The Energon Pub

Mon Apr 03, 2006 11:39 pm

Wow Jaf! You've really done an amazing job of this guy!
He's not the same one that's on ebay for anyone wondering why I started another post

http://www.tfmaster.com/gallery_kb0163.php

Tue Apr 04, 2006 12:29 am

*in French accent* Verrrrrrrrry nice

Tue Apr 04, 2006 7:47 am

I do not think this ironhide lives up to the MP name. Most of your previous MP's have been that, but this seems to lack something. The boxiness of the cab called for some tricky transformation to either hide its size or change its shape. The face has not captured the character and the parts used on the limbs do not look like either the toy or cartoon versions of iron hide.

Of course your work is neat and I think it looks terrific. I just do not think its MP.

Tue Apr 04, 2006 12:19 pm

That's pretty cool!

I like the VW camper versions of Ratchet and Ironhide as well.

Having said that, I've to agree with ORD and Asphalt that it doesn't feel like a 'true' MP.

For inspiration on arm design and other parts, it may be worthwhile to have a good look at EJ Su's redesigns of Ratchet and Ironhide in the recent IDW comic.

Tue Apr 04, 2006 12:52 pm

i still like it, i cant imagine there being too much you could do with the shell since it is a blocky van,
although i think if the arms and legs could be made thicker and longer the body would look more proportioned and show accurate

Tue Apr 04, 2006 12:57 pm

now thats a masterpice

Tue Apr 04, 2006 2:50 pm

I would say the only problem with it are the arms. They are too small over-all, not just too thin, but also too short. The face is a little off too. Give him bigger arms, and a new face, and he?d be perfect.

Wed Apr 05, 2006 4:38 am

Nice! Great use of the Gundam feet

Wed Apr 05, 2006 7:43 am

STILL CONFUSED! why are the windows orange? shouldn't they either be clear or tinted blue? in the show that's the color they always used, White and blue. I like where this is going alot and am glad that you are working out all issues before using the sunny vannette kit. Personally I hate EJSue's work and while your use of gundam parts does partially excuse his work, I think I like the boxyness of the lower legs and feet on the version you put on ebay slightly more than the version in the gallery (but really, I like both customs, and like where they are headed a lot). Can't wait for the final version. I'm betting the smaller van will fix a lot of the proportion issues everyone is having and IT will truely be a masterpiece. I think everyone is forgetting that these are just your protos.

Thu Apr 06, 2006 5:37 pm

I'm betting the smaller van will fix a lot of the proportion issues everyone is having and IT will truely be a masterpiece. I think everyone is forgetting that these are just your protos.

I could not have said things better myself Jimsloth. Thank you! Keep in mind that these are more experimantal than usual. This is because no such figure has ever existed that attempts to be toon acurate to the bot and toy accurate to the vehicle. In addition to those criteria, I opted to NOT have the van break off into a separate vehicle or whatever that thing was that the G1 toy bot rode around on (I hate that transformation

).

As for the window tint colors, you're right, blue is toon accurate. I wanted to see what an amber color looked like. I tied it into the yellow stripe (which never came out right - LOL) and felt like blue may not look very good with the red/yellow color scheme.

The Vanette's should be much closer to the cartoon bot. I also won't use unmodified Gundam parts (like the arms) for subsequent versions. Things will be bulkier but will also fold up tighter. They'll have to if I expect to fit everything into the smaller shells of the Vanette's.

Anyway, your crits and comments are always a great help. Thanks everybody.

Sat Apr 08, 2006 9:27 am

As for Gundam parts, methinks the parts from the NT-01 "Alex" full armor type would be more than bulky enough to fit Ironhide:

http://mahq.net/mecha/gundam/0080/rx-78nt-1.htm

Sat Apr 08, 2006 9:43 am

Believe it or not, I do have that kit (I went on a bit of a gundam binge a few months back...oops :oops:

) And the arms for that are standard Gundam MG arms...the same as GP-01 which are too short unfortunately. I had to use Zaku II kits becaue their arms are about 1/4" longer and that worked fairly well. They are still not ideal though. I love the look of that kit and was very bummed out when I discovered that most gundam kits use the same base parts. It's the kibble that's different usually. Thanks for the suggestion though!

Sat Apr 08, 2006 10:27 am

Believe it or not, I do have that kit (I went on a bit of a gundam binge a few months back...oops ) And the arms for that are standard Gundam MG arms...the same as GP-01 which are too short unfortunately. I had to use Zaku II kits becaue their arms are about 1/4" longer and that worked fairly well. They are still not ideal though. I love the look of that kit and was very bummed out when I discovered that most gundam kits use the same base parts. It's the kibble that's different usually. Thanks for the suggestion though!

The funny thing about MG Gundam kits is that they're all very similar to ones from their time period, but each year there's a new design philosophy or style... Try the MG Nu Gundam, Re-GZ or Zeta Plus arms, they're somewhat longer. The thing that's been stopping me from toying with MG Gundam parts for Alt-scale bashes is the fact that my preferred style of frame is a bit too small... The G Gundam and other AU kits with the internal ABS frames.

Btw, did you happen to snag them all from Amazon's big stock sell-off, JAF? All those kits are pushing at least 7 years old now, I think. You might find parts from more recent kits far more useable if not as cheap...

Sat Apr 08, 2006 11:51 am

Btw, did you happen to snag them all from Amazon's big stock sell-off, JAF? All those kits are pushing at least 7 years old now, I think. You might find parts from more recent kits far more useable if not as cheap...

Yeah, that's where I got a bunch of them. I will look into some more recent kits (if they're not too costly). Thanks for the tip GlauG!