Beamerboy

I had formed an interest in AgoraModels because they touted themselves as the 'Available Anywhere' company for shipping big-scale models. What is their differentiation when some markets may have the models, while others can only be 'wishful thinking'?

Okay, Tom - so how's about explaining the issue and its solution? Why did I bother trying to help if you just say "it's not a problem anymore". If you stuffed something up, just admit what it was and give others a clue as to what to avoid. If it was solved by contact with Customer Support, then encourage others to go there first rather than appeal to the community.

Hi Tom, Don't know about the eyes, but the jaw didn't move on mine initially. It turned out to be an oversight closing of the gearbox for the jaw. Had to dismantle the head and loosen the screws up a bit. If that sounds like your issue (you can get a feeling that the jaw motor is trying), then maybe check out the eye motor at the same time. If the motors aren't making any effort, then look at the connections to the circuit board in the head. Oh, and make sure you turned on the battery box in the head, and the batteries aren't dead! 🙃

I left Steps 1-3 (glue in details) until the next time I need ed to flip over the base, General Lou. Saves me getting the superglue out again until I really need it. Just don't misplace the parts, people!

Be careful that your fixing screws for the speaker don't get attracted to the permanent magnet on the speaker - could make it a bit trickier to get the fixing ring screwed in! 😌

Yes, Lou - the tagged, red one with the longer wire (if we abide by Stage 111 instructions) is otherwise used in Stage 113.

I'd suggest you have a look at YouTuber 'Gross Models'. He does a fill and then repaints the base as well. Not for me, but looks like what you may be interested in. Gross Models Base Repaint

The pre-order page for the Leopard 2A6 for Australia still says ** free delivery in UK ** Is this a typo, and Australian delivery is free in Australia on this product, or shipping is additional for Australia? BTW, I’m not ready to purchase a subscription yet, so haven’t gone to the store to check.

You know that the Agora subscription is only of Packs of 10 - that means that there are only 10% of the number of magazines provided compared to the Hachette subscribers. At best, you are then only looking for a total of 1 binders. If you're a Hachette subscriber in the US (not Agora), then this is not the forum for your request/question.

I have to agree with this one - a forward motion on firing is the exact opposite to a "recoil reaction". Every time I view the sample video, I 'recoil' myself at the lunacy of this as a realistic action!

Anyone who follows the Hachette release would know that Agora has (for the most part) caught up with Hachette on the stages that are released. I suspect this is why our subscriptions moved from 4-weekly to 5-weekly. My Pack 10 is now in Australia and will likely arrive this week. The best YouTube presenters have up to Stage 102 on show. It's curious that we (Agora subscribers) could have gotten ahead of the originating suppliers of this kit. Still, 2020/21 has not been the most predictable of years. I entered into this subscription in the expectation of shipments from the "Australian warehouse" and that has never eventuated. Still, I remain grateful for no-cost deliveries from the UK which take an extra week to arrive. The T-800 is very close to completion, and I for one am still excited to see how the last Stages will be delivered. There's no precedence on how Hachette delivers the base or stands for the T-800 nor how the electrics in the head marry up with the lights in the base. I would really love if this forum could move from complaints/questions about when they get their bits to how challenging/tricky making their bits fit onto the model are once they get their bits. Nothing of what you post about now will matter a "hill of beans" to anyone in the future once the first round of deliveries has been met.

I would like to suggest doing the leg plate part of this Stage immediately after completing Stage 87. This would avoid the ‘tricky’ access to the screws because the thigh has not been attached to the rest of the body yet. I’ve looked at the assembly guide, and can’t see an issue, but have not yet reached Stage 87 in my build. 👋 Might as well take advantage of the Pack system over the Stage weekly subscriptions whenever you can!

You should’ve been informed by now that the shipment / payment interval has now moved to 35 days. I’m not thrilled to hear it in Australia. Especially since the original promises were of shipments from Australian warehouses. However, we’re getting free shipments from the UK, and they’re mostly accurate and undamaged. I am still appreciative that I can get the packages in Australia, whereas the Ecto-1 isn’t available.

Why not ask Customer Service directly via email or live chat, if you’re in a rush for a response? www.agoramodels.com 🙄😷

Yes, I think you’re referring to the kit from Partworkupgrades.com . The intention of the fix is to resolve both the wobbly side muscle pistons and tendons on both lower legs of the T-800. I ordered it myself after confirming that the Agora pack doesn’t change the situation seen with the original Hachette parts. I paid £16.98 GBP for the parts and tracked shipping to Australia. It was ordered on 10 October and was shipped out on 17 October. I don’t normally modify my models, preferring to follow the maker’s intention, but the loose components just irritated so much to see that I had to do something about it straight away.

Hey @oakboy2002, I don't have the problem you are stating. Your photo doesn't show the connection of the spinal cord at the bottom of the vertebrae - maybe you didn't tighten the nut enough, or inserted the wrong end of the spinal cord. Also, the attachment of the bottom plate (last before pelvis) isn't shown. Things snugged up significantly for me after that.

Hi Loz, It would probably be beneficial if you added a photo of the "massive gap" to give us an idea of the problem. I personally had no problem, but it may be the case that you had conflicts with squeezing the sleeve (3-14) and pins (3-12) properly. I went with the idea of putting the plastic sleeves into place before inserting the pin. This made for convenience with pressing it all together. Otherwise (pin and sleeve shoved through holes) I couldn't easily make them go all the way through. It doesn't require an alternative part set from outside providers (e.g. modelmodz) unless you like the idea of locking the fingers in each position. Good luck!

I’ve been hearing that the side muscle connections have been very wobbly with the original Hachette parts. Is this implementation any better than that? There are modification suppliers, but I’d rather Agora improved on the original if they know of the existing issues.

Scary complicated! I'll probably finish the T-800 first, then see what others might be offered before considering jumping into this one!

Simple maths - Hachette currently post a collection of 140 Stages. So, If Agora was to stick to a 12 month plan, there would be about 12 Stages per pack. Maybe some variance around which packs get which major parts, but that's the count.

Can you maybe take the littlelist amount of time, General Lou, to check that the text is actually spelt correctly? I believe we are trying to initially glue 4 Nuts into the base rather than 4 nets! We don't want fast postings of the official build diary if it means bad spelling persisting for the life of these products.

Maybe a good point in the process to highlight that 2 PM 3*6mm screws need to be added between Steps 11 and 12. It is not mentioned in the instructions, and our favourite YouTuber notes it. This would make the Official Agora Build Diary the best source of information for all Members.

I found that the sticky parts were the left and right shoulder cogs (Parts 23-1 and 28-2). They are cast from a rougher mould (of aluminium it looks like), and the groove for the springs is narrow - this tends to form some oxidation on the inside edges of the groove. It probably grabs the spring inconsistently, depending on how much oxidation has occurred, and leads to inconsistent binding. My spring tended to bind initially on both shoulders while test fitting to the cog (Steps 25-10 and 29-10). I wetted a small stick with… wait for it… WD-40 (!) and wiped it around the inside of the groove a number of times. After awhile, the stick turned black with the picked up oxidation. Another light application of WD-40 inside the groove, and the spring would spin easily against the cogs. No trimming necessary, no messy grease, and rotated smoothly after fitting the cap plates. 👍 🖖

There is an "Expert Tip" for Step 14 (attaching the muscle springs) which I DO NOT recommend you follow. General Lou does not do it in the above build, and the springs only need tension assistance for a brief period while the superglue dries. Putting Blu Tack or similar over the springs to hold some tension against the hand part only ends in tears, as the putty/sticky only gets pressed into the coils of the spring and is an absolute hassle to try and get out! Why it was even suggested, I cannot guess.

Loving the pictures and descriptions, Mark! Can you at all break your build diary into subsets for each pack as you go? The one entry takes heaps of scrolling to get to the latest content. I’ve seen General Lou manage it for his builds, so hopefully it can work for you too.