The Energon Pub

First things first, I know that thrust doesn't have custom wings but I looked around and never found any ideas that really impressed me so I went with the uniform look. I hope you enjoy...

I really like the blue on TC. What paints did you use?

Great work on TC. How did you get such smooth looking paint in such small areas like the jet intakes beside TC's head? I had one hell of a time with mine, and im still not fully satisfied with the result.

Also, how did you apply the lines on the wings?

nice work. I like your repaints.

Sonray wrote:Great work on TC. How did you get such smooth looking paint in such small areas like the jet intakes beside TC's head? I had one hell of a time with mine, and im still not fully satisfied with the result.

Also, how did you apply the lines on the wings?

I used Tamiya Mica Blue for TC and Classics Skywarp as the base. The Mica colors are a tad bit translucent so they lighten or darken based on the plastic color underneath. The intakes were not painted at all on TC. I just left them the same as they were because hey matched pretty well. Lastly, for the lines on the wings I had to wait 48 hours for the blue paint to dry, then I masked off with Tamiya masking tape for the silver, then repeat for the Mica Red. The most important thing is to let the paint dry at least 2 full days so the masking tape doesn't leave a film or residue...

I need to get em some of that expensive tamiya masking tape stuff. All i have to use currently is normal car masking tape, and that can peel the paint off at times. Im surprised the paint for the lines on the wings didnt seep into the little cracks and details on the wings like mine did.

Best TC custom I've seen. I wouldn't have known it was a custom had you not explained it.

Sonray wrote:I need to get em some of that expensive tamiya masking tape stuff. All i have to use currently is normal car masking tape, and that can peel the paint off at times. Im surprised the paint for the lines on the wings didnt seep into the little cracks and details on the wings like mine did.

Well it would have had I not learned from a previous mistake on another repaint. Here's how you prevent that. What you do is lay down the tape where you want to mask and then take your fingernail and run it down the edges and push it down in the cracks. It's best to use your fingernail as you go along because the tape needs some elasticity from beginning to end or else it will come out of the crack. You will start to see the tape being pressed against the plastic and because Tamiya tape is slightly opaque, you can see where you are missing the mask coverage. Then once I have all that done, I take 3m painters tape to mask down the big parts. I'll try and take pics when I get started on another one...

Great stuff, but TC is the best here. I'm not a huge conehead fan anyway.

Wingsbr wrote:

Sonray wrote:I need to get em some of that expensive tamiya masking tape stuff. All i have to use currently is normal car masking tape, and that can peel the paint off at times. Im surprised the paint for the lines on the wings didnt seep into the little cracks and details on the wings like mine did.

Well it would have had I not learned from a previous mistake on another repaint. Here's how you prevent that. What you do is lay down the tape where you want to mask and then take your fingernail and run it down the edges and push it down in the cracks. It's best to use your fingernail as you go along because the tape needs some elasticity from beginning to end or else it will come out of the crack. You will start to see the tape being pressed against the plastic and because Tamiya tape is slightly opaque, you can see where you are missing the mask coverage. Then once I have all that done, I take 3m painters tape to mask down the big parts. I'll try and take pics when I get started on another one...

I did that with the tape i used, but it probably wasn't the ideal tape for doing this sorta stuff as its usually used to create designs and mask off thin lines for cars. Next time i'll apply the lines with an airbrush, that will stop any paint seepage.

Sonray wrote:

Wingsbr wrote:

Sonray wrote:I need to get em some of that expensive tamiya masking tape stuff. All i have to use currently is normal car masking tape, and that can peel the paint off at times. Im surprised the paint for the lines on the wings didnt seep into the little cracks and details on the wings like mine did.

Well it would have had I not learned from a previous mistake on another repaint. Here's how you prevent that. What you do is lay down the tape where you want to mask and then take your fingernail and run it down the edges and push it down in the cracks. It's best to use your fingernail as you go along because the tape needs some elasticity from beginning to end or else it will come out of the crack. You will start to see the tape being pressed against the plastic and because Tamiya tape is slightly opaque, you can see where you are missing the mask coverage. Then once I have all that done, I take 3m painters tape to mask down the big parts. I'll try and take pics when I get started on another one...

I did that with the tape i used, but it probably wasn't the ideal tape for doing this sorta stuff as its usually used to create designs and mask off thin lines for cars. Next time i'll apply the lines with an airbrush, that will stop any paint seepage.

Gotcha. I sprayed mine instead of hand painting with acrylics so that may have been the difference maker. At any rate though, your customs look pretty sweet and I like the classics paintjob you put on the wings to match SS and SW.

Wingsbr wrote:

Sonray wrote:

Wingsbr wrote:

Sonray wrote:I need to get em some of that expensive tamiya masking tape stuff. All i have to use currently is normal car masking tape, and that can peel the paint off at times. Im surprised the paint for the lines on the wings didnt seep into the little cracks and details on the wings like mine did.

Well it would have had I not learned from a previous mistake on another repaint. Here's how you prevent that. What you do is lay down the tape where you want to mask and then take your fingernail and run it down the edges and push it down in the cracks. It's best to use your fingernail as you go along because the tape needs some elasticity from beginning to end or else it will come out of the crack. You will start to see the tape being pressed against the plastic and because Tamiya tape is slightly opaque, you can see where you are missing the mask coverage. Then once I have all that done, I take 3m painters tape to mask down the big parts. I'll try and take pics when I get started on another one...

I did that with the tape i used, but it probably wasn't the ideal tape for doing this sorta stuff as its usually used to create designs and mask off thin lines for cars. Next time i'll apply the lines with an airbrush, that will stop any paint seepage.

Gotcha. I sprayed mine instead of hand painting with acrylics so that may have been the difference maker. At any rate though, your customs look pretty sweet and I like the classics paintjob you put on the wings to match SS and SW.

Glad you like, i was hoping it would look like it would match the other seekers unlike the botcon version that just has a G1 paint job.