The Energon Pub

Hello, This is the second commission I'm doing for keeblezak. And before anyone guesses it, I've bought a second one for myself to bash into Targetmaster Shockwave!

Actually, I may end up calling mine TM Lazerwave and he will be held by an Energon Shockwave (after I paint him more G1). But in any case, here's what I have so far.



The center gun part is from a Shokini, the side gun parts are from a Heroes of Cybertron Metroplex, the ball joints in the elbows are from a Stikfa, and the sockets for them have been CARVED IN BY ME!




Its the first time I've carved my own sockets for a ball joint and it went pretty well. One is slightly tighter than the other, but both hold a pose well. I did it by first drilling from the two different sides with normal drill bits, then going in with ball burs and widening out the inside. Oh, and I also cut some into the shoulder sockets so he could lift his arms out to the sides more.

I still need to add a post/handle to the inside of one of his legs, and do some clean up work, but he's most of the way there.

That's gorgeous. I'm almost tempted to mod the idea for myself, especially since I already have a semi-junker Terradive with one half of the nose broken off...

I LOVE the fact that you added elbow joints. That was one thing the original figure lacked and it prevented it from being the coolest Mini-con ever. Now, it's the most awesome Target Master parter ever! I don't much care for the name though. Laser is an acronym, and I can't for the life of me figure out what the Z would stand for.

It wouldn't, ever. Some people just don't seem to want to accept it.

Unless Waspinator spells it "Ztimulated"... Maybe we've just uncovered Jim's true identity.

jimsloth can't be waspy. the drill used to make elbows would beat waspinator up

zis iz true. I am no wazp. Or Nazi. I'm just really bad at spelling and always forget how you say "Laser."

You're a Nazi? You must really like Heman then!

Devastator wrote:You're a Nazi? You must really like Heman then!

I'm confused. I knew Heman was gay, but a Nazi too?

Don't worry Jim. I think he's getting mixed up with He-Man Goering...

Actually the most Nazi-esque toyline was definately M.A.S.K.- note the german spelling of 'Kommand'.
Matt Trakker (blond, blue eyed) leads a team comprised of every other nation on earth (The jews are strangely absent in the line up though).
His second in command is Japanese and his arch enemy looks suspisiously like Josef Stalin.

perhaps i'm reading too much into it but theres definately something going on there.

He-man was white with blond hair and blue eyes. Also, he had what looked like an iron cross design on his chest. All that and his strength made him exactly what Hitler wanted in his master race.

Of course, I think it was just a cheesy toyline for kids and none of that really matters.

Also, wow! I'm still impressed by your custom Jim! I hadn't read the full description. You carved your own sockets? That's pretty darn impressive; I don't think I could have done the same.

For my super-poseable 3' Titanium Starscream I used the same shoulder joints and I too cut an area out near each socket to increase poseability. If you're not too concerned about the jet thrusters and tail fins on his shoulders you can cut a slit far enough to give the arms full poseability.

Roadblasters short shorts wrote:Actually the most Nazi-esque toyline was definately M.A.S.K.- note the german spelling of 'Kommand'.
Matt Trakker (blond, blue eyed) leads a team comprised of every other nation on earth (The jews are strangely absent in the line up though).
His second in command is Japanese and his arch enemy looks suspisiously like Josef Stalin.

perhaps i'm reading too much into it but theres definately something going on there.

Surely the fact that his second-in-command is Japanese, along with the other black and Asian characters, kind of goes against the Nazi bit?

Ramrider wrote:

Roadblasters short shorts wrote:Actually the most Nazi-esque toyline was definately M.A.S.K.- note the german spelling of 'Kommand'.
Matt Trakker (blond, blue eyed) leads a team comprised of every other nation on earth (The jews are strangely absent in the line up though).
His second in command is Japanese and his arch enemy looks suspisiously like Josef Stalin.

perhaps i'm reading too much into it but theres definately something going on there.

Surely the fact that his second-in-command is Japanese, along with the other black and Asian characters, kind of goes against the Nazi bit?

The Japanese weren't exaclty enemies of Nazi Germany were they?? And surely bossing around all the nations on Earth is a kind of Master-racy thing to want??

Anyway, enough derailing, Love this 'bash. I'm trying to make some targetmasters/ powermasters for my Alts but this is something else!!

My point was they weren't allies either, and Asians and blacks are pretty much the opposite of what Nazis were for.

But yes, it makes me want to fiddle with my Minicons!

Actually, thinking about it, nw he no longer turns into a jet, there's quite a few kibbley bits he doesn't need anymore. Are you going to get rid of them, or keep them for their aesthetic value? And how do you intend to fit the handle?

Ramrider wrote:...Actually, thinking about it, nw he no longer turns into a jet, there's quite a few kibbley bits he doesn't need anymore. Are you going to get rid of them, or keep them for their aesthetic value? And how do you intend to fit the handle?

WOW, I come back, up load pics, then see the thread. All questions will now be answered. Yes, he is no longer a jet. No he doesn't need the wings. I wanted to double check with keeblezak though and make sure he wanted me to get rid of them.

First some pics of bigger bots aiming him:





Now some bot mode pics:




And to answer your other question, here's the part I made for a handle (I was so proud of myself when I figured this out). At first I was going to have a fold out handle like on Over-run but this is so much better. And if you want, you can use it on other minis. It has a hole in one side for the minicon port, and is solid on the handle side. I made it from Cybertron Swerve's gun (both handles of it).

Sweet. Now I definitely want to do one. No idea who for, though. Good solution for the handle. I s'pose if you wanted you could pin it permanently to the port, too.

if you wanted, yes, I just found that this way different big bots arm kibble doesn't get in the way of holding him as much. Example, first big bot, landquake, he has a post sticking up from his wrist. if the post were stuck in there hard right were I first thought of putting it, he wouldn't be able to hold the little guy with out a post extender (ala G2 prime) or something. This way it can swivel around to find just the right spot.

Oh, no... I actually meant pin it rather than glue it, so it still swivels, but is permanently attached, rather than being removable.

I see.

... I still like it this way more, in case you don't want him to have a handle sometimes, like if you're attaching him standard minicon way to a port on the back of someones forearm, like energon mirage for example. Whatever. Yes, you could pin it in there.

Very nice.
I like the elbows but... I think it looks a little funny with his fists out to the sides like that when he bends them. Why didn't you put them so the fist holes were on the same side as the ball socket opening?

RavageX-9 wrote:Very nice.
I like the elbows but... I think it looks a little funny with his fists out to the sides like that when he bends them. Why didn't you put them so the fist holes were on the same side as the ball socket opening?

well, I would have liked to, but the mold already had vacancies in the side I carved the socket out of. If I had carved them out of the side you're suggesting, the inside wall would have also had a hole in it, and I don't think it would have been structurally sound (it would have broken from the stress of forcing the ball in the joint).

And the hands on this guy are really weird to begin with. He basically has half a hand on each arm, and a spike replacing a few fingers. I thought the way I did it made for some good poses, I really like the power pose/ flex the biceps you get when you bend the arms with the way they are now. I guess Ideally I would have been able to replace the entire hands, given them their own rotation joint so the elbow didn't matter, and add something else to hide them while hes transformed.

I've done my own version of this using my broken Terradive, and it's actually turned out pretty well. I did a few things different to yours, though, Jim. For one thing, I did the elbows the same way Ravage suggested, so they bend in a conventional manner. The integrity seems to be fine, for the record. I made my own ball joints, though, by pinning small round beads to the upper arms, and then using a ball burr as you did to make the sockets.
I also cut out a section at the back of the head and fitted a hinged post. I kind of thought this way it looked more like most of the traditional Targetmasters (like Haywire, for instance), with the legs up on top of the gun. And of course, by doing that, it leaves the Minicon ports clear so he can be mounted that way up too.

I'll post a couple of pics once I've un-died my camera batteries.

Ramrider wrote:I've done my own version of this using my broken Terradive, and it's actually turned out pretty well. I did a few things different to yours, though, Jim. For one thing, I did the elbows the same way Ravage suggested, so they bend in a conventional manner. The integrity seems to be fine, for the record. I made my own ball joints, though, by pinning small round beads to the upper arms, and then using a ball burr as you did to make the sockets.
I also cut out a section at the back of the head and fitted a hinged post. I kind of thought this way it looked more like most of the traditional Targetmasters (like Haywire, for instance), with the legs up on top of the gun. And of course, by doing that, it leaves the Minicon ports clear so he can be mounted that way up too.

I'll post a couple of pics once I've un-died my camera batteries.

Awesome. So do your sockets have holes in the sides of them? And as far as the other placement of the post goes, I modeled mine off of the guy that came with TM Cyclonus. It had the post between the back of the feet.

jimsloth wrote:Awesome. So do your sockets have holes in the sides of them?

I'm not quite sure what you mean. The hole on the inside of the arm is still there, that locks into the peg on the torso. But it's not connected to the socket.

jimsloth wrote:And as far as the other placement of the post goes, I modeled mine off of the guy that came with TM Cyclonus. It had the post between the back of the feet.

Ah, right. I don't have Nightstick, I've only got Haywire, Spoilsport, Blowpipe and Caliburst of the main TMs, and although most of them have different transformations, they all wind up with the legs on top, and I fancied keeping that layout.