So, like a lot of people who own Hasbro's MP-09 Masterpiece Rodimus, I lived in fear. Fear that I would go to my display case and find the arm of my beloved masterpiece figure detached and at his feet.
Every time I decided to transformer him from robot mode to alt-mode or vice versa, I would extend the greatest care that one can possibly muster. It was during one of those moments after a delicate shoulder adjustment that I found a piece of his shoulder joint in my hand. Just a tiny fragment yet upon inspection I realized that another larger fragment was missing. The arm remained attached, but just barely.
"FŬʯċȻķƘĶƙķĸ!!!!!!"
A couple of months passed and every day I would look to see if the arm was still attached. Furious with myself for even touching the damn thing in the first place. Loving and and hating him all at the same time.
One day while reading posts on the Facebook 'Transformers Masterpiece Collectors Group' I happened upon a post about replacement parts for MP-09 such as knees and shoulders. I promptly ordered a set of shoulder joints in the hopes of repairing the ID10T child.
The parts arrived today via China Post and took about 3 weeks to arrive. The parts are molded parts and not 3D prints. The quality seems good with the color a close match to the original. The finish is more of a matte than the more glossy original but nothing that concerned me.
I started by gently removing the arm, making sure not to damage anything else.
I removed the shoulder pin noting a small knurled section on the top end of the pin.
I removed the screws holding the top part of the arm together and noticed the lower part just below the wheel is held with a pressed metal pin and would not move without considerable force. I opted to leave it and was able to separate the two sections enough to get the shoulder joint section out.
Knowing that the crown section of the broken piece is a weak point. (From reading posts on TFW2005) I gently pried until it broke off. I then used a straight X-Acto blade to shave off the remaining wide section from the top. The rest including the pressed pin and spring slid out from the other side.
I then removed the remaining plastic from the pressed pin. This is when I noticed that the hole in the replacement part was considerably smaller that the diameter of the pin.
Using a 1/16" drill bit I carefully reamed the hole using my hand. The press pin is slightly larger than 1/16" so I figured that this would work well once pressed into the hole.
I put the replacement piece into the shoulder joint and put the spring into the other side.
I then used a shrink tube attachment on a butane soldering iron to heat the press pin until it was hot enough to be pushed into the hole. Not too hot that it would cause the part's shape to distort. I pressed the pin into the hole far enough to allow the spring and pin to move to allow the ratcheting action. To far in would lock the joint into place and not allow it to rotate. I compared the spacing from the other shoulder. Once the pin cooled I then reassembled the arm.
I aligned the arm back into place and replaced the shoulder pin making sure the knurl was at the top. I used gentle tapping to insert the pin as far as I was comfortable.
My only other note about the replacement part is that the joints ratchet teeth are not a perfect match to the original, but are good enough to work. It does not ratchet as good as the original but is a far cry better than his arm detached and at his feet.
Price to fix about $15.
Hasbro MP-09 Masterpiece Rodimus Shoulder Repair.
Re: Hasbro MP-09 Masterpiece Rodimus Shoulder Repair.
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