Hi Fednet
- I know they are all debating about whether mongoose bugs are 'authentic' and such- but the point is you prefer the movie version,
Im alot like you, even before models were released I was looking at the previews for the warrior bugs and was like 'that anatomy is all different'
SO
my Warriors bugs use only the kit parts but are as acurate to the movie as possible with those parts-
-Jaws- take bottom jaw, snip off the buck teeth, cut teeth in half, reattach one tooth, shave the edges so it blends in nice
-Torso- The torso is sadly too long, hack into the middle/towards the end and cut maybe a quarter of an inch of plastic right out of it... then shave to fit and reattach the two ends.
-Tail Fins- cut off the kit's arm claws and attach to the sides of the torso
-Lower Torso- instead of assembling the hip socket piece, which is too bulky and puts the legs too far away from the torso, attack the lower half of the hip socket directly to the underside of the torso (cut off the fitting nub) then attach the legs to the sockets- they wont fit inside but this creates a nice indented area for them... you actually get more pose freedom this way too
-Arms- now weve taken off the arm claws for the tail fins, now find two extra legs, and cut off the leg claws, you will then attach these to the arms- the movie bugs arms have an undulating curvature that the leg claws match nicely, and they are much longer than mongooses-
--However, the leg claws are also TOO long, so clip them a little bit shorter- and take the small left over tip piece-
-Feeder Arms- Now take that piece and attach it to the sides of the torso facing the mouth, if they are long enough you can bend them to curl up a bit- The Feeder arms are barely noticeable in the film, but hey they are there!
---Alternatively for the jaws you could use two top jaw pieces, youll have to cut a good chunk off of the one you place on the lower end....
-In conclusion- theres no easy way to make this guys accurate, and they will still have flaws, but the custom job makes them look much better IMO, but its a real pain in the ass to do for every bug, I have a total of 40 done this way- The legs are the biggest remaining inaccuracy, as the hind legs are actually longer than the front legs in the movie, as well as being far more straight and smooth edged.
Hope it helps!
PS- they have already stated that there will be no change in the model of the warrior bug for Evo, to them its not a mistake its a artistic choice and they made it, it will also save them alot of cash to not rework the model, and while I wish the bugs were more movie-esque, honestly I respect their choice. The warrior bug kit is so flexible and useful for converting many different bugs that i couldnt complain and keep a straight face
