Woohoo, finally got my hands on an Aoshima Dropship!

[Deftinwulf]

Hi guys, just thought I'd post this here to see if anyone has had this problem... My aoshima dropship's cargo-hold buttons seem to be stuck and malfunctioning... When I turn the "VTOL engine" button that releases it, it comes down about 1/3rd of the way, and then gets stuck. The 2nd time I opened the hatch, it did this, and I gently pulled it open the whole way. After that, the hatch was working fine so I assumed it was just coarse/stuck from being brand-new. However, it is now stuck again and seems to be stuck worse than before, as gently tugging on the hatch door doesn't release it like it did the first time. I'm very worried that my particular unit is defective... Has anyone else had a similar experience with the Aoshima Dropship? I was about to order the APC to go with it, but if my cargo-bay is broken there would be basically no point. God, this is disappointing.

 

[MML]

Hi guys, just thought I'd post this here to see if anyone has had this problem... My aoshima dropship's cargo-hold buttons seem to be stuck and malfunctioning... When I turn the "VTOL engine" button that releases it, it comes down about 1/3rd of the way, and then gets stuck. The 2nd time I opened the hatch, it did this, and I gently pulled it open the whole way. After that, the hatch was working fine so I assumed it was just coarse/stuck from being brand-new. However, it is now stuck again and seems to be stuck worse than before, as gently tugging on the hatch door doesn't release it like it did the first time. I'm very worried that my particular unit is defective... Has anyone else had a similar experience with the Aoshima Dropship? I was about to order the APC to go with it, but if my cargo-bay is broken there would be basically no point. God, this is disappointing.

You're not alone, mine's like that too. I think the plastic ramp is too light to deploy fully under it's own weight. Simple design problem, that's all.
It usually opens better with the weight of the APC on it though, so go for it!

 

[Deftinwulf]

I appreciate your reply MML, but I'm not certain that my cargo-door is acting the same way as yours... If the weight of the APC is enough to drop the cargo hatch, then shoudln't the added weight of using my fingers to tug on it drop it as well? It seems to be legitimately stuck when it opens to a certain point, to the point where I feel like if I pulled on it, the plastic joints would just snap. I'm assuming these hatches might be problematic on the large-scale, but mine seems to be especially bad.

Anyway, thanks for posting, it's good to know I'm not the only one with a slightly funky dropship.

 

[Deftinwulf]

Ok, so I just tried to order the APC from comet miniatures, and when I got to the payment screen, it wouldn't let me enter a year earlier than 2003 for the "card start year." Is this not ridiculous?? I've been a Visa member since 2001, and my card says "cardholder since 07/01, valid thru 06/10" on it so what am I supposed to enter in that field on the order form? Does this mean I can't order from comet miniatures? Is there some rule in the UK that you can't use credit cards from before 2003?

 

[Diab0lus]

Ok, so I just tried to order the APC from comet miniatures, and when I got to the payment screen, it wouldn't let me enter a year earlier than 2003 for the "card start year." Is this not ridiculous?? I've been a Visa member since 2001, and my card says "cardholder since 07/01, valid thru 06/10" on it so what am I supposed to enter in that field on the order form? Does this mean I can't order from comet miniatures? Is there some rule in the UK that you can't use credit cards from before 2003?

Can you not enter anything? For most of us, our credit cards don't have a start date. Most of mine only have an expiration date. Some do have a "Member Since Date", but not all.

 

[MML]

Ok, so I just tried to order the APC from comet miniatures, and when I got to the payment screen, it wouldn't let me enter a year earlier than 2003 for the "card start year." Is this not ridiculous?? I've been a Visa member since 2001, and my card says "cardholder since 07/01, valid thru 06/10" on it so what am I supposed to enter in that field on the order form? Does this mean I can't order from comet miniatures? Is there some rule in the UK that you can't use credit cards from before 2003?

I have a Mastercard, I don't think I've ever had to put in the start date... try leaving it blank to see what happens.

God, Comet Miniatures... I used to order stuff from them back in the mail-order days... before I discovered the wonders of these new-fangled Internets!

 

[pookie613]

Woohoo, it arrived! (Man, Koji & EMS are FAST!) It's beautiful... I was actually surprised by how heavy and solid it is, but that's because I was used to the heft of the light and fragile Halcyon model. They're the same size, but what a difference! It's like a huge Corgi toy.

One thing I was curious about was whether Aoshima had simply redone the Halcyon model, as Tsukuda did with Halcyon's Aliens. They're both 1:72, which seems like an odd coincidence, and a lot of parts are exactly the same size. Manufacturers don't usually nail perfectly scaled replicas (or else every version of a 1:6 scale MP5 would be identical). Although the proportions seem identical, there are subtle differences in the detailing and the way parts are put together. My guess is that Aoshima used the Halcyon model for reference, but completely re-engineered it.

I was a tiny bit disappointed that the landing gear wasn't functional (because I wanted to see how they worked), but it confirmed to me that it would have been a hellish job of engineering to recreate: The multiple hydraulic pistons probably make it impractical at such a small scale, with such a heavy model.

I see what you mean by the landing ramp. It feels like the VTOL knob is connected to a sliding bar which engages notches in the tops of the support struts to lock them in place when the ramp is up. All four of the struts have to disengage independently at roughly the same time for the struts to be freed, for the ramp to drop down by gravity. Unfortunately, they struts have considerable side-to-side play when they're extended, so it's possible that one or more have gotten out of alignment before it was last closed, and are out-of-position to be unlatched. The only way to be sure would be to disassemble it. Before that though, I'd play with the knob and the jiggle the landing ramp side-to-side to see if that frees anything up. For what it's worth, the safest way to close the ramp is to turn the knob as you push the ramp up into locked position, instead of clicking it into place. This puts less wear on the mechanism which locks it into place (which I suspect is plastic).

I got my "posting notice" from Comet Miniatures this morning, which says that I should expect my APC within 2-4 days. Woohoo again! (I doubt that it will have the same "woohoo" effect as the Dropship though.)

Regarding the CC start date-- I imagine that it's used for verification, and since US vendors don't ask for it, it's probably not a deal-killer. If I were you, I'd pick a date that works in their system. If it triggers an error, they'll probably contact you, and at that time you can explain the problem to them. I'll bet that they don't have any philosophical objections to taking money from old credit card accounts, so maybe it will prompt them to fix the problem!

-Jim

 

[icruise]

This thread needs some pictures...

 

[FACEBOX]

 

[icruise]

Nice.

 

[MML]

I just noticed I've lost the pitot tube from my dropship's nose. Dunno how I'm going to replace that...

 

[Jamal]

Those are really nice if your into that scale

 

[pookie613]

The APC from Comet Miniatures arrived today; pretty quick shipping! Although I don't regret the purchase, it's hard to accept the price, considering that it's nowhere near as impressive as the Dropship. (Or for that matter, the 1:72 scale Forces of Valor M26 Dragon Wagon that's in the pic --$15). If you're a completist though, you won't be able to resist since they were made to go together (and should have been sold that way).

1:72 is a good scale for vehicles since you can do some interesting photography and diorama things in a fairly small space, like mixing 1:6 figures and 1:72 vehicles in a photo. With the trick of forced perspective, it can look pretty convincing! (The photo below is from 1998 with my still-unfinished Halcyon Dropship)

-Jim

 

[cornhelium]

Great shots Jim & Facebox.

I agree the APC's pricing was a tough one to swallow, but pretty much a compulsory purchase if you got the dropship. Worth it I guess for the old "Thunderbird 2 effect" ;-)

Facebox - I notice some of your shots have pilots in the cockpit and some don't. I've been thinking of prying the canopy off and painting & populating the cockpit, but worried about cracking the plastic. How did you get yours off mate?

Cheers,
CH

 

[Deftinwulf]

Great pics Jim! The only problem now is that if I get the APC, I'm going to have to get some facsimile to that cool transport flatbed thing you've got.

 

[Les Walker]

I should be getting a set of these soon, (from a trade) and am VERY excited to be getting it, even moreso from these pics!
A great set to be sure!
And the DS is pretty large in 1/72 isn't it? Over a foot long or so?

Great shots Jim.

 

[FACEBOX]

Great shots Jim & Facebox.

I agree the APC's pricing was a tough one to swallow, but pretty much a compulsory purchase if you got the dropship. Worth it I guess for the old "Thunderbird 2 effect" ;-)

Facebox - I notice some of your shots have pilots in the cockpit and some don't. I've been thinking of prying the canopy off and painting & populating the cockpit, but worried about cracking the plastic. How did you get yours off mate?

Cheers,
CH

Don't pry it open or else the whole thing will crack!

There are screws under the landing gear etc. There is also a screw in the nose of the cockpit (left side pannel). Make sure you unscrew everything before trying to open the canopy.

 

[cornhelium]

Wow - thanks Facebox, you just saved me some major trauma

And yes Les - the dropship is about a foot long.

Cheers,
CH

 

[Deftinwulf]

Don't pry it open or else the whole thing will crack!

There are screws under the landing gear etc. There is also a screw in the nose of the cockpit (left side pannel). Make sure you unscrew everything before trying to open the canopy.

So that's how you take the canopy off.. I was wondering if the dropships with the pilot figurines had come that way from the factory. Did you buy 1/72 scale US military (etc.) pilot figurines, or are they designed to actually be USCM pilots? Either way, I'd like to look into getting some pilots for my dropship.

 

[FACEBOX]

So that's how you take the canopy off.. I was wondering if the dropships with the pilot figurines had come that way from the factory. Did you buy 1/72 scale US military (etc.) pilot figurines, or are they designed to actually be USCM pilots? Either way, I'd like to look into getting some pilots for my dropship.

The 01 and 03 dropships do come with the pilot built in already.
Both 02 versions come with an empty cockpit, so what I did was I bought a set of 1/72 scaled air-force fighter pilots, and put them in.
They come as a kit that you have to glue together and paint.