I got back into TFs as an adult, around the time of Beast Wars Season three. My very first TF as an adult was Optimal Optimus. So when Megatron took on that body as his own, I knew I had to have one like it. This is years before i thought about being a kitbasher. I just hoped one day they would release this as a figure.

Well, no one did. ever. Even when they had the chance to do one in Titaniums, they didn't. And the Titanium one didn't even have a beast mode!! It would've been perfect.

Awhile back someone had offered, in their parts lot, an Optimal Optimus head with the face torn out, and Megatron's TM1 face put in there in its place. I bought it, and knew i had to do it.

When i got it, it came with this big balljoint neck. The face was very easy to pull out. Furthermore, the inner face with the eye stalks popped right out. So i isolated the face, painted it blue, added the white teeth. slipped the eyes back in, and touched up the helmet's paint. Then put the face/eyes back in.

At first I was going to take this perfectly good KO OpOp...


But then i saw the cockpit canopy was opaque, and I'd have to do the shiny metal paint for the blue, and frankly i was afraid that this thing would fall to bits upon disassembly. Not to mention i am a modder at heart. Lastly, I wanted this so badly as a piece in my own collection, so I knew what I had to do. Go out and get a real OpOp. I would take the forearms, as they were simpler, and didn't feature the blast shields' blast feature. Not to mention, the missile backpack was the worst part of this KO, and would be useless to me.

So i found one on Evilbay, and got it cheap. what i didn't count on was this...




So once i got it off, and dealt with a ton of stripped screws, this thing literally shattered. So i made room for the new head/balljoint, and had to hollow out its resting place for bot mode. which meant (literally) yanking out all the electronics. Glued everything meticulously back together. For those who thought it was a face swap and then done....yeah not so much!!  

Then came the hands. I wanted the fingers articulate. But for those of you that know the fig, only the inner two fingers have knuckles that articulate where they meet the hand. So first i took a jeweler's saw, and separated the fingers...then shaved off a bit of the knuckle on the hand, and transplanted it to the fingers, so that each finger had a loop to thread the pin through.



Then i simply threaded them back together. they didn't turn out as neat as i would like, but they are very functional.







I transplanted in the new forearms, painted up to match the rest of the figure. (ok a little more silvery, but w/e) I also removed the beast head. No need for that rubbish! Also, with a quick application of some plastic weld, the beast mode's "nametag" melted away instantly. used sparingly, it works excellent!

You see the little grey guy in the pics. He was meant to become a little non-TFing Optimus Primal. He still will one day, Earl told me he'd be down at taking a crack at it. I am all for furthering my paint skills, but i'd rather mess up a figure I don't care about than one i want in my collection.

Next up, the spark chamber. i had this blue LED finger light. it's a chubby little flash-drive shapped thing, with a li'l elastic band on it. you put it on your finger, and wave it around in the dark. Looks cool. So i hollowed out the cockpit, and shaved down the shape of the finger light. It slips right in. Friction holds it nice and tight. And what's great about it, is it comes right out! So i can replace the batteries whenever i need. Perfect for the spark chamber!!
Comin up... the finished pics!

 

Air and Land Alt Modes!

 

Bot mode pics!

 

good, very original work.

 

Hands, Head, and Spark Chamber detail! Enjoy!

 

 ......finally!!!!!!!!
it's finally nice to see megs get some optimal love!!!!!

i can't wait to see this finished 

(make sure to take a pic of him with the rotten ronnies bw primal happymeal toy,i think he'd be the perfect scale )

 

There's a little bit of paint clean-up needed on the head, but otherwise this is a toy I've wanted for a long time. You've done some great work, bud  

 

excellent

 

Thumbs up !!!!!

 

Absolutely i want to clean that friggin head. I just need to buckle down and get some brushes/brushpaints. My sprays are hard to keep clean at that scale. Glad you guys like it so much!! Now to do Grand Mal... The other toy that's been a wish-list topper for 11 years and running...