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LEGS
- The lower legs were the hardest part to modify.
Following the original design, I wanted longer and
leaner legs, maintaining their mobility and their
role in the general transformation process. This
meant an excruciating selection of modifications
through a "build and try" method, that took a lot
of time and nerve. There is a single movable part
inside the leg that slides up and down along a
line, pulling in and out respectively the foot and
the nozzle on the other side. When I cut 2 mm of
the knee parts to reduce the leg's dimension, this
single moving part had to be modified too. Its
length also had to be augmented, to permit a better
lateral movement for the foot and to increase the
general height. Practically I remade both the
insides of the lower legs and the sliding part,
making new sliding lines, new joints for the foot
an a new system to stop its up and down movement. I
used a piece of iron wire fixed to the knee engines
parts to stop the moving part. The exterior of the
lower legs was completely sandpapered and reduced
in its width, to eliminate the angle that connects
the knee to the leg. Then the exterior was
reconstructed with plasticard and putty, making new
external sliding lines instead of the protruding
old ones. The knee tails are leaner and longer now
and fit in the new design as in the original one.
With the feet completely out, the legs are about 5
mm taller now, so the moving cover panels over the
feet had to be augmented of the same length. The
knee lateral engine units were modified a little in
their connection with the rest of the leg,
accordingly with the new external sliding line
where they must move for the transformation. I also
added there a new vernier, which is present in the
original design. Some new details and new feet
soles were added to complete the legs, which
luckily needed no modifications in their upper
section.
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Lewismaster