The Energon Pub

O.K. New WIP pics time!

Merceron is about 90% done, and only needs the neck extension on the other side and a final paint/putty job.

I added one side of the neck extension with sheet styrene, and repainted his face and gave him a first coat of paint on about 90% of his body.

Take a peek and get a feel for Merceron's final color scheme. I really hope you like it (I'm finally doing good kitbashing!!!) Sorry if some of color looks gold in some of the pics; it's actually silver.

Note: Some of the photos look a little grainy (like the close-up of his face) but in reality it's much smoother. I'm taking this pics with a 3.1 Megapixel Digital Camera that doesn't get great detail. Sorry.

Merceron's Robot Mode (Angle):


Merceron's Robot Mode (Close-Up of New Face):


Merceron's Jet Mode (Side):


Merceron's Beast Mode (Side):


Merceron's Beast Mode (Front Close-Up):


Hope you all like it! Thanks,

Sorry MS, but I have to ask, did you touched up this red part with photoshop (look at the attached pic)?, the contrast looks different to the rest of the pic.

Apart from that, I like the figure, still don't care too much for the colorscheme and that blood effect on his eyes, it looks a bit messy, but I suppose that's just a thing of different tastes .

Bah! Why can I never see MS's pictures?

Iskander wrote:Sorry MS, but I have to ask, did you touched up this red part with photoshop (look at the attached pic)?, the contrast looks different to the rest of the pic.

Apart from that, I like the figure, still don't care too much for the colorscheme and that blood effect on his eyes, it looks a bit messy, but I suppose that's just a thing of different tastes .

Not an icecube's chance in H*ll!!! I'm never photoshopping a toy without stating so first and why I did it. That, my friend, is 100% real (and real messy). Like I said, this is the first paint job, and I will clean it up.

BTW, it's not supposed to be blood; it's actually supposed to be the glowing from his eyes (See the terrible sketch from the first WIP pics). How would you suggest I do it, because that's the only way I can think of.

ImperiaxPrime wrote:Bah! Why can I never see MS's pictures?

I noticed that's a problem with some pics (for ex. I couldn't see Loqi's). If you want, I'll either PM or e-mail them to you for easier viewing. LMK what you want to do.

Thanks,

MetalSamamon wrote:

Iskander wrote:Sorry MS, but I have to ask, did you touched up this red part with photoshop (look at the attached pic)?, the contrast looks different to the rest of the pic.

Apart from that, I like the figure, still don't care too much for the colorscheme and that blood effect on his eyes, it looks a bit messy, but I suppose that's just a thing of different tastes .

Not an icecube's chance in H*ll!!! I'm never photoshopping a toy without stating so first and why I did it. That, my friend, is 100% real (and real messy). Like I said, this is the first paint job, and I will clean it up.

BTW, it's not supposed to be blood; it's actually supposed to be the glowing from his eyes (See the terrible sketch from the first WIP pics). How would you suggest I do it, because that's the only way I can think of.

ImperiaxPrime wrote:Bah! Why can I never see MS's pictures?

I noticed that's a problem with some pics (for ex. I couldn't see Loqi's). If you want, I'll either PM or e-mail them to you for easier viewing. LMK what you want to do.

Thanks,

glowing eyes....

don't try. If you want paint the eyes solid red (just the eyes not the surrounding fur or whatever). then drybrush some white over the red and leave only the edge of the eye red. should look kinda faded. remember to start from the center of the eye. it should be whitest in the center and have a blending look into the red. If you want to add a glow to it afterward just photoshop it ontop of the photo you take.

I dunno. Maybe I'll just take it out totally, and then leave it up to the comic artist (Josh and whomever else may do it) to add the glow to the eyes.

MS. if you go to the mainpage and check my energon Rumble pic under the 2d gallery. the eyes should be done the same way if that would help any.

For the most part, you're best off not even attempting the glow effect; there's pretty much no way to make it work, unless you're capable of pulling off the 'lightbrick effect' (using the transparent plastic to allow light through to the eyes), and I severely doubt that's the case.

Loqi's idea might work, except drybrushing is definitely not the way to go about it; you'd need to do wet blending. Paint the basecolour red, then highlight in stages getting progressive lighter until you have pure white in the centre. Even so, that's a fiddly job when it's just eyes you're doing.

My suggestion would be to go metallic. I'd do it by painting the eyes silver (or gold), then using a red glaze (possibly using inks, or even better, glass paint). That should give a nice effect.

Hmmm...

Lord_Loqi, I really couldn't tell that much of a difference on your Rumble figure(sorry, no offense intended, please), but if you say so, I'll give it a try (no guarantees however). I just want it to look like his eyes are glowing (without having to use lights or clear eye replacements or something so complex) and no more Photoshopping (that's what almost got me thrown out of here !!!)

BTW, I really like using pharentesis ----->() Sorry if it's confusing.

The last suggesstion by ramrider sounds like your best bet. That way light will make a natural glow around it.

As for making the light piping. it's really hard to duplicate. best results I've had are with epoxy mixed with food coloring. I want to get some of the clear dring liquid cement and try that at some point too.

the wetblending sounds neat I'll have to try that on my own. I've always just drybrushed and got decent effects.

Ramrider wrote:My suggestion would be to go metallic. I'd do it by painting the eyes silver (or gold), then using a red glaze (possibly using inks, or even better, glass paint). That should give a nice effect.

O.K. Not really sure what "glass paint" is...is that like semi-translucent spray paint or like watered down regular paint or what...I'm stupid here .

No, I mean the paint that you use on glass.

You'll be able to pick it up at your local craft shop; it's the transparent paint that you can use on glass or clear plastic to get a 'stained glass window' effect. If you paint it over a metallic base (like silver/gold paint), it'll have a really nice sheen. Best to thin it down a bit and use a couple of coats, though.

Ramrider wrote:No, I mean the paint that you use on glass.

You'll be able to pick it up at your local craft shop; it's the transparent paint that you can use on glass or clear plastic to get a 'stained glass window' effect. If you paint it over a metallic base (like silver/gold paint), it'll have a really nice sheen. Best to thin it down a bit and use a couple of coats, though.

Alright. Now I understand. I've just never bought any before. Thanks,

Just so's you know, when I suggested the glass paint idea, I hadn't actually tried it, and it was just a theory.

Now, however, I have tried it out, and it works a treat. It took a few more coats than I anticipated, but the result was worth it.

Basically I applied a couple of coats of thinned down gold paint to get a nice shiny basecoat, then followed up with a few coats of scarlet glaze.

Here's a shot to give an idea of how it looks. It's only a quick snap, so doesn't really do it justice, but hopefully you get the picture.

allrighty-O ! Thats pretty neat Ramrider!

That does look great. I'm going to try that on Merceron. I post pics as soon as I have them.

Thanks,

Thanks, guys. I actually got a really good buy with those paints - I picked them up at my local art store (Shawes in Nottingham), and got eight little pots for about three quid. At the time I had no idea what I was going to do with them; they just seemed like a good idea.

Now I know that works I may well use the technique on more kitbashes...

Hi Everyone!

I just want to tell you that last night I went and bought a Stormcloud figure and a "Police Rescue" off-brand grab bag of crappy toys and stayed up until 1:30 in the morning working on converting those into the Praetorian Drone?and I think he's about 80% done. All he really needs is some putty work (and a good paint scheme and of course a bio, but that's Iskander's part).

Work Done:
I removed the helicopter blades and spindle by removing the screws and replacing them after the pieces were removed. I bore a hole into the shoulder so that the 3/4 of the gun fits onto his shoulder to become a 3-gunned cannon and an antenna for communications. The last 1/4 of the gun fits into his fist. I used a lifeboat from the grab bag and shaved it down into two separate pieces that resemble hovercraft skirts. I attached them to the arms accordingly. I also took a police car from that grab bag and used the hood and fenders to make Roman-style waistgaurd and shoulderpads (respectfully).

Features:
The toy can convert into 3 modes: Robot, Hovercraft, and Submersible. His shoulder cannon can be fully rotated and aimed up and down. Guns are usable in all modes.

Here are some pics. Look and enjoy!!

*Note: I took these with the same camera I used on Merceron. Now you can see what I mean by grainy photos since Stormcloud wasn't painted yet and still looks grainy and sloppy.

Praetorian Drone's Robot Mode (Front View):


Praetorian Drone's Robot Mode (Angle View):


Praetorian Drone's Robot Mode (Different Angle View):


Praetorian Drone's Robot Mode (Hovercraft Side View):


Praetorian Drone's Robot Mode (Hovercraft Front View):


Praetorian Drone's Robot Mode (Submersible Side View):


Praetorian Drone's Robot Mode (Submersible Front View):


Praetorian Drone & Merceron:

Honestly considering that there is almsot no difference between your Submersible nad your hovercraft mode, I wouldn't bother calling it two modes and jsut stick with the Hover mode, but say its a sealed system so its capable of limited undersea travel.

Over all though, I think he looks pretty good for a WIP. Your definately improving quickly MS.

tentagil wrote:Honestly considering that there is almsot no difference between your Submersible nad your hovercraft mode, I wouldn't bother calling it two modes and jsut stick with the Hover mode, but say its a sealed system so its capable of limited undersea travel.

Over all though, I think he looks pretty good for a WIP. Your definately improving quickly MS.

Yeah. I've been kitbashing for *looks at calendar* about 2 months, so I think I've come a long way from BW Tusk Megatron (I'm ashamed to admit I even made that figure ).

As for the 3rd mode, I wanted him to be able to go underneath the sea as well as float above it. I need to modify the shape so that the two sections of the hovercraft skirts meet in the center instead of spread apart; then it might look more like a Submersible instead of ski-boat . Who knows, I may even take your suggestion (Iskander needs to help me with this decision however ).

But thanks for the compliment, and I'm going to keep on trying to become a better kitbasher (these are all stepping stones).

I hope that it works for the series (I still need Iskander's approval since he's the partner on this). I really tried to make it work with the other 2 drones and Eternus with the Roman-style parts.

Thanks,

MetalSamamon wrote:

tentagil wrote:Honestly considering that there is almsot no difference between your Submersible nad your hovercraft mode, I wouldn't bother calling it two modes and jsut stick with the Hover mode, but say its a sealed system so its capable of limited undersea travel.

Over all though, I think he looks pretty good for a WIP. Your definately improving quickly MS.

As for the 3rd mode, I wanted him to be able to go underneath the sea as well as float above it. I need to modify the shape so that the two sections of the hovercraft skirts meet in the center instead of spread apart; then it might look more like a Submersible instead of ski-boat . Who knows, I may even take your suggestion (Iskander needs to help me with this decision however ).

I hope that it works for the series (I still need Iskander's approval since he's the partner on this). I really tried to make it work with the other 2 drones and Eternus with the Roman-style parts.

I definitely agree with tentagil, the third mode isn't really neccesary, the submersible ability can be somehow explained in the comic (if needed), the hovercraft mode looks pretty cool as it does the bot mode, one thing I'd remove (if possible) is the helicopter tail, or at least the small blades.

And yeah, you are imrpoving quite quickly, congrats MS.

I hope you can give me some days to come up with a colorscheme, you know I'll be very busy with my Star Wars stuff this weekend . But just a quick note about the colors, maybe if Loqi has decided on the Legionair colors we can use something similar or something that contrast with that.

Yeah I'd say remove the litte blade on the back at the least, maybe shave the tail off completely, though you may be able to change it into something that better fits the character concept without removing hte whole thing.

How about removing the tailblades, and replacing them with small cannons/machineguns, similiar to what Boba Fett's Slave 1 has?

Iskander wrote:

MetalSamamon wrote:

tentagil wrote:Honestly considering that there is almsot no difference between your Submersible nad your hovercraft mode, I wouldn't bother calling it two modes and jsut stick with the Hover mode, but say its a sealed system so its capable of limited undersea travel.

Over all though, I think he looks pretty good for a WIP. Your definately improving quickly MS.

As for the 3rd mode, I wanted him to be able to go underneath the sea as well as float above it. I need to modify the shape so that the two sections of the hovercraft skirts meet in the center instead of spread apart; then it might look more like a Submersible instead of ski-boat . Who knows, I may even take your suggestion (Iskander needs to help me with this decision however ).

I hope that it works for the series (I still need Iskander's approval since he's the partner on this). I really tried to make it work with the other 2 drones and Eternus with the Roman-style parts.

I definitely agree with tentagil, the third mode isn't really neccesary, the submersible ability can be somehow explained in the comic (if needed), the hovercraft mode looks pretty cool as it does the bot mode, one thing I'd remove (if possible) is the helicopter tail, or at least the small blades.

And yeah, you are imrpoving quite quickly, congrats MS.

I hope you can give me some days to come up with a colorscheme, you know I'll be very busy with my Star Wars stuff this weekend . But just a quick note about the colors, maybe if Loqi has decided on the Legionair colors we can use something similar or something that contrast with that.

the main body armor is black wih purple under armor and I'm thinking gold, blue or red highlights depending on what color i decide to make the weapons.

Sorry i haven't gotten any color stuff done yet. I took off yesterday with the intent of doing so but ended up seeing starwars twice and then getting a little drunk with my friends afterwords.

glad we partied at my place. I didn't have to drive home. And for those who are concerned my friends had 2 designated drivers. No dwi's here.