The Energon Pub

Cobotron wrote:

Tight!

Cobotron wrote:Well I think that was well worth the effort.

Hell yeah it does, lets look at what we started with:




But really, your paintjob sells me on the figure. I now see wheeljack where I didnt before. And it kind of saddens me that while I know it was a lot of effort on your part, it could have simply been just a few more assembly line paint apps for Hasbro and it makes a huge difference. I am curious how close your paint scheme looks to the takara counterpart if we get one.

Thanks Bowddies!

So pleased that there were no failures in the tape job. I had to bend that tape around a lot of corners and edges. Especially on the arms.

They did such an amazing job re-sculpting this mold to be Wheeljack, It's pretty silly that all he needed was a little more black paint to be the best Jack he could be. I'm still debating some other apps. I feel like his pelvis should be black, put it will take some serious disassmbly. Which I have very little experience with. Also I think the rear wind shield grate could stand to be black. So, we'll see.

Will - Thanks for putting up that pic, as I was kicking myself for not snapping a "before' picture. Pretty crazy coincidence that I put him in almost the same exact pose.

carytheone wrote:Rust-oleum and linoleum!

Outside of that spray paint, is there a certain kind of model paint (brush on) that should be used on TFs? Will water based fall off to easy, will certain solvents melt the lil guys?

On Strongarm I used good old Testers brand model paint. In my experience Acyrlic and other water based paints DO NOT adhere to plastics. Although I have done a few custom jobs on my daughters little blind bag MLPs, (when she was sad she got a double) and Acrylic worked fine. I think it worked because they are vinyl and, I put on a generous clear coat.
The Testers thinner did not hurt the plastic, but I would be careful not to go near any preexisting paint apps you want to keep.
The only problem I had with the Testers and a brush was, it gets kind of clumpy. Why I decided to spray Jack. Like you said about Sharpies, Cary, wet enamel paint reactivates dry enamel paint.

(PS- Not linoleum. Asbestos tile. )

Autobot N wrote:I was right on the money, gentlemen

DS, I mean N, that is all some fun and interesting news. I will take it all like I take my Margaritas. With salt. But, man! All this talk of beast bots has my head spinning with excitement.

Dr Va'al wrote:Make sure to post in Customizations, too!

I'm gonna do it right now!

Cobotron wrote:Thanks Bowddies!

So pleased that there were no failures in the tape job. I had to bend that tape around a lot of corners and edges. Especially on the arms.

They did such an amazing job re-sculpting this mold to be Wheeljack, It's pretty silly that all he needed was a little more black paint to be the best Jack he could be. I'm still debating some other apps. I feel like his pelvis should be black, put it will take some serious disassmbly. Which I have very little experience with. Also I think the rear wind shield grate could stand to be black. So, we'll see.

Will - Thanks for putting up that pic, as I was kicking myself for not snapping a "before' picture. Pretty crazy coincidence that I put him in almost the same exact pose.

Autobot N wrote:I was right on the money, gentlemen

DS, I mean N, that is all some fun and interesting news. I will take it all like I take my Margaritas. With salt. But, man! All this talk of beast bots has my head spinning with excitement.

Yeah, Wheeljack does look pretty good (with your add-ons, of course), but my main reason for not really liking the CW Wheeljack overall isn't the lack of paint, but the mold they used. At least it holds together fairly well in combined mode.

And yeah, these new rumors are pretty great. Doublecross and Sixshot excite me.



Also (not really on topic, but something weird that I noticed), isn't it kinda weird that it would take years for the caption contest to update, but now it changes practically every time you get on the site?

It's amazing how much better he looks! You da man

Ok let's have some real talk about margaritas; frozen or on the rocks?

Myself; top shelf, on the rocks with salt

Back to paint: I've got a little experience in the paint field. I'd recommend that green tape over blue; adheres better and leaves cleaner lines, but is mo' pricey.

As far as paint lifting paint; some paint if recoated in the wrong time frame will cause it to wrinkle. Usually the hotter faster drying solvent based stuff.

I need to set myself up a little customizing corner in the botcave. I'm really feeling like getting into the customizing (fixing) figures game.

Edit: I too noticed the caption contest was updated. That reminds me I'm a week late with something...

Autobot N wrote:Yeah, Wheeljack does look pretty good (with your add-ons, of course), but my main reason for not really liking the CW Wheeljack overall isn't the lack of paint, but the mold they used. At least it holds together fairly well in combined mode.

I remembered you saying the plastic seemed strange and brittle too. I didn't find that to be so.
A couple of these molds don't really work for these characters, but they work well enough for me. I'm just psyched to to have them as combiners. And the Jack toys were always kind of squat and wide in funny ways. Except for the MP.

Autobot N wrote:Also (not really on topic, but something weird that I noticed), isn't it kinda weird that it would take years for the caption contest to update, but now it changes practically every time you get on the site?

Maybe Seibs was doing some deep Spring cleaning?

shajaki wrote:It's amazing how much better he looks! You da man

From Wheeljack to WheelJaki, I would say.

carytheone wrote: frozen or on the rocks?

Rock with salt! Everytime.
Frozen is for cheerleaders and little old ladies with too much make up and an excessively large hand bag.

carythetape wrote:Back to paint: I've got a little experience in the paint field. I'd recommend that green tape over blue; adheres better and leaves cleaner lines, but is mo' pricey.

Oh man I used to be a house painter to fuel my real dream. I have seen more miles of tape than Knight Rider's seen highway. Are you talking Frog Tape? That stuff is really the best for clean lines when it comes to latex jobs. While it has it that re-enforced edge, the rest of the adhesive can be dicey. I had some low adhesion blue tape, but the standard stuff really sticks.
It really boiled down to the Xacto knife work in the end though.

Let's all try different stuff and trade notes, eh?


Again, thanks Willl for the leg work on this stock shot.
I compped it up!


And if anybody wants to head to the Custums Forum...
cw-wheeljack-all-he-needed-was-a-little-more-paint--p1770053.php#p1770053

But it's just the same stuff y'all saw here.

Probably the frogtape, but generally the green is designed for cleaner lines and hotter solvent. I remember when I first hit the scene it was aimed at lacquers.

Quality of that blue tape is all over the place depending on brand and some are designed to have low adhesion to not lift the paint below. I've found that over the years I've never been happy with the lines the blue tape leaves, even when I rub the edges. I'm coming from just projects around the house and my paint sales days.

I have zero experience painting figures though. I don't count my slapdash sharpie projects.

That Wheeljack looks sharp! Yes, notes will be shared when I make the jump.

carytheone wrote:Ok let's have some real talk about margaritas; frozen or on the rocks?

Myself; top shelf, on the rocks with salt

Seconded. Go big or go home. Ice cubes that is.

AWESOME PAINT UP COBS!!

Cobotron wrote:

Autobot N wrote:Yeah, Wheeljack does look pretty good (with your add-ons, of course), but my main reason for not really liking the CW Wheeljack overall isn't the lack of paint, but the mold they used. At least it holds together fairly well in combined mode.

I remembered you saying the plastic seemed strange and brittle too. I didn't find that to be so.
A couple of these molds don't really work for these characters, but they work well enough for me. I'm just psyched to to have them as combiners. And the Jack toys were always kind of squat and wide in funny ways. Except for the MP.

I don't remember the thing about the plastic being brittle, but it does seem to have a different feel to it. And it's not that the mold doesn't work for Jack, it's the fact that I strongly dislike the Breakdown mold.

Cobotron wrote:

Autobot N wrote:Also (not really on topic, but something weird that I noticed), isn't it kinda weird that it would take years for the caption contest to update, but now it changes practically every time you get on the site?

Maybe Seibs was doing some deep Spring cleaning?

Maybe.

Autobot N wrote:I don't remember the thing about the plastic being brittle, but it does seem to have a different feel to it. And it's not that the mold doesn't work for Jack, it's the fact that I strongly dislike the Breakdown mold.

Yes. The mold is commonly disliked. I like it fine, but I'll agree it is one of the weaker molds of the line.

N, for you, is it the look of the mold, or the engineering?

Cobotron wrote:

Autobot N wrote:I don't remember the thing about the plastic being brittle, but it does seem to have a different feel to it. And it's not that the mold doesn't work for Jack, it's the fact that I strongly dislike the Breakdown mold.

Yes. The mold is commonly disliked. I like it fine, but I'll agree it is one of the weaker molds of the line.

N, for you, is it the look of the mold, or the engineering?

The stupid hips, short thighs, and overly wide lower legs.

The hips are the only thing that bug me, but I've recently learned to appreciate that mold.

And now that I've seen the magic of a little paint, I can't wait find that mad scientist.

Ya, I can see all the reasons for the dislike in that mold, and I'm not trying to defend it. Nor would I bother trying to convince N (or Will for that matter) that it's good.
I really like it though. It has good poseability, and the feet are some of the best in the line. I also think the proportions are on par with 30 years of TF design.

I need to pull Breakdown off of Menasor and line 'em all up for a looky luo.

Talking to my bro the other night we both agreed that, F it! we are ready to close it out with this team.

Hotspot as Grapple
Lambo mold Sideswipe
Bluestreak (you know which mold)
First Aid as Ratchet
He said Hoist, but I threw out Jazz with Dead End's Alt mode.

We then both agreed that we are sorry ass old suckers, and will fall for the same trick over and over.

Cobotron wrote:Ya, I can see all the reasons for the dislike in that mold, and I'm not trying to defend it. Nor would I bother trying to convince N (or Will for that matter) that it's good.
I really like it though. It has good poseability, and the feet are some of the best in the line. I also think the proportions are on par with 30 years of TF design.

I need to pull Breakdown off of Menasor and line 'em all up for a looky luo.

Talking to my bro the other night we both agreed that, F it! we are ready to close it out with this team.

Hotspot as Grapple
Lambo mold Sideswipe
Bluestreak (you know which mold)
First Aid as Ratchet
He said Hoist, but I threw out Jazz with Dead End's Alt mode.

We then both agreed that we are sorry ass old suckers, and will fall for the same trick over and over.

I would certainly spring for a Jazz using the Dead End mold

Autobot N wrote:

Cobotron wrote:

Autobot N wrote:I don't remember the thing about the plastic being brittle, but it does seem to have a different feel to it. And it's not that the mold doesn't work for Jack, it's the fact that I strongly dislike the Breakdown mold.

Yes. The mold is commonly disliked. I like it fine, but I'll agree it is one of the weaker molds of the line.

N, for you, is it the look of the mold, or the engineering?

The stupid hips, short thighs, and overly wide lower legs.

For me its that a gimmick I dont care for forces him to have fake part. Aside from the stupid hips and asymetrical legs/feet (well Breakdown has that, I dont know if that is carried out to wheeljack).

But he does look good and I preffer his look to the generations wheeljack figure which, for reasons that can only be baffling, was named the 24th best tf toy of all time. Really internet, really That means gen wheeljack beats most of the Cybertron, Animated, G1 and Prime line?! As well as MP Sideswipe?!

I was just doing some scrambling last night...






Then Wheeljack, deep in research of all this new combiner technology, had one of his CRAZY ideas.



"Hey Prime! Try this on."





Running Shoes!!!!

LOLOLOLOL

I really appreciated Breakdown. Flaws yes, but he just felt terribly G1 to me (probably the spot on boxy head sculpt). And Sunstreaker sold the mold too. I'm actually kinda sad at the prospect of not getting the ones you mentioned (Sideswipe and company). But I'm holding out hope for Takara or TFCC filling that void.

After learning that during the design stage, each mold got at least 3 head sculpt options (example: Seeker head) I'd be really surprised if there wasn't a Sideswipe head already.

Oh! and we saw the ratchet head too.

Cobotron wrote:Edit: It was kind of a ghost town today. Nobody seemed all that interested in my Lambo/Lancia speed skates.

I didn't even see it! Cool bro!

They're like, connected too eh? The feet are made to connect to the tops of those cars correct?

shajaki wrote: The feet are made to connect to the tops of those cars correct?

Whatchu sh'talkin bout Jaki?

YA! The peg is up on the HFGs for those guys.
He's pegged in, man! He's ready to ROLL!

Cobotron wrote:He's pegged in, man! He's ready to ROLL!

Since he's standing on wheels, does that make him unstable?

I posted "LOLOLOLOL" to the skates Cobs. I think it's funny, and Wheeljack would TOTES come up with that hairbrained idea.

I know you did Cram. I can always count on you for some giggletron.

I'm not really down about it. It's a pretty dumb sight gag.

Will - very unstable!

Did you guys ever see the post in the CW thread with an all Rook combiner who also had Rook skates?

Edit: Oh! And good news! MP Ironhide finally arrived at my post office this morning!
29 days! All time slow poke record.