The Energon Pub

Up in the Master's forum, inspired by his awesome Menasor Alternator combiner, I pondered the idea of a 1:24 scale Bruticus combiner....

Well, i thought i would open up a thread to discuss an idea I have to do a half-scale version of this idea - a 1:48 Bruticus, using real-life military vehicles, sort of 'Alternator' style. If this is successful, i might consider upping the ante and doing the full size - but if not, there will be sufficient material for someone else to attempt it if they wish!

In this conceptual period, i'd like to get some ideas from everyone regarding what vehicles to use - I really want them all to be the same scale, for aesthetic purposes more than anything, but obviously there are going to be problems when it comes to some of the vehicles used in the original transformer combiner - e.g. Swindle is a jeep, and Brawl a tank - there is quite a size variation!

Also, while i liked the original 'Blast-off', i always wondered why a space shuttle was included in a set of strictly military vehicles (unless he was helping launch defense satellites or something, he just seems a bit incongruous...). So, i was wondering about maybe changing him to a military jet of some kind, what are your thoughts?

Ideally, i would like to have a whole set of re-envisioned Combaticons, fully transforming - at the very least, i would like to do my own version of Brawl and Vortex, as they were my two favourites.

Lets throw this one up for discussion eh? I have a few ideas already, but i really want lots of input on this one, so lets do it!

Here are some ideas that i have come across - let me know what you reckon...


A new look Onslaught?



The Russian KA-50 'Hokum' has always been a bit of a favourite of mine - so ugly and mean looking...it might work well for Vortex?



The Russian 'Hind' too....



For the other arm - could Blast-Off become a cool jet? This is the Sukhoi S-37, an awesome design, i think...




Here is a tricky one - Swindle reborn as a Humvee - but will it still be too small.......?



.....compared to the might of Brawl! This is a German Leopard II battle tank.....big 'n' nasty...



Well, i would be interested to hear what folks think. The reason i'm choosing a lot of Russian and German vehicles is because they often had very dark paint schemes, which fit with the look of Bruticus, and satisfy my sometimes pedantic aesthetic values when it comes to scale modelling...also, these vehicles look cool!

This seems real cool! I am looking forward to this

if you do do a full size one i just noticed in one of the other threads that Happywell are planning a 1:18 transforming Humvee .

The Russian Grumble missile System might make a good Onslaught

personally i would change swindle into a apc. that would help with the difference in size.

^^^ That is a good idea - there are 4 and 6 wheeled variants that might do the Swindle character justice, even with regards to his yellow 'desert style' colouring - here is one i like the look of:



Thankyou insecticons forever!

(I just realised that this one actually has EIGHT wheels! Woo!)

skids wrote:

The Russian Grumble missile System might make a good Onslaught

The Grumble missile, as far as i can tell, can be mounted on any number of different platforms - but i did find this truck, which mounts it and looks a lot like the original onslaught....



Thankyou for the input skids!

Awesome idea!

I had a similar idea a while back using Soviet Block weapons also.

I could never find all the model kits to make it work though.

What kind of vehicles did you look at Lobo? I've already found a kit of that 8 wheel APC on ebay, it's got a few days left on it though, but so far pretty cheap...

There is a cheap KA 50 Hokum at my local hobby store i'm gonna grab soon too, and there are heaps of tanks in various forms....

For Onslaught I was thinking of a SCUD missle launcher. But couldn't fit a kit.

For Vortex a HIND. Great minds think alike!

Blast Off as a MiG-29 Fulcrum. I like the Su-37 better.

Brawl a T-62 Main Battle Tank. It's an older tank but the model kits were available.

Swindle I had planned as a BTR-80 Armored Personell Carrier. Really similar to Cyb Defense Red Alert.


Like I said, what stopped me was the lack of model kits. Which would have meant a lot of scratch building.

But also the scale of the kits were off. Matching acurate scales on tanks, jets, helicopter, an other vehicle kits is tricky in itself.

Hey, i like your choices Lobo!

The APC i'm looking at for Swindle in the pic I posted is a BTR-80 - those 8 wheels and pointy nose are cool!

Here is a pic of the good old Soviet T-62 - is it just me, or does he look a lot like the triple changer Blitzwing?!



Here is a shot of that SCUD missile launcher truck - an ugly looking thing, huh? I like!





And here is the MIG 29 Fulcrum






- a nice looking plane, but I really like the swept back wings of the Sukhoi - and while on the subject of the Sukhoi, i made an error before - the plane i posted a pic of is actually the Sukhoi Su- 47! The 37 looks like this:



Silly me....

Also, i came across this website if anyone is interested - its a library of blueprints for tonnes of military vehicles as well as regular ones too AND sci-fi stuff like Star Wars... - could be handy for scratchbuilders, and folks like me who can use them to plan ahead....


http://www.the-blueprints.com/index.php?home/

Thanks heaps for the ideas Lobo - what do the rest of you think?

Beauty of a find!!!! This is exactly what I've been searching for but could only find the odd piece here and there when looking! Thank you very much!!!!!!!

^^^Hehe, I assume you're talking about the blueprint site Hobbyist Prime? Either that, or you are collecting full sized military vehicles for some diabolical purpose.....?

TwV/TV did one a long time ago with Blast Off as the torso, as a jet larger than the others. I checked his DeviantArt gallery and this is all there is.
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/23799691/?qo=47&q=by%3Atwv+in%3Ascraps&qh=sort%3Atime
just in case you want the info without clicking/loading...
Bruticus/Ruination:
Blast Off AV-8B (or is that 813?) Harrier II
Swindle ASV-150
Vortex AH-1W Cobra
Brawl M3A2
Onslaught/Barrage MRLS (we could now add his Energon name too... which... I always forget)

^^^ That's a pretty cool pic - thanks RavageX-9!

I must admit, i didn't realise how much larger 'planes are when you match scales - and im having a bit of difficulty finding all the parts i need in 1/24 scale. I was considering dropping down to a tiny 1/72 scale, but i just bought a 1/24 tank on ebay (not the one i wanted, but it was only AU$11 including postage - that's an absolute steal!!), and will get a 1/24 chopper this Thursday (payday), so maybe not! I'm sure the universe will provide me with all the pieces sooner or later.....

If your having trouble finding an Onslaught one thing there is plenty of in 1:24 is trucks and trailer kits. Maybe you could convert one of those with scratchbuilt military payload.

or theres a few fire engine kits if you want the all in one wheelbase

Captain Crooks wrote:^^^Hehe, I assume you're talking about the blueprint site Hobbyist Prime? Either that, or you are collecting full sized military vehicles for some diabolical purpose.....?

Perhaps I've said to much...........

skids wrote:

If your having trouble finding an Onslaught one thing there is plenty of in 1:24 is trucks and trailer kits. Maybe you could convert one of those with scratchbuilt military payload.

That's a darn good idea skids - i will most likely end up doing just that. I made a mistake with that posting though - i meant to say i bought a 1/48 scale tank, and was having trouble finding 1/48 scale stuff - i havent even BEGUN looking for the 1/24s yet due to the cost....this project is just a half scale version so far....

Still, the truck idea will be good for the future, so thanks!

what about this for Onslaught then

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1-48-Scale-SCUD-B ... otohosting

Hot damn! That's PERFECT skids!! I wonder if i can afford it at this point in time...............?

You know, the scales of everything (especially the jet) don't have to be the same as long as all the vehicles look good together. God knows G1 and scale don't fit into the same sentence, and we still (mostly) love it. I say go with what works and what you can get, I'd hate to see this project scrapped.

No.....NO! It MUST be in scale!!! Heh.... well, actually, i would rather go out of scale than see it scrapped too, but i DO like a challenge.....so we'll see.

The Jet is going to be a tricky one though....i wonder if i can get me a Megatron wormhole or something.....? Just a small one would do!

Maybe if you're still going with Swindle and Brawl as the legs, you could go with Swindle as the APC, as suggested, but maybe pick a smaller tank for Brawl (I've no idea what, though, since I'm no tank expert)?
Brawl's loud, but his thing's about sound and firepower; there's no rule that he has to be big too.

Design some way to get brawl to form a leg and mabye the lower 1/3 of the torso so he won't be an enormous leg but still be in scale in alt mode!

Oddly enough, tanks are big, but not actually THAT big - i'm more concerned about the jet and helicopter, to be honest!

I think the Tank i have arriving in the mail soon is a slightly smaller model, - an American M60A1 - but still at 1/48 scale. I wanted a Leapord II, which is pretty close to what the original Brawl was, but i cant find one, and this tank was heaps cheap, so i'm going to give it a go. I'm about to buy that APC model too, so i can do a comparison straight away. The helicopter purchase has been put back another week or so, till next pay day, since it is in my local shop and there are several - no big hurry.

Still stuck for the jet - I REALLY want the Sukhoi S-47, but cant find a model ANYWHERE! Also, I can only find the Missile trucks i want on international ebay, which means i'll need to set up paypal or something....

Still, 3 pieces out of 5 arent bad at this stage...!