Update: KO TFC Structor Mod

And finally am well enough to start "restoring" the last of the band... KO TFC Structor.... The leader (I assume) of the 'Constructicons'!!!! I used the KO Version 1 for most of the body, only a few parts (e.g. head, wheels, crotch, thighs and legs, etc) from Version 2's... Will only be able to show some of the work that I remember to take pictures of... First up, the crotch and legs of V2 are transplanted to V1, with V1's inner legs trimmed and added onto V2's...


I had to use V2's gestalt leg connector, and this time I tried to add the 'ratcheting joint' feature.. not very successful initially but after some other work it turn out to be quite ok...


Also made the head to be able to slide in and hide in vehicle mode... Took a LONG LONG time to do so...




... and after implanting the V2's bigger wheels to the arms, here's the vehicle mode!!! Nice... Head is now not visible...


... and robot mode!!! He is a bit back heavy, but still able to stand well, especially if you turn the thighs to an outward V-shape...


Posing is quite ok, but head cannot turn, hence the awkward look...


Gestalt leg mode is ok!


And here's how my incomplete-painted KO TFC Hercules looks like... nice... Very happy to get this KO, especially considering it costs only a fraction of what the real TFC Herc will cost...



Can't wait to paint the KO...

Update: KO TFC Madblender "Restoration"

Took me 2 days for this restoration... Shorter than expected... In short, all below waist, less feet and crotch, are V1's, and the rest V2's, except the mixer drum... V2 has elbow joints and the shoulder joints are much durable-design compared to V1's... First, the V2's crotch piece is transplanted to the swiveling waist of V1... V1 legs will be transplanted later...


V2 will need to cut off the waist piece...


... and every operation to make the waist-swiveling action...


V1 cabin legs are better detailed than V2's except no feet... so V2's feet are transplanted over...


For the mixer drum base, it is modified to have a double joint in the middle, so as to allow proper folding in robot mode...


Yeap, working well!!! ... of course after numerous trial and error, and re-alignments...


Testing the base in vehicle mode... works!!!


Done! Vehicle mode... The 2 black pieces (robot feet) on top of the cabin are not very aligned / flushed as 1 of the peg used to house the feet is glued a bit slanted... but not very noticeable, so still ok... The front frame of the mixer drum remains simplified as I was too lazy and tired for the swivel peg mod...



When in robot mode, the mixer drum can be pulled out and firmly secured onto a peg-hole at the back... but not nice...


The original way of positioning the mixer drum is still better... it is held by friction but quite ok...



Robot pose!!! Sorry for the bad picture, not good with posing figurines...


... and the most important to me, the gestalt leg mode.... Nice, got ankle tilt now, hahahahaha.... 5 down, and 1 more to go.... but still need to paint the purple parts to metallic purple for uniformity...

Update: KO TFC Hercules Gestalt Fists Mod

I thought the gestalt fists modifications will be easy but I was wrong... The beginning was still quite OK, and involves only cutting off the V2 gestalt fists connectors, trim them and then screw them onto V1's gestalt fists...


... however, made a mistake in gauging the allowance for the connector length and had to use washers and such to increase the allowance for gap space... Anyway, managed to complete...


...testing on the 2 members - KO Exgraver and KO Neck Breaker... Looks good on KO Exgraver's vehicle mode but kind of weird on KO Neck Breaker's vehicle mode... Both robot mode looks weird...



Next, the hollow spaces have to be covered up... I (stupidly) painstakingly "trace" the inner profile of the spaces on a thin ABS and cut out to glue inside the hollow spaces - all these just to ensure the levels are flushed instead of the cover pieces are on top of the walls... Took a long long long time... Oh, also drilled a hole at each of the palm side for the big gun to peg in... (yeap, added an extra peg at the gun handle too, for KO Hercules to hold on his right hand...)


... and the thumbs are covered with hot glued... yeap, getting lazy at this point...


Once done, each fist is disassembled and painted with Tamiya metallic purple paint using a sponge and toothpick to reach into the tight spots/gaps... This is a relatively good paint, and even seem to resist scratching even at the ball joints... nice...


When dried, I quickly assembled the fists and test them on the 2 members... Looks good... Did not take a picture of them in robot mode as not much difference...


Also tried out the fists in gestalt mode (or semi-gestalt)... Looks good! Now fists can rotate, thumbs on ball-joint, and (four) fingers swivel (together)... not as articulated as the authentic one but close enough...



4 out of 6 robots done so far.... 2 more to go... but only now then realised the cabin canopies are mixed up for the KO Exgraver and KO Structor, and the worst part is that the pegs for the cabins are not the same... so got to fix that up later...next time... yah, next time... lazy now... hahahaha....

Update: KO TFC Exgraver Mod

Phew... Finally completed, after days of hard work and experimenting and injuries... hahahaha... So here's the KO TFC Exgraver mod, the other arm for KO TFC Hercules... Starting with the V2 whole legs transplant to V1's hip. The right side of the picture shows a small drill bit (size unknown) I used to drill the V2's leg-hip connector's hole in order to fit into V1's hip... And the hips will be painted black later...


Next: Head swap!!! Hahahaha....


I thought I could just trim and attach V2's head onto V1's back part of the head, but later discover that V1's back of head is actually blocking the gestalt fist (thumb) when storing, so I had to cut off the V1's back of head, leaving only the neck ball-joint connector to join to the V2's head...


Lazily covered the back of head with hot glue... and paint it black later...


I wanted to retain V2's lower arms as they have the rotating fist and also a peg to secure to the legs in vehicle mode... So decided to transplant V2's lower arms to V1 head... And since I am to cut off the arms into 2, I confirmed my decision to make elbow joints for them...


So V1's lower arms has to be cut off... They are not wasted, as they are later used to cover up the spaces of the new lower arms...


Used some "hinges" from the other unwanted KO TFC "Constructicons" and trim to secure onto V2's lower arms. Then will then be joined to the upper arm of V1...


Nice, now got elbow joints...


For the vehicle scooping part, I cut and trim the base connector and restore the ratcheting joint feature (since the ratchet part is still retained in the frame). Lots of trial and error...


This base connector has a peg that is too small to fit into the V1's hole in vehicle mode. So I cut off the peg that originally holds the base connector in V2 and glue it to the base connector's peg. This new peg actually fits into the V1's vehicle hole nicely...


Next will be separating the other 2 joints for the scoop part... All parts and materials are from old junk and such, so not sure of the size or where to buy...


Middle frame is sawn off using a small coping saw...


The middle frame has a super big hole after sawing, so I decided to use metal washers to cover them up slightly, and this also allows screws to be used for the axle... Nice... Ready to be assemble...


Vehicle mode!!!! Nice!!!


Now can "play" with the scooping part for more poses....


Transform into robot... Back of robot... Looks like he has a tail, but I prefer this configuration as it is nearest to G1 style...


Front view of robot mode... I painted the front of the chest piece using metallic purple paint from Tamiya...


Most importantly, the official gestalt arm mode is now achievable (though most likely I will be using the G1-style configuration for the scoop part, hahahaha...)!!!



Up next: The gestalt fists... I think...


Edit: As the vehicle cabins are mixed up in the KO versions, I found the one that belongs to KO Exgraver, but it was quite loose...

Used a thin piece of plastic to cut to shape that can fit at the fist bottom, and holes are drilled to fit in the cabin peg... mistake made...


Hot-glue is applied around the hole to act as "wall" for the cabin peg to rest better inside the fist... The plastic piece is then hot-glued to the bottom of fist... And 2nd verse same as the 1st...


... done... Some shaving of the lower torso is needed to let the cabin sit flushed... Also painted the plastic black... And because I stupidly cut the hole in the fist bottom pieces just nice to fit in the cabin peg, which is slightly smaller than the other holes on the body to fit into, I now have to use super-glue to thicken the walls of the other holes that may be used to house the cabin when in robot mode if I don't want to position the cabin under the robot fist... Anyway, is done... nice...