The Energon Pub

Tramp wrote:Well, seeing as my original Autobot Fems thread was unfortunately deleted— even though it had plenty of good pics and usefull WIP info in it— I have decided to restart it; and, the best candidate for this restart is Moonracer. I just finished some serious redesign to the second version; improving the overall appearance and transformation, moking her look even more like the original character. There were a number of issues with my second build that needed to be addressed including the arms and head sitting too high in alt mode and thus killing the sleekness of the vehicle mode. I have completely redesigned the back pod, groin, canopy, lower arms and hands, and lower legs, improving them immensely. The head now sits lower and further back in vehicle mode. The arms sit lower, with the front wheels inside the fore-arms and rear wheels tucked inside the shoulders. Without further adeau, I present a couple of teasers of the new Moonracer:





I will be taking new gallery pics for when new galleries can be submitted, including some in package shots.

Tramp wrote:Here are a few samples from my gallery shots to whet your appetities.

RavageX-9 wrote:I don't exactly remember how different this is from the previous version, but from the two pictures it looks pretty good. I remember I had a few issues with some of your figures having odd proportions, but nothing's really noticable to me from these pictures. (then again, maybe I didn't think there was any problems with the previous version. I don't remember. )

It's nice that you got to redo it. hurray for improvements.

the toy looks a little blue compared to the artwork. is that just the camera?

do you have any pictures of the old version to compare? also would be nice to see more pictures of this one from different angles. I'm guessing you took that one of vehicle mode to show off the lowered head, but it doesn't show off the rest of the vehicle very well. something a little more to the side and slightly higher.

Tramp wrote:If you want to see the “original” original version, just look in the Kitbash Gallery.

This was version 2.0—




As you can see, the new version has the arms and head lower in vehicle mode, and moves the front wheels into the forearms, thus lowering and narrowing the vehicle mode and making it more aerodynamic. The upgrade also moved the rear wheels—which are also larger than before— inside the shoulders so they aren’t bulking up her waistline. They add some breeadth to the shoulders but not by too much.

Here are a couple of screencaptures of the original cartoon character for comparison as well. —






My goal was to get as close as possible to the original while still being able to transform from a femenine looking robot to a convincing vehicle. It’s obviously not identicle, but is as close as I can get.

Skullgrin140 wrote:Very Nice work on Moonracer Tramp Are you planning on doing Chromia, Elita 1 & Firestar as well?

Tramp wrote:

Skullgrin140 wrote:Very Nice work on Moonracer Tramp Are you planning on doing Chromia, Elita 1 & Firestar as well?

If you check the Kitbash Galleries, Chromia and Elita-1 are already done. Elita-1 was one of my first submissions to this site.

Check them out here: http://www.tfmaster.com/gallery_kb0117.php
and here: http://www.tfmaster.com/gallery_kb0173.php

Firestar is the next one to be built. This is my plan for her—

Skullgrin140 wrote:

Tramp wrote:

Skullgrin140 wrote:Very Nice work on Moonracer Tramp Are you planning on doing Chromia, Elita 1 & Firestar as well?

If you check the Kitbash Galleries, Chromia and Elita-1 are already done. Elita-1 was one of my first submissions to this site.

Check them out here: http://www.tfmaster.com/gallery_kb0117.php
and here: http://www.tfmaster.com/gallery_kb0173.php

Firestar is the next one to be built. This is my plan for her—

Oh, ok. Well Good luck on Firestar

johndillinga2003 wrote:I always thought Moonracer's (Toon Version) Vehicle mode looked like the Machine robo Time Machine robot I originally used that as the basis of my first Arcee Kitbash, but it ended up in a spare parts bin I still have it somewhere i never finished it....

len_d69 wrote:With a some modifications, That Moonracer mold will make a great Wheelie. Great job by the way.

Tramp wrote:

len_d69 wrote:With a some modifications, That Moonracer mold will make a great Wheelie. Great job by the way.

Thanks, and You’re right, it would. On the flip side, with some modification, you could probably turn a Wheelie figure into Moonracer as well. However, it wouldn’t have the articulation this version has.

jimsloth wrote:I don't quite get the transformation yet, but I know you'll make it work. The head sculpt looks great. So do the shoulders. So how big will she be? 6"?

Tramp wrote:She'll probably be a little taller. Based on the rough measurements I just took, she should be about 6.5" give or take. She still doesn't have feet, cockpit, or a chest so the head isn't attached yet. Once those are attached, I'll have a better idea of her final height.
This is roughly what the planned vehicle mode will be. Though not exactly. There have been changes since this illustration was made.

Tramp wrote:I have more WIP pics of the new Elita-1, including some vehicle mode pics. Also, her final height in robot mode is 5 3/8" tall. That is nearly three inches shorter than my previous version and a little over two inches shorter than Classics Optimus Prime, just as she should be.





















Since these pics were taken, I have finished fabrication of her chest, reversed her upper legs, and begun work on her cockpit. One of the things I need to figure out is how to hide the gaps between the shouldr mounts and the thighs in vehicle mode. I will be taking some more WIP pics soon.

Tramp wrote:Here are some more WIP pics. The cockpit and canopy are mostly done, as is the front end. I did some further work on the cockpit and canopy just after these pictures were taken. I still need to figure out a way to cover the gap between her shoulder mounts and her thighs in vehicle mode.

Tramp wrote:UPDATE time again:

I figured out a way to cover the sides, though it still needs some work. I've also inserted the actual "headlights" behind the lenses. thye're obviously non-fuctional. I'll need to do some final adjustments and some detailing before giving her a once-over ot smooth out the rough spots, before painting her.

Tramp wrote:Fabrication is now done!!!! All that is left is some gap filling, sanding and painting. I decided to fabricate new weapons for her instead of using the monster rifle. IT looked fine for her to use in robot mode, but just did not look right in vehicle mode. Her new weapons, look and work much better in both modes. Here are the latest WIP pics:

Tramp wrote:Well, I decided to try and make a more G1 cartoon accurate front end, since that is all we actually have for vehicle mode reference, and I hope I pulled it off. I still have the first, more truck-like front end, so I can mount that one back on. Tell me which you like better in both modes.

























Oh, for anyone who doesn't know what her G1 vehicle mode looks like, this is the only real reference we have:

Tramp wrote:Well, I have the gaps taken care of finally, and made a relatively minor modification to the front end. She's also been puttied and sanded, so the next step should be paint, unless anyone else has some suggestions first. These should be the last WIP pics before paint. I'm also including a quick digibash of her planned color scheme. I hope you like it.