Struikrover

Partly since I was considering the replacement part when searching for information and the fact I took the thing apart and have no prior experience with Thrustmaster warranty and what time it would take, etc. And not sure how much I trust pot metal for the small dimensions the screw holders are. -- Anyhow; thanks for your answer and of others!

Hello, my apologies in advance if this information is available somewhere inside the many pages of this thread; I just wasn't sure what information would be a 100% up to date with the current status of the shop and other possible factors. My situation is that I have purchased the Thrustmaster F-16 (Warthog) stick and while everything about it feels great it came with pitch movement feeling very unnatural. After some searching I came upon this thread: https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=170588 Which pictured exactly where the movement was and read answers about the tail stock becoming loose and could benefit from some Locktite. Together with information in another thread, which mentions possible third party parts with better quality as the original had me pretty convinced of what the problem was: https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=173089 Not sure if I wanted to replace some part having just purchased the joystick I felt confident in being content with no slack and perhaps getting the 13 degree tailpiece in the future if it wore down after long term usage. However, after opening up the stick I found that one half of what should be keeping the stick into place (by one of 2 screws) was probably broken in manufacturing and had an improvised solution that clearly doesn't cut it; see pictures attached. After tightening the one screw that actually had some use to it the stick felt great but slack/movement returned after one evening of playing DCS, which wasn't a surprise at this point. --- In summary/some questions: * Googled to find out the probable cause for movement/slack in the stick. * Expected to be tightening 2 screws and have at least some months of being able to use the stick before re-tightening. * Found a part clearly broken off during manufacturing with a non-working "solution" (a bump added where the actual screw holder would be) that passed quality control (not that surprising as the movement is hard to notice without it being mounted on the base plate). * Not sure if this is even a warranty situation since I opened the thing. * Looking for an answer to these questions: 1. Is there any machining required or things to be aware of purchasing this part: https://www.shapeways.com/product/XRFBJD5SX/thrustmaster-joystick-tailpiece-13-deg-angle-m 2. Does the weight of the steel replacement add possible problems and if so, is the plastic version sufficient over the steel one durability wise? 3. Does anyone have experience with ordering from Shapeways from Europe (Netherlands here)?