Ready 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
and 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!!!
magnified 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!!!
Then 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
As 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!!!
cutting 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.
EYES 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!)
Back 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......
Bored 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!
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.............