The Energon Pub

If you guys know your TF History, you know that Shockwave came in the USA (and maybe Europe too) as ASTRO MAGNUM before he was officially a Transformers. It was sold as a Radio Shack exclusive. That's why he's nicknamed "ShAckwave".



There is two variants. One with clear transparent plastics, and one that have red.



I prefer the one with red. Much cooler looking. Being tired of Tank Shockwave, why not make him a copter? And movieverse to boot? So, here's DOTM Astro-Magnum in his glorious copter mode:









Appart the repaint, only two major mods were done: The head, and the gun arm. Here's a view of the gun arm, in copter mode, from the back:



And the front. It give the copter an additional laser canon.



The problem with the new head is it's bigger than Skyhammer's. But by rotating the head 180°, the cockpit can close. However, this much at most:



No way I am gonna slice up the arms and/or the beautiful head just so the cockpit close perfectly.

And now, the glorious, glorious ROBOT MODE!







The ones who know his TFs can tell that the gun arm bit come from RTS Perceptor. The canon end could slide inside, but it was not solid and was wobbly. So the feature was sacreficed for solidity.











So, what you guys think? Not as epic as Sparkeater, but a simple, "normal" custom is fun to do from times to times.

Holy shiite!

While I'm usually squeamish when I see people customize figs that are already excellent, you just elevated the Skyhammer mold to absolute, unrivaled coolness.

Love the color-scheme homage to Shackwave.

Thanks! It was lot of fun to do, especially since I discovered this paint:



Tamiya clear red in spray. Man, this thing does a great job and it shoot like a hurricane! Want a nice metalic red? Shoot over a silver coat. Orange cockpit? Not anymore, and it's still transparent!

I've got a bottle of that for airbrushing. It's indispensable if you're coloring tail lights and sensors. Paint some over a coat of chrome silver, and it looks just like the real thing!

BTW, where did you order that? I thought shipping aerosol cans is no longer allowed (thanks a heap, Osama... ) Or did you buy that from a hobby store?

SKYWARPED_128 wrote:I've got a bottle of that for airbrushing. It's indispensable if you're coloring tail lights and sensors. Paint some over a coat of chrome silver, and it looks just like the real thing!

BTW, where did you order that? I thought shipping aerosol cans is no longer allowed (thanks a heap, Osama... ) Or did you buy that from a hobby store?

A small toy store in the big shopping center in town have a modelist section and carry about all Tamiya colors. They mostly have the little pots but they also have a few cans. The stuff is expensive, but well worth the money.

Digging the red X
I think you should find a way to alter or even replace the head if possible; might be just me, but it really sticks out compared to the rest of the design.

-Kanrabat- wrote:

SKYWARPED_128 wrote:I've got a bottle of that for airbrushing. It's indispensable if you're coloring tail lights and sensors. Paint some over a coat of chrome silver, and it looks just like the real thing!

BTW, where did you order that? I thought shipping aerosol cans is no longer allowed (thanks a heap, Osama... ) Or did you buy that from a hobby store?

A small toy store in the big shopping center in town have a modelist section and carry about all Tamiya colors. They mostly have the little pots but they also have a few cans. The stuff is expensive, but well worth the money.

Tamiya paints are some of the best Japanese hobby paints out there, along with Gunze.

BeastProwl wrote:Digging the red X
I think you should find a way to alter or even replace the head if possible; might be just me, but it really sticks out compared to the rest of the design.

How come? That head came from DOTM Shockwave and the base body is DOTM's Syhammer. Sure, Skyhammer is pretty "classic" for a movie figure but I have a hard time figuring what other Shockwave head might do a better job. For me, it's pretty much perfect, despite the split cockpit bit.

Idunno what head, besides maybe generations Whirl but I wouldn't wanna cannibalize that figure if I owned it it just sticks out to me personally, but that's probably just preference. I really like it overall and it's a good idea.

BeastProwl wrote:Idunno what head, besides maybe generations Whirl but I wouldn't wanna cannibalize that figure if I owned it it just sticks out to me personally, but that's probably just preference. I really like it overall and it's a good idea.

Never Gen Whirl. I really don't like that head as Shockwave's. So, you know what I think of the Cloud version.

The only other one that would fin in style and most importantly, size, is the Alternator's. But first, I'll have to find a srcap one and this will be REALLY hard.

-Kanrabat- wrote:

BeastProwl wrote:Idunno what head, besides maybe generations Whirl but I wouldn't wanna cannibalize that figure if I owned it it just sticks out to me personally, but that's probably just preference. I really like it overall and it's a good idea.

Never Gen Whirl. I really don't like that head as Shockwave's. So, you know what I think of the Cloud version.

The only other one that would fin in style and most importantly, size, is the Alternator's. But first, I'll have to find a srcap one and this will be REALLY hard.

Another figure I wouldn't want to cannibalize. Mainly because I think it looks awesome

So Astro-Magnum was basically Diaclone Shockwave?

Nice custom too!

[BW] Rainmaker wrote:So Astro-Magnum was basically Diaclone Shockwave?

Nice custom too!

Yup. Not diaclone, but certainly from the same generation. Transformers History is a convulted one!

That is awesome!!

Thanks! It's not perfect, but it sure was fun to do!
BTW, I'm commissioned with a custom that is of the same type, meaning some head swaps and repaintings. Stay tuned!

Shackwave? SHACKWAVE!? Radiowave, you fools!

Looks awesome. I think the head goes superbly with the body too.

Carnivius_Prime wrote:Looks awesome. I think the head goes superbly with the body too.

Thanks! Not a perfect fit for the vehicle mode, but I too, found it perfect for the robot.



I'm thinking of selling it but what kind of price can I ask for?

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Carnivius_Prime wrote:Looks awesome. I think the head goes superbly with the body too.

Thanks! Not a perfect fit for the vehicle mode, but I too, found it perfect for the robot.



I'm thinking of selling it but what kind of price can I ask for?

Well...

$25 retail for the actual body of the figure
$20 for the premium paint job
$20 for labor
=
$65 (all in American). Fair?

D-Maximus_Primal wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Carnivius_Prime wrote:Looks awesome. I think the head goes superbly with the body too.

Thanks! Not a perfect fit for the vehicle mode, but I too, found it perfect for the robot.



I'm thinking of selling it but what kind of price can I ask for?

Well...

$25 retail for the actual body of the figure
$20 for the premium paint job
$20 for labor
=
$65 (all in American). Fair?

Hmmm... 20$ of labor is not much because it did took a long time to make. Sure, it's mostly just a repaint, but I did had to dissasemble the whole thing. Still, thanks for the guideline. I can see that Shackwave would be worth at least 80$US. Either as a starting Ebay bid or a fixed price elsewhere.

Other original creations that are completely new HUGE bots from scratch like Mother or Sparkeater (Or the one I'm currently building) would be priceless.

-Kanrabat- wrote:Other original creations that are completely new HUGE bots from scratch like Mother or Sparkeater (Or the one I'm currently building) would be priceless.

To be perfectly honest here, no, they wouldn't.

In a sense, they're works of art, therefore you'd have to find the right person who would be interested in such creations.

You also need to establish your work first. Outside of this site you wouldn't be known. Those guys who make hundreds of dollars selling their customs on E-Bay? They're known across the fandom. They also tend to only do existing characters. Original characters tend to not generate much interest because, well ... people just aren't vested in them.
(Between you and me, when it comes to customising, I prefer original characters as it's far more creative.)

Now I know where you're coming from, you've put the time and effort into creating original characters. To do that there's more than just creating a figure, it's writing a back story, developing personalities. When you put so much into it you think they're priceless, trust me, I know.

Am I prick for this post? Probably, but I'd rather someone (who's followed, and been part of the customising side of the fandom for well over a decade) be honest with you rather than someone blowing air up your butt.

Stick with it though and in time, there's no reason why you couldn't make serious money from customising.

Of course, when I say "priceceless", It's a figure of speach. I can't put a price on these things that I would NEVER want to sell. Those are my babies afterall.

Art is very, VERY subjective and unfortunately, it's more often the NAME that is worth the money. Salvador Dali made a demonstration by signing his name on a dirty napkin and selling it for a fortune.

I don't plan to make money out of these. Still, I can do minor works to trade for other things and figures like I did with my Combiner commissions. For me, it's more worthwhile than working for money.