Fesifisky
06-25-2012, 10:55 PM
Wouldn't feel right putting this here if I hadn't finished up the couple paint details I've been wanting to fix. This gives me a chance to rewrite the tutorial portion to hopefully read a bit better.
As soon as I first saw images of the production V6 Hiss tank, I knew I had to get at least one. Lucked out and grabbed one well before the original line launch date thanks to a great customizer and fellow tanker: Air-tight.
I really love the general look of this new Hiss, but upon assembly, was quite saddened by the lack of moving treads, though I understand why Hasbro made decisions such as this. No less disappointing though.
At first, I was only going to simply add the moving treads from the V5, but as you'll see in the next post or so, I went a lil overboard.
Anyway, upon seeing how much time it'd take to mount the entire V5 chassis onto the V6 body, I decided to just swap the treads themselves. The first post of this thread will be a pseudo tutorial for anyone else wanting to go this route. Please note, I do not have extra sets of moving treads available...sorry.
The rest of this thread will show the direction I ended up taking after that.
Adding this in the first post to be safe: Paint used was Krylon Fusion for Plastics black, Krylon Silver Metallic and a couple coats of Krylon matte clear.
So, onto the tread transplant:
I grabbed an extra Crimson HISS for $15 from a Walmart and did some rough measuring on where the treads connect on both the Crimson and Retaliation versions. Truth be told, trial and not so much error yielded better, faster results for my purposes at the time.
1. First, on the moving tread, the nub on the inside of the receseed hole(with the connecting peg in the center,see pic #1) needs to go. This will only need to be done on the connecting point that will be towards the front of the HISS, the back point has no nub.There are too many methods to list, I simply used a chisel end Xacto. Also, pic #1 is from an unaltered brown V5 tread, I had forgot to take a pic of the one I modded.
2. Then Using a relatively new drill bit, I taped off 3/16" to use as a guide, kinda like a router bit. I used the bit in a dremel, but a drill and a steady hand should work the same; and 'routed' out or expanded the recessed hole of the Crimson HISS's treads(see pic #2). I kind of left it looking rough to better show what was done in the picture but it ended up working out to fit just fine in my case.
3. Next, I used the closest drill bit I had to the diameter of the connecting peg of the moving tread to roughly(and in this case,hastily) expand the mounting hole on the Retaliation chassis(see pic #3). Be patient and only remove a little bit at a time on both the chassis and treads and keep fitting. The outer ring on the Retaliation chassis should eventually slip into the now enlarged recessed hole of the moving tread and peg should slighly pop(may not hear it) into the enlarged hole of the chassis
If it is too loose, a lil glue should be fine, I lucked out on my first try and they will stay on but can still be popped off if I want to further customize or paint.
Pic #4 shows the end result of the tread swap. All in all, it really didn't take much time or effort, but I like it better already.
Nub that needs removing:
http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r609/fesifisky/GI%20Joe%20Retaliation%20HISS%20Tank%20Custom%201/Adding%20moving%20treads%20from%20V5%20Hiss/RetaliationHISSFwdTreadNub.jpg
Enlarged recess on V5 treads:
http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r609/fesifisky/GI%20Joe%20Retaliation%20HISS%20Tank%20Custom%201/Adding%20moving%20treads%20from%20V5%20Hiss/RetaliationHISSTreadOuterHole.jpg
V6 enlarged chassis holes:
http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r609/fesifisky/GI%20Joe%20Retaliation%20HISS%20Tank%20Custom%201/Adding%20moving%20treads%20from%20V5%20Hiss/RetaliationHISSTreadHoles.jpg
Voila:
http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r609/fesifisky/GI%20Joe%20Retaliation%20HISS%20Tank%20Custom%201/Adding%20moving%20treads%20from%20V5%20Hiss/2012-05-20195334.jpg
As soon as I first saw images of the production V6 Hiss tank, I knew I had to get at least one. Lucked out and grabbed one well before the original line launch date thanks to a great customizer and fellow tanker: Air-tight.
I really love the general look of this new Hiss, but upon assembly, was quite saddened by the lack of moving treads, though I understand why Hasbro made decisions such as this. No less disappointing though.
At first, I was only going to simply add the moving treads from the V5, but as you'll see in the next post or so, I went a lil overboard.
Anyway, upon seeing how much time it'd take to mount the entire V5 chassis onto the V6 body, I decided to just swap the treads themselves. The first post of this thread will be a pseudo tutorial for anyone else wanting to go this route. Please note, I do not have extra sets of moving treads available...sorry.
The rest of this thread will show the direction I ended up taking after that.
Adding this in the first post to be safe: Paint used was Krylon Fusion for Plastics black, Krylon Silver Metallic and a couple coats of Krylon matte clear.
So, onto the tread transplant:
I grabbed an extra Crimson HISS for $15 from a Walmart and did some rough measuring on where the treads connect on both the Crimson and Retaliation versions. Truth be told, trial and not so much error yielded better, faster results for my purposes at the time.
1. First, on the moving tread, the nub on the inside of the receseed hole(with the connecting peg in the center,see pic #1) needs to go. This will only need to be done on the connecting point that will be towards the front of the HISS, the back point has no nub.There are too many methods to list, I simply used a chisel end Xacto. Also, pic #1 is from an unaltered brown V5 tread, I had forgot to take a pic of the one I modded.
2. Then Using a relatively new drill bit, I taped off 3/16" to use as a guide, kinda like a router bit. I used the bit in a dremel, but a drill and a steady hand should work the same; and 'routed' out or expanded the recessed hole of the Crimson HISS's treads(see pic #2). I kind of left it looking rough to better show what was done in the picture but it ended up working out to fit just fine in my case.
3. Next, I used the closest drill bit I had to the diameter of the connecting peg of the moving tread to roughly(and in this case,hastily) expand the mounting hole on the Retaliation chassis(see pic #3). Be patient and only remove a little bit at a time on both the chassis and treads and keep fitting. The outer ring on the Retaliation chassis should eventually slip into the now enlarged recessed hole of the moving tread and peg should slighly pop(may not hear it) into the enlarged hole of the chassis
If it is too loose, a lil glue should be fine, I lucked out on my first try and they will stay on but can still be popped off if I want to further customize or paint.
Pic #4 shows the end result of the tread swap. All in all, it really didn't take much time or effort, but I like it better already.
Nub that needs removing:
http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r609/fesifisky/GI%20Joe%20Retaliation%20HISS%20Tank%20Custom%201/Adding%20moving%20treads%20from%20V5%20Hiss/RetaliationHISSFwdTreadNub.jpg
Enlarged recess on V5 treads:
http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r609/fesifisky/GI%20Joe%20Retaliation%20HISS%20Tank%20Custom%201/Adding%20moving%20treads%20from%20V5%20Hiss/RetaliationHISSTreadOuterHole.jpg
V6 enlarged chassis holes:
http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r609/fesifisky/GI%20Joe%20Retaliation%20HISS%20Tank%20Custom%201/Adding%20moving%20treads%20from%20V5%20Hiss/RetaliationHISSTreadHoles.jpg
Voila:
http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r609/fesifisky/GI%20Joe%20Retaliation%20HISS%20Tank%20Custom%201/Adding%20moving%20treads%20from%20V5%20Hiss/2012-05-20195334.jpg