Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Transformers DOTM Voyager Class Megatron Part 3

Optimus Prime's evil brother

Reversal of what I did between Part 1 and Part 2 - transforming "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" Voyager Class Megatron (back) from vehicle mode into robot mode. ^^


The rear cover and front half of the oil tank have to be removed first.


Forming Megatron's cape, the truck's rear cover has a separate hood piece that is hidden inside it. The hood can be swung outward via the straight peg connecting between the parts.


Megatron's cape id done.


The Fusion Cannon is deployed using its "Mechtech" weapon gimmick as shown in the previous posting.


For Megatron himself, the first step in transformation is to release a tab beneath the smokestack on either side of the truck.


180-degree backward tilt for the tabs to form the side skirt armors (?).


Going all the way to the back of the truck, the rear bumper is split in half and folded to the side. The rear portion of the oil tank is separated as well.


The truck is turned over for the remaining transformation steps for the legs.


The mecha components beneath the oil tank are folded inward to form Megatron's feet.


The oil tanks are swung upward until they are on the same line as the knee armors. The tanks now forms the calves and heels of the legs.


The double hinge joint between the two leg components that enables the previously shown transformation step.


The side panel (rear bumper and wheels) on both sides of the truck are bent and folded to the front via their dedicated double hinge joint.


With the side panels folded to the front, a tab on the rear bumper piece can fit into its dedicated slot beneath the foot very accurately to lock the side panel in place properly. ^^


At the middle section of the truck, the wheel panels are pulled downward to reveal the hip joints.


The wheels can be tucked inward to fill up the gap behind the thighs.


The crotch pieces is folded all the way to the front of the robot (top side of the truck) until it snaps into a polygonal slot beneath the abdomen.


The lower legs are swiveled to the front to complete the legs' transformation.


For the arms, they are released from their storage space beneath the truck by lifting them up for 90 degrees.


The black bumper, and subsequently the hood of the truck are split.


Using the hinge joint behind it, each half of the bumpers is lifted upward for 90 degrees.
The joints are quite hard to move for some reason, and the bumper pieces would often come off instead, since they aren't securely connected to the grilles of the truck.


Each front half of the truck, forming Megatron's shoulder and arm is rotated to the side via the shoulder's hinge joint.


Previously folded and collapsed into the wrist area (very much like Shockwave's design actually ^^), the hands/claws are folded outward.


90-degree bend at upper arm level. The front wheel should be sitting on the outer side of the upper arm after this particular step.


The arms are folded downward.
The limbs' transformation is nearly done. ^^


A somewhat "cosmetic" but important step: the bumper piece must be swung around and tabbed onto the top of each shoulder properly. Before achieving that final step, the bumper piece must be folded downward first.


The purpose of bending the bumper piece downward is to avoid the conflict between the protruding light gray tab on the surface of the shoulder.


The bumper piece is swung around via a separated ball-type joint that connects it to the light gray joint block. Next, using the brown hinge joint, the bumper piece is bent inward until its hook is fastened to the top of the shoulder armor.


Progress of the overall transformation so far. ^^
Only the body and head remain.


From behind the chest, the head is bend upward.


The smokestacks and truck roof are folded flat against Megatron's back.


Maneuvering its multiple hinge joints all at the same time, the grille block is collapsed and folded inward to form Megatron's chest.


The "inner" bumpers are split right down the middle, and each half of that is then angled outward. The tracks on which the bumper pieces move will forced them to slide upward as well, revealing a set of fang-like details behind them. ^^


The upper body is swung to the front for 180 degrees to complete the main robot's transformation sequence. ^^


The short peg beneath the Fusion Cannon allows it to be mounted onto Megatron's forearm.



All done for a cape-less Megatron. ^^


To equip the cape to Megatron, the head should be lifted for a slight degree, and the left shoulder should be bent downward slightly as well.
Lifting the head is to make sure that it's clearly visible when the hood is applied. The action on the left shoulder is to ensure that the cape sits as low as possible on that position so that the hood that is linked to the cape doesn't "poke" upward and generate an unnatural look. ^^;


A dedicated slot for the hood's peg can be seen on top of the right shoulder.
The same slot is available on the left shoulder as well, even though it's really pointless for the hood to be pegged there. ^^;


Pirate Megatron is done. ^^

The transformation design is similar to that of Optimus Prime, particularly the Leader Class version I think. Even with its oil tank attached, the entire rear section of Megatron's truck mode transforms into his legs. The truck's hood area forms the arms and the head emerges from within the cockpit module as well. The very obvious "muscular" design of the abdomen area is shared between the two mecha as well - Optimus Prime in the third movie was redesigned to have six pack abs. ^^

Then again, most trucks would have some common features in their transformation design due to the vehicle's design I suppose. For Megatron, I like how many of the transformable components actually providing the figure with articulation points. The shoulders, lower legs and chest area are good examples of this design application.

More images of Megatron in robot mode coming up next. ^^

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