Metal Defender Voltron really pooped the bed when they removed the wing articulation limiting the poses of the wings and taking away the endless possibilities to pose them. Its beyond me why they decided to remove such a great thing when the neck was so limited. I could not let this stand and so to finish my black lion mods (unless i decide to do waist swivel) i fixed the wings (or at least one at the moment).

This was accomplished using a lego ratchet joint


As you can see doing this mod gives you the exact same articulation as the legendary version.

This is the final result of the mod. As you can see the peg is slightly longer, something i probably could have accounted for but i was trying to be really careful not to cut too deep into the peg and ruin it.

Here is what i did. I cut the lego pieces as shown and grindeded down the nubs. Then using a dremel i cut off the plug/post/connector off the wing at an angle, then cut the rectangle out for the lego. Take ur time to get a good fit. Then i used some loctite to glue the pieces together. I still need to paint the glue but thats for another day.


Here is a comparison shot of the original wing and the modded one. Due to the nature of the lego joint i cant get it to go straight, but who really cares about that.


And there you go. That's how you can articulate your wings. Now to do the second wing.

Oh and by the way i considered using a ball joint as the ratchet joint is kind of weak and comes apart easily (the friction joint itself is not weak but can pull apart easily but holds well for this) however i was worried about the glue holding if i wanted to separate the wing from the connector and i wanted an easily removable wing because.....WING SHIELD!...coming soon

Anyone going to attempt this good luck and take your time.

My apologizes, i used a ratchet joint, not a friction joint

 

Clever! Nicely done.

 

ty

 

I might have to get this and break out some of my Build Fighter gunpla parts to figure out a similar solution.

 

Just want to point out that i incorrectly called it a friction joint when it was a ratchet joint that i used. My apologizes.

 

Clean joint work man. I am probably going to get the Metal Defender, l have a idea for a paintjob l want to try.....but will probably incorporate this joinery mod

 

i was originally against metal defender because of the lack of upgrades and paint apps but ultimately wanted a smaller voltron. With the upgrades ive done with the neck, wings and ears im happy i got it. i think its poor design on playmates part to miss out on such a big opportunity to make a truley legendary metal defender

 

With both versions my biggest gripe is probably the way the shoulders sit in relation to the chest/head. I hope to address it to my liking, not necessarily to absolute show accuracy

 

Lol, you used lego ratchet joints, I used Lego ball joints,lol.

 

yeah ball joint was my first thought, but i want to make the shield and i was worried about pulling the glue apart separating the joint and the ratchet joint comes apart easier.

 

What did you do for your neck mod? It links cleaner that what I did, that why I ask.

 

ear mod is here if interested
Non-TF: - LDV Metal Black Lion Ear Fix

 

I did the wing mod and it works very well. Thanks for sharing. I can't believe the power of adding lego parts.

PS> I'm a hack when it comes to modding and this was well explained. A dremel tool, sanding and gorilla glue is all you need.

 

glad it worked well for you. now u just need to do the neck mod for those awesome poses!

 

here's my version of the wing mod with certain "decepticon" spare parts... it is detachable and i have a certain gun that enables the wings to peg into each side to form wing shield...

 

good job. whatever gets the job done.