Lighting up Red Alert

I have a bit of time now and so, I decided to explore the possibilities of lighting up Red Alert. The main problem, apart from wiring, lies in where to put in the batteries. This toy is quite small and the space inside it makes it very hard to put in some batteries. And so, this is my first step into thinking outside the Box (yeah, I went out of the room and into the toilet...)

One of the ideas came from this cigarette lighter. Its
small, compact and maybe, has what I want. Except
for the fact I get funny looks when I told them I do
not smoke at the checkout counter...

And so, after removing it, you have the main
component, which is the LED module itself. If
you want to take apart the whole lighter, I'd
like to suggest that you release the lighter
fluid thingy gas first...

So, here is the whole module, from the LED itself,
to the batteries and a simple contact switch. Is it
small enough for Mr. Red Alert?

Let's try but opening his/her* chest area. OK,
so the location is not ideal since there is no
space inside it.

Also, after opening his head, I see a potential
problem here a its using a ball-joint system.
This would pose a real problem if you want
to move his/her head all round. I have the
solution for this but it would cost me RM25
to find out if it works...

And so, that's all the time I have for the day. But seriously, I do suspect that there is a space inside it. Just that I really have to think out of the box for this one. For the time being, its to the 'to-do' shelf once again....

* - Wiki said, in some Japanese Red Alert was a woman but could not determine if she is related to the American Transformers Red Alert. Sheesh

Megatron at The Outpost E

So, here you go, Megatron.

Which is quite big, even in my hands. Would I buy it?
Initially, I would, but after today's transformation, I decided not to.
His transformation is too complicated and fragile for me
I prefer to let Optimus Prime kill him. Ha ha ha ha

Megatron at The Outpost D

OK, sorry. I can't resist it but I like Gerwalk modes. Blame it
on Macross if you like. But it would be funny if Megatron did
transform halfway and then changed his mind. I couldn't
make the legs go further back as this would offset the
centre of gravity and Megatron would topple over

OK, I give up. Its time for my appointment and Richard
has to continue the transforming.

After more than an hour, when I came back, it was almost done.
Here is Richard with Megatron in his hands. The P38 looked a
bit oversized but then, maybe it was because the designers
wanted it to match with masterpiece Optimus Prime

Megatron at The Outpost C

After more than 40 minutes, I was still struggling to transform Megatron. It is really not as easy as I first thought.


One thing about his hands is that it swivels in and all
five fingers can move independently

5 minutes after that, I gave up because it was time
for my appointment and my friend has still not arrived

See this shoulder join? Its very hard to snap it out
and harder to keep it aligned to the other

50 minutes worth of sweat

Megatron at The Outpost B

So, I started to transform while waiting for my/our friend. And let me remind you that this figure is quite big. And not only that, because its a "virgin", the parts were tight and sometimes, I was afraid that I might have broken it.

My hand for comparison

This is his head which is quite thin to me and he has a hole at
the back of his head, which is for his recent screw job

No wonder he has a frown. When transforming, his upper
head will collapse down to his chin before being hidden.
Ha ha ha

Puny Human! I will squeeze your balls like I squeeze this... this... rubber thing

Megatron at The Outpost A

So, I was waiting for a friend of mine, who is also a friend of our company, to hand over some detailed information at The Outpost. When I arrived, I saw the Masterpiece Megatron. And Richard approacehed me because the light on Megatron's scope is on the blink. So, after repairing it, I decided to take some shots. Then I was approached again because someone had trouble transforming Megatron.

The problem with Binaltech/Masterpiece Transformers was that although they were designed to resemble closely to their original figures, sometimes transforming them is not as simple as it seemed.

Megatron's scope uses two LR44 batteries, which is protected by
a plastic cover which you need a screwdriver to open

The problem lies with the plastic piece held with the loose screws.
This caused the button on the outside to spin and lost its place.
So when you press on it, it gets stuck

Once I tightened it, everything worked! This is how the scope looked when
opened Just a simple red LED, a resistor, a switch and two batteries. All
designed into an object a lot of people would kill for.

The scope alone is about close to 8.5 inches .You can view through the scope
but the LED is blocking your view. There is a nice cross-hair but since everything
is blocked its useless