Maketoys Battle Sentinel Gento Mod

Got tired of stripping down the top side of the feet to gain more degrees at the bend when posing the figure so I decided to mod their latest mold, Gento. I don't have the patience or will to stop and take a pic with each step I took so I'll give a brief explanation.

2X
Cut off the ankle ball joint and sanded down the surface where it was. There I glued a plastic strip. I cut a small alligator clip strip and drilled a hole in the ball and on the glued strip. I made sure the metal strip would fit tight and I superglued the strip to both ends (strip on bottom of leg and ball). Painted the plastic strip on bottom of leg matte black. Added 3 Kotobukiya Plaunit Duct Nozzles on the sides to add a little more length and add aesthetic to the bottom of the leg. Finally I cut a small strip of electrical tape and covered the skinny metal strip connecting the ball joint to the bottom of the leg.

Not a perfect job because I didn't have a slim blade to cut the ball joint perfectly. It left a flat surface on top of the ball joint so when bending all the way the ball joint doesn't have as sturdy of a grip as I'd like. Still, now I can pull off the sort poses I've always wanted too. :-D It also looks good in trailer mode. Not going to show that though. Too much work. :-P

Maketoys Chaos with led kit

I've wanted to toy around with led lighting in my hobby, but I just couldn't find an easy way to do so until I came across a certain hobby site. No, this is not an infomercial. Well, maybe it is, but I'm not profiting from it. I just wanted to share my find with like minded hobbyist that have wanted to mess around with lighting up figures, models, diorama, etc.

I lit up Maketoys' Chaos figure. Easiest thing ever. 

I ordered a chip light kit that includes, per my choosing:

-3 nano sized chip lights (warm) with 8 in wire

-coin cell and coin cell holder with on and off switch

-shrink tubes to cover wires that are to be connected via twisting

http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/single-light-kit.html

This link is where I ordered mine. There are plenty of other kits and lights to choose through. And there are tutorial videos too, so you don't have to read this tutorial, but seriously, it's not that long of a read. :-P

Light kit tutorial:

1.Slip in ez-shrink tube into wires on coin cell holder. 

2. Now, match the green wires on the led lights with the black wire on the coin cell holder and twist them together. Do the same with the red wires.

3. Pull shrink tube over the exposed wires you just twisted, and heat up ends with iron or lighter. You'll see the tube shrink a bit really fast. With your fingers, squeeze the ends of the tube to secure it in place. 

BAM! Press the on/off switch and let there be light. Ok, now turn it off and select whatever ... thing you want to light up. If you want to light up MT Chaos here's my tutorial that involves no glue so it's not there permanently.

Easy tutorial for lighting up MT Chaos:

1. I coiled the wires and led them together with small strips of  tape. 

2. Slipped the led lights through its open back and placed the coiled wires in the center. There's enough space.

3. Placed the cell coin holder with battery on the upper back and secured with the figure's tank tread kibble.

4. I placed the switch in the lower back gap. Fits right in. It may fall out, but nah.. it's secure. 

5. Placed the lights where I wanted. and used beige scotch tape. 

If you look at the middle of the torso you can see the coiled, taped wires.

"Join the Darkside, we have free energon cookies," said Chaos with a lit up creeper glare.

"My eyes are up here. Stop looking at my chest!"