custom Zoid: Fire Horn

( Heavy Assault / Fire Support)

This is the story of my 12th Zoids custom. (completed November 2005)

For some reason, even after my ninth (TriBrachios) and tenth (GunGustav) custom Zoids in September of 2005, the itch to darth was still very strong. So near the end of Rabbot R2 (my 11th custom) I started yet another project. This idea had been stewing in my brain for over two years, but only took on life after I won an eBay auction that consisted of five battery operated Zoids. I had always wanted to do a triceratops custom based on a Redhorn chassis, so now that I had an extra Redhorn, here was my chance.

Tail Mods

Since my eBay Redhorn was missing the tail gunner station, the first step was to fix that. I used the tail tip from a Brachios and glued it to the slightly modified Redhorn tail end. A trial run shows walking performance unchanged.

Weapons Mods

Next came the main gun. I used a twin gun from a toy line called "The Corps" sold by Walmart. A pivot for the new twin gun was fabicated from an Ultrasaurus sprue. The main gun mount on the Redhorn backpack was cut out and plated over with CDCL (Compact Disk Case Liner). The new twin gun base and backpack were trimmed as needed to allow free gun traverse.

Head and Neck Frill mods

I constructed the Triceratops neck frill by first carefully bending the Redhorn frill stubs forward with a pair of pliers. Then I filled in the spaces with sections of CDCL. I cut away the lower Redhorn spike/gun clips, but retained the upper pair for use with a modified retainer. The two new main horns/guns are taken from a Command Wolf. Later I used epoxy glue to smooth their transition into the neck frill. I modified the nose horn such that it would be tilted more forward.

Neck Mod

Bending the Redhorn frill tabs forward resulted in too much of the neck being exposed. The result was that my Triceratops looked too long-necked. After much thought, I decided to shorten the neck. I carefully cut away the right body shell, then used my table to align the trimmed pieces together before applying the glue. After the right body shell had dried, it was used as a guide to modify the left body shell. This picture shows the modified right body shell (top) mated and compared to the stock left body shell (bottom). Lastly, the motor gearbox was carefully opened, the head lever shortened by a similar amount, then the motor gearbox was carefully reassembled.

Wing Gunners

After reassembly, I felt there was still some room for inprovement. So I removed the power rotater between the head and the main guns, and replaced it with a new wing gun platform made from CDCL. The wing gun turrets are fabricated from modified spare Blox armor, CDCL, shortened Redhorn frill guns, and modified LEGO pieces. The wing gun turrets are mounted on lengths of sprue to allow rotation. During this time I also spliced in the original Redhorn gunner station to the new twin main gun mount (not shown here).

You can see the completed shortened neck in the lower left hand corner of the picture.

Paint and Final Assembly

The usual masking and taping of pivot points on the legs and body shell was done to ensure smooth movement. I used Model Master #1955 Afrika Mustard for the main color, and Model Master #1954 Light Earth for the gun platform and feet. I used black caps from Liger Zero X and various Empire stickers. The chin gun is from Spinosapper. Note how the nose horn is tilted more forward.

(right) Detail shot, showing gunner's cockpit integraton to main gun mount, and custom wing gun turrets. Also note gun/horn integration into neck frill.

(left) Rear right quarter shot, showing maximum main gun elevation. Main gun has 360 degree traverse, wing turrets each have about 90 degrees traverse.

(right) Comparison of Redhorn and Fire Horn. Fire Horn walks similar to a regular Redhorn, complete with "chomping jaw" action.

walk video on YouTube

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