Update [9.28.11] - new shoulder mods: http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/radicons-customs/285678-g1-grimlock-wip-5.html#post6679875 Update: http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/radicons-customs/285678-g1-grimlock-wip-4.html#post6633754 I need to give credit to Jaf and Ptitvite (of Sector70) for their respective works on their Dinobots. They inspired my work here on this (along with the artwork in my Visual Works book). Not much to really say here (HA! Here comes the novel).....I decided to give some major articulation to my G1 Grimlock using Jaf's idea--the Energon Sharkticon thighs and waist sections. I cut the pegs from the lower legs and glued them into the Grimlock upper leg sections (which were trimmed down a bit). I shaved the Sharkticon legs where the peg inserted to allow it to fit into the Grimlock leg slot smoothly). I cut a bit from the back of Grimlock's legs to allow the upper thighs to transform. I went a bit of a different route than Jaf and kept the ab section from the Sharkticon figure and used this to fill in the gap between the waist and the chest. I drilled a small hole into the back of the waist section, then used a larger screw to screw into the Diaclone pilot area and pull the waist section onto the back section (similar to how the old waist screwed in). As for the arms, I cut the arm pegs off the chest and cut down the internal arm pegs (cut them roughly in half), then glued ball joint socket into the opening (got these from HLJ about a year ago). I then took the Sharkticon arms and cut just above the rotation joint, then glued this piece into Grimlock's upper arm (which I had now cut just a bit shorter). I cut the fists completely off and cut the sliding mechanism just under the small notch that stopped it from sliding in or out. I then took the inside of the forearms and cut a chunk out to allow the fists to fold in and out (similar to how Sludge's fists do). I took two sizes of small styrene rods and built two hinges for the fists to fold in and out on. I then glued the old internal sliding piece (with upper part with the elbow attached) into the forearm and screwed it all back down. Now the arms bend at the original elbows, the fists fold in and out, and the arms are on ball joints at the shoulders and they rotate 360 degrees around the bicep area. After the mods were done and the glue was dry, I used some ProCreate putty to reinforce the ball joints and to fill in the inside of the shoulders (around the ball joint socket)--this helped reinforce that and it helped fill in the empty space. This area will probably be covered with thin sheet styrene once I make sure the putty has had enough dry time (either that or I'll add more and sand it even around the area). I also added some putty to he outside of the shoulders to fill in the hole where the screws were--this will be sanded better once they are completely dry. The head is sitting on the shoulders for now--I still haven't finished with that part yet. I'm using the Classics Grimlock head and I shaved down the sides/hors a bit to look more like the Grimlock images from my Visual Works book. I will also be adding a bit more height to the bottom of the feet with some styrene and possibly some putty (there is a small gap in the alt mode that I chose not to work around because I wanted to give him a bit more height in bot mode). Still a WIP--I've now taken a break to plan out the foot extension and head mods and I've started work on Sludge. I'm hoping to keep chugging along on these Dinobots and at least get the mods done before painting any of them (and yes, these will be keeping the clear parts and hopefully the chrome). I'm hoping to also finish up a few other 'bashes and repaints in the near future. Anyway, enjoy!
Pretty cool, I plan to do the same with the MP Grimlock I have coming. Where did you get the ball joints?
Nice use of the Classics head. The original head was kind of puny and didn't seem to go well with the body.
Awesome work thus far... this is looking great and I'll be watching especially with Grimlock being my favorite Transformer.
Damn and here i thought I was going to be only one to have swiveling biceps for awhile. I might use your idea for the head though...
energon sharkticon along with the body from the waist and upper trunk down to the hips and crotch from the looks of it
great work, It's going to transform, right? Also, where did the waist and thighs come from? They don't seem familiar to me.
Here are a few more shots. Took these just before packing them up and moving. Seeing Mike's thread on articulation reminded me to post these up. It's still a WIP and there are some areas I plan to work on near the bicep area (to add a bit more bulk to the lower part of the upper arm/shoulder) and I also have some work to do on the dino mode with styrene. I changed out the original Grimlock hands for Universe Silverstreak hands. I drilled holes into them and used the ball joints from one of those little Neo Shifters dudes to make them rotate. The head was moved forward a bit and attached via ball joint and I carefully cut out some of the inside of the dino head to allow it to still transform as it originally did (so now the head isn't sitting way back behind the shoulders--it's now even with them). I'm going for a sort of mini-MP style with these, basically articulating the G1 figures and making them much better and more poseable. The paint you see here is NOT final and was only applied to get a better feel of the bot mode see what areas may or may not need more work, build-wise. The dino mode will be mostly unchanged, except for the bits I'll add or build to fix any tiny gaps (due to the legs). With the bot mode, I was shooting for something very similar to MP Grimlock's look and style. I'll do and share more once I get more time to work on him (and the other Dinobots).