Missiles & Launchers

[Mighty_Galvatron]

I am not sure if I should keep the missiles in their launchers for the display of my TFs. Is it bad for the spring in the launcher if it stays loaded most the time? I don't want the springs to loose their overall push when firing projectiles.

[Ultra Maverick]

I always leave the missiles out of their launchers and hide them at the figures feet.

[brr-icy]

if it's not something like a seeker null ray i leave them out, usually it looks better anyways

[Protoman]

Springs will weaken if they are compressed over time, it's why a lot of collectors favor "pressure missiles" for display reasons.

[Mighty_Galvatron]

I'm going to go ahead and remove any spring-launched missiles from my display.



Another question:

For those of you who own G1 Devastator, what do you do about his fists?

[racerguy76]

The spring won't lose their shape when compressed, only if they are streched out. The wear also occurs when changed from compressed to expanded, ie you fired the missle a million times. The spring being compressed in a static position shouldn't hurt it over time.

[Richter]

Originally Posted by racerguy76

The spring won't lose their shape when compressed, only if they are streched out. The wear also occurs when changed from compressed to expanded, ie you fired the missle a million times. The spring being compressed in a static position shouldn't hurt it over time.

Ya it will
It settles in the 'compressed state' so the 'compressed state' becomes its 'normal state', and to get any force out of them you have to compress them further.

This is why automotive springs sag over time, etc.

You are right though, springs weaken a alot quicker when stretching them rather than compressing them

When on display I usually leave the missiles in the launcher in an uncompressed state

[Sun Swipe Prime]

My experience is that they don't weaken. I have Diaclone figures that have had missles loaded in them almost constantly for 15-20 yrs and they still fire really well, and when I say really well, it's like still poke your eyes out well. But I think the key is how much heat and cold they're exposed to. Extreme variations in temperature may weaken the spring's elasticity. I mean if springs are loaded and are exposed to heat, it'll break the molecular bonds that keep them in the springy state and when the spring cools and the bonds reform they'll be in the unspringy state thus loosing their springyness. Any way I could be wrong. I'm guessing based on my actual experience and the 100 level chemistry classes I took.

[justprime]

If we are talking metalergy almost all metals become brittle with time this said however I think this worry is unnessary as stated above,.. I also have a devastator thats had hands in place since 85 (not to mention older toys with springs) and the springs still do there job,... spring loss due to compression will happen but I don't think any of us will be around to see it.

[Echotransformer]

I'd like to comment on this, but I'm going to also go to my 'source' on all things engineering-related...got a buddy at work--a senior engineer-- who used to design transmissions for a living and he knows more about materials/statics/dynamics/elastic region and other such complex stuff than anybody else I know. This dude's a wizard!!!!

In the meantime, my suspicion is that it depends on the design of the missile and the materials used.

The 'stretching' of a spring described above weakens it because the spring is pulled beyond the elastic region--it never returns back to its original shape. This might happen under compression too. A poorly designed launcher with a little consideration to the materials limits might weaken under compression over time.

HOWEVER, if the spring doesn't pass the 'elastic region' of the steel (which would depend on the quality of steel, the treatments used to make it spring steel, number of coils etc.) then I don't think the spring would loose power.

BUT, the spring is almost always embedded in plastic, and plastic does slowly change shape over time thanks to weak molecular bonds...it's called "creep" and under load, the plastic supporting the spring could 'back away' and increase the effective travel of the spring thereby weakening it. Different plastic types (ABS, PC, ABS/PC alloys, etc.) will creep at different rates as well. Metalized plastics would be more fragile than solid colors, for example.

Too technical?

Long story short, to be safe and keep max spring, take out the missiles.