Riveting.... Robogear Spider

Here is another one of those Russian Robogear kits I've been curious about for years but never saw anyone do anything hugely impressive with. I always wondered what it would look like reversed  having it treat the over sized cockpit at the back as the abdomen of the spider instead of the front. So after seeing how cheap it was on ebay from Russia direct I finally ordered one.





as you can see it arrived a bit squished but the kit inside was fine.





It easily snapped together. Leaving off the big spring loaded cannons on the back I saw definite potential.






I decided to turn the cockpit interior into an engine bay rather than just cover it up. I cut up the window frame to keep the outer edge of it and the top bit. I added a bulkhead to cover the open area above the seat.




















As you can see I went a bit nuts adding slices of plastic rod rivets all over the place, plus the odd bit of plastic card to make the joins neater and look a bit more reinforced plus the addition of a steam pipe and small hatch at the back. The weapon mount for the original cannons became the engine inside the body capped off by the to of the cockpit canopy. The exhausts looking part (which looks incredibly like the exhausts from a Sentinel) became the machine guns armament at the front. It's odd how well it fits.

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If you were wondering about some sensors or eyes on the contraption I bought these to put on after I paint it.