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Sodan-1 wrote:I am surprised that you used an Arms Micron figure and a First Edition figure though. I read what you said about an RiD's 'Bee's legs not having the right joints, but still that's a commitment to use the more expensive versions.

I already completely painted the RiD version of Knockout and he looks great, so the AM version was really a 'spare'. The only reason I got it was to see if the stickers etc. that it included would be useful for making my painted Hasbro/PRiD version look better. They weren't .

Regarding the FE Bee, it's the one from the 2-pack that came with the recolored Starscream (which is why I got the set) and Silas and one of his soldiers. I actually didn't even remove the Bee from the packaging until I decided to do this custom. Originally I'd planned on tossing him in the trash (I have Takara's FE Bee, and he's perfect to me), but once I found out about Smokescreen I figured why not try to make a custom using some of his bits. It's worked out pretty well so far, especially once I was able to get the arms on there (it took some complicated engineering to make that happen, Bee's arms do not have ball joints).

That sounds fair, lol. It really is an impressive custom. It's times like these it's a shame Transformers don't come in more of a kit form: choose an endo skeleton, choose your arms, legs, feet, hands, head, then choose your vehicle bodywork and add that to the figure. You know, so you could create a cracking figure like yours but still have it transform. But hey, they couldn't even do that in FoC so what chance do we have in the real world?

Have you got any photos or a thread for your painted Knock Out, please?

I'm really excited to see the finished product. Are you in the midst of painting it now or is there still more modifications to be made?

Sodan-1 wrote:Have you got any photos or a thread for your painted Knock Out, please?

I had some photos up from early in the process. I never gave him his own thread and never followed up with finished pics. I might do it, he came out pretty good IMO (especially considering I did everything with paint, no Reprolabels). I'll only put up pics of vehicle mode if I do though, as I deliberately didn't paint the bot mode. He's one of the few who I display in vehicle mode. His car mode is just too sexy .

MasterSoundBlaster wrote:I'm really excited to see the finished product. Are you in the midst of painting it now or is there still more modifications to be made?

Not yet, no. I'm going to wait until I have my AM Smokescreen from Takara in-hand. I want to see if I can use any of the stickers before I start applying paint and I'm probably going to do a head-swap with that one as well. I'm also going to need more reference images of Smokescreen from the show so I can make sure to get it right.

I am attempting the same mods, and would like to see more pics of the alt-mode, and the arm attachment. I am using the RID legs as I think they are a better fit, but the FE arms are a lot more show-accurate.

Well, work has begun. I got my AM Smokescreen from BBTS and used the head along with the stickers and they definitely help. I've begun applying the paint, though it's obviously not finished yet. I'm starting with a base coat of flat white to cover up the red and yellow from Bumblebee and Knockout and once it's done, I plan to apply a light coat of silver paint over the white. I also plan to fill in some of the blue and red details on his bot mode as depicted in the show once all that's done as well as painting the knees black.

Looking good there.

Just a personal suggestion, but you can actually push out the headlights from under the chest parts for an easier paint job. Also, this allows you to get some silver paint under the headlights for a more realistic look.

Looking forward to seeing the finished product.

Oh god I'm jealous now...

This is looking really good! Keep up the good work!

OK, I think I'm finally satisfied with him. I ended up doing some more paint work and also got creative with some of the leftover stickers from the AM version of Smokescreen. I decided that the white looks better than putting a layer of silver over it and I also used the AM Smokescreen headlight stickers for the chest and I think they came out pretty good. His chest is deliberately mistransformed to make him look less like Knockout and give him a wider chest, similar to the show. His head/neck is also elevated a bit for the same reasons:





The next stop for this guy is my TF: Prime shelf !

Oh dear god it's amazing... I really wish I had my own right now.

Are you going to make him a weapon?

MasterSoundBlaster wrote:Oh dear god it's amazing... I really wish I had my own right now.

Are you going to make him a weapon?

I dunno, I hadn't really thought about it. Got any images of what his weapon looks like on the show?

I can't find any google images of him using his guns, although he's wielded two different relics in the show: the Star Saber and that wristwatch thing that allows him to go through walls and stuff.

BTW, nice job with the paint. Very smooth coat considering it's hand-brushed.

SKYWARPED_128 wrote:I can't find any google images of him using his guns, although he's wielded two different relics in the show: the Star Saber and that wristwatch thing that allows him to go through walls and stuff.

OK. If you can find any info/description/pics of his built-in weapon (assuming his arm(s) turn(s) into one, please let me know and I'll look into creating one or two for him.

SKYWARPED_128 wrote:BTW, nice job with the paint. Very smooth coat considering it's hand-brushed.

Thanks ! Yeah, my brush work has been getting a lot better (practice makes perfect I guess). I've never sprayed anything (don't have airbrush or spray paint, just Testors acrylics and some brushes).

xyl360 wrote:

SKYWARPED_128 wrote:I can't find any google images of him using his guns, although he's wielded two different relics in the show: the Star Saber and that wristwatch thing that allows him to go through walls and stuff.

OK. If you can find any info/description/pics of his built-in weapons (assuming his arm(s) turn(s) into one, please let me know and I'll look into creating one or two for him.

Well, I searched tfwiki for any info on his weapons, but nada.

At this point, I'm almost sure he never used any handheld or built-in guns in the show. Only way to know for certain is to rewatch the episodes he appeared in.

xyl360 wrote:Thanks ! Yeah, my brush work has been getting a lot better (practice makes perfect I guess). I've never sprayed anything (don't have airbrush or spray paint, just Testors acrylics and some brushes).

I envy you. Where I'm at, the only paints available to me are Tamiya acrylics. They are formulated specifically to be used on airbrushes. While it's possible to paint with them, it takes a lot of experimenting, usage of certain types of thinners, voodoo magic and skill to put on a smooth coat.

Doing a smooth coat with these acrylics can be tough, especially on some textures. I order all of my paints online (Testors website usually) and I have to do a lot of mixing to make custom colors for some (though for Smokescreen, thankfully all I really needed were stock flat white and one of my reds for some details).

For now I'm working on a Deluxe sized season 1 Beast Wars Airazor and I had to get really creative for her, both with mixing paints for the right shades as well as the brushwork to attempt to simulate her feather patterns and textures. Once she's done, I'll be creating a thread to show her off. She's looking really good (IMO at least ) so far.

Airazor? I can't wait to see that! One of my fave characters in BW--strange thing is, I'm not even sure why she is. Maybe I just like her beautiful hawk mode. You think I'm shallow, don't you?

SKYWARPED_128 wrote:Airazor? I can't wait to see that! One of my fave characters in BW--strange thing is, I'm not even sure why she is. Maybe I just like her beautiful hawk mode. You think I'm shallow, don't you?

Hehe, well she isn't going to have a hawk mode (bot mold only). She's a kitbash similar to what I did to create a deluxe size Terrorsaur (there's pics of that one in an old thread around here somewhere if you want to check him out ).

xyl360 wrote:

SKYWARPED_128 wrote:Airazor? I can't wait to see that! One of my fave characters in BW--strange thing is, I'm not even sure why she is. Maybe I just like her beautiful hawk mode. You think I'm shallow, don't you?

Hehe, well she isn't going to have a hawk mode (bot mold only). She's a kitbash similar to what I did to create a deluxe size Terrorsaur (there's pics of that one in an old thread around here somewhere if you want to check him out ).

Well, I actually bought the DMK kits and Revoltech OP and Bee figs, so non-transforming TF's are not an issue for me.

That Terrorsaur custom must have been quite a while ago. I tried searching for it, but after five minutes of scanning through the names, I had to give up. Either way, if your Smokescreen is anything to go by, I'm sure Airazor will be an awesome custom.

I'm almost done with her, just putting the finishing touches on now. I'll probably post pics of her tomorrow or the next day if I have time (work etc.).

My Deluxe Terrorsaur can be found here. He was one of my very first customs and it shows (kinda rough build work and paint). I might got back and touch him up at some point, but flawed as he is, he still looks awesome standing next to Waspinator and the rest of the season 1 Beast Wars Predacons so I may just keep him as-is.

xyl360 wrote:I'm almost done with her, just putting the finishing touches on now. I'll probably post pics of her tomorrow or the next day if I have time (work etc.).

Wow, you work fast.

My Deluxe Terrorsaur can be found here. He was one of my very first customs and it shows (kinda rough build work and paint). I might got back and touch him up at some point, but flawed as he is, he still looks awesome standing next to Waspinator and the rest of the season 1 Beast Wars Predacons so I may just keep him as-is.

LOL! You should see the first model kit I ever painted. An assault on the eyeballs is all I can say.

Your Terrorsaur looks pretty good for a first custom; the red looks smooth enough. It's impossible to paint a perfectly straight or circular line/shape by hand; masking and spraying with either an airbrush or spray can is the only way to go.

That Smokescreen looks miles better than the official toy we got...Does he still transform?

guarayakha wrote:That Smokescreen looks miles better than the official toy we got...Does he still transform?

Unfortunately no . He can't transform into a vehicle. Combining Bumblebees limbs and door wings with Knockout's torso just doesn't seem to make it possible to transform him into a car, at least not unless Has/Tak decides to pull of some transformation cheats if/when they make an official one that looks like he does on the show.

As it is, at least with the parts I used, he's in permanent bot mode, but he does look awesome on the shelf with my other TF: Prime Autobots and that's good enough for me. Besides, I've still got the entire vehicle/body from the AM version (all I used were the stickers and the head) so if I really wanted him in vehicle mode I could paint that up and put it beside him (though I doubt I will as I prefer most of the cast simply be present in bot mode).