Challenge of the Sea-Borgs

I went to Comicon NY and I had approximately 3 hours to do my business as I didn't have a multi-day pass. In my fenzied state my gaze came across Monsterpants spread of candy-colored action figures I knew then and there I was going to give this man my money and I told him this. A few days later I said I wanted to give him even more of my money. I was hooked on Sea-Borgs.

I had hacked apart an innocent Transformer (Red Alert from the Cybertron line) and noticed the clear red shoulder had a 5mm hole. Could it be that simple? I inserted a 5mm peg and voila, new arms for my Devil Pirate! The red sword adds appropriate pirate flair.

The ruby hued Regent of Hell has arms and wings from a Diaclone Diatron/Kingdam. It's Staff o' Hell is from an Energon space jet and the drill is not from Arkon/Bullmark King Joe but a Beast Wars Inferno (the big red ant). For ease of posing I drilled a 5mm hole into his foot.

This happy fellow ripped the arms off an Energon Cruellock. I don't remember where the smoke colored missiles come from.

The Shield of Marine Defense is ripped off from a 1999 Microman Kit CrabDozer. The yellow belly button plug is from a Zoids Blox upgrade kit.

Sea-Borgs can be purchased here.

previous: Ni-Stuff Gylos Micronauts Alien Hybrids

Ni-Stuff Gylos Micronauts Alien Hybrids

My newest foray, mixing indie toys with vintage Micro action, first up is Ni-Stuff's groovy Gylos heads. The bodies are Micronauts Membros, Repto, Galactic Defender. Ni-Stuff's heads fit snuggly into the Micronaut Alien bodies. No sanding or drilling necessary.

I picked up these jewel-like Glyos compatible heads from Ni-Stuff at Comicon NY. I knew they had great modding potential. A full list of head sculpts is here.

Top row: Paroder (yellow), Zinx (blue with horns), Remnost (green clear)

Bottom row: Flaux (green clear), Fed variation (red with spikes)

Ni-stuff heads can be purchased here.

Previous: Action Masters Starscream Turbo Jet toyhack

Action Masters Starscream Turbo Jet toyhack

The Transformer's Action Masters toy-line arrived at the tail end of the original Transformers run from the 80s. I suspect they were more well known in Europe than in the States as the series ran a year longer in that market. It's fairly easy to come across an incomplete Starscream Turbo Jet. I liked the design. It reminded me of the Micronauts' Photon Sled. I wanted the modifications to be simple.

Who's the dude with the whip? It's GI Joe's Croc Master, and he's looking for some action.

Disassembled.

There is a what looks like a 2.5mm peg on top where the steering unit should go. I had a random part that looked steering unit-ish.

I drilled a 2.5mm hole through the top and with a little fiddling got it to fit.

I drilled a 5mm hole in the back. There were small pegs that protruded from the grills that got in the way. So I filed them down.

This is a Multimac part. More Multimacs toyhacks here.

I sawed off the back end and removed the propeller top. The lower end had a 5mm peg on it's end. Where the propeller was I drilled another 5mm hole. The blue tail fin is from a Micronauts Mobile Explorer Laboratory. The 5mm peg is most likely Zoids Blox.

I cut down a 5mm tube so it would match up to the rear of the jet.

Engine assembly added. The infant chair requires safety belts.

The existing hole between the screws is slightly widened.

A 5mm pegged wheel is added. This one I think belongs to a blockman vehicle, but any small wheel will work.

Ride Croc Master Ride!

Previous: Gigasaurus — Ampzilla toyhack

Gigasaurus — Ampzilla toyhack

Today's project started out as a discussion thread on the Micronauts/ Microman Facebook page about the iconic and controversial Ampzilla. That link is here. The rare Micronauts toy arrived late in the toy line's run.

All this toy talk inspired me to take matters into my own hands and make my very own Ampzilla one closer to my tastes. A casual approach would most likely consist of getting a realistic looking plastic dinosaur and drilling 5mm holes into it's skull to insert 'freaking lasers on it's head' perhaps inserting some gack randomly over it's body. I opted for another approach.

I actually spent a lot of time working on the tank treads. I had some sort of Gobot which had very nice wheels. I was trying to find appropriate feet to attach it to. I had a Starriors' foot which were perfect but only one.

I had the 1999 Microman Kit Crab Dozer and found they worked well, it even had a starter hole that made drilling a breeze. The body is a 1987 Transformer Headmaster Brainstorm. Notice the large hole (roughly 10mm) for the arms?

I had Energon Barricade legs which fit nicely into the notches once I filed down the surrounding areas. The tail is made from assorted Zoid Neo-Blox toys. I drilled a 5mm hole on it's bottom and the tail is done.

The head proved difficult. I didn't want to plop on a recognizable head. It needed to be uniquely absurd. The first arrangement made from Energon Insecticon head piece and Energon Scorponok tail lasers. Colors didn't really gel. I knew it needed to be red.

I originally had Energon Cruelock arms, which gave it a very T-Rex look, much too safe. I am very inspired by Ark/Bullmark's Ultraman Kaiju line, including the glitteringly absurd Gigan. I was very tempted to give him a bulldozer scoop for a hand, but what says kaiju more than claws, provided by Beast Wars PowerPinch. The yellow guy I believe is a Converter. I added wings and a missile to him and Sky Blaster is done. He's a low-wage Minicon.

In the tradition of Microtron and his curiously placed Drill. Ampzilla sports a Blockman engine.

Dissected.

This may have started out as an Ampzilla project but other influences have insinuated their way in. I name thee Gigasaurus!

previous: Webdiver Skullrider

<a href="http://www.hypersmash.com">HyperSmash.com</a>

Webdiver Skullrider

This toyhack is one of the most technically insane I've done thus far. That it holds together is a small miracle as it is made up of many unrelated pieces and like all my other hacks uses no screws just 5mm pegs. I started it back last year and put it down. I recently picked it up again and was determined to resolve it.

This project started with a trashed Takara Webdiver Gradion figure. What shall I do with a very expensive 16-bit videogame trainwreck? Rip it apart and see what I find. Sounds of gasps are heard. I had come across a Daigunder toy a few years ago. I sort of wish I held on to it. I did not know the Daigunder was a sequal to Webdiver series. If you look at both toylines you will see a lot of them were either altered into or from pre-existing Transformer toys.

I'm not particularly fond of heavily painted parts, but I was most intrigued by the translucent purple mid section.

The hands are beautiful.

I connected the two shoulder back parts to the one of the mid body sections. I found the arms were very heavy and there was no easy way to connect them to the body in a permanent way.

I had a cool part from Energon Landmine (I used the other one in my Giant Acroyear Acro-Cannon vehicle as a chair). That connects to another piece (I don't remember where that came from) but it perfectly matched the hinge area on the bottom of the skull. I also noticed there was a slot area. I cut out a piece of translucent plastic to make a floor for my figure to stand on. Zoid blox make the neck. I wish Tomy continued to make Zoid Blox. I thought they were the coolest things.

This was my first attempt to give it legs. Unfortunately it was too unstable to stand up properly. And I wanted it to be stable enough to hold a figure.

I used a Z-builder Cannon Spider Cannon as a base. It is braced with a Zoid Blox Night Owl chest shield and a Z-builder Gorillatron spiky shoulder part.

Stable and creepy.

We just need a proper driver. Magneforce Phobos volunteers.

Ready for the Acroyear campaign trail.

Ride!

previous: Micromaster Microtron