For a half year, I have thought about it over and over in my mind about how to do it, searched wide and low for right parts, spent has much money as I could on those parts, bought 3
ROTF Voyager class Megatron’s and
3 ROTF Leader class Megatron’s, carved, drilled, dyed, painted, sanded, scraped, sweated blood, wiped off tears, and the end result is my most crowning and greatest achievement…
My very own hyper-accurate, custom ROTF Leader class Megatron!!!
WARNING: Prolonged viewing of these pics will result in permanent brain damage due to amazement, shock, and awe over them!
A) ALTERNATE MODEFrom Transformers Wiki:
While the Revenge of The Fallen Movie Universe and comic adaptation creates the idea that Megatron is a triple changer that alternates between his robot, jet, and tank modes, there is absolutely nothing to support this in the movie. Throughout the entire film, he only transforms into a winged tank portrayed by the Voyager figure and is more than capable of flying in said mode. Of course, whether or not his flying tank mode is considered a third mode is up to your interpretation.
My
ROTF Leader class Megatron has the uncanny ability to alternate between robot, jet, and tank modes. Effectively turning him into a true triple changer. In his jet mode (
alternate mode A), the parts that are used are the wings from
ROTF Voyager class Megatron.
Split in half and connected to where
ROTF Leader class Megatron’s jet pods were attached and kept in place using shoulder joints from
Classics Deluxe class Grimlock attached onto the rear treads. In addition, the jets from
ROTF Voyager class Megatron were attached to the back where
ROTF Leader class Megatron’s jets are to create adjustable afterburners.
To change him to his tank mode (
alternate mode B), I simply detached both wing halves at the point of attachment on the rear tank treads and swung them forward, folded the large wings on top of the rear treads, and moved the smaller wings to the back and the jets can be swung at the sides.
In this mode, note that the smaller wings have two small jets that can double as smaller guns in his tank mode, just like in the promotional movie pic.
In both modes (and robot mode), his cannon is from
ROTF Voyager class Megatron. The middle finger of his right hand can slide between the two “spikes” of his robot mode head to keep the cannon in place with in either alternate mode.
The gray, 4-pronged barrel is from
ROTF Leader class Megatron and has been modified to fit and be removed from the smaller, black barrel of the cannon.
I replaced the gray, plastic wheels below the treads with ones made from black rubber grommets so that the figure won’t slip and slide in both of his alternate modes.
B) ROBOT MODEMy
ROTF Leader class Megatron’s robot mode has some fasinating and familiar new additions, alterations and modifications.
Compare and contrast the pic of the promotional movie pic of
ROTF Megatron to my custom
ROTF Leader class Megatron. The feet have been altered to resemble the feet from the cropped promotional movie pics of
ROTF Megatron. Wasn’t happy about the treads flipped forward to form the toes. So his new “toes” are from the legs of
Classics Deluxe class Grimlock. They can be flipped backward when in both alternate modes.
The left arm is from
2007 Movie Leader class Megatron and the cannon is from
ROTF Voyager class Megatron.
Take a good look at both arms. They clearly echo the look of
2007 Movie Leader class Megatron when the right and left “ends” of his jet mode fold back onto his robot mode arms.
The left hand was made to be as accurate to the one in the cropped promotional movie pic of
ROTF Megatron. First, the wrist was dyed in RIT Black dye, then I placed parts from 2
Spawn Cyber Units Action Figures to give him 2 shorter fingers and long middle finger in between, and lastly placed both middle fingers from
2007 Movie Leader class Premium Megatron on the sides to create the 2 “thumbs”.
The right arm and hand possesses more articulation thanks to the “neck” joint from
ROTF Voyager class Megatron and the “thigh” from the small robot/head of
Energon Supreme class Omega Supreme that were dyed in black. The “fingers are from 2
Spawn Cyber Units Action Figures with the thumb and middle “finger” possessing the pincer claws what he used to hold
Sam Witwicky down while the
“Doctor” (Scalpel) examined him in the
ROTF movie. Held together with cut staples and Gorilla clear glue.
Take note of his left shoulder “pad”, the sides have been carved out to create 2 small spikes with the larger one in the middle, just like in the movie.
As you can see, the jets from his alternate modes can fold backward so that he is capable of flight in robot mode (just like in the movie).
On the back is a connector were you can place the barrel of
ROTF Leader class Megatron between the jets in his robot mode.
The large wings of his jet mode can be folded and concealed onto the inner sides of his “heels”.
C) WEAPONSTo me, the flail weapon was indicative of the character. Using it to deliver a hard, physical blow to his enemies and/or any
Decepticon who defiled him, like a tyrannical judge. I successfully managed to give him one...
...has well as ability to retract it back into place where one of the wheels from
2007 Movie Leader class Megatron was at.
While the flail was a trick to get done, the cannon/claw was a major challenge. Using parts from
ROTF Leader class Megatron, the lower claw was lengthened and can fold further backward and the upper one was altered to not only be a bit longer, but also have a “switchblade” ability so it could fold and rest inside the cannon’s body.
When deployed, the left hand folds back and turn the lower left arm so that the “hand” stays in the back while the cannon does its thing in robot mode.
While not deployed, the cannon rests on top of the right arm in a nod to both the
G1 and
Animated versions of
Megatron (the fusion cannons on them were simply mounted on the right arm).
The large “wings” of his jet mode can be used in his robot mode as “death spurs”. Using these, one kick from him can slice off a limb and/or fatally stab or slash an enemy. Talk about cowboy heels from hell.
To top it all off, I painted the sides of his abdomen and inner sides of his lower legs in
Testors Model Master Acryl Insignia Red and
Gold (and coated in
Pledge Premium Floor Finish with Future Shine) as a nod to the red coloration of
G1 Megatron.
Anyway, the added parts from
ROTF Voyager class Megatron are not permanent. They will be replaced by parts from the “
Unite for the Universe” version of
ROTF Voyager class Megatron when it is released in June. That will save me the trouble of finding the right type of grey paint in order to repaint the parts of the original
ROTF Voyager class Megatron so they can match the overall grey color of the rest of the figure.
In the future, I will post a comprehensive and detailed tutorial (with pics) on how this figure came to be so that you can do the same to your own
ROTF Leader class Megatron (whether it be regular and/or Shadow Command) if you so choose. But in the meantime, please do not hesitate and feel free to post any comments and questions about my custom. I will answer them when I can.
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