I gotta admit, Transformers One was under my radar till recently....
PROLOGUE
Last month, the long anticipated Transformers origin story, Transformers One movie trailer was released (below)
After viewing TFO trailer for few times, my "shiny object syndrome" kicked in again. "I gotta build the Optimus Prime from this movie!", I thought. Thankfully, photos of the toy surfaced (below) , further inspiring me .
I actually had pinpointed one LEGO set for the purpose of building this Prime, and it's not set 31130.
ABOUT SET 31130
LEGO Creator 31130: Sunken Treasure Mission was released in the year 2022, and so far , I had made 4 Transformers using this set. One of the major strength of this set is that it provided tons of ball joints for me to make use of.
The most recent (prior to this one) creation I made using set 31130 was a Decepticon Seeker (video below)
Again, just like the previous creation using set 31130 before Seeker Thrust above, it looked pretty *dated after a short while, thus becoming an easy victim for me to dismantle the built for new projects.
*I think the reason for this could be related to the colors available from this set. They're too varied and I was forced to utilize as many of those parts as possible to successfully complete my Transformer. The resulting creation's color scheme clashed.
ABOUT THIS PROJECT
The decision to build TFO Optimus Prime with set 31130 was an eureka moment. While fildding with parts from set 31130, I noticed a few blue parts amongst the primarily red ones. That seemed to be enough to build Prime's red cab with a sliver of blue windshield. The rest is history!
Actually I planned to release this creation a week or so before the premier of TFO this coming September. But I simply can't wait any longer, leaving this beautiful creation on hold that long!
By the time I reached 95% completion , I noticed a handful of curvy and sloped parts which I hoped to apply in this creation. I wasted many hours over this and made a folly of myself!
The night before I wrapped this project up, I had a 2nd eureka moment: the extra parts I have, can be made into an axe. Some of those parts are the sloped ones I once wasted my time fussing over not able to utilize them!
How could I not known earlier since the actual toy of this Prime actually comes with an axe!
How could I not known earlier since the actual toy of this Prime actually comes with an axe!
It's always satisfying to be able to replicate the cab mode as close as possible, like the cannons on not just both sides , but the front (below the grill).
One of the biggest challenge in building this guy was reinforcing the structure of the vehicle mode. Mere connecting both legs together just won't do. The solution is simple: simply tab the arms to the legs in vehicle mode! But executing this solution led me to redesigning the forearms multiple times.
TRANSFORM!
Unlatch both legs and also arms .
Stand him up, raise the cab roof to reveal robot head
Rotate the waist.
ONE SHALL RISE
Trivia: Initially I tried to implement rotateable shoulder cannons , but such cannon design is blocky /less rounded . So its back to the "fixed" design above.
MORE ACTION POSES
WIELDING HIS AXE
At around this point, I noticed that I can further improve the axe and turn it into a rifle for Prime to hold . But I'm too far into completing the photo shoot for this project to make the change (and discard the prior photos taken).
WITH HIS FUTURE SELF ON EARTH
VIDEO TUTORIAL
Thank you for following my video tutorial!
- More free building instructions using LEGO Creator sets
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