Ye're welcome, glad I could help.  

 

Was just wondering how easy this guy is to dismantle?

 

To get the chest off? Very easy.

There's a pivot joint at the waist, that the torso section slides onto, and then the backplate (that the windows and bonnet are attached to) clips onto a pair of posts on that, forming the sliding joint. The chest itself screws onto the backplate at the shoulders (with my chestplate, since I can't use screws, I'm hoping the plastic pins I've modelled in will be enough to hold it on by friction; that's the important thing I need to test once I get the bits in-hand).

The only difficult bit, I reckon, would be getting some the pins out in the shoulders (one in particular, where the pin's only visible from one end) and the feet, hence why I'm avoiding needing to touch those in this upgrade.

The dismantling needed to put these two kits on is an absolute doddle, though. It had to be, otherwise I would never have been confident enough to try it...  

And while I'm here, a quick update: the kits have been despatched, so hopefully I'll have pics this weekend!

EDIT TO ADD:
I'll post pics showing each and every step needed to put the kits on, once I've got them and confirmed they work.

 

Did your Shapeways parts come in yet? I'm anxious to see how they turned out.

 

Supporting this project!

 

The kits have arrived, and they're sooooooo tantalisingly close to working, but they're not quite there, yet. For a first draft, though, they're not bad.

Issues that need fixing:

- Chest needs tweaking so it sits on the body (and locks in) properly when not using the height-increase kit, and so the figure remains transformable (needs to be more room inside the chest for the head to sit in alt mode, without the height increase kit). Also the shoulders need fixing, since they're floppy as all hell.

- The side-flaps on the height increase kit, as nice an idea it would be for them to fill in the torso, reaaaaaally aren't working, so I'm removing them from the kit.

- Tweaks needed to the height-increase kit so that the figure remains transformable (it's very close to being transformable, but not quite there), and so the neck armature is held in place better.

All that said... time for some progress pics!

G1 Chest on the stock figure:



Height increase kit with stock chest:



Height increase kit with G1 chest:



Both kits are a way away from being finished and ready to sell, but they're definitely getting there.

 

Looking good!!!!

 

Looking good!  

 

Right... after much fiddling and soul-searching, I'm forced to conclude something: my idea to replace the entire chest assembly is, annoyingly, not going to work.

I reckon the shoulder posts can be thickened up enough with superglue/nail polish to hold the arms nice and firmly, but the problem comes with the way it attaches to the sliding plate on the back.

The way it's engineered, that plate is the bit that pushes the chest forward at the right angle for it to lock into the waist, and since I can't use screws to mount the replacement chest to the backplate, it's not going to lock in properly at the waist, even if I can get the arms to work.

So, there's two options, and I'd love to hear which people think would be the best option:

1/ A chestplate to clip onto the existing chest. Pros: the chest can be deeper and more detailed, plus easier to engineer so it'll be available sooner; cons: it will involve partsforming.

2/ A chestplate to glue onto the existing chest. Pros: no partsforming; cons: chest can't be as deep, due to clearance under the alt mode.

I'm torn on which one would be the better option...

EDIT TO ADD: Although the clip-on idea might be the better, since it will allow for a deeper chest, which'll make for more variance between this and the Minerva chestplate I'm planning on doing.

 

Option 1 sounds the best don't want to glue my figure up.

 

Yup, I've come to the same conclusion. Clip-on chestplate it is (with the added bonus that it will be cheaper than printing a part to replace the entire chest assembly; it not working might be a blessing in disguise, methinks)!

 

Option 1 all the way.

 

Partsformer. I don't give about it being a partsformer if it works and looks amazing.

 

Option 1 it is, then!

Thanks god I'd already reached the same conclusion and started building the partsformery chest earlier...  

Quick update after a bit more fiddling: going down the partsformer route, and using the stock chestplate means I can definitely lock the chest into the torso the same as it locks in on the stock torso-piece. Finally figured out what makes those little tabs lock in on the slot on the front of the waist (it's because the backplate, in bot mode, is pushed out from the body by the waist/crotch piece, thus making the chest pivot a little and lock the tabs in.

That's kinda clever, and fortunately, it should be fairly easy to replicate higher up the torso (thus, as a side benefit, giving him full waist articulation   ).

 

Ta for the info; was debating whether to get this mold, and do my own slight mods to it in the near(ish) future.

 

He's definitely worth it, and from what I've seen, I'd say Nightbeat is the version to go for. The joints are tighter and everything flops about a whole hell of a lot less than on at least the IDW Bumblebee version (that's certainly true in my case, my 'Bee can barely stand up unaided, now).

 

here's an idea, make it have the option to be mounted on the car's roof if it simply can not fit under the car.

 

Not a bad idea at all, that, but with the way I've modelled the clips for it to attach, it wouldn't work on this version.

I've gone for dead simple on the second version of the chest, with no moving or folding bits (and that doesn't require drilling holes in the figure to mount it on the stock chest), so it could be mounted on the roof, but it would look a bit daft... heh

EDIT TO ADD: Oh, and in this incarnation, I've only modelled the actually G1-ish chestplate, instead of the "remnants of car bonnet" that I added on the original version, so that people can print it in yellow plastic, and save people (e.g. me  ) money on having to paint it.  

 

while a do like the clip on idea, and it does look great. im a tad upset that you've broken away from making it integrated and transformable.

 

Believe me, I was gutted that I couldn't get it to work, as well. It's entirely possible that someone might be able to make it work one day, but if I'm honest with myself, it's way out of my current skill level, alas.