Modding Unicron Hands
I've been asked several times about how I modded Unicron's hands to make them less goofy, so here we go. It's a pretty simple mod, what you'll need is:
- length of styrene rod, 1/16" dia.
- lenth of styrene flat stock, 1/4" wide by 1/8" thick
- drill with 1/16" bit
- Dremel with sanding disc
- utility knife
- ruler
- marking pen
- Krazy glue or equivalent
First, start by removing the end knuckle of each finger. I use the sanding disc to cut these off, it's thinner than the carborendum cut off wheel (metal cutting), and leaves a cleaner cut.
Next, sand down the cut edge and remove all burrs and residual plastic. Sanding right after your cuts helps save you from cleaning these up later, which can be a pain after you're already made your mods.
When they're all clean, they should look like this. Keep the thumb piece separate, since it's slightly larger than the others.
You'll want to bevel the palm side edge of the finger, to allow the finger tip to bend inward like so.
Next, prep your flat stock by drawing a 1/4" radius on the end and sanding it like so.
Check the radius to see that it moves freely in the finger socket. Once its good, measure 5/8" from the end of the radius and cut it off. Repeat this for each finger.
Next, glue the radiused pieces into the finger tips.
Now it's time to drill your holes, you'll want to be centered roughly inside the radius so the finger tip has the maximum amount of movement.
Insert the styrene rod through your hole, leaving a little hanging out the other side. Apply a small drop of glue on one side of the rod at the base, and immediately wiggle the finger to keep it from locking in place. Keep moving the finger tip until the glue is dry.
Now take the sanding disc and cut off the excess rod, and sand it flush to the finger.
Once you have all 4 fingers done, now it's time for the thumb. Bevel the outer edge of the base knuckle to allow outward movement of the finger tip. Once sanded and cleaned up, repeat the same drilling and rod steps.
Once all of your fingers are reattached, sand the flat stock pieces flush with the underside of the finger. I left one unsanded here so you can see the difference.
Now your hands have an extra knuckle, which looks a little more natural than the goofy pose they had before.
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