The Energon Pub

Thu Aug 09, 2007 6:44 pm

Those of you who are members of Transtopia should recognize these ladies, but for those who aren't, I thought I would intorduce you to the most current versions of the original G1 fems. I still have to make Firestar, and am going to redo Elita-1 in the near future, but I thoughyou might like to see Chromia and her daughter Moonracer here. Moonracer was built from an LOC Starscream with thighs taken from an LOC Sunstorm. Chromia was built from a [b]Cybertron[/i] Brakedown.

News Credits: 1 · Thu Aug 09, 2007 6:47 pm

The second one is pretty cool, but the first one looks all melted and stuff :???:

Thu Aug 09, 2007 6:50 pm

well give him the effort. Those things are very small and it's hard to get detail in them. Well done on both of them

Thu Aug 09, 2007 6:52 pm

Yeah, Moonracer is very small, and that was intentional. I wanted her to be to scale with G1 Powerglide, since she is his girlfriend. It wouldn't be right for her to be larger than he.

Thu Aug 09, 2007 7:15 pm

Those are so cool!! ^^
Great job.

I like the little bio pics, the first two, the best I think.

Thu Aug 09, 2007 7:26 pm

Nice!

Thu Aug 09, 2007 8:13 pm

I've been a long time-lurker at Transtopia and I remember those. I've always wanted to ask if Moonracer's texture became like that because of the paint you used or was she sculpted that way?

Thu Aug 09, 2007 8:48 pm

She was hand painted. That and the plastic is a bit rough.

Sat Sep 01, 2007 4:51 pm

UPDATE TIME. Over the past week, I've been working on a new, more G1 comic accurate Elita-1—based off of Don Figueroa's renderings, with a more accurate vehicle mode and transformation too. So far, the arms and head are done, as is the abdomen and most of the legs and hips. I still have to do the feet, rear end, and wheelwells, as well as the cockpit and chest, then attach the head and shoulder mounts to the body. So there is still a lot of work. I cannibalized parts trom four differet knock-offs for this project— an oversized knockoff LOC Evac for the hips, abdomen, and hands, and three knockoff Cyberjets for the limbs and ball joint for the head. The head itself is scratch-built, and even has light piping. Here are some WIP pics.

Sat Sep 01, 2007 5:50 pm

looking good sofar, cant wait to see the finished bot!

Sun Sep 02, 2007 2:43 pm

Wow! What sort of materials did you use to create all those parts?

Sun Sep 02, 2007 3:05 pm

Auto Bot wrote:Wow! What sort of materials did you use to create all those parts?

Sheet styrene, Stryene tubing, clear acrylic rods, and cannibalized parts from four knock-offs.

Sun Sep 02, 2007 3:10 pm

Tramp wrote:
Auto Bot wrote:Wow! What sort of materials did you use to create all those parts?

Sheet styrene, Stryene tubing, clear acrylic rods, and cannibalized parts from four knock-offs.

What is a "sheet styrene"? Where did you buy that?

If it's ok, can you post a picture of the styrene in its original state? I mean, at least, not processed into robot parts yet. Bits and pieces will do. I just like to see what it is.

Sun Sep 02, 2007 3:20 pm

Auto Bot wrote:
Tramp wrote:
Auto Bot wrote:Wow! What sort of materials did you use to create all those parts?

Sheet styrene, Stryene tubing, clear acrylic rods, and cannibalized parts from four knock-offs.

What is a "sheet styrene"? Where did you buy that?

If it's ok, can you post a picture of the styrene in its original state? I mean, at least, not processed into robot parts yet. Bits and pieces will do. I just like to see what it is.

Styrene is the type of plastic most model kits are made from. You can buy it in flat sheets (plain or textured), or as square and round tubing, and other shapes from most hobby stores that specialize in models and model building. Many people use ot for building minatures for railroad displays. You can also order it on line from the manufacturer, like Plastruct. They have a catalog and online catalog. Here is their Web address: http://plastruct.com/

Mon Sep 03, 2007 5:42 am

Tramp wrote:
Auto Bot wrote:
Tramp wrote:
Auto Bot wrote:Wow! What sort of materials did you use to create all those parts?

Sheet styrene, Stryene tubing, clear acrylic rods, and cannibalized parts from four knock-offs.

What is a "sheet styrene"? Where did you buy that?

If it's ok, can you post a picture of the styrene in its original state? I mean, at least, not processed into robot parts yet. Bits and pieces will do. I just like to see what it is.

Styrene is the type of plastic most model kits are made from. You can buy it in flat sheets (plain or textured), or as square and round tubing, and other shapes from most hobby stores that specialize in models and model building. Many people use ot for building minatures for railroad displays. You can also order it on line from the manufacturer, like Plastruct. They have a catalog and online catalog. Here is their Web address: http://plastruct.com/

One more question. Is styrene bendable? Can it be molded into shape? Like maybe thru heating or some chemicals?

Mon Sep 03, 2007 7:18 pm

Yes, it is very malliable and shapable, which is why it is used so much for kitbashing. One of the best ways, if you have the equipment is a process called vacuuforming. You place the styrene sheet in a frame, raise it up to the heat source and heat it until it sags, then pull it down over a form and turn on the vacuum causing the Styrene to mold itself to the shape of the form. It's good for making canopies and such that have a lot of curves and rounded sides, but not a lot of external detail, like canopies and such. In order to do vacuuforming, though, you need top build a vacuuformer, which is basically a table with a screen mesh for a surface, a vaccum underneath, a frame that can be raised and lowered and a heat lamp at the top.

As for how flexible styrene is depends upon its thickness. The thicker it is, the more rigid.

Tue Sep 04, 2007 10:00 am

Sounds like an ideal material for sculpting. I hope i can find that locally.

News Credits: 75 · Mon Sep 10, 2007 9:52 pm

As always, amazing work Tramp. The head sculpt is beautiful too.

Mon Sep 10, 2007 9:58 pm

Devastator wrote:As always, amazing work Tramp. The head sculpt is beautiful too.

Thanks, unfortunately, I'm out of glue with no money to buy more, and I'm having problems with the designing placement of the mounts for the shoulders to allow her to transform the way I want her to. :cry:

Tue Sep 25, 2007 9:56 pm

Well, I finally have more WIP pics, so many I have to split them into two posts. Here they are:

Tue Sep 25, 2007 10:03 pm

Here's the second batch. The chest may seem larger than the comic book design, but that is only because of the wheels which aren't shown in the comic book images. I still need to make her feet and add the front wheels to her calves, as well as build her cockpit and canopy. I would like a curved canopy but i don't have access to a vacuu-former. On top of that I still need to figure out excatly how I will do the cockpit interior and get the cockpit to lock onto the legs properly where nothing will move. enjoy the new WIP pics:

Wed Sep 26, 2007 4:39 am

What does she transform into?

News Credits: 1014 · Wed Sep 26, 2007 5:23 pm

Sweetness, thats just too much work man. Good job.

Thu Sep 27, 2007 9:22 pm

Auto Bot wrote:What does she transform into?

She's basically some form of Cybertronian utility truck. Some people think she's a car.

Anywhat, I have the legs done, except for some clean-up. She even his high heels, yet is completely stable. :grin: