The Energon Pub

by **mechajol** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:13 pm

A few months ago, I got a KO energon inferno. For a bootleg, the toy is pretty well done. Joints are tight enough, and the plastic quality is good.

I planned on kitbashing this into Ratchet. but then, I thought, I'd do something easier first - Ironhide! at least the plastic is already red, which means minimal painting will be needed.

So far, the "ears" have been shaved from the head. Next steps will be disassembly and painting. no pics yet, but I did a quick digibash. This will be my goal.

My only problem so far is that the head sticks out in alt mode. Maybe some fabrication of additional kibble is needed to cover this. I'm also planning on modifying Inferno's rifle weapon into some sort of Liquid Nitrogen pistol for my custom.

I hope the weather cooperates for this project.

and yeah, any tips will be greatly appreciated!

by **mechajol** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 6:58 am

okay, some (lousy) pics!

here's the alt mode. as you can see, fabricating an extra roof is a must.

Here's robot mode.

"ears" have been sanded down. i'm planning on carving the eyes to make it less narrow.

by **underwear ninja** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 8:10 am

Sounds like a good plan so far. You picked a solid mold to do an Ironhide- he'll have a War Within look to him :]

[zero-kaiser's YouTube Channel] · by **zero-kaiser** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 10:17 am

ive been looking to do a kitbash/mod like this for some time now

good stuff so far.. inferno looks so much better without those thermos flasks stuck to the sides of his head.. which reminds me... why i originally replied..

i could be wrong mechajol, but without those visor bits.. i think inferno's head can be stored away in his vehicle mode.

theres a gap between the four grey parts that make the thighs and inner arms, connecting to the shoulder pads... i was messing around with mine and realised without those 'flasks' his head would most likely fit in there...

if thats the case let me know... but it might save you having to fabricate something to cover the whole thing... unless you really want to of course

by **mechajol** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 10:42 am

yeah, i know what you're talking about. when i was experimenting with the "head-neck" linkage, i thought that the head minus the "ears" would fit in that space.

the bad news is, it does not. not unless i remove the "shoulder armor."
the bottom of the shoulder pads clash with the robot's head.

and even if i did solve this fitting problem, another concern is that with my experiments with folding the "head-neck" linkage, a folded joint section will always protrude under the vehicle (between the legs), touching the ground and making the vehicle "unmovable."

as of now, with the head tucked in the small space between the limbs, the cab tilts slightly forward, and the arms aren't settled behind the legs.

so definitely, unless i replace the head with a smaller one (current head looks about the right size) i will have to fabricate a new roof panel for the alt mode.

and yeah, if the above descriptions are confusing, i'll try to take pics of the fitting issues mentioned.

UPDATE:

The eyes were widened a bit with an exacto blade. Man, the bigger eyes really made a difference in its looks. The head will need a bit more sanding on its sides, and maybe some flat circular "ears" - if Ironhide had those. (Have to check my references.)

This bootleg is easy to disassemble, so repainting will be a breeze.
The biggest challenge in this project would be the weapon and the roof panel i'll be scratch-building.

by **mechajol** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 11:01 am

Just some thoughts on the color scheme...

it seems that Ironhide has more dark gray than black... looking at my first digibash made me notice the resemblance to cliffjumper.

so definitely, the legs should be silver/gray, and the arms should probably be less black, and more dark gray.

as for the roof panel scratch build, i just realized how funny it is that in the old G1 toy, the roof also detaches to form a battle-station/vehicle while the front and chassis of the van forms the robot itself.

now, i'm using a different robot as base, and yet it looks like i'll be having the same detachable roof gimmick. :mrgreen:

and yeah, since i'll be making both ironhide and ratchet from energon infernos, we'll finally be able to see a both of 'em powerlinked!

[zero-kaiser's YouTube Channel] · by **zero-kaiser** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 11:46 am

i havent even thought about paint jobs just yet..

but i like what youve come up with so far..

as for my inferno to ironhide kitbash... this is as far as ive got so far.. oh.. and i apologise now for my pointlessly bad camera phone..

bear in mind ive only gotten as far as working out the mechanics for storing the head in vehicle mode.

ok...

god these photos are awful... im so sorry.. lol

incase you guys cant read that (if so, sorry >.< i was rushing.. lol)... my basic idea is to take off a lil bit of the plastic, under the main shoulder pad where the screw hole is (outlined in blue dashes)... this'll leave enough space for the helmets crest to fit in,. hopefully not resulting in too much paint chipping.

this just shows that once this mods been done.. it will leave the neck linkage flush with the underside of the vehicle mode... but until thats done..........

the arms/legs in vehicle mode are forced apart.. after some careful examination i realised it was the crest taking up too much space.. and came up with the aforementioned shoulder mod.

oh.. and this just shows how the head would be placed prior to the transformation of the arms and legs..

ill most likely try and take off the light bar too.. maybe replace it with some head lamps if need be... depends how it looks without..

sorry if thats a lil pic heavy..

but thats pretty much the jist of what im going for

what would you make the new roof cover out of mechajol? and would it turn into a weapons platform like G1 ironhide/ratchet? ill be curious to see the end result :-?

should be good!!

*edit- sorry about the image code.. should be fixed now*

by **mechajol** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 6:55 pm

nice!

that's also what i thought - trimming down a bit of the shoulder pads! i'll see what i can do, seeing that what i'm using is a bootleg, and the quality, while good for a KO, is still a bit on the brittle side...

and yeah, thanks for posting those pics! those are the same pics i imagined i'll be taking, except for the trimmed shoulder pads, of course.

as for the roof panel, i'm thinking of turning it into some sort of hand-held shield, or something that covers the back of the robot. styrene sheets are pretty rare here in manila so i'll be using other stuff, like plastic cards or something. the panel i'll be making shouldn't be that big, maybe just as small as the roof dome of classics prime.

[zero-kaiser's YouTube Channel] · by **zero-kaiser** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 7:47 pm

ahhhh... i almost forgot about it being a KO,.. i know how you mean.. i found a couple of KO robot master optimus's in town a while back... got them for practise seeing as they were only £1 each.. lol.. try just abit of plastic at a time instead of the whole cut in one go... that way at least you might see any problems before its too late?..

no worries about the pics either.. im just sorry their not better quality :s lol

some bulk on the back of the robot mode might be a good idea... it is abit, bare... should i assume said wind vane wouldnt be transformable like classics optimus's? ...god knows i wouldnt be able to do it from scratch

lol

by **mechajol** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 8:30 pm

yep, not transformable. just a simple pop-out and pop-in panel. i don't have mAdD sKilLz yet.

[zero-kaiser's YouTube Channel] · by **zero-kaiser** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 1:27 pm

lol.. mad skillz.. that may be, but practise makes perfect :-?

you never know, you might have a natural talent for making awesomeness out of bits of plastic.. :p

im liking the sheild idea though... are you gunna arm ironhide with anything? if so, what?.. i know with mine im ditching that firehose cannon from inferno.. but im not sure what to replace it with..

by **mechajol** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 11:58 pm

i'll try modifying inferno's weapon.

i love the canister, would look great as a "liquid nitrogen" cartridge of sorts.

by **mechajol** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 12:48 am

some updates:

removed the paint on the face, and used some epoxy to fabricate ironhide's ears. this is still pretty rough. once the epoxy is dry, i'll sand the epoxy to the right size.

by **Supercollider** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 7:31 pm

I got a beat up E. Inferno for the same kitbash.

Good to see your ideas for hiding the head, i might "borrow them" :grin:

Weapon wise I was going to sort out a handgun type thing from scratch but I also realised that the original weapon makes for a great shoulder mounted missile/cannon and was going to carve it up attaching the cannon section to an energon star for it's base and the tank section into a "grenade".

[zero-kaiser's YouTube Channel] · by **zero-kaiser** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 8:25 pm

hmmm... sounds interresting supercollider.. any chance of some kind of digibash or something? id like to see this

im still not sure what to make for my ironhide's rifle/handgun.. i was tempted to do something with energon hot shots rifle.. but then what for my super not-so-secret second kitbash?

lol

by **Supercollider** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 6:54 am

I'm crap at digibashing (and I'm a long way off starting this bash) but you can get a good idea of the shoulder cannon idea by plugging the front peg into the socket on the back of his left shoulder pad (where it pegs to the right shoulder pad in vehicle mode)

I was thinking of dismantling the base section, slicing off the plasitc below the cannon's pivot and screwing that pivot onto a painted & sliced energon star that would then fit on his left shoulder pad in either mode.

You could also posibly turn the cannon into a rifle by unplugging it before the pivot, turning it over, making a rifle butt to clip on the back and a peg so he can hold it.

by **mechajol** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 11:04 pm

slow progress because of the Henkei robots :-P

the "helmet" is good. i'll be painting the face next.

test fitting with the body. good thing the red paint matches the plastic. this makes thinsg easier.

News Credits: 349 · by **Bed Bugs** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 11:37 pm

I would also suggest cutting off the powerlink spot inside his chest. It looks weird through the windshield.

Remove the light bar and the rear tires (taking it down to 4 instead of 6) and you have a winner.

by **rhinox555** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 8:22 am

I did this bash about four (was it five?) years ago,mine failed,i hope yours will turn out better.

[zero-kaiser's YouTube Channel] · by **zero-kaiser** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 10:32 am

what paint brand was it you used on that mechajol?.. i got some tamiya stuff to try out on a future kitbash im doing.. but it doesnt wanna take very well to the plastic.. unless im doing something wrong

lol

by **mechajol** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 3:48 am

i'm using spray paint acrylic

just the ordinary brands from the local hardware store.

as for the windshield, i'll be spraying the insides black just to hide the powerlink things from view. i'm still studying how to remove the lightbars without damaging the bootleg plastic.

just finished painting the legs and forearms. am currently sketching some plans for the windvane.

[zero-kaiser's YouTube Channel] · by **zero-kaiser** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 5:52 am

really? lol... just your basic acrylic spray paint?.. heh.. i picked up some tamiya stuff the other week to try out... didnt seem to wanna take to the plastic though.. then again.. it was going onto a KO robot masters prime... (that one with the orange windows..)

just seemed to roll up and dry as soon as i put it on.. turning into sticky dandruff type stuff... unless ive forgotten to do something.. tamiya acrylics can be used neat right?

lol

oh... and the light bar mechajol.. good luck cos i noticed on mine that the whole windscreen section is one peice.. so if i cut it off it would leave two thin slits in the top of the windscreen. unless your thinking of putting some extra headlights on the top of the cab?...

anyway... keep us posted mechajol.. im liking where this is going so far