Last year, I was able to reassemble most of the parts for a Max Steel MX-25 Jet from Mattel’s 1999 Max Steel line. This past week I acquired another one, so before I start the next, I thought I’d share what I came up with for that first one.
For a quick refresh, this vehicle was intended for the late 1990s Max Steel revamp by Mattel. It is designed to interact with the 12-inch figures and incorporates a very 1990s action-feature street luge that can pop out of the bottom. I go into a little more detail on my initial review, should you want some more background information.
This vehicle makes for a relatively simple and comparatively inexpensive way to induct yourself into the 1:12 air force. They were made in substantial quantities, readily available at U.S. retail, and though there are a fair amount of parts, they are pretty well made, and don’t tend to fetch much money, at least out of the box. Being a 1:6 compatible vehicle means it scale nicely (and more realistically) with a 1:12 figure, and the large cabin makes for easy modding for a smaller figure.
One thing the factory vehicle could use is a real undercarriage. There are some low profile wheels on the main body and two side pods, but these are cheater wheels, and they leave the plane scraping the ground. Luckily, Hasbro’s G.I. Joe line nearly always had real landing gear, and have been a favorite source of parts of mine for years. After testing some fittings, I found the Conquest X-30’s self contained gear to be a nearly perfect fit. I’ve since gone on to use it on several other projects, thanks to it’s toughness and pretty easy availability.
This landing gear mod is really easy to do. I would say any of you guys with a dremel and a drill can knock this out in no time. First, disassemble the X-30, and get the lower half free. Then make some clean cuts to remove the wings and additional paneling. Then you line up the existing screw holes on to the MX-25, pre-drill, and then screw it in place.
As you tighten the two together, the undercarriage will start to conform to the MX-25 body, and the gaps will minimize. Then it’s just a matter of sanding and filling any holes that you don’t want. I used the X-30’s “taileron” panel to provide the transition from the back of the undercarriage back to the MX-25, but a chunk of styrene could do it too. It won’t be street luge-ing again, but at least it can still roll. The pods are now free to stay or go as you wish, I opted to turn mine into additional 20mm cannon pods.
I ordered an aftermarket vertical tail from PatchesofPride.com to give it a better profile. Since mine was missing the factory wing canards and rockets, I added some from another parts jet, and modded the pegs on the wings to accept some Joe ordinance. I put a 1:10 bucket into the cockpit, and then opted just to mask off some of the extra canopy space to help the jet look a little larger. Eventually I’ll need to give it some insignia, but a few numbers and markings give it a little more real-world look for now.
It was a pretty satisfying build, and simple enough that I’m going to try another, and see what I can do to change it up. Thanks to it’s unique FireBat like build, this makes for a great superhero-verse type of vehicle — I could actually see one making a nice Quinjet or even a stylized X-Jet, and the cabin space could make this easily a two-seater.
That project is for one of you guys, though. Y’all know how I feel about turning my planes into comic-canon.