Knight in shining armor edition
Dino mode
When I started this custom I decided to choose style distinct from the one we used to see on Grimlock
The main idea was inspired by Age of extinction dinobot knights. However I gave my Grimlock slightly different spin than Michael Bay did.
Armor of my Grimlock was inspired by plate armor that was worn by knights. That's why one of the main colours used in this custom was silver. Thanks to special painting technique black primer gives paint brushed metal look.
Grimlock also got a lot of small hand-painted details.
Dino head was modified so now its jaws can easily open or close and stay in chosen position, unlike the stock one.
Dino mode also got a lot of LEDs. You can find them inside head, elbows, back and thighs.
LEDs look great both in faint light and pitch black.
My custom Grimlock was based on figure from Silver Knight set (accident? I don't think so). Above photo shows comparison between slightly modified stock Platinum edition Grimlock and my custom.
Faint light gives Grimlock really great look.
After this dino warm-up it's time for the main dish.
Robot mode
The most dominant colurs of this custom are silver, black and golden chrome. I like my figures glossy, so I decided not to cover stock chrome.
Instead I overhauled it with a lot of paint. I also added a lot of panel lines - red ones on black paint and black one everywhere else. Of course there are many hand painted details all over the figure as well.
Because insights of Grimlocks' chest are full of electronics I modified the way Dino head transforms. Now it looks more like in the Masterpiece version.
While I was already filling up empty spaces all around the Grimlock I have decided to add new panels on dino chest and robot's back. This also helped the dino mode. The part on robot mode doubles as electronics cover that can be easily removed for battery swap.
When I was working on this figure I also upgraded another flaw of the mold - hollow arms. I added some extra panels which cover LEDs. I also filled up biceps and thighs with some green stuff.
I haven't forgotten about Grimlock's accessories. Both sword and shield were heavily painted with a lot of details.
After painting was complete I applied a few layers of gloss clearcoat.
Clearcoat gave both slight gloss and better durability of the paintjob which is really important on transformers figure.
All the parts that had net structure were drilled so they became the real net. This way light can shine through it, which was intended for electronics.
Before we move on I would like to show you a few minor details that were painted during customisation process.
I already told you about built in electronics. Time to show what those LED's can do.
Electrical circuit consists on a lot of LEDs, wires, switches and batteries. With all this light Grimlock looks impressive, even in pitch black.
The best way to present my custom is showing it in faint light. Grimlock has sixteen LEDs inside the figure. All those LEDs were split into four separate electrical circuits
Two of them were hidden inside the knees, which demanded careful planning and finding the most suitable place to hide batteries and switches.
I believe completed custom looks really good. After adding some LEDs and completely new paintjob Grimlok seems a lot different than it used to be.
Before we wrap this up it's time to compare my custom with Platinum Edition Grimlock.
I am really satisfied with the result of my work and how Grimlock turned out. I was thinking about this custom for a long time and I am glad I could finally take care of this figure and do it justice. In my opinion FOC Grimlock is great figure that needed better paintjob and some modding to be perfect classic representation of the character which hopefully I have achieved. Hope you like this custom. If you have any questions or would like to share your opinion, please feel free to do it with your comments.