The Energon Pub

As I said in my original Hardshell Redux thread, I've finally got hold of a couple of Classics Bumblebees, and one of these is getting a mod-job into one of my favourite saboteurs.

The paintjob is following the basic scheme of the original, mostly consisting of a purple-black hull with black interior. The hull's mostly done, with just the doors and the right foot to finish. I'm also tinting the windows with Tamiya Smoke.


He's already received a new face sculpt, but I'm trying to decide what to do with the arms and seats. I'm tempted to go with either a dark grey or a dark steel colour. Any other suggestions?


I've also added light piping to the eyes. After painting the eyes red, I gouged out a section from the back of the head and glued the two head-halves together. I filled the new hole with hot glue, and trimmed it once it had set. Then I painted it red.


Here's how the eyes look with backlighting.


Also (partially inspired by DLP) I'm turning the wavecrusher into a triple-changer. It's still going to be able to serve as a flight pack, but I also want it to transform into a gun (to help him in those tricky open combat situations that he hates so much). I opened the front as DLP did, but realised that if I added a post to the back of the jetski, it wouldn't fit into the back as the flight pack. So I've gouged out a big chunk of plastic and I'm constructing a folding post.


Here's how the front and ost look folded out (the post's Blu-Tac'd in at the mo, but will be hinged with a wire pin).


And the right way up in gun mode. There will be a second gun barrel, but the existing one slightly obstructs the towing hook in vehicle form. Once I've worked out a way around that, I'll do the same for the other barrel.


And here's Hardshell with the gun so far.


C&C welcome, as ever.

I like what you did with the Waverider alot. And the face scuplt and paint is looking good.

I"d say go with a dark steel or gunmetal grey on the seats and arms. Give him a little color other then the black. Maybe make the Waverider a dark blue with the trailer in the same dark gunmetal grey. That way its darkened a bit for the espionage feel but still looks somewhat realistic, plus adds some extra color to the mix.

I like your thinking. I must admit, I'm definitely leaning toward the steel colour. Rather than blue for the jetski, though, I'm thinking of maybe a dark purple, similar to Hardshell but a little less grey. I may finish it off with a pearl glaze to give that attractive metallic shimmer...

Thanks for the thoughts.

Nice job so far. One suggestion though. Instead of painting the actual headlight covers silver, paint the area behind them silver and leave them clear.

Actually, I might just do that. But aren't the headlights glued in? Mine certainly looks like they are.

Ahh he looks like a mini Fallen

Looking good

He he... interesting thought. I s'pose if Unicron could be downgraded to a tank...

Anywho... Good call on the headlights, Tramp - the silver wells work a treat. The headlights were glued in, but only at the end of the shaft, so you just need to hack out the blob of glue and the lights come out easily. Makes a big difference too.

The Wavecrusher's coming along nicely, too. I've sorted out the handle properly now - no Blu-Tac. It's pinned in place with a length of wire, and I've modded the handle so it's nice and tight, too. It's made from a 4.8mm diameter tube, so it sat loose in the hand. But with a coat of black paint and a couple of applications of brush-on superglue, it's hard as nails and nicely snug in his hand.

I'll see how it's going tomorrow and maybe shove some shots up then.

Ramrider wrote:Actually, I might just do that. But aren't the headlights glued in? Mine certainly looks like they are.

Not really. I was able to tap mine out from the inside real easy.

Nearly finished; just a few tweaks to go.

lookin' good.. question though? How do you keep the paint on the hood/shinguards from scratching when you transform it?

Blimey, I thought this thread had had its day!

Thanks, KM.
It's actually not that much of an issue. If you look closely at where the bonnet joins with the frame in car mode, and slowly lift it up, you'll see that the front edge of the bonnet actually goes down a little, so the exposed face of the bonnet pretty much butts up flush with the inside rim of the frame, with hardly any rubbing going on.
To be on the safe side, though, best bet is to just shave a tiny amount off that rim - not even half a millimetre - just enough to sort of compensate for the extra height you're putting on the bonnet with your paintjob.

I'm not sure if that was any help. It's kind of hard to put into words, and I'm not sure pictures would help much either, unless they were actually of me doing it.
If it doesn't help at all, I'll try and come up with another way of explaining it.

i liked the Yellow Doors was like a bad boy racer in Essex lol! nice work on the end piece