Blackout Transformer

I’ve always been a fan of transforming Lego toys, and I’ve built quite a few myself. When the Transformers movie came out in July of 2007, it invigorated my desire to build another Transformer. Unfortunately, the movie Transformers are generally too complicated to emulate. Enter the toys.

I chose to do Blackout, the Decepticon helicopter. My version of Blackout is roughly minifig scaled, although it does not include any minifigs, or an interior for that matter. The helicopter mode measures about 77 studs, or just over 2 feet long. Robot mode stands just under 16 inches tall.

The transformation sequence theoretically works without having to remove any parts. However, I can’t actually do it because of extreme brittleness mid-transformation (thus the X-Pods as supports).

The Helicopter mode doesn’t specifically emulate the toy. It is as close to the actual MH-53 Pave Low as I could make and still keep robot mode working. The robot mode is roughly analogous to the toy, with a few tweaks to make it work in Lego. It basically ends up being a hybrid of the toy, the real helicopter, and the movie Transformer. I think it works.