Keropla God Keron Part 37

Power down?
A look at Giroro Robo Mk-II's transformation to its mobile tank mode after the previous posting. ^^


With a pair of machine guns as its hands, there's no handheld weapon whatsoever that needs to be detached before the transformation process. ^^


Both shoulder blocks are hinged to the back of the body for 180 degrees.


The missiles are retracted back into their respective shoulder blocks.


Both forearms are bent upward for 90 degrees.


The cannons above the shoulder blocks are flipped to the front.


(Left) Front view of the cannons in tank mode. Funnily, it seems like Giroro is going to shoot his own head off if he fires the cannons. ^^;
(Right) The cannons' forward tilt is stopped by the rear edge of the cockpit part.


The legs are completely straightened, with the caterpillar tracks adjusted to be facing directly forward.


Using their "ankle" joints, the caterpillar tracks are folded upward from the front for 90 degrees.


Next, using the hip joints, the legs are swung to the back and tucked beneath the forearms.


(Left) Sufficient clearance between the back of the legs to not collide with the forearms.
(Right) The upside-down look of the sticker on the right caterpillar is well expected after I realized the mistake back in Part 21. ^^; Luckily, the bad look is only visible in this tank mode. ^^;
More images of Giroro Robo Mk-II in tank mode:









Closeups on the details:










Bottom view:




Giroro Robo Mk-II's transformation design is pretty much identical to the cruise mode of Tamama Submarine, but with even simpler sequences and fewer gimmicks. While I like how the golden plates and yellow vent areas on either side of the shoulder blocks are now revealed in full, the design of this mobile tank mode doesn't really make sense at all. ^^; Out of the three arm weapons, the smallest one - the shoulder cannons are selected to be the main weapon, while the other two are being stored on the back, presumably not deployable in this mode. ^^; Also, since there's no significant change to the caterpillar tracks in either mode, it's hard to really tell how the role may have changed after the transformation. ^^;

It's a very anticlimactic design in that sense, as the tank mode features a huge reduction in firepower for the benefit of being a more compact mecha it seems. Then again, as a model kit meant for kids, the novelty of having the transformation gimmick is more important than logic and reasoning no doubt. It has cannon turrets on top of the body, and caterpillars beneath it, that's enough for the mecha to be called a tank already. XD Still, I prefer the robot mode for the full display of its weaponry. ^^

Comparison with Keroro Jet and Tamama Submarine




Very compact indeed. ^^

As mentioned in Part 35, Kururu and Kururu Robo Mk-II will be up next but not so soon. ^^