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Madeus Prime wrote:Anybody have any advice on how to tighten up the AOE Two-Pack Classics Prime's shoulders?

The easiest way would be to use a screwdriver and tighten that up. Now, I assume you've got enough gumption to try that first, so I will also cautiously reccommend the super glue trick. Beyond that, I'm not sure how much help I can be.

Okay, so does anyone have any ideas as to which figure I can use in a particular custom; I aim to make a CHUG style Slipstream using the recent Windblade, but I don't have a clear idea who's head I should use. I believe Cybertron Thunderblast would be a good candidate, but I don't own her, and I don't want to spring ~$70 just to have her head.

Nemesis Maximo wrote:Okay, so does anyone have any ideas as to which figure I can use in a particular custom; I aim to make a CHUG style Slipstream using the recent Windblade, but I don't have a clear idea who's head I should use. I believe Cybertron Thunderblast would be a good candidate, but I don't own her, and I don't want to spring ~$70 just to have her head.

I don't have either in-hand for size comparison, but Airachnid would be a good candidate. Cheap too. And perhaps try shapeways?

Madeus Prime wrote:

Nemesis Maximo wrote:Okay, so does anyone have any ideas as to which figure I can use in a particular custom; I aim to make a CHUG style Slipstream using the recent Windblade, but I don't have a clear idea who's head I should use. I believe Cybertron Thunderblast would be a good candidate, but I don't own her, and I don't want to spring ~$70 just to have her head.

I don't have either in-hand for size comparison, but Airachnid would be a good candidate. Cheap too. And perhaps try shapeways?

I'd rather the head be more "classics" in nature than TFP, but Airachnid isn't totally off the table. As for shapeways, i do like some of the options I've seen, I was just hoping someone might name a figure I have in my pile of junk.

Kind of a shot in the dark, I know, but I figured why not?

I admit its no use as a slipstream mold, but I have found the new generations legend cliffjumper mold to be great for genericons and above all are rather cheap. 11 GB pounds. You can also change the legs with generations legend shrapnel (which have more articulation) and the same goes with the arms (u could chop off the insect legs). Unfortunately the legends tailgate limbs dont fit with cliffjumper, and I don't know about the legends bombshell mold maybe some1 can try? Also the bumblebee mold has been used for other more obscure characters (I've done Tap-Out and Glyph but there is also Bug Bite, Goldbug, maybe Volks, and one could go as far as doing all the South American versions of Bumblebee or even just random genericons).

I got a G1 lot that had a Slugslinger. He was the rarest of the TFs in there but also the one in worst shape. He had yellowed badly.

Here he is next to another G1 from that lot, Silverbolt, who kept his white color:



I didnt know what to do. Transformer forums were suggesting a bunch of stuff from sanding the yellow off (bad idea since you risk destroying your rare toy) to dumping the transformer in a vat of hydrogen peroxide for 3 months(also a bad idea since everything will rust).

Hydrogen peroxide was the best option strictly for bleaching but nothing above 3% concentration is sold to consumers and even if you found a high percentage (12% is needed if you dont want to wait 3 months) you would need a bunch to submerge your figure in. Slugslinger has quite the wingspan. So it looked impossible.

However, there was a whole bunch of info on how to remove the yellow colouring from old white mac computers (because apparently, that too is soemthing people collect). Since Computers have large surfaces, dumping them in hydrogen peroxide would not work. You would need so much. So instead, you would need to turn the hydrogen peroxide into a cream to spread over it.

Lucky for us, such peroxide creams to exist for bleaching hair, and you can buy the heavy stuff over the counter at any drugstore or beauty salon. And when you look at the ingredients, it's just water and hydrogen peroxide and some thickening agent to spread it, so it's perfect. By being able to spread it, you dont hae to dunk the figure in a solution, so it wont be all wet for days on end and wont rust. You can also choose which parts of your figure to coat in the cream.



Once the cream is applied, put a saran wrap over the figur so that the cream does not evaporate. UV rays are responsible for the chemial reaction which turns figures yellow, and thus they are also needed for it's reversal. I have a black light, so I just posed it near my figure so that the figure would bathe in the UV rays for 36 hours. The plastic wrap made the hydrogen peroxide cream stay the whole time.



36 hours laters, I removed the plastic wrap and cleaned my figure in soapy water to remove any hydrogen peroxide residue.

It became a beautiful neutral gray. Here it is ready to be given some new decals.


Just to show what it looked like before again

Bravo, Will. Bravo.

Hello, I'm really starting to want to get into customizing my own transformers, and I still want them to be able to transform just fine and without the paint getting my finger prints all over it. I have a couple of questions, just so I have a good idea of what I need before I dive into a pool half-filled and break my skull.

-What is the best type of paint that I should get that isn't easy to get off, chip or gets weak from like sweat or fingerprints?
-What tools will I need in order to remove certain joints to paint hard to reach areas? For example, the Dinobots Unleashed Platinum edition looks amazing, however... I hate the translucent parts and I want to paint the insides to make it look more full if that's even possible... Also want to remove backpack off Leader Optimus Prime from AoE.
-What tips would suggest for removing chrome? I'd like to remove the chrome from AoE leader Grimlock without destroying the plastic, I'm told bleach works well.
-How do I tighten certain loose joints? Like Evasion Mode Optimus' right arm is kind of floppy as well as Hound's.
-I plan on handbrushing most of my details but for stuff like black-washing to bring out details for the weapons, what's the best way to go about it.

That's all, I know it's a quite a lot to ask but any help is appreciated. Thanks.

Aloha crimsondecepticon, welcome to the gang.

-First of all, paint will get thick, and no matter what paint u use if a transformation requires any sort of grinding and or sliding/friction etc, the the paint WILL rub off when transformed.

- another thing to consider, fixant sprays (not sure about spelling name, check) are common, but if there is too much paint the fixant will just prevent the transformation or.. the paint will peel off anyways. Also there used to be matt spays and gloss sprays, now u can get e'm that leave no after effect (other than darkening a bit colours).

- A common solution to the above 2 problems is to previously grind the figure with sandpaper or sorts. This also helps with making paint stick better to the figure (which is a bigger concern than paint peeling due 2 transformation; if your paint doesn't stick well it just looks bad and will get worse fast) as it creates crevices for the paint to grab on to. Check the figure for the parts u think might lose paint during transformation and rub those more/harder. If u have a powered screwdriver u can get 'strip it discs'...

-paint. Many go with spray paint. I never tried. for one they're better not used indoors. secondly it often requires dismantling figures entirely, so isn't best option for expensive figures. Also, spraying isn't for details (eyes, battle damage, and this sorta thing). Others use Tamiya paints (or paints for modeling) and I don't know much about these as i tried them last sometime in the 90's... but they were rather thick, so not good it terms of transformation and all that..
I personally use workshop paints. these are usually very thin paints made for very small figures, and have a series of different paints to help inepts like me achieve 'cool looking effects'.
If go for these my last advice is to give a coat of silver after sanding down the figure, as its one of the more adhesive colours, u can then paint on top when its try. And.. gasp... in order to keep the layers thin do some very light drybrushing.

I don't usually have problems touching painted figures so the WS paints are good that way. Hope this addresses at least your first question

good luck

Thanks! That was very insightful, I had no idea about sanding down the figures, I had a feeling there was going to be more than simply painting a new color over bad colors.

Crimson, for a good figure to practice on, I would reccomend getting the new Bumblebee/Nightbeat/Goldbug figure. He's relatively inexpensive, and very east to take apart and get around cracks. Just any idea. Also, here are some links that may come in handy:

How to Remove Pins and Rivets from Transformers

Jin Saotome's Customizing Tutorials

Need some advise. I have a customized G1 Orion Pax with a kit bashed cartoon head. its a great design and all. Great paint job, but being OCD, I want the head to blend in with the glossy Kup body.I just bought a TopCoat Gloss modeling paint can. I'm an amatuer at this stuff. Should I bite and try and spray the head?

Nemesis Maximo wrote:Crimson, for a good figure to practice on, I would reccomend getting the new Bumblebee/Nightbeat/Goldbug figure. He's relatively inexpensive, and very east to take apart and get around cracks. Just any idea. Also, here are some links that may come in handy:

How to Remove Pins and Rivets from Transformers

Jin Saotome's Customizing Tutorials

Those were really helpful links, I got the stupid backpack off AoE leader Prime!

crimsondeception wrote:

Nemesis Maximo wrote:Crimson, for a good figure to practice on, I would reccomend getting the new Bumblebee/Nightbeat/Goldbug figure. He's relatively inexpensive, and very east to take apart and get around cracks. Just any idea. Also, here are some links that may come in handy:

How to Remove Pins and Rivets from Transformers

Jin Saotome's Customizing Tutorials

Those were really helpful links, I got the stupid backpack off AoE leader Prime!

Fenrir, I'd say hand paint the head. Spray paint can have trouble getting into the cracks and crevices of somethin like a head. Not to mention you'd want to mask off the face to keep it a separate color.

If you really want to use that specific color you bought, spray it into a dimpled paint tray, and use it like a small jar of model paint.

Does anyone know what kind of paint you need to customize them? I wanted to repaint my transformers toys but my mum says we don't have the right kind of paint. Also I sadly don't have really good transformers toys, I live in Australia so it is hard to get good ones. Do you know a place that I could get some? (I don't really trust Ebay BTW) My brother really wants me to repaint his Bumblebee toy to Tap Out. (His favourite colour is lime green)

Find a hobby shop near to you. I personally use Humbrol (because it's all they stock) but a lot of people use and recommend Tamiya.

Finding figures ... not trusting E-Bay is fine. But, short of driving around Saturday morning checking out garage sales it's the best place to pick up junkers.

And that's what you should start on. Junkers. Don't go into K-Mart or Big W when they have a sale on (because they're still over-priced), grab a junker or two and practice on them.

And E-Bay is handy for that. If you're worried about payment, you can easily set up a Paypal account, get your mum to do that for you, have her link it to an account that doesn't have much money in it. In fact, you could get her to set up an account for you primarily for Paypal, so when you're going to buy something off E-Bay, transfer the money into that account.

If you need to pay by credit card, pre-paid Visa debit cards. Most banks have them and again, they draw from a set account. Alternatively, duck into Australia Post and grab one of theirs. You transfer however much to it (clears at midnight) and you can use it as a credit card but can't overdraw.

Is there a way to make the AOE Flip'n'Change Grimlock flip and change again?

Burn wrote:Find a hobby shop near to you. I personally use Humbrol (because it's all they stock) but a lot of people use and recommend Tamiya.

Finding figures ... not trusting E-Bay is fine. But, short of driving around Saturday morning checking out garage sales it's the best place to pick up junkers.

And that's what you should start on. Junkers. Don't go into K-Mart or Big W when they have a sale on (because they're still over-priced), grab a junker or two and practice on them.

And E-Bay is handy for that. If you're worried about payment, you can easily set up a Paypal account, get your mum to do that for you, have her link it to an account that doesn't have much money in it. In fact, you could get her to set up an account for you primarily for Paypal, so when you're going to buy something off E-Bay, transfer the money into that account.

If you need to pay by credit card, pre-paid Visa debit cards. Most banks have them and again, they draw from a set account. Alternatively, duck into Australia Post and grab one of theirs. You transfer however much to it (clears at midnight) and you can use it as a credit card but can't overdraw.

I have never heard of Humbrol and Tamiya. I also have never seen a garage sale around. All the toys I ever see in K-Mart or Big W are the bad ones. (Bayformers...Rescue Bots...) Also I don't understand whatever you said about paypal.

Nemesis Maximo wrote:

crimsondeception wrote:

Nemesis Maximo wrote:Crimson, for a good figure to practice on, I would reccomend getting the new Bumblebee/Nightbeat/Goldbug figure. He's relatively inexpensive, and very east to take apart and get around cracks. Just any idea. Also, here are some links that may come in handy:

How to Remove Pins and Rivets from Transformers

Jin Saotome's Customizing Tutorials

Those were really helpful links, I got the stupid backpack off AoE leader Prime!

Fenrir, I'd say hand paint the head. Spray paint can have trouble getting into the cracks and crevices of somethin like a head. Not to mention you'd want to mask off the face to keep it a separate color.

If you really want to use that specific color you bought, spray it into a dimpled paint tray, and use it like a small jar of model paint.

Thanks Maximo. Will take your input.

Hey I'm still confused about sanding. I just got some sandpapers which are about 100-600 grits, but I don't know what exactly the amount of grits affect what. But the main thing I'm confused about is where I am going to sand.

I just washed my figures with dishwater soap and warm water, scrubbed a bit with a toothbrush, which is supposed to eliminate the mold release which helps the paint stick better. So do I use the sandpaper to sand it all over to help the paint stick? And do I peel off the paint as I sand? Tried to find a guide about it but couldn't, so I feel like an idiot.

crimsondeception wrote:Hey I'm still confused about sanding. I just got some sandpapers which are about 100-600 grits, but I don't know what exactly the amount of grits affect what. But the main thing I'm confused about is where I am going to sand.

I just washed my figures with dishwater soap and warm water, scrubbed a bit with a toothbrush, which is supposed to eliminate the mold release which helps the paint stick better. So do I use the sandpaper to sand it all over to help the paint stick? And do I peel off the paint as I sand? Tried to find a guide about it but couldn't, so I feel like an idiot.

Well, for better paint adhesion, it's usually better to use primer or adhesion promoter. Sanding will do the trick, but depending on how fine the sandpaper is, you'll get visible scratches under the paint job, because paint doesn't cover imperfections. If the paint DOES cover those scratches, then it's way too thick.

Sanding off the pre-existing paint won't hurt, but it's not always necessary.

Anyways, here are several situations where you'll need to use sandpaper:

1. After priming, you sand the surface to smooth out any imperfections on the plastic--I usually go with 600 grit. However, this mostly applies to model kits, as TF's usually have pretty even surfaces right out of the box.

1. You can use sandpaper after filling a seam, to smooth out any residual plastic, putty or filler you used to fill up the seam line.

3. If you get a lumpy "orange peel" finish on your paint job, you'll have to sand it down. The grit of the sandpaper will depend on how bad the orange peel is.

4. Finer grits (1000-2000 grit) are for polishing a paint job to give it that "showroom shine". Obviously, you'll need to lay on a pretty heavy paint job beforehand, because you'll risk sanding too deep. Also, go for more durable paints like lacquers or urethanes.

Hope this helps some.

How do I put a pin on a figure? (TF Prime Beast Hunters Wheeljack) back, where the arm and the forearm connect.

Thanks

Nemesis80 wrote:How do I put a pin on a figure? (TF Prime Beast Hunters Wheeljack) back, where the arm and the forearm connect.

Thanks

Here's some info, hopefully this helps.

http://youtu.be/1Ky4zcQAS5o

Figured I'd ask my customizing question here as well, figure this is the right place since crimson did as well. I've never done a custom before, but really want to mod my FoC Grimlock (The TF4 Target 2-Pack one)
Looking on Jin Saotome's tutorials, my goal for grimlock is to paint the circle bits on his shoulder red, cover up the yellow, blue, and green stripes on his legs, and attempt to do a gunmetal wash/paint job with a bit of rust, which he also shows how to do. I realize this is a bit ambitious, so what do you guys recommend i do? Should I just go for it and attempt to pull off grimlock, or should I practice on another figure first?

I say go for it, because IMO the FoC Grimlock is a majorly disappointing figure, so there's not much you can do that will ruin it. But like I said, that's my opinion.

Now for actually doing the custom, I would put a base coat down, especially on his legs. That way, it will be easier to color over the yellow and blue. Not sure how much detail Jin goes into in hs tutorials, but I've known him to be anything but detail oriented.

If you DO want to practice on a different figure, try the CHUG Bumblebee/Nightbeat toy. It's the easiest one I've ever dismantled.