discussion Terminator Endoskeleton Horizon Kit

[DarthVehement]

This is a vintage kit, launched in 1991, so it will probably be quite rare now, possibly to be found on Ebay or specialist collectors sites.Back then, there wasn’t much availability on the endoskeleton, nothing else existed in this scale.


Since then, companies such as Sideshow collectables have released very good versions of this, already assembled and complete, if you don’t want to attempt a build.The arms are pre-assembled, painted/sealed and finished before final assembly, along with the legs/pelvis, torso assembly and head.


For general assembly, the arm and leg sockets are pre-heated with a hair dryer, then simply pushed into the sockets. I pre-filled the connecting ball joints with super glue to harden them before inserting, for easy and strong joining.
After the plastic joints are connected, the pins on the pistons are attached to the pelvis.
For final assembly, I used a perspex base, drilled holes for the pins inserted in the heels of the feet and mounted the completed model.


The paint work was finalized after the kit was mounted on the perspex because the kit is not easy to handle after painting, even with the acrylic clear seal, it is still prone to be tacky. It was necessary to finish painting the arm joints and shoulders after assembly because of heating the vinyl.


Paints are humbrol #11 metallic silver and clear acrylic gloss.
I decided to create a somewhat dirty version for realistic and practical reasons. (Very difficult to find a good enough finish of silver to match a clean, factory made example. I used tin foil to create this finish in patches to simulate where dirt has rubbed off.)
The black wash in the detailing is black enamel paint thinned with spirits.


The eyes are humbrol enamel red.When attaching the feet and hydraulics, it is advisable to insert a wire rod to give strength and stability for when the kit is standing.


*(I had issues with the feet coming loose with just the three piston rods and the remaining thin plastic Shin holding the weight of the kit!)


The bearings for the feet are pen tips, cut and shaped as required, then secured to the shins using three pins super glued in place.


Fills are made with super glue and acrylic paint.


The torso was missing a lot of details and in fact is supposed to be hollow with hydraulic pistons, so I decided to cut out all of the interior fill, along with an opening at the bottom.


I made the appropriate hydraulic fittings from materials stated and used wine corks and epoxy to finish the motors for the arms. (After trimming the fill plastic, there is an empty space and the tops of the sculpted motors, all of this needs finishing with the referanced materials.)


I added couplings for the shoulder hydraulics using epoxy and brass pins.


For strength, I added 4 wire pins to the pivot section to attach to the torso.


Using plastic sheeting, I glued these into the lower pivot section in order to create a joint at the spine on the pelvis.


These were pre-assembled into one section.The fore-arms and lower legs, below the knee joint are cut off leaving the elbow and knee joints, discarding the fills and poorly sculpted hydraulics, I replaced them as previously described. The main struts are aluminium dart stems with wire couplings.Hydraulic hoses;


Made from car wing mirror articulation. Solder is used for the neck hoses.


Firstly, I trimmed away the original piston details along with the fills to leave the basic components.


After cutting and assembling the pistons, I assembled the arms and legs using super glue and epoxy resin.


The hands, feet and fore-arms are also cut out with details added.This is a vinyl kit, approximately 15" high assembled.


Rather a disappointing kit-


As shown in the box photo, A lot of details missing and poorly cast with inaccuracies in the hydraulic couplings!


I discarded all of the vinyl moulded hydraulic pistons and couplings, along with hydraulic hoses and the heels, arm elbow couplings and the pre-molded fills on the arms, legs torso and pelvis.


I used perspex 1mm sheets to make an interior finish for the sections cut out.


I also re-cut the surface details with a scalpel.


Some cut outs are done to the head, the mouth details, etc.


The replacement parts are;


Pistons;


Felt tip pens cut down to scale size, pvc piping inserts and steel split pins for couplings.


Aerial antenna was used to make the pistons for the legs main sections, along with pen cartridges.


2mm wire is used for couplings for the arms and lower legs