Joyride Studios Viper

[Darkknight0667]

I recently bought one of these, and one of the wings is loose and therefore hangs at an odd angle. Does anybody have suggestions as to the best adhesive to use to fix this? Crazy glue? Something else?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Bryancd]

Hey Peter, your landing gear is on the way. I was going to PM you but figured this is a free post. Here's what I would do...Take a little bit of modeler glue or clear epoxy glue, put a dap on the end of a toothpick. Have the Viper sitting on it's stand so the wing hangs down properly. apply a little glue at the spot where the wing tab enters the fusalage, both of them. That will do it.

 

[Darkknight0667]

Thanks for the advice, Bryan. Actually, when it's on the stand, because the wing is loose, it hangs at an odd angle. Not symetrical with the other wing at all, and the gun points slightly downward, not forward like the other. I'll have to apply the glue then hold it in place until it sets.

 

[Bryancd]

or better yet, put it on a table and prop the wing up in the correct position, then glue. Believe me, sitting there trying to hold something still is hard.

 

[spcglider@aol.com]

Okay guys, I'm about to go on a rant, so if you're feeling like you don't want to hear it, please move on. I just found this thread and decided to put in my two cents.

I just got my Joyride studios Apollo and Starbuck figures. Not too impressive if you ask me.

The rundown:

Viper pilots use the "leg computer"... Starbucks is stuck to Apollo's leg and Apollo's is stuck to Starbuck's leg. There were to different leg comps used. One had long, vertically placed calculators as plant-on detail and the other had horizontally placed short calculators as detail. Apollo wore the latter. Some fans assume it was because he was left handed. All other pilots (except Zac in the premiere) wore the vertical version.

The Viper pilot helmet included with each figure is missing major detail. The ear-phones and the microphone are entirely absent. And the side detail wraps all the way around the back and doesn't do the artistic down-turn as it does on the real helmets. And also... no light-bars around the face.

The blaster, while somewhat accurate is far from complete. The barrel end is flat. Flat like flat flat. It should have a slight cone to it with incised grooves around a central emitter hole.

The poses are horrid. They both look like they're mugging and saying, "TAH -DAH...".

The wash that was applied to their faces to give them a little bit of contrast looks like somebody smeared their faces with furniture stain. They look messy. Bad production quality control.

The sculptures of the faces is merely okay. They don't actually LOOK like the guys, but you get the gist. I talked with the folks from Joyride at GenCon and they said they had the license to make the figures look like the actors. They didn't live up to that.

The sculpt on the hands is atrocious. The belt grenades/recharge cylinders are HUGE and way out of scale. And for some reason, Starbuck has huge funky seams that run across his shoulder pads but Apollo doesn't. The collar insignia is poorly represented. The gold paint is dull and almost translucent, showing the base paint through the finish. And I'm going to be kind and not even get into the detailing colors.

Apollo's jacket is closed. I don't recall EVER seeing a warrior with their jacket completely closed. Unless it was one of the females, I don't think I can remember seeing that. In "Take the Celestra" Apollo tells Starbuck to fasten his jacket cuz they're about to meet Commander Chronus. Starbuck starts fiddling with the buckles, but never gets it fastened because they are distracted. That's the closest I can think of.

The best thing about the whole figure is that they must have had actual examples of the Sidi FullBore boots to use as reference... they seem pretty accurate.

Now before you hit me with the obligatory "lighten up... its a toy", I have to say this: No kids will want these. Kids don't know what classic BG is. These toys were made for fans of the old show. Period.

If one is going to release a figure to such a specific niche market with a retail price over $18.00, I suggest that one spend an inordinate amount of time getting EVERY detail right. If one thinks one will going to be successful in selling these toys to collectors who were fans of the old show, then one must think there are enough of them out there to make it profitable. If that's the case, then perhaps one should attempt to get input from knowlegable fans who could catch such agregious mistakes before the prototype goes to the factory? I mean good crimeny... there are at least two dozen Battlestar Galactica websites out there. And for a couple hundred bucks you could probably get Richard Hatch to verify the details for you... Joyride has to be at at least SOME of the conventions Richard is at.

Short of the long: These figures were made specifically for guys like me. Guys who have made their own replica costumes from the show. Guys who liked the old show enough to spend a bunch of dough on figures of Apollo and Starbuck. Guys who will be as critical as it gets when it comes to the details. I'm tellin ya... they failed in the execution.

Now, I haven't seen the fighter craft up close, so I can't comment on their detail accuracy. But the figures... not so much.

-Gordon

 

[Jedi Dade]

Here's my take on the Joyride stuff...

For the price its awesome. For Really accurate sculpts you pay a SH.TLOAD more. You get what you pay for. In your world $18 might be a lot of money but when collecting "figureines" or statues its CHEAP AS YOU WILL EVER SEE for anything even remotely worthwhile. In my opinion these are decent for the money spent. The ships are actaully probably worth more. To me they seem Very well done (broken wing in the above post not withstanding). I completely agree with your critique of the scuplts of the people - its just I disagree with your conclusion.

In my opinion the Ships are Awesome. Are the totally accurate? No. Are they painted correctly? No (in my opinion). Do they look right? Yes, esecially the Cylon Raider. Are they easy to fix with some off-white, gray and orange paint - absolutly.

The figures - like I said before OK for the price - but nothing to write home about.

---Back to the original topic
Get a hold of some real CA glue - that crazy glue stuff I've never had any good luck with. Its usually way too old or something every time I have tried to use it it doesn't pour right. Most decent hobby shops will have CA glue in relatively large bottles for around $5 (comapred to Krazy glue containers). Carefully put a drop where it needs to go - remember the stuff tends to run like water, and hold the wing in place for about 30 seconds. I usually will then carefully put the newly glued item somewhere where it will not be touched for at least an hour, usually clamped or propped up (no pun intended) and walk away for a while. Unless you're going to handle it roughly this should hold it. If you're going to handle it roughly go with some 5 minute epoxy - available at most hardware stores for around $5 as well - remembver you'll have to hold it in place for a lot longer using the epoxy - plan anhead with clamps or a some kind of jig to hold in in place while it sets up. With epoxy I usually let it set overnight before screwing around with it.

Jedi Dade

 

[Darkknight0667]

Just to clarify, the broken/loose wing was on a pre-owned model that I bought through the JY. I'm sure that they're perfect from the factory.

I agree that, for the price, they can't be beat.