This month we will add the ankle joint, and make three of the toes. The toes are not attached yet, so will need to be kept safe for next month.

Issue 67.





This issue includes the parts for the main ankle plate, and are all plastic.



One by one, cut the small ball joints off the frame.



As you can see, they have a key tab moulded in to stop them turning in the socket, allowing you to tighten them fully without them just twisting in the socket.





Place each one in a socket, and screw them in from behind.



Repeat until all three are in the sockets.



Then take the underside of the foot, and place it against the upper side of the foot that we have just worked on.



With both parts of the foot aligned correctly, they are screwed together from above, between the toe attachments like so.

Keep the foot safe for next issue.

Issue 69

Heel and toe.





This issue we finish the heel, and make the first toe.



Starting with the toe. Take the smoother rod and ensure that the smaller connector is on the left, with the stamped number downwards, and place the connector into the left end between the connector pieces on the rod.



This means that the rod angles away towards the right.



The two pieces are connected by one of the small grub screws, tightened by an allen key until both ends of the screw are lower than the surface.



Take the detailed rod, looking rather like a piston, and place it into the connector so that once again the smaller connector is on the left with the stamped number down.



Insert one of the small rubber tubes, similar to those used in Hachette's 'finger fixes' into the hole.



And follow up with one of the pins cut from the frame.



Follow the same procedure for the toe itself, and cap it off with another pin from the frame.

That's all for issue 69.



Issue 70.

Build another two toes using the same method as above.



That's it for issue 70.

Other people have had a real problem getting issue 74, with "World of Wayne" not having it up to issue 78 and actually making it from a spare copy of issue 4 that he got sent as the parts are exactly the same.

I have also had another problem with my wrist joint, so am now waiting until the issue for the left wrist comes out and getting a duplicate from that issue to fix my right wrist.

OK, having finally got round to installing the piston enhancement parts from Partworkupgrades.com, here are my thoughts.



This is what arrived, all in a small box to prevent damage during transport. The four tubes that replace the small ankle piston's rubber seals, the two smaller diameter head pieces for the larger ankle pistons, and the largest diameter for the waist pistons (On the outsides in the picture.)

Overall, I'm impressed with the parts. Although noticeably FDM 3D printed, they seem well made with no gaps in between the layers.



Firstly, as I have only received issues up to the right foot, I set one set of these aside for the left foot. The other set I am retro-fitting on him now. It will be easier to fit the ones on the left leg as that is assembled.



To start, I removed the lower leg just below the knee by removing the single screw.

This is necessary to get at the larger central piston at the rear of the leg.



After removing the piston from the leg, you will need to get the top cap off the piston (the one on the larger end.). Even though I had lightly glued mine, it came off with little trouble, using my scalpel blade to just crack the glue at the join, then levering the cap off with a small metal ruler.



With the piston disassembled the upgrade part is ready to be fitted.



Insert the rod into the piston body like this.



Then glue the upgrade part onto the end of the piston. The end of the piston rod should sit inside the upgrade part with the upgrade part sitting inside the piston body.

Once the glue has dried thoroughly, you can then replace the cap on the piston body and re-attach the piston to the leg.



Remove the smaller piston rods from their piston bodies, then remove the screw and rubber cap from the end. These are no longer required and can be disposed of. One of mine had split due to me tightening too much trying to get it to touch the sides of the piston body, showing how loose these were.



Glue one of the upgrade sleeves over the end of the piston rod, enduring it has gone all the way down the piston rod.

These can now be re-inserted into their piston bodies and prepared for attachment to the foot again.



With all the pistons re-attached to the foot, the rods maintain a much straighter angle down the back of the leg, even with the leg laid down on its front - unlike before the installation.

With the first leg corrected, my attention turned to the waist. Here we also need to remove the pistons.



Pull the piston out of the pelvis, and leave it hanging.



With him lying on his back, you will need to remove the circled screws. This will in turn allow the sockets for the top of the pistons to be parted enough to remove them.



Remove the single screw that joins the two halves of the ball joint together, and allow the rod to fall out. The initial installation of the rod was up and through the body, but after installation of the upgrade part this will no longer be possible.



Glue the upgrade part into the piston rod like so. Again, make sure the rod is all the way into the upgrade part.



The piston can then be inserted down through the piston body like so. All that remains now is to replace the ball joint on top of the piston and secure it with the screw.

Repeat this for the other side, and replace both pistons into the body, replacing all the screws to re-tighten the Thoracic cage with the pistons back inside.

Reconnect the smaller ends of the pistons to the pelvis, and the job is done.

Although these mods are not seen on the finished model, the effects are noticeable. The affected pistons no longer droop, and whilst they are not improved in strength, they at least look like they are capable of supporting the structure now.

It is a shame that Hachette did not think of this during the planning of this model. A small injection moulded frame with these parts on it could have been manufactured for a few pence and added into an issue with very little for the modeller to do.

As it is, we have to rely on companies like Partworkupgrades (Who also make a scaled plasma rifle, and some full size chips from the films) to pick up the slack. They have my heartfelt thanks and a hearty recommendation to anyone doing this build.

Thanks Derek.

Sorry this post is late, I did some of the work and needed to replace some parts. I have finished the next delivery - just in time to receive the one after.



Issue 71 - finishing the foot.



As I have already described the construction of a toe recently, I am going to omit that process from this post - with the exception of stating that toe number 5 is constructed so that the plastic plugs go in from the other side, making it a mirror image of the other 4.

This is so that the discs covering the pin and sleeves is on the outside of the foot. I would have preferred it if they had mirrored toes 4 and 5, not just 5, but it is adequate this way.



The plain rod part of each toe is then placed in reverse numerical order (Starting this end with 5, moving left to 1) so that one of the long grub screws goes first through the first side of the toe connector, through the connector on the lower part of the foot, then through the other connector on the toe. Repeat this until all five toes have been connected to the foot and the screw is in reasonably flush with the outside of the toe.



Once this has been completed, repeat the procedure with the 'piston' rods of the toes and the upper connections of the foot.



That finishes the foot, and issue 71.

Issue 72 - upper arm piston



Bit of a light issue after the last one - and indeed for the rest of this delivery.





Take the three piston components as shown, run a screw up inside the thin tubular part, attach this to the other end of the piston, trapping the piston sleeve in between them.



Issue 73 - Shoulder joint parts and piston rods



Take the two shoulder parts, line up the indent, and screw the two together with the countersunk screws so that the tops fit flush in the holes.





This assembly is a mirror image of the one produced for the other arm earlier in the build.





Both piston rods are made in the same way, using a flanged screw to keep the rubber washer on the end of the piston rod. Ensure that the indented side of the washer is towards the piston rod. Repeat for both rods.



Issue 74 - Another piston.





Follow the same procedure as in issue 72.

Once both pistons have been assembled, the relevant rods can be installed in them.



Note that the longer piston gets the 'U' shaped rod, the shorter piston gets the 'T' shaped rod. This is because the longer piston is for the outside of the arm and has to move further.

I have the next 4 issues already. I will try and work on them later today and get them posted before the end of Monday.

Issue 79



This issue, we continue with the lower left arm.



Another finger to assemble, again using the finger fixes from modelmodz.



I think this looks so much better than the plastic pins supplied with the partwork.



Glue the two supplied plastic ratchet parts into the elbow unit.



Like this.



Then take the small metal sleeve, push it into the hole in the back of the elbow, and screw the other piston to the elbow joint. Note the orientation. There is a recess on one side of the piston to accept the head of the screw.





Push the pistons into their respective cylinders, and line up the elbow joint.



Insert the pin through the joint, pinning the elbow together. I must note that I had a bit of trouble here, the holes did not line up perfectly. Although it was only a small amount of force required to align them correctly, it does make me wonder if this is designed that way to give more resistance to the joint moving on its own or is it just not fitting correctly.



Turn the arm over, screw the joint together, and glue in the cap. This completes issue 79.

Issue 81



This issue we add some of the piston cylinders to the lower arm. I am also adding some mods from Partworkupgrades to limit the 'wobble' of these cylinders. This should mean less movement and droop of the hands, but does make it a little harder to install the lower arm to the elbow.



Push the screw through the sleeve supplied with this issue, and push that through one of the holes for the side cylinders. Without the mod, you then connect the cylinder directly to this. Using the mod, the mod gets pushed over the sleeve trapping the plate between the sleeve and the mod. The cylinder then gets screwed on the end.

The amount of 'wobble' you allow in these cylinders is adjusted by how much you tighten the screw. Completely tight means it is locked solid, looser allows more movement.

I chose the silver coloured ones as I thought the black version would have been too noticeable. As it is, I may sand them slightly to remove the filament layer lines and then re-paint them anyway.



That completes this issue.