Any ideas or suggestions for converting a Mongrel Prime to the A variant?

[ISD]

This may not be the correct sub-board, but I felt this is more like a tip-trick than showing off what's been done. Do correct me if I'm wrong

So, when I got my boxful of Clanner KS stuff one of the Salvage boxes supposedly contained a Mongrel/Grendel A. The main box already had a Prime, so what would I do with two of the exact same minis in the same pose? My first idea was to start chopping bits off and replacing them with something made out of styrene or something.

I guess the LRM racks in the LT/RT would be halfway simple to implement by covering (or sanding away) the existing SRM-6 launcher's face and then scratching (I don't consider myself skilled enough to call it carving) some new LRM-15 racks in. Replacing the LLas in RA with an MPLas and ERSLas might not be too difficult using the pieces from the LA... or are these my famous last words?

An alternative approach could be to go for the D with an ER PPC, but as a miniproject that doesn't sound quite as fun.

Why bother with all this nonsense? I just enjoy attempting to make my 'Mechs look what they are supposed to represent
Anyway, any comments, thoughts, suggestions, warnings from wiser and more experienced tweakers?

[Joel47]

I haven't modified a Mongrel yet, but I think I'd go at it this way:

1. Carve out both upper torsos. Slot in LRM-15 pods with slanted fronts. I'm thinking Grigori pods. They'll sit higher, but that's fine -- it makes the modification more obvious.
2. Chop off the RA barrel and replace with something shorter and smaller in diameter. (Leave the small laser alone.) I wouldn't use the lasers from the LA, though, as they're paired. Instead, I'd raid my bits bin or use a few nested pieces of brass tubing.
3. Chop off LA lasers.
4. Carve away head laser (or just fill the barrel).

[Luciora]

I do agree with removing the larger laser and replacing with a smaller tube / emitter.  Lazy me would also add shaped flat styrene panels ala the Archer / Bombardier / Whitworth to simulate closed missile doors with warning markings maybe.

[Joel47]

Lazy me would also add shaped flat styrene panels ala the Archer / Bombardier / Whitworth to simulate closed missile doors with warning markings maybe.

Definitely valid. Unable to find an existing missile pack that would match the design, I used two of the closed-door left arms from a Longbow 12C when I made my Nova Cat B.

[ISD]

Ha, thanks for the ideas!
Ordering IWM bits overseas tends to go over the top ("while I'm here, why not also add those and those to the cart...") so the closed hatches might be the simpler (also considering the US-Nordics mailing times, much quicker) solution

I won't get to this one any day soon, anyway, so I've got some time to ponder.

[worktroll]

I wouldn't recommend too much gouging of torsos. Better to get flat missile plates, and put them on top of the existing torsos, filling any gaps with putty/clay/etc.

Problem is, where do you get plates with 15 missiles from, that will be small enough? IWM has a whole series of launcher plates, but the 15-hole one is on their XL Launcher Plates item, with two strikes - a) it's way too big, and b) you'd need to get two packs to get two LRM 15 launchers. Consider using the MRM-10 plate in the Medium Launcher Plates set - okay, it's not got the right number of missile holes, but either a) don't fuss it, or b) say more efficient Clan tech launches 15 missiles from 10 holes in 10 seconds.

An alternative might be MW:DA parts. The JES III has two pods, each with two LRM-15s. Slice the front off one of these pods, then divide down the middle - voila, two well sized LRM plates. There may well be generic items you can find from other suppliers which would suit, particularly if you have problems with finding one JES III at a good price.

Don't forget to remove the ERML tubes off the left arm, and fortunately the right arm is just the MPL and ERSL mounted straight at the shoulder. Maybe try scratching up a shoulder plate for the right arm?

Cheers!

[ISD]

Well, this is what I ended up doing: cutting off the LA lasers, snipping the tip off of the one in the forehead, chopping off the ones in RA as well.
Then I added simple blast doors with hingelike bits on the shoulders. For the MPLas I used a short piece of a light blue qtip handle and for the ERSLas I used a 1:35 scale tan-coloured fire extinguisher from most likely a Tamiya kit, one of the many Tigers or Panthers, and drilled-carved a hole into it.

I think I'll still need to fill the qtip pipe with white glue to get a lens-like bottom near the barrel's end. Or I could shorten it a bit more before getting more serious.

Why did I use a Panzer piece for the small laser instead of another pipe? Well, I had none handy, and I also wanted some texture on the piece I used. For the same reason I glued on some 0,5mm polystyrene greeblies on the back of the left forearm, it was looking a bit sad after I snipped the double lasers off.

And I was in no way skilled nor confident enough to scratchbuild a full Right Arm myself so the old massive setup is still in place



The snips are a bit unclean in the photo, I was going to use a bit of liquid cement to soften them before priming.

[Luciora]

Looks good!

[ISD]

Thanks! What I realized when I started painting this thing of mine: I forgot the CASE panels from the back!
I have an idea of how I could've made it, but I realized this a bit too late. And I'm not too sure if there was enough space for nicely visible blowout panels, I'll just go and claim that the panels are facing somewhere else than straight back 

Regarding the LRM racks: the mini is evilly small, I would've completely destroyed the shoulders had I started dremeling and trying to insert some bits into them. My favourite plan was drilling 3x5 (or 5x3 depending on which way you look at it) holes with my pin vise but the hobby drill bit was way too large for this tiny space. So I went with the blast doors and am quite content with them. I just had to add a couple of tiny polystyrene greeblies to make them more shield-y or more hinged.