The Energon Pub

Hey guys! Now take it easy on me, this is my first attempt at repainting anything. I'm no artist but it turned better than I expected. I also apologize for the crappily-lit pictures. The flash made it seem way too orange.

This started out as Recon Barricade, but I got the original version and decided to see what I could do. It's not intended to be any specific character, just wanted a new color scheme. I was thinking it could make an awesome fire car with the right decals, but I'm not to concerned with that at present.





Let me know what you guys think. What could be done better, any recommendations, anything like that. Constructive criticism welcome. Now I'm trying to figure out what to do next.

if you have a photo program just try turning up the brightness so we can see him better. but it looks pretty good. i was actually thinking about doing a barricade but don't know what to do with the light bar since the roof is not flat underneath. I like the color though, is he supposed to be a fire car. Thats some lucky fire chief

Pretty cool. I like it

That looks great
the painting is spot on keep it up...
just better light and a good backdrop for pictures or a photoshop program to lighten it up some

Clusterprime

dude it looks awesome ill put on a pic of my custom wreckage keep up the good work and keep us updated

Thanks for the kind words everybody! It wasn't intended to be a fire car, but with the light bar on top the options are kind of limited and I didn't really want to do it in white. I'll try to get some better pictures of my next one. I need a good camera, the only one I've got is on my phone, I had to borrow one to get these shots and didn't have enough time with it to get well-lit shots.

The next one I have to finish is mini-Scorponok. He's coming along pretty well so far, but I wish I was half as talented as some of the members here.

Nicely done. Looks very good.

jezones wrote:i was actually thinking about doing a barricade but don't know what to do with the light bar since the roof is not flat underneath.

Once you unscrew the lightbar, you've got two raised sections, and two holes. Just fill the holes with putty, any sort of sculpting material, or even just some liquid glue. Once that dries, just sand the whole thing until it is flat.

Awesome repaint, being red, your Barricade can now go faster!

Some G1 Red Alert Decals would look really good on him!

Awesome work for a first attempt! What kind of paint did you use?

Sonray wrote:Awesome work for a first attempt! What kind of paint did you use?

Thanks a lot! It took me quite a while, but it's much better than I anticipated it being.

I used Testors acrylics.

I actually really like that color scheme!!

froggydogg69 wrote:
I used Testors acrylics.

Be careful with it then, as acrylics chip off if you so much as look at them.

Sonray wrote:

froggydogg69 wrote:
I used Testors acrylics.

Be careful with it then, as acrylics chip off if you so much as look at them.

I've actually had no problems with chipping at all and there's not even a clear coat sealing it. I've transformed it numerous times as well.

I'm thinking about picking up some enamels to just try out. I've seen some amazing work with both types and might as well give them a shot at some point down the road.

The acrylics suck on smaller parts where other moving parts might rub against. Since you have painted the larger areas of the car body there wont be any rubbing involved, apart from the friction caused by you handling it which shouldnt be a problem for any paint.

Its in the joints and sections that clip together where the problem lies, and you left those areas un-touched as well didnt you?

I know whenever i use acrylics (Tamiya brand so not the cheap crap) if i so much as breathe wrongly they chip off. And i can paint a whole real car so i know what im doing.

Enamels are much better when it comes to strength, but they arent very practical as they take a long time to cure and can remain sticky for a while which can lead to problems with finger prints and stuff. But they do give a great finish, and can be quite durable. I still prefer using car paints and spray cans though. They are the best in my eyes. The hobby model paints just all suck in comparison for transformers.

Model paints are great on non-moving models like they are designed for, but transformers arent as inanimate as models and so they need different paint.

Sonray wrote:The acrylics suck on smaller parts where other moving parts might rub against. Since you have painted the larger areas of the car body there wont be any rubbing involved, apart from the friction caused by you handling it which shouldnt be a problem for any paint.

Its in the joints and sections that clip together where the problem lies, and you left those areas un-touched as well didnt you?

I painted most everything. The only parts left untouched are the blue chrome parts, the black parts under the hood, and the head. Pretty much everything else was painted. I also only painted the grill section on the underside of Frenzy's feet. The rest I left blue because it's mostly unseen.

I've just now noticed the slightest bit of rubbing in the ball joints attaching the feet to the legs, but this is only really noticeable if you detach the feet, I can barely see it in robot mode and I have to be looking for it.

I do want to give enamels a try. I saw Frenzy-Rumble's leader megs painted with them and it looks amazing. Just like real metal. But the acrylics aren't as bad as I've heard and I'm happy with the results I got. Especially considering the fact that I can't paint for the life of me.

They work for some people, and they dont for others. Like me....i wouldnt touch acrylics with a ten foot pole after what they did to my baby.

Im having to salvage this poor guy from the bin thanks to acrylics:


I will give credit where its due though, because before i transformed him into alt mode the paint looked awesome:


But then i tried to transform him into alt mode and they started chipping off all over the place.

So i decided to shot-blast the red acrylic crap off and just start again and re-paint it black like it was originally and keep him for myself because i was planning to sell the red version but then it got all effed up and thanks to the course nature of shot-blasting im not happy with selling off a figure with the sort of paint job he is going to end up with.

Its not due to my lack of skill, as i have plenty of that but its my own personal standards. The shot-blasting has left many rough areas that i have sort of fixed with sanding and smoothing down but if i painted it red again they would stick out because of the color and i wouldnt be happy with trying to sell something of that quality.

Im a perfectionist ya see.

So now you know why i loathe acrylics. Nope its car paint and spray can paint for me from now on. I'll only use acrylics and enamels for small detailing and highlighting or dry brushing.

Sonray, you could make that one sweet battle damaged Ironhide. Try it.
You know you want to.
Don't deny me.
Anyhow, great barricade, but I really wanna see someone turn it into a regular (or GT) Mustang, a real FORD.

BTW, love the red, looks much "faster" if you dig me.

Sherade wrote:Sonray, you could make that one sweet battle damaged Ironhide. Try it.
You know you want to.
Don't deny me.
Anyhow, great barricade, but I really wanna see someone turn it into a regular (or GT) Mustang, a real FORD.

BTW, love the red, looks much "faster" if you dig me.

I know..im very tempted but i will still have to respray the whole thing with a new coat of black due to the remains of some red paint and the rough shot-blasted finish. That would mean roughing up the freshly applied black coat of paint and im not too fond of doing that.

I think i'll stay with the clean look for this one. I'll see once the new coat of black dries then i'll decide if i wanna rough the old git up a bit or not.

I got a couple more shots taken. With a better backdrop and a little better light.