Repaints & Minor Mods How to Mod CW Heads?

[Brawn84]

Im not sure if this is the best place to put this but here goes. I was gonna make a Ratchet out of a CW First Aid. I figured CW Prowl's head looked pretty close to Ratchet's. The problem is the bots each have different size ball & sockets with First AIDS being the bigger ball. What's the solution to this? Sand down First Aid's ball and neck? Open up the hole in Prowls head? Also I'm left without a head that will fit tight on the ball on Prowl. Is there another bot head that might work? Or should I just try to hunt down a Universe Ratchet???

[elburrito]

The Kreo Ratchet head is another potential option. I think I even have one around. I'll look. I would advise against removing plastic. If you are going to start cutting, consider digging out the pegs and swapping them. For a really loose joint, one can wedge any number of things in there, plastecene, masking tape, white glue. Good luck!

[Tekkamanraiden]

I know shapeways had some 3d prints for CW, not sure if they had one for a Ratchet mod.

[Shepp]

Okay, here's exactly how I did it.

-You will need a CW First-Aid figure, and a CW Ironhide figure to do this.
-Super glue or Kraggle/Krazy glue
-Also a dremel with a sanding/grinding bit
-plus a small portion of plastic sheet to cut out Ratchet's crest.

Step 1: remove First Aid's and Ironhide's heads.

Step 2: use the dremel to remove Ironhide's mohawk, and shave down the two cheek guards. I messed up a bit on mine and ended up scraping the nose, so I just ended up taking all the paint off the front surface of the nose. This will make Ironhide's head less like Ironhide.

Step 3: cut out a crest from the white plastic sheeting, curve it slightly, and then super glue it to Ironhide's head. Make sure the crest fits within the boundaries of the head space, test fit on the First Aid body by transforming the figure into all modes and moving it around. This'll make sure that the crest is secure and fits without hindering anything.

Step 4: this is the hard/easy part. The First Aid figure's torso is actually white plastic painted red. So now all you have to do is carefully take the dremel and sand/grind down the parts you don't want in red. I left the waist on mine in red, and removed some red to add detailing. I left the center of the chest in red, since that's actual red plastic, and carefully removed around the window parts.

Step 5: put the gray axe and CW hand/foot onto your new CW Ratchet

Step 6: put First Aid's head on Ironhide's body. give the black axe and CW hand/foot to the new nameless figure I like to call Redneck. (well, I plan on painting him green to make a CW Hoist, but for now he just talks like Dale Gribble).



I left the crest uneven because it was my third attempt and it just looks like some battle damage.

[Brawn84]

I do have an Ironhide. I took some of the grey parts off his arms and put them on first Aid. Was gonna do the same thing with the legs, ( I can't remember if it's a pin or a screw at the knee joint), but didn't have time yet. I was thinking of using the Ironhide head at first but couldn't figure out the creast, so I figures Prowls head would work until I realized they had different sized ball and sockets. Thanks for the tips!

[Shepp]

If you have an old white dvd case handy that you don't need anymore, that plastic might work.

On another note, I'm not sure if Energon Deluxe Checkpoint's head might fit CW First Aid's neck ball. It's got a crest and is white.

[GotBot]

This is a really great mod job. I personally would adjust the paint a bit, just personal preference, but you did some really nice work. I used plastic much the same way to make evasion prime's faceplate. Anyone doubting how sturdy attaching a piece like the crest might be, I assume yours is pretty solid? It looks solid. I like the hoist idea mentioned too.

[Shepp]

Originally Posted by GotBot

This is a really great mod job. I personally would adjust the paint a bit, just personal preference, but you did some really nice work. I used plastic much the same way to make evasion prime's faceplate. Anyone doubting how sturdy attaching a piece like the crest might be, I assume yours is pretty solid? It looks solid. I like the hoist idea mentioned too.

And to think this took me a half hour on my lunch one day. Thanks.

The reason the crest is more solid is because I removed the mohawk and curved it. More surface area for the bonding. Still, I just don't touch it just in case. It's one of the few I don't let my 2 year old son play with.

[zuffyprime]

Shep that's incredible man! Can't believe that only took you half an hour

[Malwave]

Worst case, buy the Universe 2.0 Ratchet and use that head maybe?