Opti-Beast Prime

[Ditchrat]

I made a deal with my son going into 3rd grade that if he brought up his grades that i would give him money towards his half of new rig. Since its going to be his truck also I let him decide on what its going to look like. He wanted a 6x6 so we went with a rv4wd beast and he said he wantes optimus prime. So i ordered up the kit Friday and its on the way. Ill be doing the body he is doing all the chassis work.
Here is the inspiration, old school Prime.

[JatoTheRipper]

This is going to be awesome!

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[Ditchrat]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

This is going to be awesome!

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Dont get too excited I'm not a styrene master.
However expect to see spike, energon cubes and some how i am going to work out making the bed the weapons lab thats in the trailer. The lab will either have a turret or a restrained megatron.

The one neat thing we already have is that when you press the front grill emblem it will say i am optimus prime and transformers roll out.

[EeePee]

Originally Posted by Ditchrat

Dont get too excited I'm not a styrene master.

Step it up!

Could be awesome. Don't let us down.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by Ditchrat

Dont get too excited I'm not a styrene master.
However expect to see spike, energon cubes and some how i am going to work out making the bed the weapons lab thats in the trailer. The lab will either have a turret or a restrained megatron.

The one neat thing we already have is that when you press the front grill emblem it will say i am optimus prime and transformers roll out.

I refuse to custom build with styrene so whatever you do will be better than what I could do!

[Ditchrat]

Always fun doing a theme. This morning we did the blue ridge flea market for some exercise and entertainment but just happen to find something for the project.
Best thing about it is that it is from the same 1980 era as the og optimus inspiration.

I found this 1982 gi joe turret that swivels and elevates. The gunners seat is the exact right size for the spike witwiky action figure of the time or I can get a minicon to man it. Although minicons are not g1. Either way it is a start. Next will be finding the right optimus purple and find a way to mount it to a servo to rotate. Might even use a servo to elevate it. The reality of it is hacking a gt3c is cheap and looks to be easy. So it might be possible to have a couple other actions on the remote.

Next project to think about is figuring out how to make "roller". Might have to see a man about 3d printing it

I think the best part of this project it that it is going to take a ton of time, which for me means lots of dad and son time and chances to teach him how to be creative.

Eepee-going to do our best.






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[Ditchrat]

Thr kit arrived two days ago. The first night I went through all the parts, separated out the body and put the mechanicals a side. The kiddo is spending his last couple days before school with the grandparents, I'm sure when he gets back tomorrow night he will start his build.

Last night i spent some time on the body, tonight i start sanding an filling.

We all have seen kit builds so nothing new here. I'll put up some pictures periodically as we move forward. Once i get the making it Optimus Prime I will detail the build a little more.

I have a few ideas brewing to make this build more then a theme paint job. Nothing over the top.

Heading down to the hobby shop this weekend for materials. I am imagining a steering console in a 1970s-1980s style. Brightly colored flashing buttons. I cant find a piture of the inside of the crashed autobot space ship so i may draw off star trek OG computers.





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[Rickleo]

If you're talking about Teletraan 1 here's a couple of pics I found. Hope they help. Can't wait to see this build finish.

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[Ditchrat]

Originally Posted by Rickleo

If you're talking about Teletraan 1 here's a couple of pics I found. Hope they help. Can't wait to see this build finish.

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That is exactly what I am looking for. Couldn't remember the name, thank you. Not sure how it is going to work out, but that's going to be the style and color palate I'm using.

Opinions-Should Optimus have a steering wheel?

[Rickleo]

Optimus should have a steering wheel. They're robots in disguise. What's more suspicious than a 18 wheeler being driven with no steering wheel.lol

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[Ditchrat]

Duh, point taken.

[Ditchrat]

Did a little work on the turret last night and tested out this morning.

A good proof of concept, now to make it work with the rig.






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https://youtu.be/U0nVQxjhsow

[calcagno45]

ooo that's nice!!

[Chris81]

Very cool, you could modify the servo so that it will rotate continously. If you've never done it look up some YouTube videos on making a servo winch.

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[OSRC]

Optimus has a steering wheel for sure. Can see it spinning in the '86 movie as he is running down Decepticons.

Great build! Reminds me of Beast Hunters Optimus

[Ditchrat]

Originally Posted by Chris81

Very cool, you could modify the servo so that it will rotate continously. If you've never done it look up some YouTube videos on making a servo winch.

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I was considering that however. Ever winch I have always inadvertently gets turned on. If I continuously rotate it the barrel would hit the side of the bed or cab. I am going to elevate the base somewhat, but I want the turret, when the barrels are lowered to not be the first thing that touches the ground when a roll over occurs.

Basically I am concerned about my kid snapping off something if the stops are not still in.

Maybe a cheap servo with a really low stall weight. I appreciate the suggestion.

[Chris81]

I used a little $5 esc from ebay to solve the servo creep problem, works pretty good.

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[Ditchrat]

The boy is starting on his assembly responsibilities, mechanical and chassis.

Slow and steady. Greasing and thread locker for the win.

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[Ditchrat]

Moving ahead a little at a time. The boy has the chassis frame just about completed. He stripped and rebuilt the axles, too. So they are ready to go.
Transmission and transfer case have been stripped down and recieved a coat of paint to match the under carriage of the bed.

Did some work on the turret, mechanicals are complete and I built a base to mount it on. Now i have the tedious task of sticker glue removal. I have to find a solvent that won't trash the plastic.








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[Rickleo]

Nice progress. I like that color scheme. Can't wait to see how Prime's cab turns out

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