XV104 construction

Yesterday, I finally started construction on the Riptide model and man, what a beast of a model it is.

Right off the bat, I want the main gun to be interchangeable, so that needs to be magnetized. I'm not sure on the secondary armament. I'll have to see what is possible with the bits provided.

As this my first really big model, I decided to just follow the instructions and even though it's possible to repose the suit's legs completely (there are reposable joints in the ankles, knees and hips, but by default they have a pin that locks the joint in place in the position that is on the box... this is a great feature of the kit) I decided to keep it stock, just for ease of construction.

Leaving all the joints unglued until the very end, leaves you with the need of a lot of hands to try to pose the model in kind of a natural position while gluing them together. I saw a completely reposed riptide in a YouTube video this week and it didn't look good IMHO.

On to some pictures:

Following the instructions, I started of with the leg construction. There is a lot of potential for posing this model if you cut the posing pins off, but I didn't want to screw up this build, so I kept it stock. This allows the legs to stand on their own. Mind you, the knee and hip joints aren't glued in place, they are just kept upright with their posing pins intact. I wanted to keep them unglued because I want a sort of scenic base, and maybe, just maybe I need to repose a joint or two to keep it looking natural.

This is the upper torso without the engines or head. This piece fits into the leg assembly with a ball joint. But, as with the other joints, there is a posing pin in the middle so the torso can only yaw and not pitch or roll... Ok, I had to look that up... I knew the existence of the three words, but didn't know which was which. (tgf wikipedia)

In other words, leaving the pin intact, it allows the suit to look around and it allows the torso to be detachable, which is nice for transportation, so I'll leave that like it is.

This is the same torso but with the engines and jump pack attached. The model is actually very self-explanatory as soon as you have the different sub-assemblies built. Identifying which parts add up to a certain sub-assembly is not the easiest task, best to keep the instructions near so you can check what part numbers you need.

Also, you can see the arms. They have articulated elbow joints and a ball joint that attaches them to the engine on either side of the torso. Both have 2 armament slots and are symmetrical. This means you can easily make a left-handed riptide if you so desire.

Further updates will probably follow today! Keep your eyes peeled!

Did you build a Riptide? Have you cut off the posing pins? Pictures please!