When my dad came down for a visit, he took my Voyager Ironhide and Leader Prime as souvenirs of the trip. When I pointed out how far back Ironhide's head is in bot mode, he flipped and said that the first thing he'd do when he got home would be to work on a fix. Before he left, he also managed to grab a copy of Corel Draw. XP Looking at these "blueprints", I can see what might be a few problems, but this is still in the design stages for my father and I've contacted him about these issues. First off, with only one rivet on each side, there's nothing to prevent the front end from flopping about. Also, the front end will now be too far to peg into the wheels in bot mode. Still, the idea is interesting.
Wow. Your dad makes stuff. Nice. Metal is an underused material in kitbashing, but it certainly has it's advantages over styrene and the like... like durability and flexibility. zmog
Hahah - when I brought up the issues he flipped out and went back to the drawing board. ^^; I'll be sure to get the next designs up as soon as he sends them over. *nod* He's too tired tonight, but it shouldn't be more than a week before he's good to go.
That's really cool. One thing though: Wouldn't you need to cut a piece off the aluminum part, right down the middle to fit the translucent blue peg that holds the windshield? Just a suggestion. I think this is great though, and I hope with everybody's feedback you and your Dad can perfect it.
awesome. i am siked about this. i completely HATE how far back IH's head is. i tend to leave him in truck mode all the time due to that fact. can't wait to see what he comes up with *currently attempting my own fix for this, but don't have access to anything like your father.*
I'm very interested in the end result! It looks like the wheels/shoulder locking mechanism will not work any more.
From what he's told me, that translucent blue piece doesn't go up high enough to be a problem. As for the locking mechanism, that's one of the reasons he's reworking the design. XP
What does your dad do? I mean, is he an industrial designer or something? He's taking a pretty keen interest in re-engineering your toys for you. I'm sure my dad wouldn't spare more than a bemused glance if I tried to point out a well-designed TF. zmog
It's his toy now. As soon as he got back, he played with it all night. He even woke up with an impression of Ironhide's blasters on his chest. XP Aaanywho, he works in the sign industry. He does a bit of graphic design and a good deal of fabrication.