Transformable Kre-O Ultimate Optimus Prime

[pascal]

At first there was nothing. Then I tried to add a Powermaster partner. I failed. Then I tried to add an engine that would transform into a jetpack and a battle helmet for the super mode. Not convincing enough. Then I thought about doing an engine that would transform into a weapon for the super mode. Weapon ended up being too small (looked more like a pistol). So here's what I came up with: an engine that stays attached and transforms into an integrated dual cannon in truck mode, the only mode without any weaponry so far. Stealth Force mode!

Front view: all looks normal, save for a couple new hinges next to the grill



Oh look, they open up and there's an engine inside!



First flip the entire engine block forward and then flip back the central part and this is what you get:





Stealth Force mode (w/ trailer)



Transformation to robot mode is unchanged.

Robot mode - back view



Robot mode - top view



All was good until here, but then I came across a problem: I couldn't attach the jetpack in super mode anymore! before the jetpack used to peg right in the middle of where the grill was and sandwich the front the of the truck on the other side. Now with the central part full of hinges and stuff, it wasn't possible anymore.

So I redesigned the front part of the trailer (the jetpack) once again, made the hitch pin longer (to move it slightly away from the robot) and move it to the very front (so it would peg lower on the backpack, under the grill), changed the cover plate (made it shorter to gain some clearance behind Prime's head), then added hinged "grabbers" on the front of the truck that magically end up pegging on the only nubs available on the T bar AND fitting under the top portion of the cab in truck mode. Still had to redesign one last time the front of the truck to move those hinges in the middle of the plate to make the jetpack perfectly perpendicular to the ground.

Robot mode - engine flipped forward, ready for super mode



Top view



Hitch pin pegged on the backpack



Grabbers pegged to the T bar



Voilà! I don't think there's much left to improve at this point, the list of features is getting long:

TRUCK MODE

-front grill that reveals an engine that converts into a weapon
-functional trailer

ROBOT MODE

-hitch that turns into a weapon
-hidden weapon under the left arm
-chest windows open up to reveal the matrix of leadership
-full range of articulation

SUPER MODE

-trailer transforms into armor
-hidden upper arm weapons (both arms)
-trailer feet double as forearm weapons (both arms)
-full range of articulation preserved

[pascal]

Showing the trailer...

TRAILER MODE







BROKEN DOWN INTO INDIVIDUAL COMPONENTS



COMPONENTS TRANSFORMED INTO SUPER PARTS

[pascal]

COMBINATION (with a slightly older version of the cab)

1. Place Prime's feet on each plateform then flip up the shin guards



2. Open the rearview mirrors, peg the chest armor onto the waist, fold the top portion back so it follows the shape of the chest and close the rearview mirrors against the chest armor



3. Rotate the first around, peg in the arm extensions and flip up the wrist cannons (the trailer's feet)



4. Place Prime's gun onto the support struts on the jetpack.



5. Fold up the thrusters on the jetpack.



6. Slide the jetpack all the down Prime's backpack.



7. Peg the hitch onto Prime's back plate.



Combination complete!

[pascal]

Super mode

[pascal]

Cab...

[pascal]

Still working on that thing. I was thinking about doing a 2nd Prime with a different transformation to accommodate a human driver, but then I started messing around with the 2nd Prime I had just built using Echo's instructions (the one that started it all), proceeded to empty the upper torso to see how much space I could gain... the rest is history.

TRUCK MODE







I've also doubled the tires on the rear and completely redesigned the hitch/weapon to make the rear end sturdier and give Prime more firepower.

Can you see someone inside?



Ta-dam!



Complete with steering wheel in the right position! Which was not an easy task, there's zero clearance between the steering wheel and the driver's feet.

Also, Stealth force mode preserved! Had to redesign the engine block to make it thinner and gain some more clearance.



Better view of the inside... you can see the seat.



ROBOT MODE

Looks the same at first glance...



The seat ends up hanging off the butt.



The steering wheel can be folded forward on top of the engine block.



Chest cavity...



With a small fold down matrix! In truck mode, it folds flat against the roof.



And Prime is still fully combinable with his trailer. I won't lie, I had to superglue tons of parts for it to hold itself together. It's starting to be heavy, the joints are starting to wear out after the countless transformations, but once I'm 200% happy with it, I might proceed to build a second one and do the instructions. Parts count must be through the roof at this point.

[pascal]

More revisions!

-Gone is the weird angle of the upper arms in truck mode! To fix that, I had to remove some plates behind. They were preventing the arms to fold flat against the central beam, giving the cab its former slight "V" shape. Also had to make the forearms narrower to make the cab a perfect cube, the inner parts were touching the seat inside (didn't notice that). Sadly, I had to sacrifice the underarm weapon on the left arm doing so, the required clearance is now gone.

-I redesigned the bottom of the door pieces. Gone is the zig-zag pattern, it's now flat and unified. I've also used the silver 2x1 piece with one centered nub to get the half-length I was after. The fun thing is I have the option of choosing between a gap-less cab (with the upper arms at a slight angle) or a slightly gappy cab (with the upper arms perpendicular to the ground).

-I wasn't perfectly happy with how the door pieces were folding inside the body, as it was limiting a bit arm posability. So I redesigned them to add one more transformation step: they can now rotate up, giving Prime door wings, more or less! The cool thing is I can still do the original configuration, which is still necessary for the combined mode. So it's cool that I can differentiate both robot modes.

Original backpack configuration



New backpack configuration



New door wings



Rear view



I'll post pictures of the truck mode a bit later.

[pascal]

Last set of revisions to better close the cab and increase the wingspan in super mode...

[magengar]

Man, that's amazing! This takes Legos to a higher level!

zozo-mag