Metal Gear TX-55

Creating a Metal Gear TX-55 

Inspiration

A TMP member named MrFrost posted this picture, looking for a mech like this.  I liked the mech, so I decided that I would try to build one.  My first step was to scale the picture the actual size that I was trying to achieve.  I realized that much of the model would have to be scratchbuilt, but I have some parts that I will be able to find adequate replacements.














Building the Cockpit

 I had three fairly reasonable choices for the cockpit - the cockpit from a small toy walker, the front of a Corsair, or the front end of the Osprey model.  In the end, I decided that the front end of the Osprey would give me the best look for the mech.  It was slightly wider than I wanted, but was close enough to the picture that I could use it.  I discarded the clear plastic canopy piece because it would not work sufficiently for what I wanted to achieve.  I would have to do too much filing on it, and the plastic would be marred, so I decided to cut the canopy "glass" from the windshields of model cars.  Also, it appears to me that there is an edge where the side glass of the canopy meets with the front glass, which I could probably not achieve if I were to use the original cockpit glass for the mech.

 Here is the Osprey after I had glued the two halves of the body together.  At this point, I had actually only glued the front, or left end in the picture, together because I may have use for the parts I don't use in later projects.

This is the fuselage after I have filed away parts of it, inclucing the nose.  If you look at the picture of the mech, you can see that the bottom of the cockpit is at a slight angle, so I compared the fuselage to the picture and cut and filed the nose down.

 I have cut the portion of the fuselage that I intend to use for the cockpit.  The blue lines are more cuts I have to make to get the piece to look right.

 A side view of the piece above.  Again, the blue lines are cuts I will have to make.  The triangular piece was cut out of a piece of scrap plastic, similar to name plates.

 A view of the other side of the piece.  Again, the blue lines are cuts I will have to make and the triangular piece was cut from scrap plastic.










 At this point, I have made the necessary cuts and almost finished the cockpit.  This would be the view of the cockpit as seen from the front with your head tilted to the right...or if the mech were laying on its right side.  In order to make the "channel" part of the cockpit, I used some scrap plastic, similar to that used in the previous photos and half of a missile body from a 1/72nd jet.  The clear top part of the cockpit was cut from a plastic cup I purchased at the dollar store.

 A side view of the cockpit.  I still have a small area to fill in that can be seen in about the middle near the top of the photo.

A view of the other side.  The area I need to fill in can be seen clearly to the right of the photo.  There is a slight marring toward the bottom of the cockpit - I had glued on a piece that is in the illustration, but was forced to remove.  It will be replaced later.








This is the beginning of the rail gun.  Unfortunately, the box I used was made from some really bad plastic, so my holes are off a bit.  The drill bit I was using would bite and drive sideways causing the piece to turn out poorly, but it will work for my purposes.  In looking at three-dimensional render of the mech, the rail gun appears to be about 5 inches (actual inches) long, but I felt that it looked too long and my box was only about three and a half inches long, so I changed the dimensions.