[Matt Booker]

I wanted to call this "Michael Baywing - AWESOMATED! "

Perhaps it's best I didn't...

In a dramatic turnaround from the beginning of my last guide, Animated Blitzwing actually IS flooding retail now, so plenty of you can follow along and do this mod. It is by no means as essential as the wing modification, but who doesn't want Blitzwing to have pivoting shoulder cannons in just six easy steps?

Several of you, but that's just the law of averages.

This time around I've got the usual extras, like a fix to a widespread issue that some of you might not even realize is there, another wing modification that I'm kind of iffy about, and moar of the funny.

Round about the same as my last guide in terms of actual content, this one has about three times as many pictures.

I blame you, dear reader. Really, you encouraged this.

So, got that? Cannons, Helmet Fix, and Extra Wing Modification. Have fun finding them...


Step 1: Cut A Hole in the... Um... o_0

"Hey big fellah. Wanna see my angry cyclops?"

No... That's... quite alright. Thank you.

"The Cyclops is my p-"

YES. I GET IT. I got the joke, and the Captain Hammer reference. But, I guess one thing does puzzle me... How do you keep the box attached like that? Is it something else in th-

DREAMWAVE!

Step 1: Cleanse Thoughts



Ah, that's better.

-CONTINUED IN NEXT POST-

This post has been edited by Matt Booker: 02 October 2008 - 06:59 PM

[ClockWorkMecha]

Alright! Followed the first post for Blitzy(had to use knock out gas, he kept bench pressing the other bots), let's see what else ya got.

[Matt Booker]

Step 2, Obtain Parts

*looks around* Okay. It seems Sunstreaker didn't see that title, so on with the content.

There are several options open when considering how to get Blitzwing's cannons to pivot down over his shoulders. His current setup involves a cannon piece with a peg that attaches it to a hinge joint on his backpack. The peg lets the cannon swivel and keeps it secure while the hinge, um, hinges to allow the cannons to reposition for each of his modes.

With all this in mind, to get his cannons to pivot we not only need a joint that will pivot, but also a means to secure the cannon to the hinge joint while also allowing it to rotate. To complicate things further, the joint must either fit inside the existing cannons or look like an extension of them.

The first thing an enterprising kitbasher should do is look through his existing toys to see if there's some parts that can be used. Obviously, first to be picked through are the ones in the 'scrap' and 'sale' piles, but something kept nagging at me. It was an inkling of an idea, and it involved my fiancee's activators Bumblebee.

His legs looked just right for the job. They had a hinge joint for the knee, and a rotating thigh that I could fit around the cannons existing peg. No matter how much I like the little guy, I couldn't shake the thought.

So, I discussed it with her. She likes to humor support me in this part of my hobby, but it's usually my toys I'm chopping up. She likes the Awesome Stingers I made for her deluxe Bumblebee, and thought the guides for it and my other Blitzwing mod were funny, but her Bee wouldn't be walking (or transforming) after this.

Later on, we went shopping and she proposed the idea of just buying another activator's Bee, as we'd seen plenty of them lately.

And by 'lately', I mean 'every day before that day.' Someone came in and bought them all, and only Bulkhead and a few staggered Starscreams remained.

We came home to a grisly sight, a true spectacle of the macabre... While we were out, someone had brutally dismembered my Cybertron Swerve. Sure, he was just a scout class figure ,and one of the few in my 'sale' pile that wasn't spoken for yet, but this was brutal.

More squeamish readers may want to avert their eyes from the following photos...





Ratchet would later confirm that whatever tried to gnaw through his crotch, it wasn't Laserbeak.

The barest hint of a spark remains, but it's doubtful he'll remember much of what happened.

Our only clue was this neat arrangement of parts.



A calling card, perhaps? But upon closer inspection, these parts appeared to be a good start at what I needed for Blitzwing. A ball joint! That would let the cannons pivot and rotate! Too bad these parts were red, and even if I put the legs up inside the cannons the joint would still be red.

My thoughts turned back to Bumblebee again. His legs had ball joints, and even if that didn't work out I could go with the original plan.

Here's a picture my web cam took while we were shopping.



It's of Bumblebee and Swerve having a footrace. Adorable! I'd just have to buy another Bee online, because I couldn't chop up this one for a mod.

Then my fiancee said she'd just keep the new one. Woo! Looks like I wouldn't have to wait 6-8 days for delivery after all.

It was late, and we had places to be in the morning. So, with thoughts of mods and mutilations, I slept snug and sound. Early enough, we were off and out doing things that collectors and modders that have lives apart from collecting and modding are often wont to do.

But when we returned...

My spare Octane had been murdered! Not just severely wounded, but offlined! Chopped in half, and right down the cockpit to split the head in half within his chest.



Activators Bumblebee had spent the morning playing with Optimus Prime's rocket powered axe, when purely by accident he stumbled across the leaking wreckage. Thankfully, he doesn't seem too traumatized (it probably helps that it was a Decepticon), and proudly posed for that crime scene picture.

He even tried to help with the investigation.

Here he is, re-enacting his idea of how the murder may have happened. Such a helpful little scamp!



Haha! But the clean cut of Octane's bisection rules out the rough serrations of the jagged Comb of Doom. The first wound would appear to be the cockpit cut, and given the alt-mode of its occurrence, Octane was probably flying at the time. The attacker was probably a flier, or using some sort of rocket propelled weapon.

Animated Optimus Prime, perhaps?

No, his axe was with Bumblebee all morning.

Saved by an alibi this time, Prime...

Hmmm...



Could innocent little Bumblebee be connected with this, somehow?

He was the last one seen with Swerve, and found Octane's crime scene... And had a rocket powered axe the morning that it happened...

But Classics, um... Classics Activators Prowl assures me the incidents have nothing in common.

"I assure you these incidents have nothing in common."

Phew! That's a relief. (He's a copologist, you know.)

Not one to let a good body go to waste, I was about to throw Octane in the parts pile when I noticed he'd be even better for the Blitzwing mod than Bumblebee. He has a center ball joint piece and two hip joints that would look great attached to the two cannons on Blitzwing's backpack.

Even better, it just so happens the peg part of Octane's ball joints fit snugly in the hole on Blitzwing's hinge joint! So snug you might not want to use glue. It was like they were made with each other in mind.

Was it really some crazed, homicidal bot that brought them together? Or was it simply meant to be?

Before this leans any closer to fan fiction, on to the next step!


Step 3: Carving

Here's a picture of the parts you'll need from Octane.

The top piece is the ball joint section for his hips, and just unscrews from behind his waist. The two other pieces are his hip joints, and can be obtained by unscrewing his legs.

Perhaps I should've mentioned that under Step 2, but really, that section was crowded as it is and these steps with actuall modding instructions are light on content as it is...

Regardless, upon closer examination of the picture you'll find I've marked out in red where you should cut. The red lines indicate a complete cut across and the part colored red indicates where you should shave until smooth and even with the peg. It doesn't have to be really exact on the shaving, but it needs to fit snugly into Blitzwing's hinge hole.

Hehe. Hing hole...

*ahem*

So once that is accomplished and you've done the same for both sides, you should have parts that look like this.

Also pictured are Blitzwing's cannons. Examine them closely and you will see where I've shaved the peg off from the bottom of the cannon. A flat surface on both the bottom of the cannon and what is now the top of the joint are essential to them making a good connection later on, so be sure to shave off any bumps from where you cut.

Before I talk about that any further, I should move on to that step...

-CONTINUED IN NEXT POST-

This post has been edited by Matt Booker: 02 October 2008 - 07:06 PM

[ClockWorkMecha]

Part the 2nd!

[Matt Booker]

Step 4: Glue

"With the aid of this Earth adhesive, plus a little creative parts placement,
Swerve can walk again!"



"And he has laser arms."

"Laser arms? Won't that make him a little unstable?"



"Nonsense! Helps the healing process. He'll be fine."

Gosh, glue sure can be handy... and dangerous! It can have serious, adverse effects on plastic if not used properly.

Be sure of what you want to glue before you do. (That rhymes and is helpful!)

Never leave a bottle unsecured and near your toys. (That... That's helpful!)

But even the most responsible of modders can still have toys with a Krazy problem.

Thankfully, there are some Telltale Signs your toy's been sniffing krazy glue.

Does your bot look like Headmaster?




Glue Mustache?




Random objects stuck to the bot's face?



"Let me guess. You didn't know it was glue?"
"MMMF!"

Overexposure to glue fumes may result in G1 Season 3 leadership qualities, ranging from Rodimus class emo to Galvatron levels of insanity.

So be careful when gluing your toys. Wasn't there something else about...?

Oh yeah! The guide.

*ahem*

In the above picture you'll find blue colored areas to indicate where to apply a thin layer of your favorite adhesive. The red arrows indicate how to attach the pieces together.

I suggest you get the positioning worked out the way you want before you apply the glue.

The joint pieces are a little smaller than the bottom of the cannon, but if you center them they still look great.

Repeat for the other cannon and let them sit for a few hours so the parts have time to bond. Once that is done, we need to glue the peg into the backpack's hinge hole. I don't have a picture for this, but if you own a Blitzwing you've probably discovered it by having a cannon pop off during transformation. (They can only be facing a certain way or it doesn't fit against the backpack.)

As I said earlier, the peg fits very snug in the hinge hole. (Okay, now I'm just saying it on purpose. I should probably stop it.) Hinge hole. Sorry. So... As I was saying, you might not even want to use glue. I'd rather be safe than have a lost cannon, so I opted for glue.

When gluing it, be careful not to have the hinge against the backpack in case any glue drips down and it decides to no longer hinge. I just applied a thin layer around the hole and a tiny bit on the peg itself.

Another tip I should mention is that you should have the peg attached to the cannon while you do this. The cannon will keep the peg from sliding too far down in the hole. If the gun is in the 'up' position for Blitzwing's bot mode, you can slide it down enough to touch the hinge itself. That's because the way the joint is designed, as the cannon rotates forward it actually gains a bit of clearance.

Again, test this out before you apply the glue, so you're sure about where you want it.

Also be sure not to get any glue on the joint itself. You don't want your cannon glued into position. If you do get some on it, just let the glue sit for a minute or two so the peg and the hinge have time to bond a little, then work the cannon around until it's loose.

I speak from experience, there.

But hey, if the ball joint ever gets loose, you'd have to do that anyway. Whatever helps me sleep at night.

Repeat for the other cannon, let them sit for a few hours, and there you have it.

They sit at an angle when rotated, but I'm fine with that. To get them more level you'd have to have a taller jointed piece (making the cannons too big), add a hinge higher up on the cannon itself (leaving tiny barrels over his shoulders), or some kind of sliding piece with a hinge joint so it could extend and then let the cannons rotate down (not practical or at least beyond the extend of mods I was going to do for this.)


The mod doesn't effect his plane mode much.


Tank mode, however, gains a new level of kickass- bigger, positionable guns!


That last one looks like his tank mode is sad. Reminds me of the Tick's antennae.

Okay, so that was better cannons in 4 easy steps. But those law of averages 'don't want better cannons' people probably can't count anyway. Stick around, though, as there's two more steps!

-CONTINUED IN NEXT POST-

This post has been edited by Matt Booker: 02 October 2008 - 07:14 PM

[ClockWorkMecha]

3 Down!

[Matt Booker]

One more thing before we move on to the next step...

"Dragonforce- inferior... Soun-"

*KA-PWNAGE!*

"Zat's right! BLITZWING SUPERIOR, you little piece ohv-"

"Ooh! GUITAH HERO!"

And man, his turrets look REALLY tall in that second picture. But it's just the angle. The top of his head is even with about a third of the way up the purple tips of the cannons. So they aren't much taller than his head.


step 5: Get Good Helmet

No. Bad Sunstreaker. Not a joke for you.



"Awww..."

Okay, so here's an issue that's been mentioned before in other posts, and I even gave a quick description of the cause and how to fix it. I also said I'd have pictures and more details when this guide came around, so here it is.

Is it hard or nigh impossible to turn your Blitzwing's faces with the dial on the back of his helmet? Does his head sit kind of cockeyed, and why doesn't that make me feel dirty when 'hinge hole' does? Does his helmet angle awkward, or not sit flush with his fuselage in jet mode?

Well, then this step is for you.

Blitzwing's head consists of a rotating center post with a separately rotating ring that has the three faces attached to it (the ring is the 'dial' normally used to turn the faces), and his helmet.

The helmet is supposed to remain in the same position as the center post, and both pieces should only rotate together. The people at HasTak thought that the friction between the rubbery material of the helmet and the plastic on the top of the post would be enough to accomplish this.

They were, in fact, wrong.

HASTAK!

Shocking, I know.

There seems like an attempt was made to help out the situation, or at least maybe a marker of the front and back positions, as there are two haphazard notches on the top of the center post on mine. They mostly match up with where the pole needs to be, but I don't know if every Blitzwing has them or if this was just factory chipping or something.

That does bring me to my next point, though. There is a correct position for the pole to be in relation to the helmet.

The center post is actually off center a bit, and if positioned incorrectly this can cause his faces not to turn or even his head to tilt to one side.

It's much easier to see this when the helmet is off.

Look closely where I've circled in the picture. That's actually the offset center post sticking out behind his neck.

You'll have to play around a bit with this one, and work out the best position with the post either sticking out in the back or towards the front. Like I said, at the top of mine's center post there was a notch in the front and a notch in the back. I'm still not sure if that was random or not.

You can vaguely make it out in the first picture. See how the shiny bits in the front have a gap between them? That's the notch. There was even less of one in the back.

I don't have any clearer pictures, but I do have comparison shots of how it should and shouldn't be.

First, the shouldn't!

With the center post aligned incorrectly there is often a gap between his helmet and his fuselage. These pictures were taken by positioning the exact opposite of how it should be, so the maximum gap width is shown.

When properly aligned (Which, if I remember correctly, has the protruding edge at the back when he is in bot mode. This is shown in the circled area of the first picture in this step.) there should be no gap in plane mode. It might be a little off, but it's the best position you can get with his helmet.

Thankfully, the metal part at the top and the center post both turn together, so you can easily dab some glue at the top and even a little around the edges with no worries. Just be careful not to get any on the ring of faces, then place the helmet on and let it sit for a bit. If you're worried about the faces, feel free to spin them for a few minutes as the glue begins to set.

-CONTINUED IN NEXT POST-

This post has been edited by Matt Booker: 02 October 2008 - 07:20 PM

[ClockWorkMecha]

4th!(BTW everyone, if this looks odd, I'm Helping him get the post shoe horned in here!)

[Matt Booker]

step 6: Wing Mod 2

This mod allows his wings to sweep forward more in plane mode. It's not really necessary, and I'm not sure if I'd do it again because I rarely have them swept forward this much. Maybe I've grown too used to them being swept back.

I've seen some people recommend just pushing it forward until the parts break, but you risk breaking the whole thing. Take a look at the pictures here, and if you like the wings swept forward then look at the pictures in this step and cut as indicated.

One thing that irks me a bit is that to swing them forward, you have to lift the shoulder pieces into 'tank' position so the wings will have enough clearance.

Here's a before shot, with the red colored area indicating what you need to cut off.

Anyone else think that looks like a communist Mickey Mouse hat? o_0


This is what the result should look like. It also illustrates the new range of motion.

And while you have the black sharpie out, paint the parts around Sentinel Prime's feet.

It looks good and the blue draws the attention towards the center and the legs, making that whole "just a bit too short" thing less of an issue visually.

Wait, you didn't have the sharpie out? ...

"Duuuuuude... Mondo stache."

Thanks to ClockWorkMecha for all the help with the filler posts!


Well, I hope you enjoyed this guide. If it made you laugh or made you want to mod at all, let me know!

*Sometime later...*



"Well well well. If it ain't a dick in a box!"

~Matt Booker

This post has been edited by Matt Booker: 02 October 2008 - 07:24 PM

[ClockWorkMecha]

Why Headmaster, that's not a Mondo-stache, That's a "Dirty Sanchez!"