Focus of project: Suspension capability, firepower, design as if it was bought off a shelf It's been years since I posted on here, and I have yet one more creation to tack onto this blog. Life has changed completely since my last post about the World's Most Advanced Lego Gun, so as a nod to documentation completion, and a bit of nostalgia, I have before you my last Lego creation: The Fatboy Tank, also named the Black Tortoise. She's quite the monster, she's heavy, she shoots, and she demands all those beneath her to kneel before her. I invite you to enjoy the video below.
The tank was built before I moved to a different country in 2015, where I unfortunately had to leave my entire Lego arsenal behind. The Black Tortoise was my bode to farewell to Lego, the best creation I ever made, a culmination of the craziest mechanisms I learned from previous projects, and probably the funnest Lego model I ever operated. Unfortunately I did not take any good photos of it, only video content, but thankfully the video above displays almost all its features quite well.
Here are just a few nuances of the mechanisms used in the Fatboy that aren't clearly expressed in the YouTube video,
- The cannon uses a mechanism very similar to my "Lego Airsoft Gun", just on a much smaller scale with thinner bullets.
- The turret spins with a turntable gear loaded with a clutch, in case the turret is physically blocked from free rotation.
- Both battery boxes can be removed with great ease, as I strove to do with almost every motorized creation.
- The suspension system gets its spring force from a series of tiny rubber bands meant for dental braces. But don't worry, they were unused rubber bands ;)
- There came two points in time where I had to reinforce the suspension with extra rubber bands because the tank got heavier as I added parts to it. Each reinforcement took quite a long while because I constructed that part of the body in a manner that was impossible to destroy by external forces, requiring a delicate dismantling.
- The remote control has a physical trigger to fire the cannon.
As of now, like all my best Lego creations, the Fatboy lives on in digital form:
And for those curious, I did indeed personally graphic-design the Black Tortoise logo:
My main source of inspiration to build this thing came from YouTube user Gyuta97's White Tiger Tank:
Yes I stole the remote control assembly design ^-^
His tank has a much more sophisticated driving mechanism, but my cannon has 10 rounds as opposed to 4, and shoots with 10 times the strength.
Lego Fatboy / Black Tortoise
PF Contents:
2 Battery Boxes
3 XL Motors
2 M Motors
3 Receivers
2 Remotes
1 Speed Control Remote
1 Pair of LEDs
1 Mini Linear Actuator
I extend a special thanks to my long-time and best friend Yoel, who composed entirely the music in my video.
Focus of project: Rate of fire, bullet speed/strength, ergonomics
So after obtaining a whole lot of experience with airsofting, I began researching lego guns in an attempt to find a legitimate handheld lego rifle. Unfortunately, the closest I came to was not what I was looking for, as the mechanism wasn't very orthodox and firepower was extremely weak. However, it was impressive nonetheless. Here's one of the various links to this weapon:http://mocpages.com/moc.php/87986The weapon's creator is none other than Jack Streat, the internet's most famous lego gun smith.
A couple years ago, I embarked on a full-auto "brickshooter" project, for which I quickly threw together a prototype, whose main component was the firing pin. The firing mechanism was mostly inspired by the mechanism used in airsoft gearboxes:
As you can see, airsoft gearboxes utilize a sector gear combined with a spring-loaded rack gear. The area of the sector gear that has no gear teeth gives the rack gear a moment to launch forward and shoot the pellet, using an air-compressed funnel to intensify the pressure. However, Lego never released a sector gear element, and I wasn't about to break the teeth off any of my gears. Suddenly, I recalled a gear element that I knew I would never use, possibly from some old Bionicle set. I had it cut up, and then I sanded away the excess plastic. The part ID is 32311:
Be aware; these are the only custom elements I ever used to build this creation. Without them, the entire mechanism would not work. There are ways to make similar mechanisms while avoiding making custom parts, but I decided to take it easy this time since I planned to make the rest of the gun quite complex, as you will see below.
Unfortunately, I was having loads of homework at the time, not to mention a summer job and other, much larger lego projects, such as the second-generation Battlebots and the Arm Rover, and thus I wasn't able to finish the gun for at least two years. I should mention: the gun featured in this blog post was originally intended to be mounted on the Arm Rover, but I had to disassemble the robot to make the Battlebots. Also, if you look back at the Arm Rover post, you will see a skeleton of the lego rifle in the bottom-right corner of one of the pictures. Anyway, here's the first video I ever posted about my gun. If you are watching this video because of this blog post, ignore the annotations:
So, that version of the gun us cool and all, but I was having a big problem with the firing mechanism. The problem was that, since the firing pin shoots the bullets directly out of the clip, the first few shots would have less range than the last few. This is because the clip pushes the bullets upward, and so the first few bullets are under the pressure of all the bullets below them. As the clip would empty, the shots would shoot further and further. At that I realized that I needed to come up with a mechanism that feeds every shot into a firing chamber before it gets launched. I began reseaching feeding mechanisms, both in real guns and in lego guns. I also tried very, very hard to find a motorized brick shooter that features a feeding mechanism, and soon I realized that I would be the first person in the world to make one. I found plenty of lego guns that had interesting feeding mechansisms, but every single one of them had to be recharged after every shot. I also came across hundreds of "automatic" lego guns, but nearly all of them fired rubber bands, which do not constitute as "bullets" in my book.
Before you continue: Just to confirm some "brick jargon", keep these definitions in mind. Lego fans can skip this section:
Also, since bricks can be stacked, there are thinner variants of them called "plates":
Left: "Plate" Right: "Flat Plate"
Three plates can stack to match the height of a brick.
After drawing a few primitive diagrams of what I wanted the final mechanism to look like, I decided on how to build the feeding pin. There was only one problem; the pivot joints that were in the feeding pin had to fit a frame made in Lego, meaning that I couldn't just place levers on levers wherever I wanted (as you will see, the feeding pin consists of three levers). And so I made "The Grid", a Brick-Technic interface that provided layered rows of Technic pinholes, in the medium of studded Legos. This technique is widely used in lego creations that combine brick parts and Technic parts. The methodology for making one is quite simple: between every layer of Technic bricks, place two layers of plates, like so:
Left: Technic bricks and plates Middle: A small Grid Right: The Grid with a VERTICALLY placed Technic beam
It is obvious that you can always place Technic beams in parallel with the Technic bricks they are mounted on, but to mount them vertically, the Grid method above must be used.
After tinkering around for a very, very long time, I figured out a way to place all the pins in the proper places to lay the angled "mag well", feeding pin, firing pin, and ratchet (or, as they are in airsoft gearboxes, the "anti-reversal latch"). I filmed a very long "update" video explaining how they all work, but it's over 17 minutes long and I talk too much, so I'm going to skip it here. Then, after almost a year of academic subjugation, I finally resumed building the rifle. I added the mechanism that I had the most trouble with: the trigger assembly. The reason I had so much difficulty with it was because I strongly avoided expanding the Grid I had already made, as I feared the stock, which would house the batteries, would be too far back. Originally, the trigger was meant to be directly connected to the batteries, but that didn't work very well. The parts that now activate the motors are a pair of PF switches. I needed two because the motors on the left side needed to spin in the opposite direction as the motors on the right side, and the control switches have a small black sliding switch on them that changes the direction of the circuit, which was very useful:
When I thought about how much trouble I went through the last time I attempted to lay the trigger switches, solely because I did not want to expand the Grid, I basically thought, "To hell with it," and I made the Grid longer. It only took a few minutes to get the perfect trigger mechanism that held the trigger at the perfect pressing angle, as you can see in this next video:
Then I ordered two more XL motors, raised the gear ratio, and perfected the ratchet release mechanism (all such guns need ratchets, because if you let go of the trigger when the mechanism just loaded a bullet without firing it, it will unwind and load a second bullet into the same chamber next time you fire, possibly exploding the gun). All these upgrades are in this next short video:
After that I rebuilt a mechanism I attempted to make before, which I call the "blocking door". Basically, it is a small piston that pops up to hold the bullet from falling out of the firing chamber, and it goes out of the way the moment before the bullet fires. This allows for the gun to fire at all angles that point downward, because otherwise the bullets just fall out before the firing pin slams into them:
As you just saw, I experimented firing with a Technic barrel but found that it caused too much friction. In Lego guns, that's unfortunately the case; the longer the barrel, the shorter firing range you get. In real steel guns, longer barrels allow the explosion to propel the bullet further, and in airsoft guns, the air compression has more room to launch the bullet (and barrels with smaller inner radii also propel the bullet with more strength). In Lego, however, although they provide more accuracy, barrels only cause friction with every shot. I figured out a simple solution to this problem: remove the top and bottom slices of the barrel. That's right, make it a rail-gun. Except without the magnets. This minimizes barrel friction while retaining accuracy on the horizontal axis, as vertical accuracy is never exceptional with Lego guns anyway. Also, I finally made a Grid for the right side of the gun, which was the most difficult step because I had a shortage of parts. I had to get creative and and use solid bricks wherever I could to harvest some extra plates and Technic bricks I needed to use elsewhere. In fact, this step was so tricky, I had to create a digital map of the Grid in LDD as an aid for the process:
Using that 3D model, I was able to completely disassemble the left-side Grid and rebuild both of them fully with black parts. Thank you Lego Digital Designer! Anyway, all the upgrades I just mentioned can be seen in the next video:
Shortly afterward, I did some body work, and "cut the corners" of most of the right-angles in the hull design. I also added sights on the hull and the barrel to add to the realism. I also perfected the ugly stock design from the last video, and made it much more convenient to turn the battery boxes on and off. Basically, I finished the gun, and I named it the LAG21A, meaning Lego Airsoft Gun, 21 round magazine, model A (as I hope to make B and C models). I also got some help from my family to film this video:
After I posted that video online I felt the need to open it up and show what's inside, and so I filmed this video of how all the internal mechanisms work. It's a long video, but at least watch the first few seconds since I spent so much time making the "laggy" intro. :)
So that's it. You have just read everything about the world's most advanced fully-automatic Lego brick shooter (yes, it really is the most advanced AUTOMATIC Lego gun, that is until someone takes this mechanism and makes it better, perhaps myself). Please leave comments if you so desire.
Focus of project: Improve and perfect ANYTHING POSSIBLE from the first generation Battlebots.
Behold, the almighty next generation Battlebots game. The first generation cannot compare to the magnitude of sheer sophistication of the new version, but it will always be remembered as the pioneer of my Lego games. The second version exhibits exceptional improvements in durability, game-play, variety of options, weapon mechanisms, and everything else that had potential for improvement. If you did not see the post about the first version of the Battlebots game please do so before moving on, you will understand the rules and whatnot: http://legoinnovations.blogspot.com/2012/07/lego-battlebots-first-generation-built.html
Above we see the Blue Bot with a Saw and spinning Flail. The Flail seen above was later revised, for the various reasons listed in the documentary video toward the bottom. But before we get to that, get a feel for the game-play (and the game rules) for yourself:
Lego Battlebots Commercial: [I strongly suggest watching this in a larger view, click the title at the top to watch right on YouTube.]
Hopefully the game seems fun to you by now, if not epic. The previous version of the game was also pretty fun, but I remember constantly intervening in a battle to repair a weapon or chassis platform, or even untangling wires caught by certain weapons (a good example for that was the saw). But the next gen game did not have this issue, at least until the end. In the first few trial runs there were a few bugs, but they were immediately addressed and fixed. All such bugs and issues and how I fixed them up are explained in the documentary video below. But first, let's see the biggest differences between the two generations of the Battlebots game:
To begin with, the platform's connection to the chassis actually had some reinforcement. Here's the old version bot, with a large vacant platform on top. The platform can easily be pried off along with everything on top of it, as it is only connected by Lego "brick" studs (which only connect by stacking) and not by any Technic pinholes (which can connect on any axis). This actually happened sometimes in battle after a few games took place, since each play loosened up the foundation of every element composing the bot.
Here I reveal to you the secret of the next-gen-bot's super-powerful platform connection. As you can see, the blue pin sticking out of the Technic "L" is running through the small black brick stacked on top of the platform edge. As mentioned, Technic parts connect on any axis, and I am utilizing this principle to lock the platform to the chassis with a horizontally placed pin, which disallows the vertical connection to pop off. This "L" is on all four corners of the bot.
You may have noticed this piece in the image above. What was this used for? Well, to begin with, this piece alone saved me from from countless in-game interventions. It connected to the platform so firmly. The weapons had virtually no effect on it. It was simply used to hold down the wires. That's it. And the only wires it had to hold down were the strips protruding off the motors powering the weapons. The rest were very well hidden and covered by the large black platform piece on which the weapons were placed. This piece was a major improvement to the whole system.
Also, the receiver, shown in red in the image above, was placed on the side of the chassis rather than on the platform. The first-gen bots had the receivers plopped right on top, as seen here. This was a huge issue as it took up a good chunk of platform space while having two extra wires running over the bot. Not only did the next-gen bots have the receivers on the sides, but their altitude was also lowered, making it impossible for any weapon to mess with the wires protruding from them.
Another improvement was the unifying of the weapon motors. In generation one, the the bots had one XL motor and one M motor to drive the weapons, because I did not have enough M's at the time. The XL motor in particular was very difficult to secure to the platform while taking minimal platform space. As a result, the entire motor occasionally dismounted off the platform (its high torque sometimes made the weapons shake the whole bot). The M motor, however, had a sturdy 4x8 brick connection secured to its bottom, making it virtually impossible for it to dismount. Generation two used only M motors to drive the weapons.
Another issue that was fixed was the faulty controller. The first gen controllers consisted of a normal remote for the chassis and a speed remote for the weapons. The reason I chose to have a speed controller was so that the weapons wouldn't get overpowered and violently shake the bot platform. Despite that, the idea proved to be a huge mess. To start off, the players (or, my fellow high school students) didn't care how much power the weapons had. I immediately realized that a game like this must work no matter who's in control, regardless of player mentality. Also, if a motor is activated by the speed remote, it will not stop until the red button below the orange dial is pressed; another thing that the players just didn't care to do. They would attack with one weapon while the one pointing backwards was still running at full speed. The new remote, as you saw in the commercial above, only used two normal remotes (which immediately engage motors at full speed) for each bot. Did the weapons end up shaking the platforms? Well, that has to do with yet another good reason for building up your parts inventory. The answer is no, because I acquired enough gears by then to reduce the weapon cycle speed, mechanically. Most of the weapons featured gear reduction of some sort (typically the ratio was 3:5)
One of the most important level ups for the second generation was the variety of parts to choose from. The biggest stretch to this principle was the all new rover chassis, which was very similar to the one I posted a while ago. I had in mind many more alternate chassis, but simply did not have the time to develop them. The rover chassis was a challenge to incorporate into the system mainly because I had to maintain consistent altitude between the two fighting bots. If one platform was higher than the other, no one would dismount the other's flags. Unfortunately, I had to add a motor to incorporate double steering, unlike the "6 Wheeler Rover" I posted earlier. When I tried hooking up just one motor, the universals and gears generated too much backlash and all I basically had was single steering. But alas, the intruding motor also made it difficult to keep the platform on the same altitude as the standard tank chassis. I ended up having to equip the tank chassis with "riser blocks" when facing a bot with the rover chassis. It wasn't a problem, it only took a few seconds to install them before every battle. The risers were simply composed of beams (like the yellow ones in the image above, between the wheels). The risers had to be removed again when both players were using tanks. Here's how the rover chassis was put to use:
As you can see, the top section, containing the platform, receivers, and weapon motors was easily removed from the tank chassis and plopped onto the rover chassis. The only extra step was rewiring the rover's driving motors to the receiver, which was connected to the tank's driving motors before installation. This process was not difficult but it was a little time consuming, as the wire strips had to be wrapped around certain areas where enemy weapons could not reach. But before this, the strips from the tank's motors had to be unwrapped from their "safe zones" in order to fully detach the platform from the tread base.
Moving on with the parts variety, the turret mount was a great addition. The turret allowed the player to make the choice of sacrificing one of the two weapons so that the remaining one could rotate. The turret did not rotate a full circle endlessly, as this would cause the wires to twist up indefinitely and tear up the bot. I researched mechanisms that would still permit 360 degree rotation in such a circumstance, but I could not fit such a mechanism between the chassis and its weapons platform. The clearance space between the two was about a millimeter. Also, the turret mount gave the bot a completely new platform, which was much smaller than the standard one. This made game play even more interesting, because the user could rotate his flags away from enemy attacks BUT all the flags had to be grouped up close together. A single attack from an enemy could potentially win the game.
In addition to keeping things various, there were now four flags instead of one large and ugly one (which didn't even look like a flag). As you can see in the old Battlebots, the so-called "flag" was really a stack of two lego brick panels (seen left), which were also the only indicators of the bot's color (as seen on right). This worked well with the first generation weapons but it would've been awful for the next. I decided that four flags would be okay, and I tried to keep the base dimensions as it was before. What I mean is that the first generation "flag" had a 1x4 platform connection, and I tried to split that into four 1x1 platform flags, like this:
But these flags proved to be faulty. Their connection to the platform was far to delicate and the mere rattling of the bot's movements loosened them up. I also came to realize that because most of the weapons were geared down, they would be more powerful than the weapons of the previous generation, and so I needed flags with a larger base connection. The solution worked great; the new flags required a perfect amount of force to be dismounted fairly:
The updated flags had a 2x2 base, and although this matched the platform area of the single 1x4 flag (from gen one), the new weapons worked very well for taking out all of them (well, most of them anyway). I used a different, longer rod that went through a hole in the 2x2 brick cylinder for each flag. And of course, the fact that they actually looked like flags made the players happy.
Because there were now four times as many targets as before, I applied a game rule that in the event that the game isn't ending, the battle should last for up to 4 minutes. When there was only one flag to "kill" in generation one, games usually lasted about 3 minutes, since sometimes the flag wouldn't come off with just one attack (which made it even more fun!). But generation two needed some extra legislation to keep the game play flowing evenly. I recall about two or so battles (out of about 40) where the time limit had to end the game. The record time for winning was 17 seconds, as you will see in the short documentary video about the whole system below. The above is merely a comparison between the two versions of the game; but the video explains all the inner workings of the new version.
Here's a quick synopsis of all the parts available to build a Battlebot. All their specifics will be made clear in the video that follows:
Chassis:
Red Tank, Blue Tank
-Standard tank chassis
Rover
-Six-wheeled vehicle; had double steering and the drive train drove the center wheels
Weapons:
Saw
-Double bladed rotating weapon
Hogger
-Sine-graph generator mechanism with pincers
Flail
-Literally a rotating flail
Stinger
-Series of parallelogram shifts causing linear motion
Hammer
-Lever with a hammering motion with two wheels at the end
Sweeper
-Piston held at the other end to cause a leaf-raking motion
Punchers
-Two parallel pistons with ax-like parts at the ends
Drills
-Two parallel rotating tridents
Twister
-Two crazy arm-like blades that spin in opposite directions
Missile Launcher
-Launches four missiles consecutively
Chainsaw
-Horizontally mounted toothed belt.
Accessories:
Turret Mount [there was a rule that the Missile Launcher and the Flail could not be mounted to this, as the missiles were of limited ammo (only one weapon per turret!) and the Flail could take off all of your own flags from the tiny platform].
-Allowed the small platform on top (along with one weapon and four flags) to rotate 90 degrees left and 90 degrees right.
And now, without further delay, the documentary:
[I do suggest watching this on a bigger screen as well; click the title to see it on the YouTube page.]
And there you have it. There's not much more I can deliver about this system except for the fact that I initially planned for many more chassis and weapon options, but simply did not have the time (or even the parts, maybe) to do so. The idea for a quadruped walker might have been over the top, along with automatic guns with re-loadable clips. Oh well. I guess it was as good as it was going to get.
Lego Battlebots: Second Generation
PF Contents:
2 Battery Boxes
1 XL Motor
12 M Motors
6 Receivers
4 Remotes
Focus of project: Compactness, durability As school kept drowning me with work, I tried my best to commence construction of the next generation Battlebots. Unfortunately, my luck for that did not come just yet. Instead, I built four identical tanks each coded with a specific color, with which all kinds of games could be played. Up to four people could play, and if there were less than four people, players could choose to control a second tank, but only one at a time. Also against my luck, no footage of game-play was taken, as I did not imagine the need for it back then. Nonetheless, the various games I experimented with weren't too boring. I made photographic instructions on how to build one of these, so I have a photo of all four tanks:
Here's a closer look at the gearing. The motors would be connected behind the orange sprockets. Examples of games include capture the flag, "hockey", "football", and a few more unnamed games. The objects used were 4x4 cubes of all colors, and a cylindrical "puck" for hockey. The cubes looked like this (there were many more):
The playing field was typically constructed using masking tape and 4 sharpies, each matching one of the tank's colors. The playing field looked like this:
The ring in the middle represents the puck's position if the game at hand was hockey. The black territorial marks were only taped when all four players decided to play 2 vs 2. Games involving not only the cubes but also the colors of the cubes were amusing in particular. There were so many possibilities of games to be played, as is always the case with any lego project.
Focus of project: Functionality, Color theme. The Arm Rover was by far my largest Lego creation. I would have liked to make it autonomous, but the financial necessities for that would shoot through the roof. However, the remote control functionality wasn't lacking whatsoever; all mechanical aspects worked fine in that form. As I started this blog two years after making the Arm Rover, I already have a long video about its features, so there's little need for a wall of text describing the specifics. But before we go deeper, let's watch a quick demonstration of this robot:
As you saw it is quite large, yet very good at handling small objects, such as the white die. In this video however the batteries were running low, since the Rover had been sitting in my house for about a year. The base moves at a considerable speed on full battery.
If you are willing to take the time to watch the following overview (as opposed to reading pages and pages of description), feel free to do so. I originally planned to leave this video for anyone who'll inherit my lego parts, but realized it would be a good idea to put it on YouTube. This video is also the reason why I omitted textual description:
I also happen to have an image of all the separated parts used in the Arm Rover:
Arm Rover
PF Contents:
3 Battery Boxes
2 XL Motors
12 M Motors
5 Receivers
4 Remotes
1 Pair of LEDs
6 Linear Actuators
Focus of projects: Same as in Part 1, only with improvements in design. This is the "next generation" series of Lego Transformers that I made about a year after the ones in Part 1. Unfortunately there wasn't that many, and as mentioned in Part 1 I had another tank transformer that didn't survive long enough for documentation.
Cube Transformer:
This was one of my personal favorites, although unfortunately it did not prove to be so durable as I would have liked. Both modes were pretty sturdy, but it was difficult to transform it without something falling off. The faces of the cubes were labeled from 1 to 6 in red plates.
Post-Apocalyptic Junkyard Rig Transformer:
You can probably guess that I really don't have a name for this thing. I just really wanted to make something out of the orange wheels, and this is what came about. The biggest difference with this one and the others was the heavy use of Bionicle parts, which made the body very sturdy. I remember building way past my bedtime to complete all the internal movable parts, to the point I was forced to drop it and go to sleep (I was about 12 at the time). This was my most complicated Transformer. Somehow, it still sits in my room collecting dust as the years go by.
Go-Kart Transformer:
Go-Kart, Indy Racer, whatever. This is one of my personal favorites and I say "is" because I also still have this one in possession. There is simply no need to take it apart as I have duplicates of almost everything in it. It is simple, small, and easy to transform, yet both modes look very distinct from one another. I also made this model in Lego Digital Designer, both in vehicle and robot mode. Also, as small as it is, the robot mode has quite a few joints in it.
There is also a video that I made for it years after I built it:
And yes, another embarrassing video:
I'm sorry to say, but "Transformers Battle 2" was discontinued a long time ago. Part 1 is all I have. And that's it for Part 2 of my Lego Transformers. I will now revert to posts of Power Functions creations.
Focus of projects: Make both vehicle mode and robot mode look legitimate Okay, I'm going to take a break from chronology to show you all what got me started in lego engineering. When I was really young, I made a few of these Lego "transformers" that would look like vehicles but if you moved some parts around they became humanoid robots. I've always been a fan of the official toys, even though I had close to none, and the live action movies also compel me with the special effects (although the story could have been much better). Unfortunately, the transformers I made in the old days were not documented in any way, but after a while I started taking pictures and eventually videos of such works. I'll start with the oldest and progress from there. On a side note, everything shown in this post was made way before I had any Power Functions elements. And also, parts never had to be physically detached to complete any transformation.
Giant Helicopter Transformer:
Above I present my first Lego transformer to be photographed. It was definitely larger than all the ones I made before it, and thus it was my favorite lego creation at the time. This helicopter did have its laughable areas, like only having two main rotors and looking like a boat from a top view, but nonetheless it was fully transformable. Initially the Gatling guns on the sides were not there, but they were added without removing any parts.
Here we have the cockpit opened to reveal the tiny pilot inside. Unfortunately, the missiles you see there were on the robot's back, pointing down. However the Gatling guns were still in a good spot:
You may notice some proportionality with its human form, like the wide space between the legs, but I didn't have the right parts to change such things back then. As you see one of the hands actually has fingers, while the other bares the rear helicopter rotors as a permanent weapon. The Gatling guns could move vertically but not horizontally. Also, the feet were unfortunately pretty delicate.
Car Transformer:
This one was a little strange; it used the large robot joints from the Lego Exo-Force series despite its small size. Excuse the layout of the pictures; this blog only allows really small images to be side by side.
Fighter Jet Transformer:
This was also a strange one, since the vehicle mode looked much nicer than the robot mode. Another difference with this model was that it had a distinct color theme.
Tank Transformer:
A while after making this I made a newer, better Transformer that turned into a similar tank, but it somehow got dismantled before I could document it. I remember the rubber tracks being part of the arms instead of the back. This one here was unfortunately quite delicate.
Helicopter Transformer:
This one was also a bit delicate, but it was one of the "cooler" ones. The robot's head was hidden really well and could only come out after moving the white flaps down and rotating the entire driver's cabin. The helicopter tail along with its rotor was removed to be transformed into a handheld weapon, where the rotor was utilized as a saw.
As much as I dread the following, I force myself to present to you the following videos relating to four of the above Transformers. I was a young child back then with the bare-minimum tools to make these videos, so bear with me. There also may be no need to watch the instructional videos.
Car Transformer (super embarrassing):
Lego Transformers Battle (this is what tripods are for):
How to build my Car Transformer:
How to build my Helicopter Transformer:
That's it for part 1. These were all the first to be documented and presented to you in chronological order. As these were the early birds, I don't have high regard for their designs, along with issues in physical delicacy and color variation. Most robots were made around 2007.
