so I basically hammered harder.

 

On the other hand, the pins for the rear wheels wouldn't come off no matter how I tried.  I ended up warping one of the axles with too much heat, and I cracked the other side's axle by doing something stupid.  So yeah, I busted both rear axles. 

 

So I chopped 'em both off entirely.  The good news is that I'm now making a new set of rear axles, with a screw in the middle rather than a pin, so it'll be a lot easier to assemble afterwards...

 

Not to mention I cut my right thumb open with the Exacto when I was chopping off the old axles...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Glad it worked out for you!  :thumb

 

Bummer about the axels though, but I'm sure your idea will take care of that.

I run into probs with the wheel pins before too, but in the end all was o.k.

 

Any clues as to what your bash/custom will be? (I love custom work)

[Pun-3X]

Hey, some Meister kitbashes. :)

 

Are any of you going to go with a different head than Meister's on your finished project?  I've been desperately trying to get a hold of a Meister head to kitbash for an Alt. Red alert I'm working on.  If I can get that, I'll practically have the guy done (except for decals)

 

And yes, clue us in on what your new character is going to be!  At least a hint--we can start guessing from there...