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74: SS-73 Grindor

Grindor is a project I've been working on for a long time, both with the modding I wanted to try and the fact that my first copy broke at the hip while I was working on it. That ended up working out pretty nicely though, as the parts from the first copy were used to make the final version better!

- Robot Mode -

There were a few factors I had to consider when looking at how to paint Grindor’s robot mode. Screen accuracy is of course one of the main things, but I also wanted to differentiate him from Blackout with more than just the rust spots in this mode. I pulled a little bit of inspiration from real CH-53s as well as the ROTF voyager class Grindor and used a lighter base color with a darker inner structure to get a better contrast in this mode.

Since Grindor is a modified Blackout model, many of the same details are there. I was able to transfer these over along with some new details I found rewatching the forest battle, like the gold on the lower abdomen. Finally, as I mentioned earlier, Grindor has lots of rust detailing in the movie which I was able to add here! Some of them were just where I felt they would look good, but many of them are directly from spots you can see in the movie, like on the rotor and that right shin piece.








- Alt mode -

Now looking at alt mode, most of my time spent on this project was spent on figuring out the modding. First up is the nose of the helicopter, which saw the removal of most of the lower section to get it more accurate to the CH-53. I did have to leave the central portion so the upper and lower body sections can connect in robot mode, which is largely unavoidable if you want him to still transform but still makes it more evocative of the proper helicopter. I then sanded down the part of the right side cockpit below the lower window and painted on a new window sitting below that one.

Next up is the third engine found on the heli’s left side. I took this from my junker Grindor and made it attach via 5mm port so it can be detached for transformation! He can technically wield it on either arm in robot mode for storage, which I've included a pic of.

The last mod I worked with was the tail rotor. The tail rotor on the CH-53 is canted at an angle and has an additional support structure for the fin on the side, so I spliced two of the rotors together and made the support on a hinge so it can fold away for robot mode.


Finally, for the paint I started with a light gray base coat and added detailing with a darker gray on the front and for the lettering/text. I picked out some spots in red for lights and yellow for the pieces on the sides, and copper for the exhausts. I used a model wash on top for some lighter weathering, and concluded my work with decals for the emblems!







Paint used:

Testor's enamels:

- Flat gunmetal

Acrylics:

- Craftsmart gunmetal
- Decoart light gray
- Decoart gray
- Decoart metallic silver
- Decoart metallic gold
- Decoart metallic red
- Decoart gloss yellow

Other:
- Krylon matte glacier gray spray paint

74a: Ravage & Recon Ravage (from SS-73 Grindor)

Having gone through 2 Grindors to get my finished custom, I had 2 Ravages to work with as well! The first of which has a screen accurate deco, and the other is based on the ROTF deluxe Recon Ravage (inspired by @digitaldecagon's digibash of the same idea). Our regular Ravage has a gunmetal base coat with silver and gold accents and a bright red eye. Recon Ravage has a gunmetal and silver base with lots of red detailing (with a fade in multiple sections as well), yellow on the legs, and an orange eye.






Paint used:

Testor's enamels:

- Flat gunmetal

Acrylics:

- Craftsmart gunmetal
- Decoart metallic silver
- Decoart metallic gold
- Decoart tuscan red
- Decoart gloss yellow
- Decoart gloss orange

Other:
- Vallejo model wash

75: SS-26 WWII Bumblebee (yellow)

Finally getting back into the swing of things with this fun WWII Bumblebee repaint!

- Robot Mode -

Starting with a yellow base coat that I'll talk about more in a minute, I did a lot of gunmetal work for the robot structure as per usual. I was able to map many of the details from Bumblebee's usual design onto this one depsite the kibble differences, and pulled some influences from 07 Clunker Bee for the stripes on his legs. It was also fun seeing the head sculpt in yellow, while the sculpt is specific for the WWII version of Bee (the helmet crest sticks out more and there's no antennae) it is certainly the best Studio Series Bumblebee head sculpt.








- Alt mode -

For alt mode, I started with a gray primer coat before adding a layer of a new tamiya spray paint I found - It's not bad, maybe not quite that perfect Bumblebee orange-yellow, but probably the closest spray paint I've found yet. I used both acrylic and enamel gunmetals for detailing with a few bits in silver, and then went to work with weathering, concentrating on points that would accumulate the most wear on an actual vehicle. I decided to do the stripes in a DOTM-like style, but keeping them blocky and militaristic to better fit the alt mode.








Paint used:

Testor's enamels:

- Flat gunmetal
- Gloss yellow (mixed with gloss tangerine)
- Gloss red

Acrylics:

- Craftsmart gunmetal
- Decoart metallic silver
- Decoart metallic gold
- Folkart metallic blue

Other:
- Tamiya TS-34 gloss yellow spray paint

76: SS-GE07 Sideswipe (WFC)


- Robot Mode -

Got another Gamer Edition figure for you today with Sideswipe! Reference images for this guy were slightly tricky because there is some variation between renders, but with game screenshots as my main focus I was able to reach something I feel is pretty screen accurate! I used silver and gunmetal for the underlying sections, and found a new metallic red/pink that matches the energon effect the Autobots in the Cybertron games have. I used that throughout both modes and on the weapon! I used some weathering as well with dry brushing and sponge brushing. I included a shot with Bumblebee's sword since Sideswipe uses on of those too:








- Alt mode -

In alt mode, the main thing I wanted to do was differentiate between the silver stripes that run across the vehicle, with black lines between them. I also painted around the Autobot logo on the front, the fine details for which required a new tool. I picked up a fine tip Gundam marker which worked perfectly for the job! I also used the same metallic pink/red for energon highlights and did some more weathering for this mode.








Paint used:

Testor's enamels:

- Flat gunmetal

Acrylics:

- Craftsmart gunmetal
- Decoart metallic silver
- Decoart metallic red
- Folkart gloss red (mixed with brick red)
- Folkart metallic blue

Other:
- Krylon spray gloss coat
- Fine tip gundam marker (black)

77: SS-GE06 Starscream (WFC)


- Robot Mode -

I started off Starscream with new base colors - silver replacing the gray, and a new metallic ble and red for the primary colors. I did some detail work with metallic purple to recreate the dark energon glow effect, and then went into weatherign with some wash and primarily dry brushing with silver and gunmetal.

The mace was a fun component to paint, it has a new metallic purple base with a lighter purple segment to once again lend to that glowing effect.







- Alt mode -







Paint used:

Acrylics:

- Craftsmart gunmetal
- Decoart metallic silver
- Decoart metallic purple
- Decoart metallic blue (mixed with metallic dark blue and Folkart metallic blue)
- Folkart gloss red
- Folkart metallic blue

Other:
- Krylon spray gloss coat

78: SS-37 Rampage


- Robot Mode -

The unique challenge to Rampage was his weathering. I'm no stranger to weathering at this point, but Rampage has uniquely layered weathering, and a lot of it. The red base coat is scratched and worn away in many sections, but then there's lots of wear on top of the paint as well. To recreate that, I used a red base coat with silver dry brushing where the paint has scratched away, and then gunmetaland gray sponge brushing for the weathering on top. There's plenty of detail work too, and we have a surprising number of CG renders of Rampage to base my work on!








- Alt mode -

While Rampage's robot mode is pretty weathered, vehicle mode is largely clean, with the exception of wear on the treads and plow sections. I started with that same new red base coat for alt mode, and painted the plow section in gunmetal. Rampage also has some yellow sections in alt mode that I was able to add, and I think it's cool that, like in the movie, these yellow parts don't appear in robot mode (at least not from the front). I also painted the sections between the panels on the plow in black to try and highlight the distinction between them, and then did some silver dry brushing for wear. The treads got that same dry brushing and some desert sand weathering to fit the scene.








Paint used:

Testor's enamels:

- Flat gunmetal
- Gloss black

Acrylics:

- Craftsmart gunmetal
- Decoart metallic silver
- Decoart metallic gold
- Decoart metallic bronze
- Decoart gloss orange

Other:
- Krylon spray flat coat
- Krylon spray matte red pepper

79: SS-74 Bumblebee (Rampage among the Ruins repaint)


- Robot Mode -

After tracking down the original set earlier this year and with an extra ROTF Bee kicking around, I decided to try and modernize this classic repaint! I pulled several things from that figure, like the door scratches, dirt weathering, and brown base coat, while also keeping screen accuracy largely in mind. This figure actually started off as a carbon copy of my prior ROTF Bee custom, besides the base coat, which was a mix of gunmetal, black, and brown. I then moved into weathering by adding the original figure's signature door scratches as well as weathering based on the scene where Bee fights Rampage in the movie.








- Alt mode -

Like robot mode, alt mode started off as a copy of my work on the regular ROTF Bee with work on the grill, doors, side vents, and back. Moving onto the weathering, the door scratches are more noticable in this mode, and I added depth to them by doing a black streak in the middle of the silver sections. I added dirt weathering all over, but particularly behind the tires where dust would be kicked up.








Paint used:

Testor's enamels:

- Flat gunmetal
- Gloss black
- Gloss yellow (mixed with gloss tangerine)
- Gloss red

Acrylics:

- Craftsmart gunmetal (mixed with flat black and flat brown)
- Decoart metallic silver
- Decoart metallic gold
- Decoart metallic bronze
- Decoart gloss orange
- Decoart metallic blue

Other:
- Krylon spray flat coat
- Vallejo weathering kit

80: Shockwave (Core class, 2007 Video Game repaint)

Got this guy about a year ago in a BOGO sale and wasn't sure what to do with it at first. I decided to reference a more obscure piece of Bayverse concept art, some of 2007 video game Shockwave's other color schemes! Ken Christiansen's concept art for the character has variations in black, purple, and green. I went with the latter option for this repaint!

- Robot Mode -

Since these two Shockwaves have very different robot modes, I wasn't able to map details directly from the concept art, but I did my best to evoke that art with the basis of this figure. I started with a flat green base coat, and added gunmetal throughout. The key details I wanted to bring forwards were the helicopter canopy on the lower chest and the blast shield chest. The lines on the chets were definitely the most difficult part!








- Alt Mode -

While it wasn't feasible to try and get this Shockwave to turn into a helicopter, I was able to approximate the artillery mode from the art and game!








Paint used:

Testor's enamels:


- Flat gunmetal

Acrylics:

- Craftsmart Gunmetal
- Decoart metallic silver
- Decoart metallic copper
- Decoart metallic gold
- Decoart gloss yellow
- Decoart lush green

Other:

- Rustoleum olive drab green spray paint

Got an update for you all today, this time it's WWII Bumblebee and Hot Rod back on page 1! Bumblebee was updated with some revised paint work and both figures have new, full galleries!

81: SS-102 Optimus Prime (ROTB)

- Robot Mode -

This is a project I've had on the back burner for a little while now, partially because of how many other customs of this guy are out there, but also because I didn't have as much of a plan for what I wanted to do. The detail that moved this project to the main burner was actually the silver trim around the windows - I really like how it looked and decided to get this project wrapped up. I added a lot of gunmetal throughout since ROTB prime has more gunmetal on him than the BB design, and for the blue I ended up mixing several shades of metallic blue together to get somethign I liked. Somethign interesting happened with the gloss coat too, where it deepened the metallic properties of the paint and leading to a really cool result. I used this same blue mixture on another custom you'll be seeing soon!








- Vehicle Mode -

Besides detail work, I also made sure to paint the inside of all the visible robot mode kibble in dark gunmetal to better help mask it in this mode.








Paint used:

Testor's enamels:

- Gloss red
- Gloss tangerine
- Flat gunmetal

Acrylics:

- Craftsmart Gunmetal
- Decoart ultramarine blue (mixed with metallic sapphire and metallic blue)
- Decoart metallic silver
- Decoart metallic copper
- Decoart gloss yellow
- Decoart flat black

Other:

- Krylon gloss coay (spray)

82: SS-44 Optimus Prime (2007/ROTF)

About 2 years ago I found a loose SS-44 with just an axe and shield and no other accessories or trailer. Considering my main SS-44 has SS-05 legs, I thought it'd be cool to have a second SS-44 as a 2007/ROTF version that can combine with Jetfire.

- Robot Mode -

This isn't my first time working on a trilogy Prime in Studio Series, so it wasn't nearly as long of a process to paint the flames this time around! The main differences between this and my prior SS-44 are the new shade of metallic blue and the ion blasters, which I 3D printed.








- Alt Mode -

For Prime's alt mode, one thing I wanted to improve from my prior SS-44 was the flames on the sleeper cab portion of the truck, as they cover a larger area than they do on the original figure. These ended up being totally repainted by hand, I did make some decals that I hoped would make my job easier, but didn't end up being very helpful. It took a little while, but I'm very happy with these flames!









Paint used:

Testor's enamels:

- Gloss red
- Gloss tangerine
- Gloss black
- Flat gunmetal

Acrylics:

- Craftsmart Gunmetal
- Decoart ultramarine blue (mixed with metallic sapphire and metallic blue)
- Decoart metallic silver
- Decoart metallic gold
- Folkart metallic turquoise

Other:

- Krylon gloss coay (spray)

82: Mohawk (Brimstone Repaint)



- Robot Mode -

I thought this would be a fun repaint of Mohawk to try out! In terms of modding, I removed parts of the head sculpt to get it closer to Brimstone's, and modified the hands. I actually didn't know that the original Brimstone had really tiny hands until looking at pics for this custom! I then started paint with a silver base coat, and used metallic blue and gloss green to evoke the original's color scheme. I had originally intended to use a metallic green, but it didn't show up well against the metallic blue base, so I opted for the sublime green instead. I also looked to add some detail beyond the original figure, which is where the copper and gunmetal details came in!








- Alt Mode -

While Mohawk's alt mode is different from Brimstone's I tried to get as close as I could with paint work, again using the metallic blue base with sublime green flames! I also brought a few copper details forward from alt mode, and added a very small metallic red section at the back for a tail light!








Paint used:

Testor's enamels:

- Gloss sublime green
- Flat gunmetal

Acrylics:

- Folkart Gunmetal
- Decoart metallic blue
- Decoart metallic silver
- Decoart metallic copper
- Decoart metallic red


Other:

- Krylon gloss coay (spray)
- Rustoleum silver spray paint

84: SS-03 Crowbar

- Robot Mode -

Building off the general pattern I established for Crankcase, Crowbar has some really cool green spring details in his chest that I was able to add, and there's some glowing red sections in his chest when he transforms for the first time (that do not appear in later scenes) that I added. I also gave him a bit of a haircut - Crowbar in the movie has 6 dreads (though he loses 2 when he crashes into Ironhide, bringing him to 4, but those 2 dreads do reappear on him shortly after). The figure has 9 dreads, so I took the central three out from the group of them behind his head. I also separated the side dreads a little bit so they could fan out more!

The blasters are 3D printed based on the design posted by TFCHEAP3D on Cults3D!








- Alt Mode -

Identical to Crankcase and Hatchet, you can catch the write-up for Crankcase at the bottom of page 5 for more details!

Crowbar is the one in the foreground for all these pics:









Paint used:

Testor's enamels:

- Gloss tangerine
- Gloss red
- Metallic silver
- Flat gunmetal
- Gloss black (spray)

Acrylics:

- Decoart gunmetal
- Decoart gloss shimmering silver
- Decoart emperor gold
- Folkart gloss black
- Decoart flat black
- Decoart flat white
- Decoart metallic emerald
- Folkart metallic blue sapphire

Other:

- Krylon gloss coat

85: SS-117 Hatchet

- Robot Mode -

Hatchet is finally in Studio Series! Painting him started with a gunmetal base coat that I then layered with a darker gunmetal, silver, and gold details based on movie screenshots. I also added weathering like I did with the prior Dreads, using silver dry brushing, gunmetal sponge brushing on the silver parts, and model wash. The model wash picked up really nicely on the gold dreads, I like how that ended up!









- Alt Mode -

More of the same as Crankcase and Crowbar!

Hatchet is the one in the foreground for all these pics:








Paint used:

Testor's enamels:

- Gloss tangerine
- Gloss red
- Flat gunmetal


Acrylics:

- Decoart gunmetal
- Decoart gloss shimmering silver
- Decoart emperor gold
- Folkart gloss black
- Decoart flat black
- Decoart flat white
- Folkart metallic blue sapphire

Other:

- Krylon gloss coat
- Krylon satin black spray paint
- Vallejo model wash