Split head I have most of the face split apparatus done, I just need to slice the face in half. That will probably take me quite a while Also, this has added quite a bit of extra length. I'm going to cut the Ben Ten piece and try to shorten it. I was watching RotF last night. I noticed in the scene where Simmons and Leo run under Devastator, Devastator's got three huge hydraulics under his neck. I'm wondering if I could incorporate those in mine...
thank you thank you... after seeing janealis's version I thought NO I won't do one myself it would never match his !!! but secretly wanted it... then you progressed after he finished and used some tips from him here and there and then I got the virus to.. I'm collecting constuction vehicles as we speak.. but have lots of other project that are first again thanx for the inspiration!
Thank YOU for posting that! It's great to read that posting my little project iss having a helpful affect! Yeah, when I do mods and customs my goal is to just improve the toys and make something that I'll have fun with. Because I know there will always be lots of people better than me, lol!
Split face complete, LEDs installed, wiring next... I finished the face split. It took a few hours of slicing away with a utility knife. When I got towards the end, I tried snapping the last bit of it, but cracked it at an angle. Fortunately I was able to fix it with some super glue. Some nice battle damage I plan on painting the face anyway... I also installed the LEDs in the face halves. I had to dremel a bit in the green parts so they'd fit. Radio Shack didn't have any LEDs small enough to fit in the original holes. Next I plan on wiring everything together. For now I'll probably just tape the battery compartment to the back of the head assembly (using 3 AAAs) and will later make a permanent attachment. I also added some Legos to the assembly that attaches to Mixmaster's legs to make it sturdier. It's trickier to get on now, but it doesn't wobble like it used to. In the attached pics, Devastator's head is as low as it can go now. While I like this position better than having it all the way down like before, I still want to be able to pose it down. My plan is to remove Mixmaster's feet and cut away a large part of his torso. That should give more room for movement without compromising Mixmaster's vehicle mode. I also plan on super gluing Mixmaster's "heels" together so his legs won't come apart when attaching Devastator's head... EDIT: Just had a thought after posting this. I'm going to see if I can get the battery compartment to fit in Mixmaster's cab on Devastator's back. It won't be able to stay in there permanently because that's where his legs go in vehicle mode. But when combined, that could be a good spot. If it's not the right size, maybe I can try using smaller batteries...
Glowing eyes My wife wanted to get in a shot with Devastator I've got the LEDs wired up. Sorry about the bad blur. I turned off the flash but then the auto focus didn't work. Hopefully I can figure out the problem later on... The LEDs run on 3 AAA batteries and I have a push button switch to turn them on and off. Right now I've got the battery pack, resistors, and the button hanging in the back of Devastator attached to the eyes with long wires. I could fit the battery pack in Mixmaster's cab like I mentioned in my last post, but decided it would be better to attach it to the Ben Ten torso piece. While I'm making that change, I'll also have to fix the wiring for the left eye, which sometimes flickers. And I'll need to cut some plastic on the back of the face for the LED wires so the halves can slide closer together. I'm planning on putting some Lego pieces in the face halves so they can connect nicely... Before I do that stuff, I'll remove the excess Mixmaster stuff like I said in my last post, since I'll have the head disconnected...
Removed excess Mixmaster Last night I removed parts from Mixmaster that were preventing the head from going down further. I wanted to leave the parts that were keeping MM's vehicle mode solid. I clipped the toes and unscrewed his chest, along with some other minor clipping. Now the head can go down as low as before. While I had it taken apart, I took a quick pic of the Lego storage in side Scavenger. Next I'll work on fixing the LEDs in the face so it can close all the way...
Attached battery pack Unfortunately I broke one of the wires on an LED while taking apart the face to adjust them. I'll have to pick up a new one... So last night instead I hot glued the battery pack to the back of the head assembly. I don't want to re-cut and attach the wires until I have the face done and know how long they'll need to be...
Added face stability Me either Funny thing is, despite all this work, it doesn't look much different from the first post. Everything's been structural work and going back and changing things. It will be fun when I get to the decorating, but I think all this extra work will make the final product a lot better... Last night I replaced the broken LED. I also added some Legos, as seen in the pics, so his face could lock back in place. It was a pain to line everything up each time I separated and then rejoined his face, but this takes care of that issue. I picked the little round Lego pieces because they can come apart easily. They're not supporting anything, like the Technic pegs, and I don't want to wrestle with them when I'm playing with Devastator. I put four at the top and the bottom. That was the second benefit with these pieces, they fit so well. In both spots I used two on each side, gluing them together, to give them good stability. I was also careful to avoid getting any glue on the gray pieces that are screwed on in case I have to take them off to replace LEDs again... After that I started wiring things back up. Next time I work on him I'll finish the wiring and look at adding the Lego pieces in the same way to his jaw. I should have done that before wiring, but it shouldn't be too much of a problem...
Fixed wiring I spent most of last evening "fixing" my leader RotF Optimus Prime, but I had a little time left to work on Devastator. I just tightened up his wiring. There's a gap between the battery pack and the Ben 10 torso, I fit the resistors in there. The switch is still on long wires so it will be able to reach the head's outer shell. Next I'll work on his jaw stability...
Jaw expansion I spent the last few times working on Devastator soldering the wires and replacing the other LED. This time I tried to bend the LED wires at a better spot. If the break again I'll try drilling holes for them in the back of the face so I don't have to bend the wires at all. Now I'm planning the two long rods on the sides of his jaw, as seen in the pic I attached that Moy provided in Janeails22x thread. In the other attached pic I have some pieces from a Gundam kit I'm thinking of using. I'm not sure if they're long enough, but they might be the best i can do to make them fit. If I go with them I'll try shaving the sides down so they look rounder and more detailed like in the movie. I'll attach them to the back of the face with a couple Ben Ten ball joints...
new pieces for jaw expansion Thanks! I found some pieces that I think will work better for the jaw extenders. I was testing them out to see how they look. Next time I work on him I think I'll start assembling them and see how they work...
Update 8-16-11 The good thing about having to work on a project this slowly is you get chances to discover better parts and methods. I just got done doing Timesynch's Starscream thruster mod and noticed some parts on Energon Scorponok would work great for the jaw extenders. I got started on them last night...
Update 8-22-11 I finished one of the extenders last night. (It's amazing how long something so small can take!) I want to fully attach it and try it out before I start the other one. I'm planning on gluing one of the ball joints in the open area on the side of the back of the face. I'll probably have to drill a hole in the jaw piece for the other ball...
First jaw extender attached I put in the first saw extender last night. I added a ball joint behind the face and behind the jaw piece. It seems to move pretty well, but sometimes pops off because of a little hot glue residue, which I'll clean up. I had to use an extra Lego piece to give the one behind the face enough room. Next I'll work on the other jaw extender... I also posted another one of Moy's extremely helpful pics for comparison...
ooooo, I like the LED work so far, and the actual working jaw piece is very cool. I wonder how hard it would be to drill out the tiny eyes just under his main eyes and add in some kind of light piping to make them light up as well..
Good idea! I'll have to check. Off hand I'm thinking there's too much plastic in there and I might destroy it's structure it I try...
looking good HT! The 'eyes' above look to be a little bigger, maybe you could work something in there?
