Trek Boot Legs

[sprytel]

Can Trek boot legs be swapped onto non-boot leg Mego bodies? Can they be put on Type S bodies? I don't think I fully understand how the knee pin works on Trek legs.

[LonnieFisher]

Can Trek boot legs be swapped onto non-boot leg Mego bodies? Can they be put on Type S bodies? I don't think I fully understand how the knee pin works on Trek legs.

If putting on another Mego body, just switch the whole leg. For a type-s, I don't know.

[sprytel]

Thanks Lonnie. I could see doing it by replacing the whole leg. But my hope was just to replace at the knee because 1. I have several good "donors" where the hip connector has broken. and 2 I'd prefer to match the skin tone rather than have an African American body with Mr. Data legs. (Yeah nobody will see it under the pants... but I'll know!)

[LonnieFisher]

Are your bodies vintage or the new Mego bodies? The new ones can be dipped in boiling water and it's really easy to switch them. If it's the vintage bodies it's harder to switch out the knee pins. The old two-part pins are hard to remove and usually break, the new ones are one-piece and easy to switch out.

[sprytel]

Are your bodies vintage or the new Mego bodies? The new ones can be dipped in boiling water and it's really easy to switch them. If it's the vintage bodies it's harder to switch out the knee pins. The old two-part pins are hard to remove and usually break, the new ones are one-piece and easy to switch out.

Thanks Lonnie! I can confirm that the new Trek boot legs removed fine by dipping the knee joint in boiling water and just pulling it off.

If I was swapping the boots to another Mego body, it seems like it would be pretty easy. However, the Type S body has a narrow, thin knee pin that is more like a wrist pin. You can push the pin out and remove the lower leg, but it doesn't have the thickness (or the "end nubbin") to keep the boot leg onto it.

So I need to fashion some sort of part... but it still seems doable. I'm gonna see what I can come up with.

[Confessional]

^^ Early on in the ST releases I recall someone cutting the boots off the ST legs, and across the shins on the Type S, creating a new pin connection and a swivel joint. Needs to be accurate Dremel work, but might be a better solution to preserve the knee joints.

[sprytel]

Cutting the boots off seems more destructive than I would like.

My hope is to 3d print a part that either:

1. Fits the "wrist pin" style of the Type S but has the proper sized "end nubbin" for the knee joint (I'm guessing it would look sort of like a thumb tack with a long pin)... or
2. The entire knee connector itself actually plugs into the leg (sort of like how a Mego hand plugs in at the wrist). So I could pull the entire connector and put in one that takes Mego sized knee pins.

I must say, the Type S "clear" body that I got from the Kickstarter has been a big convenience in trying to figure this all out.

[sprytel]

After a little experimentation, I have had some success with fashioning a 3d printed connector. It fits and holds a pose well.

"Normal" 3d printer resin can be brittle, so I may try using a more ABS-like resin... but otherwise I'm pretty happy with the results.