The Energon Pub

by **clay** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 4:18 pm

...I'm thinking about getting a model trailer for it.

Two types come to mind:

A six car transporter that can carry Alternators and the more traditional box trailer.

Being able to haul Alternators would be the shiznit, but a massive 53 foot scaled trailer would be nice too.

I would just buy both if they weren't $50 each, so I suppose I'll need to weigh the coolness of each trailer and decide.

Thoughts? I'm leaning towards the car transport, even if it is less iconic.

by **rhinox555** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 4:54 pm

Should be in help wanted section. anyway i'd go with the car-carrier,it just seems to fit movie prime better.

by **Retread** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 6:48 pm

I'd seen that car carrier on e-bay awhile back. I suppose a Magnus repaint would be the obvious suggestion.
I bet he would look pretty cool tho, even in stock paint scheme, loaded up with a trailer of alts.

Actually, had a quick trawl of e-bay and saw this.http://cgi.ebay.ca/2-TRUCK-REEFER-TRAILER-METAL-MODEL-KITS-G-SCALE-1-28_W0QQitemZ220123842472QQihZ012QQcategoryZ2584QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem But its probably too small at 1:28. Might be some other options out there for you at a bit lower price point?

by **clay** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 7:03 pm

Yeah, 1:28 is too small. It's not that it wouldn't look okay with the truck - it's that Alts wouldn't fit into it.

I've measured the toy again and did some calculations for a 1:24 scale Peterbilt, and Optimus would have to be exactly one inch longer in truck mode to be in perfect scale with Alts. As it is, he's 1:26, which is pretty well close enough, all things considered. I doubt Hasbro will make another version of movie Prime that's 8% larger just for finicky sticklers like myself, so I'll take it

As for repainting Prime himself, I think it's a bit early to do that. He's a movie toy, so he'll probably get a G1 redeco, and he's a Prime toy, so he'll probably get a Magnus or Nemesis redeco... he's a long-nose cab, so he could get a G2 deco... the list goes on. I'm content to wait and see before I break out the airbrush for the cab.

by **clay** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 7:53 pm

You know, the more I look at this guy, the more I think he'd make a great Motormaster to go with my Alt. Stunticons.

The toy is designed in such a way that the robot can be mostly gray while still turning into an all-black truck. With a gray car-carrier trailer, he could haul his teammates around and have the complete look.

He needs a new head for that, though. Any thoughts/suggestions?

by **Retread** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 9:59 pm

Shave the horns abit and carve a better mouth than I can draw and I think you already have a pretty good toy head homage there.

by **clay** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 10:37 pm

I think you've just kick-started a project

by **alhaw** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 10:42 pm

Yeah I'm in. My local TRU has them on sale at the moment - might go and buy one tonight. I wasn't going to buy any movie toys but this idea... I like.

by **Retread** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 10:58 pm

No problem. Now I just need to get back to work on my own project pile. :oops:

by **TM skids** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 7:23 am

Nice idea might have to think about it myself . Might wait a bit till Prime comes down in price or a black repaint shows up as he is £39.95 which is what £80 dollars.

by **TM skids** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 1:37 pm

What about a redeco as Blaster or Soundwave with a cargo of Cassete Alts.

by **alhaw** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 4:22 pm

hey I like this idea too... I already have the trailer load of alt tapes for either blaster or soundwave. Now I just don't know which option to go for.

by **clay** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 5:10 pm

I've got it taken apart... the auto-transform gearings are going to be a pain to reassemble, and I had to clip most of the wires out completely.

Aside from the torso, it's not too hard. Started carving the faceplate into a mouth. It's quite hollow, so I filled it in with epoxy and will that dry while the dremel recharges.

Painting won't actually be too hard; reassembling will.

by **clay** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 11:57 am

I'll probably have the thing done before I head back home on Saturday to snap some clearer pictures with the hi-res camera.

by **Retread** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 5:14 pm

That's a good looking head. Can't wait to see the final product.

by **clay** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 6:29 pm

I've finished and reassmebled the left side. This should give you a rough idea of the alt mode:

More later!

by **Nemesis Sturmvogel** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 9:20 pm

Nice Work!

Website · by **Skullgrin140** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 8:12 am

Yes! Bring on the Movie Stunticons

by **clay** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 1:15 am

Thanks for the encouragement guys

Finished painting and putting it back together today:

Still some touch-ups to do: need to paint the wind shield wipers and headlights, mainly. Paint chipping during transformation wasn't bad at all - much less than I expected.

Of course I had to gut all the electronics to take it apart, and I lost a spring when reassembling, but it wasn't as bad as I thought. I may add some smaller details here and there, but that's basically what it's going to look like. High resolution and group pictures tomorrow!

by **rhinox555** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 5:08 am

I see you slightly changed his transformation scheme.

by **TM doomtron** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 6:32 am

nice work

by **TM skids** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 10:08 am

Very nice can't wait to see him with trailer

I see there will be a Night Watch Prime that might make a nice Soundwave

by **Retread** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 11:02 am

First thought was that the alt-mode would have been sweet if you kept the transparent windows. Red sharpie or a transparent paint would have given you a pretty deep shade of purple. But I see what you were going for in the bot mode and it looks good with the matching purple accents.

Dry brushing some silver/gunmetal over the rivets while you do your other touch-ups might be a nice final touch?

by **rhinox555** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 11:09 am

i usually hate Optimus repaints as motormaster,but ths one is cool.

by **clay** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 3:52 pm

rhinox555 wrote:I see you slightly changed his transformation scheme.

No; it transforms the same.

As for the windows, red tinting is out of the question since the rear portion of the door windows are actually part of the torso piece: opaque plastic painted blue. While the real-life accuracy of the BTs/Alts are what draw me to them, I figured for once it would hurt to have a goofy-but-cool detail like purple windows :wink:

Still need to touch up wind-shield wipers and some of the torso pieces (the grey inside shows through where the pieces interect; I need to paint that). Dotting the rivets with some silver or grey could look really neat... I just might do that.

Anyway, even without all those little details, this is still what it's basically going to look like. Some better pictures:

http://tfarchive.com/visions/clay/images/mm1.jpg
http://tfarchive.com/visions/clay/images/mm2.jpg
http://tfarchive.com/visions/clay/images/mm3.jpg
http://tfarchive.com/visions/clay/images/mm4.jpg

Next step: trailer.