BattleTech Dropship Carry Case Assembly Instructions

Unpackage the kit and sort out the components as shown.

Lee Dropship Kit.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1754658315

Superglue of any type. I recommend Army Painter. Using Elmers glue is possible but will hamper set-up time significantly.

https://us.thearmypainter.com/products/super-glue

https://www.amazon.com/Army-Painter-Super-Glue-Miniatures/dp/B07QQDMJ6M

Non-magnetic metal, ceramic, or plastic tweezers.

https://www.amazon.com/CHERALKEST-Non-Magnetic-Electronics-Laboratory-Jewelry-Making/dp/B0D1V6R9QH/

https://www.amazon.com/Non-Conductive-Temperature-Resistance-Applicable-Electrical/dp/B07P6MDPF9/

https://www.amazon.com/Marrywindix-Precision-Anti-static-Electronics-Jewelry-making/dp/B00YU1U7F8/

Unbolt the carry handle and remove both it and the protective cover around the antennae.

Select a direction on the 10mm magnet stack, and begin pulling off sets of 2 magnets, placing them far apart to prevent them from snapping together. Carefully ensure that all stacks face the same direction so that magnet polarity isn't a problem.

Select 10 stacks and apply a small drop of glue to the top of each. Too much glue can cause it to move around the magnets and seize the two together upon installation, so not using too much is of high importance.

Place the magnet stacks, glue facing inward, into the top 4 separation holes on the bottom half of the dropship, the 4 perimeter turret holes on the top half, and the top 2 turret holes on the nose.

Give these some time to set in place.

Flip the bottom half upside down, prepare another 4 magnet stacks with drops of glue on top, and place them into the landing gear attachment points like so.

Give these a small amount of time to set. Superglue should only take a few seconds to be ready for the next step.

Flip the base upright again, and place a drop of glue atop the 4 magnet stacks previously inserted. Again, using a small amount of glue is imperative. Do not allow it to reach the edges of the magnets whatsoever. Small drops are plenty.

Once the drops are in place, set the top half onto the bottom half so that the magnets with the new drops atop them enter the receiving holes on the top half.

Let this set for some time before attempting to separate the two halves.

Once the two halves are separated again (the 4 magnet stacks should have separated leaving 1 magnet in each location on both the top and bottom halves), flip the bottom half upside down again.

On the four magnet stacks for the landing gear, add a drop of glue to them and then press the extended landing gear to the magnets. If using Army Painter superglue, you should be able to let go after only 3-4 seconds.

OPTIONAL, if you want to permanently attach the wings!

Lay down a bead of glue along the tab on the wings, inserting them as shown and holding them in place until they begin to set in the glue.

If you do not want the wings permanently attached, skip this step. Pain the dropship hull and the wings fully, and the thickness of the paint will allow them to firmly slot into the base and still be removed. Thickness of paint may need adjustment depending on brand and method used.

Place the top half of the dropship on its side, carefully so as not to damage the antennae.

Prepare the final 4 stacks of 10mm magnets with a small drop of glue on the top, then attach them by the backside to the provided allen key. This will allow you to reach inside the storage bays in the top half of the carry case and place these magnet stack there.

Put a finger atop the magnets inside and pull the allen key out with your other hand, to ensure the magnets stay in place. Press them in, and the glue should set quickly. Rotate the top to the next chamber, and repeat until all 4 have their magnet stacks added.

Allow the glue to set before proceeding.

Prepare the 4 retracted landing gear by adding a drop of glue into the magnet hole on each, then remove the outer 10mm magnets from each bay, ensuring that you place the outward-facing side towards the inside of the hole on the landing gear. This way, the landing gear can be dropped into each storage bay and stick to the magnets inside.

Now for the difficult part!

Remove the ball mounts from the bag, and prepare 6 stacks of 2 3mm magnets for each as shown. Place a VERY SMALL amount of glue atop the top-most magnet in the stack, and using either plastic or other non-magnetic tweezers insert them into the right side of each turret ball, making sure the glue is facing inward. Align them to the hole inside, and press them in enough to ensure the inner-most magnet stays in the hole.

Ensure that these magnets remain level using your tweezers to adjust.

Repeat this for all 6 turret balls, and then starting from the first one (where the glue should have enough time to set-up by now) use tweezers to slide the top magnet off the stack.

Keep the magnet oriented the same direction, and apply a small drop of glue to the opposite side of what was attached to the magnet already installed.

With the glue facing inward, insert this magnet on the opposite side of the turret. The two magnets should be attracted, and this second one should snap into place more easily. Be sure to press it into the hole with tweezers so that it is level.

Take 12 more individual 3mm magnets off the stack, and drop one each into each of the 12 turret slots so that they stick to and align with the magnet inside.

ALTERNATIVE (skipping most of step 11, and step 12):

If you do not want the hassle of this process, the 12 hardpoints can be glued directly into each ball mount. They will, however, not be able to aim up and down afterwards.

Remove the 12 mounts from the bag, and arrange them into pairs as shown in the photo. These are the groupings we will attach to each ball mount.

The pair with 2 even length barrels and one LRM pod, and the pair with triple barrels and one LRM pod will be the nose mounts. The other 4 pairs mount around the perimeter.

Set the 6 ball mounts in a line, giving them adequate space. Pair up each of the 12 hardpoints with a ball, and then working mount by mount, place a small drop of glue into the hole in each hardpoint and pull the magnet from the respective side of the ball using tweezers.

This is of HIGH IMPORTANCE:

Ensure that you keep the alignment for these magnets as you remove them from the ball mounts, and insert the outward-facing side into the hardpoint! While these can sort of stay in the swivel if reversed, this is not easy to fix if they are mistakenly placed the wrong direction.

Place a small drop of glue on the outside magnet of each turret location, and press the ball mount onto it for a few seconds to let it set.

The hardpoints for each turret should slot in and align easily at this point, allowing them to aim up and down to the limit of their motion as shown, and once the glue on the ball mounts is set you can swivel them freely or detach them as well.

You can re-attach the handle at this point, and then you are ready for the most difficult step of this process:

Selecting a paint scheme.