Alanyuppie's LEGO Transformers: Video Tutorial: Transformer White Lion from LEGO Ninjago 71718: Wu's Battle Dragon

This project was started about 2 months ago (end of January 2021) out of boredom, using set 71718.

This is my second attempt in this set to build a Transformer. The first attempt was a Transformer Dragon (video below)

Click here if video is not showing.

About this Project

Initially it was meant to be another form of beast (wild boar if I'm not wrong)... but after building the animal head and felt disappointed with the outcome.. I tried making a lion head instead.

The rear legs design /refinement took me most of the building time. Do continue browsing this page to know why.

Adding a tail was the finishing touch I made to this creation.

The cannons mounted on the forelegs was inspired from Transformer Tantrum's fuel tanks mounted on his legs

The winged mode is an accidental feature! I was trying to integrate the many black A-shaped parts into the hollow beast body to bulk it up.... and discovered the only way to do so was to connect them to ball joints.

Another seemingly mindless activity while working on this project was fussing over where shall I apply the golden tiles for best overall aesthetics. Finally they ended up on the rear legs and wings.

With my recent LEGO TF Lion built using set 31112 . Most of the design inspiration for this yellow lion came from this white lion project.

Transform!

Tail detached to become weapon.

Noticed how the rear leg panels "expanded" to form robot legs and feet, thanks to double hinged design on each leg. Such design took me alot of time to perfect to ensure they are structurally sound.

Trivia: Initially robot arms were part of the animal chest (instead of leg cannons) , but I failed to fold them elegantly* to align well in the animal mode.

*surprisingly, I was able to apply this design into my LEGO TF Lion from set 31112 I mentioned earlier. My effort /trial and error was not performed in vain after all!

Robot Mode

I applied the white horn parts on the legs to reduce the blocky-ness shape of the thighs by inducing an optical illusion.

The animal leg panels expansion helped to add 2 extra studs height to the robot mode.

Get Ready for Action!

With Gun

Another shout out for Yellow Lion made using set 31112 !

BUILDING INSTRUCTIONS

Building Instructions in the form of a video tutorial , is located at the bottom of this page. Before you get started, please sort your parts according to the photos below.

Arms