Been DYIN' ta tackle the VHS-formats of the 'Cons & 'Bots for a long time now, and finally decided to just jump right in and get it started last night. 2 main choices came down to Laserbeak and/or Ravage, and since I already had a junker/KO-Laserbeak layin around, decided to start with him first. Already go the tape totally apart, top-half of the transformation-proposal finalized and templates started, ready to start cuttin some plastic. I plan on salvaging and implementing as much as the original tape & parts as possible, but some scratch-build will be necessary to complete it, such as the head and weapons, no parts-forming, everything connected during transformation. The transformation will be the same as the G1-tape for the most part, but the weapons will likely be an integral-part of the tail-fins and either pivot or extend-out after the legs fold-down from the underside of the tape's shell. Head will slide-out just like the original. Would really like him to be ball-jointed in as many places as possible to enhance articulation for more dynamic-poses, but will cross that bridge when I get to it! Ravage will likely be next.
Progress being made today!! It's comin along as planned, not too many issues so far! Yep and it's already got its fair-share of little challenges so far as expected, but nothin I can't handle! I love it, and yep it's nuts, can't wait to tackle the OTHER tapes! Never left, kinda took a much-needed break there for a little while, but yes I'm back in the groove again. Got a little more to show today! Cut the other side out and wings separated from the body now.......
Rough mock-up of Laserbeak's proposed-wingspan in condor-mode, will spread-out to at least 16" wide if things go as planned! Brushin' up on the Dremel-skills, I'm a little rusty......cutting-disc slipped a couple times gettin back in the groove today, but overall I'm pretty happy with the seams so far otherwise. The gaps are a bit wider than I prefer, but for now, the panels are still lined-up using the existing alignment-pins inside, and should tighten-up considerably once removed and custom joints & pivots are in place. Tape-mode is 7-1/4" long, estimated-variable-wingspan will be anywhere from 16" to 18", if I can get the outer tape-flaps articulated like I want....but I'm stubborn & will make it happen!
This just reminds me of that comment I saw on YouTube where some kid thought G1 Soundwave was a VCR. Now you're actually making the cassettes into VHS tapes.
Might I suggest simply using a separate VHS tape, to avoid having too-big gaps? You can cut the parts you need from the second one. Just a suggestion, since they are a pretty cheap resource. Really looking forward to seeing this all finished up! Would've loved to see you go with the Masterpiece as a base, but the G1 toys is just as awesome
Me too, this project has gotten some REALLY great-reception so far! It's easy to get ahead of myself before I finish this one, but I'm really looking forward to tackling some other characters after this. Great idea to use a secondary-tape, as that might be something that'll come in handy if/when I screw-up a panel on future-projects. Once the internal alignment-pins are removed and custom pivots are put into place, I'm counting on those gaps closing-up significantly in alt-mode as the panels are pushed-together, might even implement some rare-earth magnets to help draw some panels together for the tightest-fit possible if I have issues with that in some places. As much as I love the brilliant-design of the MP-Laserbeak, I'm trying to keep the transformation as simple as possible on this one & resemble the original.......but that's still tough to do, considering I really want to keep the tape-reel areas inside the windows as hollow & free from kibble as possible........so there will be a few inevitably improvised-changes that will affect the bird-mode to adapt to that. This will be his own unique-design, true to the G1-transformation as possible, but still very unique in its own way. It's fun makin-up the rules for something like this! Oh, and here's a few shots of the original tape-sleeve from '98 for your viewing-pleasure-
Vacuum with Attachments doesn't have quite the same ring to it as Robots in Disguise Also this is mad and you are mad and I love it and look forward to seeing it progress
Incredible! Sounds great. The only way this could be made better is to use an original G1 VHS, like what I had as a kid:
Aw man, I couldn't bear to butcher one of those original TF-tapes! Using the cases to store them in would be cool-as-hell though, wonder what the availability of those are, few and far-between I'm guessing......but one thing I'd really like to be able to get is some custom cover-stickers made for the front of the tape, will def be looking into that. Might just stick a faction-logo on the front-center & call it a day......was thinking about putting one on top of Laserbeak's head like the original-tape.