MetalEarth "The Terminator" T-800 Endoskeleton
1December 26, 2021Fascination difficulty scale - this should be fun!!
2December 26, 2021Ready to start: PE sheets on the fret holder ; Page 3 of instructions on the mat ; Cover picture ready to reference ; Prints of parts locations taped to the wall ; Rollers at the ready
3December 26, 2021Close up of PE sheets - according to page 24 of instructions, parts go to No. 225!!
4December 26, 2021Upper right leg completed, rear view
5December 26, 2021front view
6December 26, 2021close up showing the "mesh" of parts behind the knee!!!
7December 26, 2021Lower right leg complete
8December 26, 2021The heel of the foot
9December 26, 2021Foot construction
10December 26, 2021foot added to leg - reinforced with CA
11December 26, 2021top of lower leg reinforced with CA too
12December 26, 2021Upper & lower leg parts joined at knee - he's gonna be quite tall!!
13December 26, 2021reverse view
14December 26, 2021construction of upper left leg..
15December 26, 2021reverse view
16December 30, 2021Left leg completed - very similar to right leg.......strange that......lol
17December 30, 2021reverse view
18December 30, 2021Time to build the pelvis - about 5 pieces here
19December 30, 2021Legs then get twisted into place (the tabs are twisted) - I reinforced this with some CA
20December 30, 2021and the other leg too
21December 30, 2021and they all fitted pretty well - I suspect that the front-left-leg piston has an alignment problem in the plan & part, which I fixed with and extra twist - not that anyone will ever spot it.
I tell ya, it can get very confusing working with so many shiny parts!!!
22December 30, 2021While the Pelvis/hip joint were setting, I made up the Rock!!
23December 30, 2021Tops of leg "pistons
24December 30, 2021and glued the inside of that too!!
25December 30, 2021Also made up the base - holding the whole thing in place with those tiny pegs, while I glued the inside too.
26December 30, 2021Needs 4 leg "pistons" to be built - showing the components, & 3 completed here
27December 30, 2021Then added the fore & aft "pistons" to each leg
28December 31, 2021CA Glued the legs to the stan
29December 31, 2021And the all fitted surprisingly easily, with only a little twisting required
30December 31, 2021Close-up of feet
31January 6, 2022Trying to work out a clever way of completing all these small bends...
32December 31, 2021This will look impressive - that's 11cm to the hips....
33January 6, 2022On the edge of a flat-file, then closing them over the file...
34January 6, 2022Sort of worked - might try a ruler next time.
35January 6, 2022Completed Right fore-arm & hand - cheated with some CA here
36January 6, 2022Right shoulder components - must admit that I'm struggling seeing where these assemblies go.... Should read the instructions ahead, I guess!!
37January 6, 2022There's and hour and a half blown away, just making the gun!!
38January 6, 2022Assembled all the right arm & shoulder together
39January 6, 2022Still looks a mess - waiting for that "ahah!!!" moment......
40January 7, 2022Gun attached to Right arm - not a simple connection, requires careful manipulation
41January 7, 2022Tried to get a close up of fingers - focal length makes this very difficult to capture.
42January 7, 2022some close ups of some of the smaller part bending & assembly - Left "shoulder blade"
43January 7, 2022all the folds go inwards, but they're very small & some then require additional bending around curved shapes - this view from the inside....
44January 7, 2022similar "reverse folds required in the insert, to create a true 3D piece.
45January 7, 2022the "shoulder blade" assembled - worth the effort I think - about 20 mins of intense "small" work.
46January 8, 2022More small parts making the "shoulder" components.
These 6 parts will make 2 end plates (1cm grid in background for scale)
47January 8, 2022All folded, One assembled..
one part with edges folded down, next part with edges folded up, 3rd part with centres folded down
48January 8, 2022Assembled part added to "shoulder sub-assembly"
49January 13, 2022More fine folding & rolling - starting with these flat bits
50January 13, 2022rolling using an old knitting needle, folding delicately with the bent nosed pliers
51January 13, 2022to produce this
52January 13, 2022which goes to make up the left arm
53January 13, 2022so left & right arms completed
54January 13, 2022the "chest" plate - and this is why there are so many pieces - they're all tiny
from the back, using 2 method of folding
55January 13, 2022from the front - 2 done out of 10 on this piece
56January 13, 2022magnified several times...
NOTE; the numbers called in the instructions & on the parts sheets match ok.
But there are also numbers on the backs of these small parts, with the matching number on the front of where they are to go.....great.......but these are different numbers to those on the instructions & parts list!!!
57January 13, 2022All them tiny parts on
58January 13, 2022and the back-plate too - decided to glue them all so they'd sit straight!!
59January 13, 2022ready for some assembly!!
60January 13, 2022Voila!!!
61January 16, 2022Attached the chest plate - pretty straight-froward
62January 16, 2022Then you have to slide the back plate up inside the shoulder blades - a lot of fiddling and patience required here - move it - what's fouling the move? - fix that - move it.......etc etc etc
63January 16, 2022finally in place and the shoulder blade pins in!!!
64January 16, 2022Vertical view
65January 16, 2022Added the waist plate & ............hydraulics?!?!?!?
66January 16, 2022Added the top of the shoulder blades & collar bones?!?!?!
Have to be a bit forceful to get these to fit.....
67January 16, 2022This is the start of the skull............now why would an endoskeleton need teeth?
Uuugghhh - more of that horrible pseudo-cabling to fold!!!
68January 16, 2022cabling folded & Skull bent & joined
69January 16, 2022looking a bit better with ears, which are fiddly to fit
70January 16, 2022As is my way - decided NOT to follow the instructions during skull making - I wanted to conceal all the tabs INSIDE the skull, so had to start with the hardest ones to reach - between the top of skull & side at the very top while I can get to it - I could regret this, of course!!!
71January 16, 2022cutting a long story short - it was quite fiddly, but definitely the right way to go - top 2 joins OK, then the back 4, bending in the eyes & tabs - then the front 4, same story.
72January 16, 2022A little distorted, but I should be able to fix that with some internal skull panel beating......sounds painful.
73January 16, 2022EYES IN!! - These are very tricky, and I ended up CA gluing the eyes & sockets - just so they would maintain the gaze & not end up look skew eyed (like my cat - next irrelevant photo, but cute!)
74January 16, 2022Back to "Endo" - Jaw attached to neck-mount, then Skull attached too - Lots of fiddling with the cables & struts, plus getting the width of the skull properly adjusted.
While the "Slightly-sideways" tilt of the head might look good, it makes the handling of the "cables" and struts very problematic........just when you think you're nearly there......
75January 16, 2022Cables & struts all tucked away satisfactorily.....
Let's finish this b&*!^%d!!!
76January 16, 2022Torso attached to hips - reasonably easy - I will clamp & glue that join later on, but now it's time to carousel!!!
77January 16, 2022this way
78January 16, 2022that way
79January 16, 2022the other way
80January 16, 2022and the classic Schwarzenegger pose, I reckon!!
81January 16, 2022up front again
82January 16, 2022Zoom in.... - by the way, the orange reflection is my fluoro work shirt!!!
CALLING THIS DONE!!!
83July 3, 2022Covered the visible sides of the base with checker-plate laminate
84July 3, 2022Introduced to Micro LEDs (flashing & changing colours) by my nephew- had to back-engineer these into the endoskeleton
85July 3, 2022Base built from a sandwich of 2 piece of MDF - and hand-chiselled out the rebate ring for the dome.
86July 3, 2022Bored out the inside of the bottom of base to house the wiring.
Decided to change the power supply from button cells to a USB Power stick - Only $8 from Officeworks!!
The little buck-down circuit here drops the voltage from up to 30v, down to 3.5v - perfect!
87July 3, 2022More modifications to the base to house the USB Power stick.
88July 3, 2022Glass Dome given to me by a neighbour - perfect - but it needs a base
89July 3, 2022Screwed it all together
Comments
27 November 2024, 00:17 -
Album info
Rated as "Maximum" on the Metal Earth difficulty scale.
I'll probably agree with that, based not only on the number of pieces (224+) but also in the small scale bend & fold complexity.
24 Pages of instructions!!
and the reason there are so many parts, is that so many of them are tiny "epaulette" type parts, adding lumps & bumps to bigger parts.
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Definitely earns the "Maximum" difficulty rating!! - DON'T make this your FIRST MetalEarth!!
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After finding out about some of the new micro LEDs - decided to back-engineer this...
Also, a neighbour kindly gave me a glass dome - so I had to make a base.............
