Hello again, Radicons!

Here's part two of how to articulate the G1 Insecticons. In this part, I'm going to cover the Insecticon that in my opinion is the hardest of the three . . . Bombshell.

TOOLS NEEDED:

1) A hand saw with a super thin blade(copping saw,jewler's saw,etc);
2) A Dremel with a grinding wheel and cutting wheel attachments;
3) Pliers and wire cutters;
4) Small screws;
5) Styrene rod-I used .100"(2.5mm);
6) Apoxie sculpt Fix-it or any type of self hardening compound;
7) Super glue;
8) Drill and drill bits of various sizes;

Before we start, I would like to once again state that I in no way take credit for creating these figures. Yes, I did build this set, but Ptitvite is the guy who came up with the idea. Without his set, I wouldn't have built these. With that being said, lets get started:

Figures needed
1)G1 Bombshell
2)Cybertron Brushguard
3)Cybertron Hardtop
4)G1 Chopshop(not shown)



We'll start with the hard part: the legs. Go ahead and completely dismantle Bombshell. Next, remove the waist and legs from Brushguard. It's goin' to take some work to loosen him up enough to get his waist out. Just take your time and pry him open 'til you can get the part you need. This is what you want:




Now take the front (purple) and back (black) halves of Bombshell. Using the upper 2 screw holes, screw the parts together nice and tight. Now you're going to cut them right at the waist line. Since the black half is plastic, I find it best to use the copping saw for this half:




Once you cut the black half as needed, take a couple passes at the purple half. Now this piece is metal. If you try using the copping saw, you'll be here for days. The couple passes I had you take is to mark where it needs to be cut. Bring in the Dremel with the cutting wheel and make the cut. When you're finished with that, you'll notice that there is a gap at the bottom of both halves. Get your Fixit (or whatever self-hardening compound you're using) and fill in the gaps. While you're at it fill in the leg hole on the legs:




Let these dry for however long the instructions say.

While these are drying, you can move on to the waist. Cut the ball joints off the waist.

The reason is you need to move them up a little for the legs is to be able to fold right in insect mode.

Now, find a drill bit slightly smaller then the screws you're using and drill a hole into each of the ball joints and waist. Cut the head off the screws using the wire cutters. Put a small amount of super glue into the holes on the ball joints, and screw in the screw about half way (NOTICE THE HOLE DRILLED INTO THE WAIST. THAT'S APPROXIMATELY WHERE YOU WANT TO DRILL THE HOLE.):




Now, super glue the holes on the waist and bottom of the ball joints and screw them on. Let these dry overnight for a nice tight bond:




So while everything is drying, let's go the arms. Start by cutting off the G1 arms from the yellow joint right at the joint:




Next, take Hardtops arms and cut off all the kibble so you have a flat arm. Cut the arm ball joints off of Hardtop. Using the method from above for the waist, do the same for these. Drill a hole in the ball joints and the G1 yellow shoulder pieces and attach them:


(NOTE: IF YOU WANT TO, YOU CAN EVEN PUT A SMALL BEAD OF FIXIT AROUND THE SEAMS OF THE JOINTS TO BLEND THEM AND GIVE THEM EVEN MORE STRENGTH)

Now, cut the insect legs off the G1 arms and put those aside for later:




That's about all you can do until the parts dry. Once they're dry, we'll finish with the arms. Put the upper half of the figure together and attach the arms. When you transform the figure, you want his arms to fold back flush with body. To do this you need to grind down some of the back and shoulder are like so. (TAKE YOUR TIME DOING THIS. DO A LITTLE AT A TIME UNTIL YOU GET THE RESULTS THAT YOU WANT. YOU MAY EVEN NEED TO TAKE A LITTLE OF THE BACK OF THE ARMS AS WELL):




Once that's finished, glue the insect legs on the arms where needed. The leg right behind his hand is from Chopshop. Just take 2 of the legs from Chopshop and cut the end of the leg right at the first knuckle from the insect foot:




Now use the Fixit to blend the legs into the arms and you're finished with these. Go ahead and remove the arms now so you don't damage them while working on the legs.

Get a drill bit slightly smaller than the styrene rod and drill right in the middle of Brushguard's leg hole that you filled in. Take Brushguard's legs and insert them into Bombshell's. You will need to sand/grind down some parts to make it fit. Again, take your time and do a little at a time. Once you have that done, insert the leg and mark where the hole is. Now (with the same drill bit) drill all the way through Bombshells leg. Make sure you keep the drill nice and straight. Insert the upper leg and run the rod through; it should be a nice, tight fit. Now sand/grind down the purple insert as necessary. You want Brushguard's legs to be able to fold down into Bombshell's smoothly and without rubbing:




Now take Bombshell's upper body apart and grind out a little of the Fixit (just enough to allow the waists circular connector to fit in there):




Go ahead and try transforming the legs. You may need to make some minor adjustments by sanding or grinding down some parts. Just keep at it until you get your desired results:



Once you get that finished, attach the arms and take care of any rub issues. Now, you're ready for paint:




That's it for Bombshell. I hope this has helped you guys out (at least a little bit). Good luck and have fun.