The Energon Pub

This is my first Transformers kitbash/custom that I've attempted (I'm now working on a few others). I picked this up from a fellow board member here recently. I've been working on this for about a month and a half (on and off) and I've finally finished it.

Originally, I had considered just repainting the bland Classics Ultra Magnus, but everyone's been doing that since it was released (no knock to them, I love 'em all--I just wanted to do something different). I decided to take the "G1 approach" and do this as close to his orignal G1 (in robot mode at least) as I possibly could. Be warned, this can be considered a PARTS-FORMER (oh no!) simply because I am sticking to what was done on the G1/Diaclone orignal (parts galore).

Don't worry though, I only have technically 5 small parts:

1) The Magnus head is a MyClone Magnus head that I purchased from Alyosha's Corner (I carved down the peg on it so it would fit into the back of the Magnus head when it is folded down). So technically, I never removed the old Magnus head and it can be used still.

2) To create the missiles, I shredded a TRU (smaller) Energon Megatron's internal "wing" parts, cut off the tips, cut those in half, painted them, then glued a "connector" onto them so they can easily slide in and out of his arms in robot mode (just under the shoulder pad). These store under the cab in truck mode--just behind the side door panels. I considered incorporating the missiles into his vehicle mode, but it just didn't look right, so I stored them instead.

3) I took some small wooden sticks (arts and crafts crap at Wal-Mart) and created a couple of shoulder "beams" (or pilons--whatever those things are called). Yes, I said "wooden sticks" or popsicle sticks, if you prefer--lol (I haven't ordered any styrene yet and they do the job just fine until I decide to upgrade it). I painted those white and added a couple of pegs to the bottom. I hollowed a small portion of the shoulder of Ultra Magnus (the small indented spot on the top of the shoulder in robot mode). They "snap" right in and are removable. These fit just under the smoke stacks in truck mode (I painted the smoke stacks white to give him a white rifle in robot mode).

These are the only "parts-former" parts and while I love to see Transformers customs that transform completely without "extras" floating around, I do think the old school G1 "parts-former" rules can be applied and actually work here. So anyone ready to go on the offensive about this sort of thing, feel free. I know where you're coming from, but in some cases, parts-formers do in fact work. With that said, onto the show! (I'd like to thank EVERYONE who has ever done an Ultra Magnus custom--regardless of the line it was from--I learned a lot by seeing the great works of him that were done and I just wanted to share my take on it--feel free to share any ideas and pointers as well--let me know what you think):

Robot Mode ("G1-style"):












Vehicle Mode ("Classics style"):

BAM! That looks great. Very similar to my own one but 100 times better...its the head that makes it look just like maggy.

Nice one, keep it up.

I love those little MyClone heads! Really great job all around! Sure, he's got floating parts, but he's got notin' on the original! That thing's a frikkin' kit!
I like how the holes for the arm 'pylons' make extra windows! The plates on his chest/window make me think of those giant rear-view mirrors that trucks have now.
If I had to make one suggestion, I'd say to paint the front windows black or blue. It wouldn't make much of a difference in bot mode, but it would make the truck mode look more natural.

Thats really good! I would just make detachable chest armor that way the front of the truck dosen't get messed up.

Thanks for the compliments and ideas. guys! I appreciate it (as well as any constructive criticism).

Very very cool especially for a first custom!!!

This is good work!

I like it more than the transforming trailers. As amazing as those are, they make UM tower over Prime. It looks like yours would be more in scale with Prime and still looks great.

I think a little tweaking and you have a hit.

Crap, that robot mode looks pretty danged cool.
Now I'm starting to regret selling my Magnus...

Very good job...

awesome

Ok, how much do you want for him?

So it can actually transform?

First Gen wrote:Ok, how much do you want for him?

Not really looking to sell him, but you could always make an offer (never hurt, right?) lol

imotron wrote:So it can actually transform?

Yes. It still transforms the same, but with a few extra parts (the head, the shoulder stacks/beams, and the shoulder missiles). The head stores in the space where the legs and cab meet when transforming into truck mode, the stacks/beams store just behind the cab itself (in between the smokestacks), and the missiles store inside the front end of the cab (just behind the arm/side door panels).

trilobitepictures wrote:A few quick questions here...

-Does the MyClone head need to come off when he transforms?

Yes. The MyClone head was slightly modified to fit onto the back of the existing Magnus head (the original Magnus head is folded down like you are transforming it into the cab mode--the head is facing toward the back and then folded down). With the orignal Magnus head folded down, I simply took the MyClone head and carved the peg down some and snapped it into the folded down original Magnus head--basically, it's snapped into the hole with the screw. I considered ripping the original Magnus head completely out and just using the MyClone head, but decided to keep it "similar to G1" so I kept the MyClone head an add-on.

-(Only ask THIS question since I've never had a MyClone in my hands) Is the head a solid piece or is the face seperate from the helmet?

The MyClone head is a solid piece. The face does not separate from the helmet. Hope this helped you out, man.