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

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Quickmix ClawGun Upgrade

I originally was going to simply rephotograph and rewrite my previous entry to make it clearer, but of course it didn't work out that way. I ended revamping my previous work into another iteration. The original version can be seen here.

I wasn't happy with the white wings as it's a stationary cannon. I felt I could improve upon the base.

I replaced the white wings with yellow knee caps from a minature Xabungle KO. I widdled down the peg so it can fit into a 5mm black peg. I had a base that belonged to the Bandai squid gun Shinken-oh candytoy from 2009. These toys have some useful 5mm ports on them.

Three 5mm holes were drilled into the Quickmix Cannon. On the underside, and in the centers of the clear parts. I also drilled 2.5mm holes at the ends to fit the Microman Biomachine MB-04 Kong claws

The blue fellow is Microman Masterforce Skymaster from 2004.

Previous: The Giant Acroyear Acro-Cannon kitbash

The Giant Acroyear Acro-Cannon kitbash

The Giant Acroyear Acro-Cannon kitbash

Originally I had two bikes I was playing with, the Acro-Cannon and a Pentabot bike.

With the original and the upgraded version side by side you can see what how I swapped out parts out. The Earth Jetter clear purple missile replaces the original red one. The Escargot clear blue nose section replaces the Acroyear flying pack.

Previously I had hacked a Transformers Energon Barricade and didn't do anything with it. The legs were structurally similar to the Acroyear legs. They were easy to replace.

I had some Multimac parts. I noticed the more realistic mech style matched the Barricade legs. I drilled additional holes into the Multimac part to move the cannon forward from it's original position and to add the nose cone.

I had also hacked a Transformers Energon Landmine, I found this part that made a very cool chair.

The vehicle disassembled.

If I wanted to be obsessive I would find a replacement cannon.

The driver is a 2005 Military Force Lava Planet body with a 2005 Biomachine guy head.

Needs a targeting scanner.

Previous: Giant Acroyear SixWing kitbash

The White Bike: Gobots Power Suit Kitbash

My first entry into RocketTubes.Net "New Micro-toys for a New Year" Contest. The details are here. Microman Vain was the figure inside one of the Gameras in 2006.

If you buy mixed vintage transformers on eBay you will inevitable be handed some Gobots Powersuit parts, it's universal law. Scattered about is a 2009 sentai candy toy, Lanard StarForce backpacks, a Transformers Micromaster KO called "Interchange Robot No 5 Rijie," Something called a Roadmaster.

I played with the idea of making some sort of cruiser. A lot of my process is like this. I found these Powersuit parts and I knew I would make something cool out of them. The initial shapes informed a direction. Then I got bored with it and decided to take it into another direction.

While I liked the idea. It was no longer in scale to Micronaut figures. I had set it aside and worked on the black bike. After finishing the black bike I realised it needed a companion. So I went back to the original idea.

The front wheel is from the 1999 Microman Galac Hopper Kit. Not terribly popular but great for modding.

The cockpit is from, I believe the original Star Wars Millenium Falcon. The back wheels are from a 2004 Transformers Energon Sledge. They needed no drilling. The holes were a perfect fit to the existing ports. Happy accidents do happen.

The complete parts breakdown. The pieces fit together rather well. The center part fits snugly within the Power Suit frame, no drilling necessary.

Vain meets up with Shoma, still without his guitar.

Rear view.

Top view.

To see the Black Bike's iterations click here.

Previous: Microrobot V Restoration

Microrobot V Restoration

A little bit of a detour from our usual thing. I recently got some junked toys and found a lovely surprise, a beat up Microman Microrobot from 1981. A complete set looks like this. His stickers are a mess, his chrome paint on his leg is gone, he's missing a wing. Instead of taking him apart to make something new I decided just to do a little of clean up.

I use various plastic utility boxes to store parts. One box comes with these yellow plastic dividers. It was close enough in color and thickness for me to approximate the missing wing. I basically just cut it out with a pair of scissors and filed it a little. I applied Goo Gone to the stickers and used the flat end of a cuticle tool (it sort of looks like a plastic flat head screw driver) to gently scrape the stickers off. I am not a fan of stickers. It took quite a bit of time to remove them. I wiped them down with Goo Gone soaked napkins.

There's a crack to the front red chest shield. I'm thinking of filling it with some model cement filler and painting it or some plastic glue and a small vice to hold it in place. Gonna investigate getting some metallic enamel paint for the legs and to touch up the helmet. Suggestions are welcome.

You'd think I'd be able to scrounge up some proper hands for him. The holes are actually NOT 5mm. They are somewhat smaller. He's definitely a work in progress. Still with some clean up he's much improved.

Previous: Energon Bonecrusher Acroyear kitbash

Gobots Power Suit Grungy Bike kitbash

The bike arm comes from a black crane. From the soft plastic I'm assuming it was a candy toy based off one of the Takara Brave robots or a knock-off. The arm looked rather plain. I had these black plastic strips which were used to keep Transformers in their packaging. I widened the existing holes with a 5mm drill bit and stuck Zoid Blox pegs to keep it in place.

I had disassembled Energon landmine and was really impressed by the foldy wheel carriage. It fit perfectly under the Power Suit leg. The red pegs are from Z-Builder Gorillatron. The front wheel is from Computron Afterburner.

 I felt the red pegs drew too much attention to itself, I replaced them with grey pegs.

Lastly the I needed proper handles. They are from a Zoid Blox candy toy I think they are called Baratz. This one was a blue grasshopper.

The bike is driven by Microman Shoma sans guitar from 2006. To see it's evolution click here

Previous: Stormcloud/Giant Acroyear Armroid kitbash

Statement of intent

I have a genetic disposition to crave brightly colored plastic toy robots. This blog will cover my never ending search for useful 5mm slots on unsuspecting toys that can be exploited to create Micronaut/Microman style toys. To this end I am not below hijacking Star Wars vehicles, conscripting GI Joe villains or various sentai heroes, or junking Transformers to make this happen.

To view the most current post, click here.