G2P-005 Chromehead (available on Shapeways)

Kind of solved my problem, and it's affective for now. I took some clear nail polish and dabbled it to the larger peg that meets the two halves. That gave enough mass to peg in place and stay there. The head is a tad floppy but it's not like I'm gonna be playing with this figure like crazy either.

I've included some photos for comparison of Chromedome and hardhead, mines the IDW Hothead variant which I like so much.

Also I included a picture of how the ball joint place is set on Hardhead, it's very different from chromedome i think. Might help in future installments so it's not so difficult to place the head on a ball joint next time. I don't know if that makes any sense. I think what I mean is that the ball joint socket should be wider or deeper so than ppl can just wiggle it in there and not worry their head is going to split apart perhaps?

Either case, came out well!

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Looking good! I got the same version of Hothead as it's more animation accurate which really makes it look good next to Chromehead since that is also designed based on the animation (Japanese Headmasters series to be more accurate)

Thanks, yeah came out great.

And I just had an awesome idea! Why not have the legs in two parts like usual, but the knee parts connect to eachother like snapping into place versus a ball joint?
So something of a similar design to Hardhead, but instead of a metal bar connecting the two portions, you'd have material rod connected to the lower leg, and a gap in the lower part of the upper leg, and you snap the lower leg into position of the upper leg.
Or like how some of the back panels of a transformer tend to pop off from to much pressure, but they can easily snap back on!
OR, design a part similar to the second option, much like a poly cap to a Gundam joint. Slides into position, and a rod on the upper leg slides into position. Hell you could even design it so you just twist the leg and it locks into position. Could even do the same thing with the hips, just socket it into place versus a ball joint, it'll handle stress a lot more!

Damn if I had any idea how to do that on a 3D program to design toys I'd be doing that right now.

Funny enough, I do own a version of that Headrobot and that's what I based the design on for Chromehead, Hikuro. The ball joint on the Headrobot, though, is a snap pressure joint. It goes onto a part that is not wider at the top than at the base, like a ball joint is. That's why I opted for the option of simply disassembling the face part to remove the head. Making it "Pop-on" required a bigger scale than what looked right on the Red Alert toy.

I was hoping that the voyager scaled version for Brainstorm and Highbrow would allow this kind of pop-on, pop-off design, but the toys I intend them for are still stuck with that same size of ball joint neck.

In order to make a ball-joint, one-piece head, I have to allow for a socket section in there. That means that if I want to keep the larger head's chin intact, with no indent, I have to sacrifice the small robot's face. Just look at Classics Jetfire's head, you'll see what I'm talking about. His head does pop off, but only once it's rotated to look up, and there's a clear sculpting issue required in order to accomplish that.

As for the knees, I have solved the issue on Brainstorm. Instead of putting the ball joint on the thigh, and the socket in the leg, I'm making the thigh longer to accomodate the socket and putting the ball join on the leg itself. Longer thighs that still cover the same dimension when bending, but that fold lower.

Regarding snapping joints like you suggested, I know for a fact that material restrictions from Shapeways WSF makes it impossible at this scale. I originally tried it and unless the head was 50% bigger (IE, not usable on Red Alert), it simply did not have enough resistance to keep the toy balanced and standing.

As for the sliding parts joints, good idea, but material restrictions will apply. The inner wall limitation means that your slots can not be wider than 7 micrometers. On a project this small, odds are that if you can manage to model the slide, it'll be so thin it will not hold together at all. Pretty much the same restriction as the snapping option.

What I may end up doing is a separate kit for Chromehead which will be new thighs and legs based on the Brainstorm design for those of you who want an easier transformation.

Also, I noticed when I got the Brainstorm prototype that, having slightly shortened the pegs on the back of the face to make it easier on assembly, the head no longer holds together at all. There really is a precision issue on Shapeways' printouts, so I'll leave the longer pegs that require careful sanding to properly align. I may alter that to a big pressure block instead of three pegs, though.

While you're doing mods, any chance on up-scaling the whole thing so that he'd be the same size as the Headrobots guys?

I love this kit SO much, but I can't bear having CD be 50%(ish) the size of everyone else, makes it hard for him to be the leader-in-training and especially makes for an awkward "Head Switch!"

D/L

Ah yeah there is that isn't there? I forgot they had that ability despite it hardly ever used...unless you owned the toys then that's different.
I don't think it's that big of a deal for the sizes being different. What matters is the body they're going onto. Gotta take into account the type of characters they are....hardhead I mean it's just a no brainer he'd be some brute of a tank, chromedome was a futuristic sports car of some kind, Brainstorm and Highbrow were the seekers so they gotta have some kind of flight alt mode for their bodies. Cerebros though, man I just don't know. There's nothing out there unless you just repaint an onslaught body.

Well, they did it in the Japanese Anime...constantly. That's the version of the characters I know and love, that's the group-shot I'm trying to recreate on my shelf.

Personally I want to mount Chromedome's head etc. onto the Ironman Car Crossover. It's a darn solid mold, scaled perfectly to be with his brothers, the transformation allows for a perfect color-layout in both modes, and even without mods (though I plan on doing a few), the alt- and robot- modes bear more than a passing resemblance to CD...at least as much as Red Alert has goin' for him.

Cerebros/Fortress IS the tough one. I'm currently rocking the "Stronghold" kit with a custom paint job but it's not really what I want.

I was in the process of having someone hydro-span the PVC figure, but he flaked on me and I got left high and dry several hundred dollars poorer

Anyhow, this kit is SO close to perfect to make CD happen, it's really killing me that scale just can't work for me :/

D/L

I actually just bought DOTM Skyhammer mismarked from Meijer (priced as a deluxe, I would have paid full price, but the cashier was adamant that it was price as marked), I actually like this guy IMO he looks really good in between my Hothead modified Uni. Hardhead and Generations Red Alert, aside from having a horrible movie headsculpt, his body looks fantastic! I think with a headmaster upgrade it actually will look the part as a classics style Brainstorm.

Your Stronghold was actually one of the ones I looked at when planning my own. Yours almost convinced me to spent $100 on one of those TAW Swords. I opted to make the altmode Cerebros' coloration while the botmode is more Fort Max. I'm actually getting the upcoming Headrobots Cerebros/Fortress set to go for a more Marvel Comics Maximus but other than that I consider mine just about perfected.

Aww shucks, glad you liked him so much!

Yeah those TAW swords were a bit pricey even before they got all aftermarket-inflated. But as soon as I saw that 'nemesis" colored sword, I knew I had to have it, 'cause it's a dead-ringer.

D/L