As I mentioned back in Show 263 and in other previous shows, The large FactoryX pewter Black Omega starfury model could very well be classified as a dangerous weapon, or at the least a falling hazard for small pets (remember when the Mythbusters dropped frozen turkeys on models of cats and toy dogs? That’s the kind of probable damage I’m talking about).
As promised, here are some photos of both the starfury and station models, with comparison shots between the normal stand for the station, and the now-mangled stand for the starfury, complete with the gouge in the base, and snapped off starboard side gun.
update: here are some closer shots of how badly the stand was mangled under the weight of the starfury
The starfury stand wasn’t really twisted like I’d always thought, just nearly snapped in two. I couldn’t pull the damaged stand off the base without completely severing it, and it looks like veneer and paint are the only things holding that thing together anymore.
Wow, that’s quite a nice bit of damage.
It’s obvious why it’s happened though. Firstly the bracket has quite a thin bit between the main part and the part that fixes to the base. The rest of its strength would come from the weight of the item and bracket simply pushing against the back of the stand. But that would only work if the centre of gravity was back far enough, at which point the thing would probably fall over.
IT WAS DOOMED FROM THE START.
The fact the starfury weighs at least 10x as much as the station but uses the same curved metal stand boggles me. You’d think the folks making the models would have adjusted for the weight, since they kinda had to know it was going to be heavier WHEN THEY WERE MAKING THE DAMNED THINGS.
Then again, what does it say about all of us supposedly smart geeks who gleefully put the starfury on a stand too flimsy for its weight in the first place, and were surprised as all hell when it collapsed and fell into the temporal rift? 🙂
I should take the stands off the bases and take pics of them side-by-side…. and now I have!