This is interesting to see how you're scratch building a smaller version of what I'm using Unicron for in my Smokescreen build. So the feet attach to the car body? How will that connect to the legs?
Well, the feet were already all connected to the leg by the ball joint. So, finally got some more time to work on this guy. Next thing to work on was attaching the doors to the front of the car. First thing to do, glue the outer door piece to the interior piece. Then cut that interior piece down, cut some room for the hinge, and drill a hole for the peg that will hold the door on. Here's what I'm using for the door hinge, its the Gundam's inner shoulder frame. It's an ABS joint so its strong and durable plastic. I cut it down to pretty much just the swinging joint. I glue two styrene strips to the hinge, the beginnings of the track the door will slide out on. The grey 3mm rod is used to make sure the styrene is the right distance apart. Continuing to shape the track. I add a thin layer of styrene to either side of the track and cut it down to shape. This helps further hold all the individual parts together. And the near finished hinge part. I'll do a bit more sanding so it properly fits the inside contours of the door. The hinge attached to the door. The grey peg is the same rod I used earlier for measuring. All that's left is to attach the hinge to the rest of the front end. I jumped back to the legs for a minute, to add some securing pegs to the feet. To make sure I line everything up right, I temporarily glue the foot halves together with some small drops of glue. I start with two pieces of styrene tube, on that snugly fits into the other. A thin piece of styrene is glued to the thinner rod so that it is flush with the thicker one. Then I carefully glue the peg and tube to the combined feet, making sure not to leg any glue touch the spot where the tubes meet. This peg and tube will be covered by the bumper later. I add a second, smaller peg assembly to the inside top of the feet. Now that the feet are secure, and the doors are added, I can properly judge the distance, and determine how to combine up the upper and lower body segments. I bought these Kotobukiya "Mechanical Arms" since I thought they looked like they could be useful. They're ABS plastic, and have a nice solid feel. They have a peg on one end, and a hole on the other and peg together firmly. I've attached one set to the inside of the hood area. This pair will be stationary. You can see I've also begun to add some styrene to the inner walls and such to strengthen the front end. This is mostly because when I cut the fenders out for transformation there will be very little, if any, original model kit plastic holding the front and rear of the front end together. ....And unfortunately right here is where my camera batteries died, so I couldn't document everything as I kept working(...but I'll make sure to when I build the second Prowl) So, jumping ahead to the Mechanical arms added in, and the car is beginning to take shape You'll notice the ankle blocks look completely different now too I wasn't totally satisfied with the previous version. The legs sat WAY too low in car mode, and in robot mode, there wasn't enough of a "toe" as I wanted, the feet sat too far back. So, using the existing ball joint, I built a new block around the socket piece. The socket can actually slide back and forth in this block, allowing a further forward sitting foot, and a MUCH leaner car mode. And now, the robot mode is starting to take shape as well. That's all for today, hopefully Prowl will have some arms tomorrow
That's such nice work, you're breaking my heart man! Are you planning to alter the upper thighs? EDIT: Any chance you could provide a link to those mechanical arm things, they look like something I could make use of.
this really really is true genius. a lot of times people don't share their knowledge for fear of emulation/competition. but a true master such as yourself has no problems in indulging the masses, as none can come close to your level of excellence.
Even though I only had a couple hours to hang yesterday! The improvements to the toe and it's increased angle of the hatch blew me away Jarrod! Prowl is sure to look Amazing alongside Jazz! Thanks again brother for all or your Excellence! -Lethal Out
Thanks! There's definitely alot of trail and error, but I often only show the successes, lol. I bet! Yep, pretty much all the outer surfaces of the Gundam kit will be significantly altered or replaced. For the thighs, I think I'm gonna end up having to build all new outer panels(those light grey thigh panels actually just slide right off, revealing the mechanical frame underneath) Here's the arms: Mechanical Arm On a side note, I've also received some of Hobby Base/Yellow Sub's new Perfect Part Collection joints. These are all made of hard plastic, and come in ball and socket joints, and the standard cylinder type. The ball joints come in clear and grey, and the "Hexa Pipe" as they're called come in clear. And damn! I think Kotobukiya may be a thing of the past for me! These joints are amazingly snug and smooth. Seriously the best thing I've ever tried, and even better, since they're actually plastic, they can be glued and painted. They're more expensive, but totally worth it. The Roll Swing Joints are pretty awesome too. Order these things! Search Results: Perfect Parts Collection Thanks! I always love seeing a nice in depth WIP as well, I think the final product is actually more impressive when I can go back and watch the artist put it all together.
I use those joints myself. I have a few of the white ball shaped joints, and the grey ball joints with a few sizes. They work really well, but they do get looser over time.
i think a part of why(small part) your scratch builds come out sooooooo ef'n awesome is if your not happy with a part of the build,you will go back and make it right...
Time to add some arms! I'll attach the wheels to the shoulders first. They're just pegged on for now, but I might go back and make them roll later. I start by drilling a whole into the back of the shoulder, then glue in a piece of styrene rod. The rod just happened to be the exact right size for the wheel, so I just popped it on. I've decided I am going to use the Gundam shoulder assembly, and so will use the original mounting peg as well. However, I've cut it down to a flat surface as seen. Using some various styrene strips, I've built a mounting arm for the...er arm. This piece will connect to the inner fender. And heres a view of it glued it. Time to cut the fender out. I've popped the arm back off of the shoulder peg to make it easier. Then I just used my saw to cut on the lines seen. To allow the fender to rotate up, I'll be using Hobby Base's Hexa Joints(basicly just plastic versions of the cylinder type polycaps), since they can be glued to plastic. For extra sturdy mounting, a hole is drilled in the fender for the joint's peg. Here's the set of Joints I'll be using on the front of the fender. They rotate around a 2mm rod cut from the joint's sprue. And here's they are in a test fit underneath the fender. A larger cylinder (3mm hole) is attached in the same manner to the back half. 3mm rod is set into the rear of the shoulder block, and this is the whole thing before it's glued in. Test fitting and rotating before being glued in, then it's pulled back out and finally glued in. Pop the arms back on, and there you go! Here they are in robot mode With Alt Prowl head set on. Next up, actually attaching the head!
