writes:Having painted up one Transformer toy to add a Battle Mech to my Mechanoids army for Alien Squad Leader, I was tempted to do it again. I don't need another Battle Mech for my 100-point army, but when has that ever stopped me?
I started by slicing the vinyl toy into three pieces: legs, torso and gun. The gun will be discarded and replaced. Cutting at the waist allows some reposing, so the second mecha is not a clone of the first. The vinyl is easily cut with snippers or a sharp hobby knife, and can be carved and sanded to remove rough spots.
To securely connect the body, I drilled holes in the vinyl and inserted a bit of toothpick.
Above, you can see the reconstructed Megatron, with his torso now rotated to the left, and his arm now angling downward.
For a new weapon, I raided one of the weapon packs from the Final Faction action figure series. This is a laser gatling gun (one of a pair). It is made of bendy plastic, and the barrels are designed to spin.
My intent is to glue the new weapon where the old one used to be.
Above, you can see the gun attached. I've flipped the gun over, so that the attachment peg is now on top. The spinning gun barrels are glued down. (I probably should have drilled holes in the gun barrels…)
Mechatron is now based and ready for priming and painting.
Shortly after I took that picture, Mechatron took a spill and his base and weapon broke off. I then chose to use the toothpick technique to more firmly attach the weapon to the arm, and the legs to the base.
Priming, painting, decal and flocking were identical to the previous mecha, except that I used a silver marker to highlight the gun barrels.
And here is the finished Mechatron.
Or is he a Megatroid?
The new weapon is more detailed than the original! In Alien Squad Leader, the exact weapons don't matter, which makes conversions easy to fit into an army list.
This will boost my army list to 123 points.
This was a fun, quick project.
Next, I need an Installation for my Mechatron army…