The Energon Pub

Here are some more repaints and a minor mod for Dirges wings. I kinda screwed up Sunstorms white paint when I dropped him and my hand touched the wet paint. So now I have to wait for it to dry, then remove it, and then repaint it. Thundercracker is in there because that is where I have them posed (already posted him a while back).



Alt. Mode when the paint dries.

Next to make Thrust then I will have all of the seekers.

Enjoy.

Good work.

I am not criticising, but curious...you and TFS did Dirge's legs black but if I remember correctly, they were blue in the cartoons. Is this a comic variation, preference, or were his legs actually black in the cartoon.

I can't paint mine because the weather has been cold. Will be spending my time making Dirge/Thrust wings until the weather breaks.

if you look at some scenes, they are black, and the pvc of him they're also black. when I was researching in order to make a Dirge for Cybertron, I found lots of pictures with them black, and ended up painting mine this way also.





I like the customs, man, but Im not high on the colors you chose for sunstorm. The original Sunstorm is a really bright orange, and that's just my personal preference.

Actually, the original Sunstorm was Cadnium yellow with orange and white detailing. Thies are some great repaints though I would have added some orange to Sunstorm and mnot made him just yellow ands white. How much resculpting did you do on Dirge's main wings? Although the original G1 Dirg had no turbines in his wings, and the tail rudder was at the ends of them, I doubt there was much you could do m atch that and these look very cool as they are anyway. If you have to compromise, you at least made it look great. Well done.

ai they do look awesome i didn't think the classics cone heads could look so good,

does anyone know what colour thundercracker is, i thort he was a sky blue but all the sky blues i find never seem to match
http://tfkenkon.com/collection/part4/act89/index.php

piranacon wrote:ai they do look awesome i didn't think the classics cone heads could look so good,

does anyone know what colour thundercracker is, i thort he was a sky blue but all the sky blues i find never seem to match
http://tfkenkon.com/collection/part4/act89/index.php

The cartoon used lighter colors than what they would really be. If you remember, everything that was supposed to be black was actually dark grey. All the colors were lighter. Thundercracker's color is predomanantly a Prussian blue. The original toy was metalic Prussian blue. Tamiya makes a metallic blue acrylic paint that matches the original toy's mold color perfectly.

Awesome, especially Dirge.

What paints do you use? And do you get any 'chipping' when transforming from robot to jet modes?

Tramp wrote:

piranacon wrote:ai they do look awesome i didn't think the classics cone heads could look so good,

does anyone know what colour thundercracker is, i thort he was a sky blue but all the sky blues i find never seem to match
http://tfkenkon.com/collection/part4/act89/index.php

The cartoon used lighter colors than what they would really be. If you remember, everything that was supposed to be black was actually dark grey. All the colors were lighter. Thundercracker's color is predomanantly a Prussian blue. The original toy was metalic Prussian blue. Tamiya makes a metallic blue acrylic paint that matches the original toy's mold color perfectly.

thanks for that tramp its pointed me in the right direction, i was trying to match the pvc figure , aparantly its Deep Sky Blue , going from the blue wiki
http://tfkenkon.com/collection/part4/act89/mc2_05.jpg

antapp wrote:Awesome, especially Dirge.

What paints do you use? And do you get any 'chipping' when transforming from robot to jet modes?

I use Krylon fusion, Krylon Metals, Testors Model Masters, and Sharpie. They don't chip all that bad after the first day. But if you wait 7 days like the instructions say chipping is then pretty much non-existant.

MacrossFA19 wrote:I use Krylon fusion, Krylon Metals, Testors Model Masters, and Sharpie. They don't chip all that bad after the first day. But if you wait 7 days like the instructions say chipping is then pretty much non-existant.

Thanks for the info. I'll have to try and get me some of those - are they acrylic or enamel? Or something totally different!

I'm looking to complete the seekers meself, but the paints I have used in the past have always flaked off, etc. Thats why I generally only work on non-transforming figures like PVCs, Action Masters and, currently, decoys.

Wow all three of those custom seekers are very nice. Great paint jobs. I hope Hasbro gives us a classic Dirge.

antapp wrote:

MacrossFA19 wrote:I use Krylon fusion, Krylon Metals, Testors Model Masters, and Sharpie. They don't chip all that bad after the first day. But if you wait 7 days like the instructions say chipping is then pretty much non-existant.

Thanks for the info. I'll have to try and get me some of those - are they acrylic or enamel? Or something totally different!

I'm looking to complete the seekers meself, but the paints I have used in the past have always flaked off, etc. Thats why I generally only work on non-transforming figures like PVCs, Action Masters and, currently, decoys.

Krylon Fusion is an enamel It bonds to the plastic by eating into the top layer of the plastic and bonding to it chemically. This can weaken the structural integrity of the plastic. Acrylics can chip in high-wear areas, but won't copmpromise the structural integrity of the plastic. Sevaral people who work with acrylics suggest coating it with Future Acrylic floor polish, after the paint job is finished, as this is supposed to prevent chipping.

Great, thats a fantastic tip about the polish. I use acrylics myself, as I've stated earlier though, I only paint non-Transforming figs - this may be the way forward! Thanks!

BTW, are you going to use wings from the original G1 figure or scratchbuild them for Thrust?

Unfortunately, Ant, Fusion probably won't be the way forward for you, since as far as I know we can't get the infernal stuff over here...

Sunstorm and Dirge look good! I hope your gonna make thrust as well

Ramrider wrote:Unfortunately, Ant, Fusion probably won't be the way forward for you, since as far as I know we can't get the infernal stuff over here...

Another problem with the Fusion, as with other enamels, is that it won't cure on the non-ABS/Styrene parts. Some of the parts on the model are made from urethane and enamels will not cure to urethane or vinyl based plastics.

antapp wrote:Great, thats a fantastic tip about the polish. I use acrylics myself, as I've stated earlier though, I only paint non-Transforming figs - this may be the way forward! Thanks!

BTW, are you going to use wings from the original G1 figure or scratchbuild them for Thrust?

I am gonna have to bash some wings from another seeker.

MacrossFA19 wrote:

antapp wrote:Awesome, especially Dirge.

What paints do you use? And do you get any 'chipping' when transforming from robot to jet modes?

I use Krylon fusion, Krylon Metals, Testors Model Masters, and Sharpie. They don't chip all that bad after the first day. But if you wait 7 days like the instructions say chipping is then pretty much non-existant.

Are your Thundercracker and Dirge both painted in the same Krylon blue (forget what it is called)?

James28210 wrote:

MacrossFA19 wrote:

antapp wrote:Awesome, especially Dirge.

What paints do you use? And do you get any 'chipping' when transforming from robot to jet modes?

I use Krylon fusion, Krylon Metals, Testors Model Masters, and Sharpie. They don't chip all that bad after the first day. But if you wait 7 days like the instructions say chipping is then pretty much non-existant.

Are your Thundercracker and Dirge both painted in the same Krylon blue (forget what it is called)?

No, Thundercracker is a few shades lighter.

they all look nice but that sunstorm makes me want to try one

Tramp wrote:

Ramrider wrote:Unfortunately, Ant, Fusion probably won't be the way forward for you, since as far as I know we can't get the infernal stuff over here...

Another problem with the Fusion, as with other enamels, is that it won't cure on the non-ABS/Styrene parts. Some of the parts on the model are made from urethane and enamels will not cure to urethane or vinyl based plastics.

Hmm... not good. I may try the acrylic & polish method - think that'd work? Thanks for the heads up guys.

you know, the original prototype had the smaller forward wings farther forward and in robot mode they ended up looking more like shoulderpads (although behind the arms rather than above)
all the same, I'd like to see more of those smaller wings in both modes. How many VTOL jets actually have turbines that normally point downward? don't most of them merely have jets that can be angled downward OR backwards? (adjustable) in which case all he needs are wings that can rotate in vehicle mode without scraping the ground.

Tramp wrote:Actually, the original Sunstorm was Cadnium yellow with orange and white detailing. Thies are some great repaints though I would have added some orange to Sunstorm and mnot made him just yellow ands white. How much resculpting did you do on Dirge's main wings? Although the original G1 Dirg had no turbines in his wings, and the tail rudder was at the ends of them, I doubt there was much you could do m atch that and these look very cool as they are anyway. If you have to compromise, you at least made it look great. Well done.

I'm talking about the Ehobby toy, and the only yellow on it are in a couple of the stickers.

RavageX-9 wrote:How many VTOL jets actually have turbines that normally point downward? don't most of them merely have jets that can be angled downward OR backwards? (adjustable) in which case all he needs are wings that can rotate in vehicle mode without scraping the ground.

The only fixed wing VTOL I know of with a dedicated lift fan is the Marines variant of the F-35 joint strike fighter. It has a lift fan behind the cockpit, with upper and lower doors that only open when the fan is in use. The problem with lift fans is that they add a lot of weight, that doesn't serve any purpose most of the time.

However, I'm still a sucker for any aircraft that can stop before it lands. I already have a second Starscream set aside to make my own Thrust.

REDLINE wrote:

Tramp wrote:Actually, the original Sunstorm was Cadnium yellow with orange and white detailing. Thies are some great repaints though I would have added some orange to Sunstorm and mnot made him just yellow ands white. How much resculpting did you do on Dirge's main wings? Although the original G1 Dirg had no turbines in his wings, and the tail rudder was at the ends of them, I doubt there was much you could do m atch that and these look very cool as they are anyway. If you have to compromise, you at least made it look great. Well done.

I'm talking about the Ehobby toy, and the only yellow on it are in a couple of the stickers.

That is the one I am talking about too. It isn't orange, it is Cadnium yellow, which is a slightly orange yellow. It is the same color they are using on the movie Bumblebee.