Customizing Q&A Thread

[Scrapper6]

How would one go about changing the size of a part after casting a mold from an existing piece...

I've got a vintage Pretender Skullgrin with his weapons intact, but the guns are far too large to look nice with the Generations figure and I got to thinking, if I were to cast some kind of mold of the weapons could I then modify it to a better size?

How would I even make a mold of it to begin with?

I also want to make a mold of his sword so I can modify it to be slightly thinner with the peg, as the peg is just slightly larger than his fist when closed, thus causes slight stress marks to begin to appear around his thumb area which I only just noticed today. And I don't want to just sand down the vintage piece as that would ruin the Pretender Shell's ability to hold it properly.

I was thinking I might also glue or find some way to attach one of th C Joints onto the sword so it can clip onto him in tank mode, haven't decided if I'd modify the guns to do the same yet.

As for the C Joint clip, I can just find a few loose weapons off a junker Skullgrin and canibalize them, and I'm sure I can figure out what to do from there with some careful thinking and observation, but I still am not certain the best way to make a mold from the existing G1 parts I've got, or how to modify the size of the mold to be more in scale, and also how to cast the new piece, like materials and cost wise.

What areas would I be looking in, in the way of cost and materials needs for molding the parts, adjusting the molds to scale and all that.

Or is it too ambitious a project to undertake for a simple garage kit customizer who hasn't customized thing one in his life and has grand plans, but never acts on them?


Edit: The more I think about it, the more I look at Skullgrin, and his classic shell, the more I'm seeing how I might even be able to craft some sort of add-on kit for the guy, had I the design chops necessary to create additional attachment pieces for him in robot mode to mimic certain design cues from his classic Pretender shell and differentiate his base structure from Darkmount further than just the repaint. Unfortunately this would take careful planning and foresight, not to mention ingenuity in designing things, which I perhaps do not have a grand enough vision to pull off.

I mean his robot mode has that huge gap in the back kibble, with a properly scalled piece to fit into the open section you could easily give him added back with the four spikes and odd tech detailing the Pretender shell has. And his shoulders could get those extra spikes, maybe even find a way to create a semi-pretender shell that attaches to him in certain ways and sort of make a modern take on the pretenders, where the shell is more like extra armor... Now, the question is, how to incorporate all of these added bits into vehicle mode, not to mention how to create them without any real know-how or ingenuity??? HMMMM.

[Mumps]

I have a Micromaster that has a missing bit, factory QC error. I just happen to have a spare of this bot, and I would like to switch the bits from one bot to the other, but I am not sure how to deal with the glue.



As you can see, the bot in the middle is missing it's ass piece. I want to take the ass piece from the bot on the right, to the bot on the middle. How can I dissolve the glue to get this piece off, without damaging the rest of the toy, or the piece?

[Megatronimus]

Whats the best way to fix Rhinox's head?

Whats the best way to remove the mutant head, get rid of the hinge pegs, and paint over the sides of the head?

I tried google, but no luck.

[racerguy76]

Originally Posted by Mumps

I have a Micromaster that has a missing bit, factory QC error. I just happen to have a spare of this bot, and I would like to switch the bits from one bot to the other, but I am not sure how to deal with the glue.



As you can see, the bot in the middle is missing it's ass piece. I want to take the ass piece from the bot on the right, to the bot on the middle. How can I dissolve the glue to get this piece off, without damaging the rest of the toy, or the piece?

Instead of hacking apart another head to get the piece, why not make one out of styrene/plastic, drill a hole and glue it on? You can get thicker pieces(2mm thick) or layer 3 or 4 thinner pieces. I would think that would be much easier.

[Mumps]

Originally Posted by racerguy76

Instead of hacking apart another head to get the piece, why not make one out of styrene/plastic, drill a hole and glue it on? You can get thicker pieces(2mm thick) or layer 3 or 4 thinner pieces. I would that would be much easier.

I just think it would be easier to do the swap. That way I don't have to bother buying styrene, and a drill >.>

[racerguy76]

Then the easiest way I have found to seperate pieces that are glued together is to use a razor blade or sharp knife to cut along the seam/edges that is/are glued. It's really the only way to ensure you get a clean break when seperating the pieces. The glue that is used actually melts the two parts together. You can try prying with a flatblade screwdriver, but chances are it will break.

[Mumps]

Originally Posted by racerguy76

You can try prying with a flatblade screwdriver, but chances are it will break.

Most likely, since these are so tiny. Thanks for the help, I will post the results when I can.

[chans formers]

^try heat,as in boiling water/hair dryer/etc.
it may soften the glue enough to seperate it easier.

[bedtime]

a couple of questions: one kind of specific...

1) whats the ideal way to get a pin out? ie the pin that holds rts wreck-gars shoulder thingies on?

2) is that joint at his waist a ball joint? like, if i try pulling him apart at that joint will it just pop off, or will i break something?

[Megatronimus]

Hey guys, I asked this ealier, but Im picking up a 10th Anniversary Rhinox tomorrow, and I wanna know how is the best way to remove the mutant head and get rid of the hinge nubs.