LEGO Rodimus Prime Part 1 of 3: Vehicle mode

Prologue

Rodimus Prime was the leader of the Autobots, the good guys from G1 Transformers:Cartoon series  back in the 80's.  He evolved from Hot Rod , a young Autobot that transform into a sleek futuristic sports car during the finale of Transformers: The Movie.




The matrix of leadership upgraded his vehicle mode with a winnebago-like trailer. Just like Optimus Prime, his predecessor.. .Rodimus Prime's trailer doesn't become part of his robot mode. The trailer itself opened up to become a weapons platform for Rodimus to use. (below)

Almost 20 years later... a new incarnation of Rodimus Prime appeared under the Titanium label, where his trailer becomes part of his robot mode. (below)

Recently... One 3rd party company attempted to create the same , better proportions, articulations and with no partsforming, (below). I was tempted to create Rodimus in such a way  but tied up with other projects.

And few month's back....the arrival or shall I say... reveals of Hasbro's Power of The Prime (POTP) toylines .... finally spurred me to immediately get started in building Rodimus! I actually hit the bricks and prototype the rectangular vehicle hood after 30 minutes I saw the photo below:

About This Creation

POTP Rodimus consist of Hot Rod / sportscar + trailer that can merge to become bigger/super mode. I was impressed by his vehicle mode , so I think I can build a Rodimus that transform directly from there ,trailer and all. 

I started my project with simple aims: He would "merely" transform from his vehicle to articulated robot mode.  Down the road, I thought he should have  "weapons platform/base" mode to pay homage to his original toy, so I start tweaking his transformation and design to make this possible.

Do stop a while and appreciate the intake/pipings/exhausts coz implementing them is not as easy as they seem. Upon transformation to robot mode:

• 1/3 of the pipes will become his shoulder mounted cannons.
• Another 1/3 will end up tucked behind his legs
• Remaining 1/3 will go below his armpit.

The yellow roof will form the wings on the back of his robot mode. The black components at the back of the yellow roof connects two halves of the vehicle together.

Being an Autobot leader, the hood must be able to open to reveal the Matrix of leadership.

During the course of cranking out the base mode for this guy, I was forced to distribute the mass of the robot hands (above) to protrude out from the back of the vehicle. They sure look like a bunch of intakes!  

A Fitting Ride for Human Driver

Exhausts Positioned Vertically

A nice homage to the original Rodimus Prime toy.

With Mounted Weapon

This will become his hand held rifle and also the main weapon in base mode.

The balljoint on the handle allows the weapon to point to any direction.

Group Photos

Masterpiece MP-28 Hot Rodimus (Japanese name for Hot Rod)  flanked between the two Autobot Leaders. 

On the right is my LEGO Optimus Prime from The Last Knight.  Do check him out too! 

Drop by again to view Part 2 of my MOC , featuring his base mode. (Here's a nice teaser below)