I look forward for an bulky Overload to get even more bulky with Red Alert! Thank you for the suggestions. Forearms of Prime Bulkhead are a very good choice as they are in similar shape as G1 Magnus. Feets of Hailstorm are good choice but it needs to be of bigger size. Pls find attached a photo of combined Prime with FOC Ultra Magnus toy. Also attached are comparison with Prime Ultra Magus and Voyager Hot Spot!
You know, after looking him over I think you can save the arms if you just been up the forearms. If they had a similar mass like the inferno mold, they would balance out better.
I think the forearms are fine as they are for one specific reason - the hole on the forearm is perfect for pegging on additional armor. Beef up his proportions when he becomes Apex Armor PM Prime / God Ginrai
This was such a cool idea I did it this afternoon. I used Countdown to make the trailer so it would match Prime better. You really hit on something here!
I don't mind the arms. It's the Optimus legs as big ol' thighs that are throwing me off - he has a stubby little torso and these giant legs. Some kind of a fake waistplate that covers the top of the "thighs" in a more crotch-like way would probably help, IMO. Remember, the original PMOP had kind of dinky arms and big ol' legs, too. (so shoulder cannons, lol.)
Ive been dremmeling into the molds legs(im using countdown cause thats the only spare i have) and ive found a way that the legs can connect without any additional pieces. Ill be posting it once i get the project done.. I did make some errors to the first leg, but the second will be fine. Basically you can dremmel away the top half of the inside of the leg except for the screw spot cause it actually fits the 5mm peg hole in optimus' leg.
Wow great idea. kind.of surprized that no one mentions the application to a bw redux megatron. might give that a shot if I find some time.
Really liking this so far! Can't wait to see it with Ultra Magnus. How is it stability-wise in armor/robot mode?
Dear all, thank you again for the comments and ideas :> Absoultely agreed. When the FOC OP is 'transformed' in such way it really has inappropriate portioned waist and corch and a waist plate will definitely help. The original idea is to have an additional twist part which connect the chest and corch in the combined robot mode. However this mean modifying the OP so the lower body can be separated without unscrewing the chest parts. Hopefully this can be done when I finished with the knees which is top on the list. Thank you for your efforts and look forward for your photos! A great suggestion! I will try to gather the parts of my dis-assembled Overkill and give it a try :> The combined vehicle mode and arms-body connection in combined robot mode are stable by using the weapon sockets available in the two toys. However, the combined robot cannot stand on its own due to the lack of knees.
I managed to find a Red Alert (same mold as what you're using) over the weekend, and I've been looking at it. What if you took the front set of wheels off of the hinge (the ones that fold down over the sides of the legs in robot mode) and attached them to the upper legs somehow? That way you could keep the legs mostly intact, including some nice ratcheted knees, and Prime could still connect via the same posts that he connects to in trailer mode. It looks like some of that front panel would have to be carved away to give the knees enough clearance to bend once they were attached, but I'm sure it's doable in a way that would still look good. Something like what I've attached. Would be nice if those little side flaps could fold over the inside of the legs to hide Prime's feet instead of folding over the outside. That might still be possible to do with some work, though.
Can you specify what parts those were? It looks like the thinner part of Red Alert/Countdown's upper leg, above the knee, is thin enough to fit inside Prime's leg cavity when his legs are extended. Maybe the thicker part of the leg can be carved out in such a way as to make it a secure fit, giving Prime the knees he needs in the armor.
Has anyone else made any progress on this kit? I took my Red Alert apart and confirmed that the thinner part of the upper legs do in fact fit snug inside Op's leg cavities. If at all possible, I think it'd be great to retain the ratcheting of the knees. I've been toying with various ideas on how to keep the legs more securely connected together in trailer mode, especially the arms. I can plug the arm posts into the bottoms of Op's feet in trailer mode, which looks interesting, but it would work better if I swap the white connector parts on the arms. This makes the arms sit higher than the rest of the trailer, but the rounded drums look kind of cool. The lower arms have a lot more space to work with as well, and depending on how they're positioned, leave their sockets on the forearms and the fist holes exposed, with space on the trailer for holding something (Dropshot's missile launchers, perhaps?). I'll keep messing with it. If I come up with something, I'll post pictures.
Here are photos of what I did. Overview OP leg connector Trailer connector And it still transforms without any problems.
No pics yet - but I have it connect with balljoints (Bionacle). The only issue is that the socket has to stick out a little. The arms cant tuck into the hollow area on the legs. My trailer mode is fine though. Slightly different transformation to fix it. The balljoint is on the back side of Optimus' knee pads. Doesn't interfere with articulation or stand out aesthetically. Also drilled some shoulder holes for dual cannons.
Fun idea you may be able to do the same thing with RTS Perceptor too. Oh and I think I'd like to see a version that retains the use of the missile in some ways too.
Definitely looks like an easy and quick way to make MTME Magnus. Though it'd probably look better with a proper midsection. Looks really disproportionate now. Hm, shouldn't this work with WFC OP as well?