The Energon Pub

by **AceBaur Prime** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 4:54 pm

I recently aquired Revoltech Prime and I love that he comes with accessories but one that I thought was missing was his energon axe from the first episode. So I decided that I would scratch one out of styrene. Heres a couple of pics of the work so far. One with part of his arm for size reference. keep in mind this is a WIP so I still have some tidying up to do especially on the shaft

by **DTM** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 5:35 pm

clever, I knew he was missing something

by **Ramrider** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 6:35 pm

Looking good so far; that's a nice bit of scratching you've got going.

Little tip for when you're painting, to give it that glowy feel; You know when you paint with highlights, and you make it lighter toward the edges?
Do it the other way around. In this case, if you do most of it white, then paint the edge areas yellow, and a darker yellow or orange for the extreme edges, it should look the biz.

by **AceBaur Prime** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 4:21 pm

Heres the latest WIP. I glued the axe head to the shaft and shaved part of the shaft down to make it look more like an axe and less like styrene tubing.

Ramrider i like that idea on the paint, I was thinking of using turn signal amber for the center part and then get darker as I move outward.

Also still don't know how I'm going to make that little spiked ball at the base of the axe like on the MP version, anyone have suggestions?

by **DTM** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 7:10 pm

Prime looks purple to me, lol. It looks very cool!

by **Greyryder** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 8:43 pm

What brand of paint's are you using? Model Master turn signal amber is transparent, and needs a light colored base coat. I usually put it down over silver, for a kind of metallic look.

Depending on the look you you want, I'd go with a base of siver or yellow, and paint the whole thing amber. Then, you could start feathering in clear red from the edges. You should be able to vary how dark the red is, if you keep your applications light enough.

Of course, if you're using a different brand, then this whole post probably doesn't matter.

by **AceBaur Prime** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 9:40 pm

Thanks for the comments guys!

I'm using model masters. I had already figured on having to use a base coat of some sort because that amber is so see through. I like the idea of a transparent red though. I have just the color. Stop Light Red is perfect for it cause it has that metallic look to it.

by **Retread** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 9:51 pm

One of the gears out of a technics kit might work for the energon ball, if its not too big. Carving it a bit more spherical and spikey is probably more trouble than its worth tho, worth a look if you have one floating around?

Does look pretty good as is tho, should pop even more once you paint it up

by **AceBaur Prime** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 2:02 pm

Unfortunately I don't have any kinetic stuff so that won't work. good idea though.

I've put the base coat on today, so I'll begin painting with the amber tonight. I painted it with krylon silver. I'll post some pics when I've got the first coat of amber done

by **jimsloth** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 2:19 pm

you should be able to use a plastic bead. I bought a bunch of crappy bead bracelets from a dollar store years ago for just such uses. Can always drill the hole through the middle of it bigger to fit the ax in and if you want little spikes, drill tiny divets and glue in bits of styrene wire (like the rivets done on the HOS bumblebee head). Then just file the wire to points (or, on second thought, do that before you glue them in place).

by **gawd6sic6** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 8:49 pm

or get super glue gel. and put the tip on the ball. squeez a bit . pull back. and that will make little spkes.

by **TM Devastator** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 5:18 pm

Retread wrote:

Dang! That looks a lot like Metroplex's transformation cog from Five Faces of Darkness.

by **AceBaur Prime** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 5:55 pm

A bead is a great idea, I'll have to hit up the dollar store for one. Heres the axe after its first coat of amber. I don't think I even need a second one (although I know I still have to paint the bottom of the shaft) It came out better than I expected. I'm still planning on highlighting it with stop light metallic red as Greyryder suggested

Anyway on with the pics!

by **jimsloth** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 6:19 pm

that is looking really sweet. Love how you can see the direction (either of your paint strokes or sanding marks) on the blade since they fit the form and look like they belong there.

One thing that annoys me about Revoltech Prime (nothing you did), why is his neck so fat? It looks bigger than his head. Maybe if it was just a solid black joint I could ignore it, but the silver makes you stare right at it.

by **tentagil** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 6:39 pm

The brush strokes make it look even more like its made of flowing energy. Looks really nice.

by **AceBaur Prime** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 8:36 am

Thanks for the comments guys!

I actually used a combo of both to match the patterns on the MP axe. First I sanded it with some high grit sand paper and then when I painted the amber I tried to match the sanded pattern to give it that flowing look. I'll be drybrushing the red on in the same manner and hopefully it will come out as well as the amber

by **Ramrider** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 7:14 pm

Nice work! Clearcoat over silver always gives a nice glowy sort of a feel, and you've really captured it well here. It looks especially good in that second pic.

jimsloth wrote:One thing that annoys me about Revoltech Prime (nothing you did), why is his neck so fat? It looks bigger than his head. Maybe if it was just a solid black joint I could ignore it, but the silver makes you stare right at it.

I know what you mean. Although I think it's probably because it's clearly based heavily on Pat Lee's *puttup* design...

by **AceBaur Prime** » Tue May 01, 2007 11:41 am

Ok so I've finished the red trim on the axe but I haven't had time to take some pics yet, my wife and I have been really busy lately trying to find a house to buy! so I'll post some either tonight or tomorrow morning!