I'm on Instagram!

While a blog is good for publishing photos and writeups , I think I need an avenue to share quick updates on what i've been up to lately .  Finally , I decided to share my LEGO-Transformers related activities via Instragram (link below).

http://instagram.com/alanyuppie

As a bait to lure you into following me, here's my work-in-progress recently =)

Instructions for LEGO 31007 Power Mech Alternate Design - Transformer "Spring"

I have a very, very legit reason why I'm late in posting these instructions: I'm "up to something again" aka  new MOC project!  Yeah it kinda started out of a sudden about a month ago and I haven't been looking back since. But this huge MOC project is draining all (yes, ALL) my light grey bricks . I'm taking  a short break while compiling my "shopping list" and hit bricklink.com later.

Ok.... back to the instructions ....

(If you're new here, click the link below to view photos of Spring, made from set 31007 Power Mech. If you're tempted to build one on your own, this post will provide the steps )

http://alanyuppie.blogspot.com/2013/10/lego-31007-power-mech-alternate-design_25.html

LEFT AND RIGHT ARMS

LEGO 31007 Power Mech Alternate Design - Transformer "Spring"

When set 31007 was launched earlier this year, some Transformers fans quickly relate it to Springer, a triple changer from Transformers G1 cartoon series. I can see why, with the green color, the 2 matching alternate modes besides the mech mode (helicopter and vehicle).   

(By the way, I made a LEGO Springer few years ago: link here)

So as a fan of Creator, I bought one, played around with it, and then MOC it to become "Spring", a fictional Transformer that merely transform into one alternate mode.

LEGO 70707 Eradicator Mech Alternate Mode Instructions

Sorry for the delay! The past month's been gruelling with horrible,horrible work load, and also a few wonderful, wonderful events that kept me on my toes. There's barely any spare time for me to do anything LEGO related.

Anyway, I shall keep my rantings short this time. Instructions coming up!

NOSECONE

LEGO 70707 Eradicator Mech Alternate Mode

Thic MOC is made from the parts from set 70707 Eradicator Mech . Not only that.... the parts were taken from ONLY the white mech ,leaving the other 2 critters untouched. Actually I plan to make full use of all the parts from this set, but was "intercepted" during disassembly by my spouse to leave the critters alone coz she liked 'em. Ah well.. that's less 100 parts for me to utilise I guess.

I've taken about 2 days over the last weekend to complete this MOC. Just like most of my LEGO-formers , It's fully transformable into a space jet without separation of parts.

LEGO Springer Instructions.....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's been a month since I last updated my blog. Woah what I busy month I had...  !  I don't even have time to think of any new LEGO project. (Actually I have a few in mind, but I was stumped trying to visualize the engineering /design in my brain - need more time to sort things out).

During this "uninspiring" downtime, I usually open and play with a few official LEGO sets. (one being Chima 70007 Eglor's Twin Bike ) . Yesterday, I attempted to combine this set with 70003 Eris' Eagle Interceptor to make a Transforming mech , but in vain!

Finally , I decided to fill in the gap by publishing instructions for my past MOCs.

LEGO Ironhide and Ratchet Part 2 - Bot Modes

Transformation Sequence

For a clearer view, one side of the MOC were taken out to give a cross-section view of its innards. In the photo below,  The grey parts with studs helped to securely peg the roof cum two robot arms into position.

Can you see the bot head located inside the van?

LEGO Ironhide and Ratchet Part 1 - vehicle modes

How It All Started

Nearly two months ago, I took some time off to organise my blog. Going through my old mocpages entry of my past LEGO creations, I bumped across Ironhide prototype in yellow. I kept wondering why I put this prototype in limbo. Suddenly I felt an urge to put this to a closure. So project Ironhide was initiated.

Actually 80% of Ironhide was completed in about than 2 weeks, however I was missing important transparent parts for the windows. So I hit bricklink.com to get them. Then I found out no such parts exists in 2x2 tiles. I guess I have to make do with 2x1 sized tiles. Then the inspiration to build ratchet came and I ordered more transparent tiles of another color for this purpose.

About Ironhide

Actually I'm not too keen on the vehicle mode (plain old boxy van) at first , but since G1 Ironhide doesn't have a "proper"  toy reference , this somewhat spurred me to take on this challenge. As you can see, the original Ironhide toy is different from his cartoon counterpart. The toy van transform into a freakin mobile command/attack center with a seat for human pilot (below). Same goes for Ratchet. After browsing through numerous Ironhide illustrations drawn all these years... I settled down with with  grey shoulders, white torso and grey  thigh.

About Ratchet

As for Ratchet, even the toy incarnation have the same window tint  as Ironhide, I found this to be dull  for a white vehicle . So I opted for light blue tint instead. Ratchet's head was colored differently by different comics/cartoon adaptation. Since Ironhide already is having a red head, I'm applying white on Ratchet.

Since Ratchet is a Medic /Autobot surgeon, he's equipped with diagnostic tools and "feared by all" surgical drill that pops out from his arms.

Quickie of the week #3: WIP Sneakpeek

Any day now! I'm in the final leg of finalizing my new MOC. I'm left with one more crucial item: The weapons.

Still unsure what I'm building ? Click below to view more!

Chronology of my MOCs

In my early years of MOC-ing, I built using parts from whatever sets I bought, so the colors were pretty much off. The introduction of friction joints when I discovered Titan XP made my life easier when it comes to building LEGO Transformers.  Most of my early works were uploaded to www.mocpages.com, and brickshelf.com. So clicking on the links below might direct you there.


2004

	Triple Changer Snapdragon Transforms into a robot, mecha-dino and jet plane.
	Victory Saber Comprises of Star Saber and Victory Leo, from Transformers:Victory series.

LEGO "Fall of Cybertron" Octane (Triple changer)

Intro

Ahh... Octane. Where do  I start ? As a toy, I never owned it. As a character in the G1 Transformers Cartoon, he failed to pique my interest. I kept wondering why I pined for him till now. As a fan of Transformers Triple Changers, Octane is right up there (with Springer/Snapdragon) as my top faves. I guess its because I never owned the toy that caused me to be more intrigued , especially how his transformation went about: From a tanker truck to an jetliner and then robot.  The best memory of him would be when I was small, we played with picture cards of various TV show characters (Ultramens, Gundams, Japanese Robots, TFs) , trying to amass as many picture cards as possible of various characters (kinda pointless coz they're sold dirt cheap from the shop with all possible variations:- 10cent each for a cutout of 8x6=48 cards!). From those picture cards, I remembered Octane the most (there are selections of  G1 TF picture cards slightly bigger than a stamp  with pictures of beautifully drawn TF boxarts). So there.

The "offending" boxart that mesmerised me. 

LEGO "Fall of Cybertron" Octane Transformation Sequence

If you're new here, do check out the official gallery of FOC Octane in all 3 modes , with some "lengthy" writeups.

Tanker Truck to Dropship 

LEGO Creator 31008 Alternate Mech Instructions

Oppps!! I was suposed to post this months back but I guess I've forgotten. For new visitors , visit my entry here to view photos of this 31008 alternate mech.

The Legs

Quickie of the Week #3: Work in Progress (Halted!)

Before I proceed to build something, I usually do a quick inventory check on the parts I have and made a rough guesstimate whether they're enough to get me by the whole process without interruption. And 90% of the time, I managed to get by , finding workaround building techniques if there are certain parts I lacked  that hindered my progress.

But this time around, I failed. I REALLY need certain specialised parts and and there's NO EXCEPTION nor workaround to "emulate" them. So during this "downtime" of not devotedly building my MOC , perhaps any of you would like to see what I'm up to lately? =)

As you can see, the placeholder yellow hinge is meant to be black . And there's a few more parts which I need to improve this MOC. I'm taking a 3 week break before the required parts arrive ( or maybe I start a quick , simple new project )

LEGO Thunder Wingster Instructions

In my previous post , I published my MOC LEGO Thunder Wingster, made from two Creator sets (Thunder Wings + Highway speedster) . As promised earlier, here are the instructions to build it.

Let's start with the head and jet nosecone shall we?

LEGO Thunder Wingster (Creator Thunder Wings + Highway Speedster)

This is my second attempt in trying to build transformable mechs/robots from official LEGO sets (Kai Rotormech being the first).  This time around, I'm using two Creator sets , namely 31008 Thunder Wings and 31006 Highway Speedster (below)

 

LEGO "Alone Again" Hardhead

Character Bio

Hardhead was  a Headmaster , a faction of Autobots from the 80s Transformers Cartoon series,. Once  bonded with Duros (who transform into into Hardhead's head), as a form of alliance to the Nebulans to counter Decepticon threats in that planet.

After the alliance ended, Hardhead bid goodbye to his head eeer Nebulan partner, regained his original head and  headed (ok ok enuff with the term head) back to his Cybertron hometown , gets an Elvis-like haircut ( *hic* notice my *hic* MOC's head later) and a  fresh, cheerful paintjob . He also undergone re-engineering to remove his vehicle cockpit , never to allow other fleshlings from riding him again.

Kai Rotormech:- alternate design for Ninjago Kai Fire Mech & Creator Red Rotors

After all these years of building LEGO-formers, I hope my MOCs can be accessible/replicated and enjoyed by others easily, without the hassle of sourcing the right parts to build them. This year I am starting a personal "crusade" to make this happen, as opportunities finally presents itself:- in the form of many official LEGO sets with balljoints and decent number of wedges and hinges.

I wouldn't aim for big sets with huge selection of parts however. I hope to make things affordable out there to average Joes and Janes to get started to recreating my MOCs =)

As a starter, I paired up one Creator set with a small Ninjago and come up with .... Kai Rotormech!

And since I'm very proud and excited of this maiden endeavour of mine, I even include  the building instructions here and hope you guys can immediately give it a try.

  

Are you ready for what's coming?

LEGO Duobot Instructions

Woah... there's alot on my plate these days.. hobby-wise. Few weeks ago I published LEGO Duobot, minions for my LEGO Alphaplex/Metroplex and was trying to find time to compile its instructions. Well to be honest I got too preoccupied with indulging myself of various 2013 sets that I fancy. I wish to faster unbox them, enjoyed building their main models and finally reuse the parts for something even more "noble".

OK let's move on to the instructions...

The Jet Plane

I'm in wired.com!

The last few days sudden surge of traffic made me decided to track their origin. What a pleasant surprise... I was mentioned in wired.com's article. Below is the link:

http://www.wired.com/design/2013/03/lego-cuusoo-indie-kits/?pid=2257&viewall=true

Anyway... to those who came from there... Besides the half a dozen stuff I put on lego.cuusoo.com, I've got a few dozens more "labour of love" for the last "half a dozen" years of building LEGO Transformers. You can start by visit my mocpages.com gallery

http://www.mocpages.com/home.php/1356

Thanks for the highlight, wired.com!

LEGO Creator 31008 Alternate Mech

When I first set eyes on this year's Creator sets (especially the Mechs).. I know I'm gonna have a great time with them. For Set 31008 Thunder Wings... the official mech is pretty plain . I  was surprised to find out it only utilise merely 60-70% of the parts from the whole set. Anyway.... it's time for me to build my own...

... and so this guy is born....! 

LEGO Alphaplex (Neo Metroplex) Triple Changer Complete Gallery

Introduction

Alphaplex is the future incarnation of Metroplex , who suffered  almost-fatal  damage in one of the massive Decepticon attack. With the help of advanced Cybertronian technology... he is upgrade to become a massive spaceship and is bonded with a minion Duobot, a robot that splits into a tank and an jet plane. No longer the slow and plodding land-based Autobot , he now travels through space hopping from one planet to another seeking and wiping out whatever Decepticons he found that once collectively almost sent him to his doom.

LEGO Alphaplex Transformation sequence

Spaceship to Base Mode

LEGO Duobot

A highly secretive breed of duobot with unknown name, is the Autobot's counterpart to the Decepticons Duocons. He is the minion of the even more mysterious Autobot named [Project PX] .  Duobot splits into 2  vehicles: A tank and a jet plane. Both played important roles in protecting [Project PX] from surrounding threats.

If you came from mocpages.com earlier, a quick sneakpeek of [Project PX] is shown at the bottom of this blog entry.

LEGO Technobot Afterburner Instructions

I was suposed to post Afterburner's instructions since he's one of my earliest works. The instructions was compiled for more than a year now.

For a quick recap of this MOC (and it's robot mode) , do visit the link below:

http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/87387

And for the instructions.... continue to read on...

Quickie of the week #2: WIP Sneakpeek

I started working on a new project days after 2013 . I felt a need to build a "bigger" or more epic MOC to end each year  but found last year (or month to be precise) life schedule to be a huge deterrence. To make it up to you guys (ardent blog followers of mine), let me just post a "bit" of my progress so far.

I personally consider my progress to have hit 70% at least. The photo above is just one of the many components  that I have done but I'm pretty proud of the outcome so far (and it's not even the final version, I will definitely tweak it here and there soon). Can you guess what I am building this time? =)

To view more photos revealing even more hints, click on the link below. HOWEVER.... huge spoiler ahead and what you be seeing might be spoiling a bit of  the suprise when my MOC is finally rolled out sometime early next month the latest.