Before assembly, thoroughly clean all parts in warm water with a mildly abrasive cleaner like Ajax, Softscrub or Comet. This will cleanse any additional mold release and allow paints to adhere to the surface. Remove flash or over pour with a razor knife or saw. Additionally, it is strongly recommended that you test fit all pieces before final assembly.
My first observation is that my ball & socket design was a poor choice considering the weight of the torso. Once you add the cockpit, arms, LRMs, and cowl that top body is pretty heavy. I would strongly advise pinning the joints. Here you can see my pinning of the hips. You can use wood, polystyrene tube, brass or anything else that is stable. I used styrene held in place with a 5 minute epoxy.
You will also note that the caster did...something...on some parts that added some extra thickness that will have to be ground down. On this sample copy, the cockpit had quite a bit on the backside that caused it not to sit flush as designed. There was also some grinding to be done on the toes of the mech.
Another issue that has arisen in the casting process it the two part guns. They were designed to be two flat surfaces that mated into one large unit. Unfortunately, they seem to sit at a slight downward angle. You can either shim the bottom or grind the top. Please be cautious when grinding...if you take off to much you might ruin the piece and I don't stock extras. You would have to purchase replacement pieces directly from the caster.
The LRMs have the same issue as the guns. The plastic pieces I built were supposed to glue flush against the upper torso but something happened in casting and the two parts are not quite flush anymore. I would advise pinning here as well.
Note about the foot/toes...the vents face forward. The longest side should be the inside of the foot.
LRM Mounting.
First, mark the same point on both sides as seen in the pic below.
Drill out the points using a 5/32" drill bit. Then instert a piece of aluminum tube. I used aluminum because the holes may be slightly off. If so, the aluminum bend easy enough.
Then, all you have to do is mount the LRM. Another option is to drill out larger holes and put magnets in the hole. I tried this on one kit and it worked quite well. Just make sure you use strong magnets.
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