The Energon Pub

This is my first posting of a WIP. I've got lots in the planning stage, but this one jumped to the front of the line. Mostly because I got a chance to try casting resin. Still have a little left to do but this what I've got so far.

Bumblebee + Dremel = Ouch!



I prefer waxing over sculpting. Just easier for me to work with.



Demolition and paint applications.



And the dynamic duo...



Calssics Goldbug...





I still need to recast the head. This one has a few air bubbles in the back. Just wanted to get an idea as to how he was looking. Goldbug also needs some paint retouching, and the clear coat to finish him off.

Please let me know what you think.

Matt

Not bad. You might want to think about casting the new head in a clear resin, then paint everything but the optics and the back if the head to create light-piping.

Looking good. I like it.

Besides, I always consider my first attempt a prototype. It shows you the best way to go about your plan of action to know what you are doing ahead of time.

I'd buy a head.

TFM

i like it but the optics definitely need to be different color

I like it. I've never seen anybody re-do the throttlebots.

Very nice job. That's a pretty good headpiece you've managed to create.

cool, but the gold seems like pukey colour to me. prob my monitor. no offense or anything

I love how this is coming! Looking good so far

He was on my list of bots to do aswell. So are you going to paint the head blue? Also, a suggestion, when transforming him, don't lift the part with the trailer hitch. Pushing it down the whole way like that locks the wheels in place, but with it undone he has more arm articulation. Also he has more of the hood behind the head look the Throttlebot had.

Damn, that's sweet. Yeah, his gold was sort of a pea soup yellow, sorta like Swindle, I guess... :> but a bit shiney. maybe the clear-coat will help. whatever. I like it.

Awesome job! just awesome!!!!! What color/brand of gold is that? it's perfect

I love this. I've got a few plans for Bumblebee reworks as well, when I can get 'em, and Goldbug is one of 'em. This is looking top notch. Exactly how did you build up the face? I'm not familiar with waxing.

Ramrider wrote:I love this. I've got a few plans for Bumblebee reworks as well, when I can get 'em, and Goldbug is one of 'em. This is looking top notch. Exactly how did you build up the face? I'm not familiar with waxing.

Yay, another jewelry technique carried over. You can use hard waxes to make a prototype then make rubber molds off them and cast resin (or cast them into plaster, burn them out and pour in molten metal). To work with the wax you can heat with a candle or wax pen (which is pretty much a lower heat soldering iron) to scoop up harder waxes and while molten add them to your plastic. In a couple seconds they'll re-harden and you can file or sand them. You can also use the heat on the tip of a metal pick (or any dental tool) and carve or scoop into the wax with that.

Wax is what jewelers predominantly use to make mass produced jewelry or most one of a kind custom rings. The process of casting them into metal by melting them out of a plaster mold is often called the "Lost Wax" process.

Well, its mostly been said already, but I really like it too. The shade of gold is good, I think it's just missing the metallic sparkle. The copper on the arms and legs is really nice. What brand and colour is that? Looks like a good choice for something I have planned.
Ditto on the head, its a great sculpt, just needs a touch of another colour.

Ramrider wrote:I love this. I've got a few plans for Bumblebee reworks as well, when I can get 'em, and Goldbug is one of 'em. This is looking top notch. Exactly how did you build up the face? I'm not familiar with waxing.

I don't know exactly how the jewelers do it, but this is how I was taught in dental school. Basically I use a small alcohol burner, fill it with methyl-hydrate (I could not find the ethanol I was supposed to use for it, this seems to work just as good).

I don't know the specific type of wax (I get it from my lab tech). Basically you place a heat carrier into the flame, dip it in the wax to get a melted drop. Pass that through the flame again and drop where needed. You basically carve back what you do not want. When you are done you can use a pair of nylons to polish it up.

For Goldbug's head I used the dremel to get the basic shape I wanted. Drilled a few holes in the head to act as retention for the wax and went to town.

I agree with all who said the optics need work. I was just impatient and threw a couple coats of paint on one of my reject heads. My original plan was to go with a more cartoon/toy look with the blue head. Although I kind of like the gold head. Just a little more tweaking (hopefully later this week).

As for the type of paint, I found it in the craft section at walmart. The brand is FolkArt (Plaid).

The gold was created with a 50/50 mixture of 660 Metallic Pure Gold and 917 Yellow Ochre. The picture does kinda look a little pea-soupish, but it is more gold in person. I didn't want a high metallic shine with the gold, hence the mixture. The copper is the same brand, 664 Metallic Copper. It took a ton of thin coats to get it looking good, but it works pretty good.

Thanks for all the comments. Hope to have some more to show later in the week.

jourdo2k3 wrote:I don't know exactly how the jewelers do it, but this is how I was taught in dental school. Basically I use a small alcohol burner, fill it with methyl-hydrate (I could not find the ethanol I was supposed to use for it, this seems to work just as good).

I don't know the specific type of wax (I get it from my lab tech). Basically you place a heat carrier into the flame, dip it in the wax to get a melted drop. Pass that through the flame again and drop where needed. You basically carve back what you do not want. When you are done you can use a pair of nylons to polish it up.
.

Same technique. I use denatured alcohol in my burner (any burnable alcohol works), or if I'm lazy a candle, or I know plenty of other jewelers who use wax pens (and swear by them). Really there is a ton of overlap between our industries. Like I said, the metal scoops and picks I use are dental tools, and I'm actually getting a centrifical caster from a dentist who is a friend of the family.

jimsloth wrote:

jourdo2k3 wrote:I don't know exactly how the jewelers do it, but this is how I was taught in dental school. Basically I use a small alcohol burner, fill it with methyl-hydrate (I could not find the ethanol I was supposed to use for it, this seems to work just as good).

I don't know the specific type of wax (I get it from my lab tech). Basically you place a heat carrier into the flame, dip it in the wax to get a melted drop. Pass that through the flame again and drop where needed. You basically carve back what you do not want. When you are done you can use a pair of nylons to polish it up.
.

Same technique. I use denatured alcohol in my burner (any burnable alcohol works), or if I'm lazy a candle, or I know plenty of other jewelers who use wax pens (and swear by them). Really there is a ton of overlap between our industries. Like I said, the metal scoops and picks I use are dental tools, and I'm actually getting a centrifical caster from a dentist who is a friend of the family.

I took sculpture and liked working with wax the best. is this wax you work with much harder? I'm wondering why it's necessary to use fire. we used just hot tap water and submerged the wax in it to heat it up.

Any chance of reproing that head and selling it?

tentagil wrote:Any chance of reproing that head and selling it?

Once I perfect my casting technique, I don't mind making it available to those who want it.

make that two for the repro head!
pm me when you have a spare to buy!


Wowza looks great!

RavageX-9 wrote:I took sculpture and liked working with wax the best. is this wax you work with much harder? I'm wondering why it's necessary to use fire. we used just hot tap water and submerged the wax in it to heat it up.

Um, you can use that soft type of wax for burning out and casting into metal, but it is too soft to use if you are going to be making rubber molds directly from it, which is how I usually move to resin. The carvable wax (aka file-a-wax) we are talking about is not pliable at all. The consistency is like having a dried piece of clay you were carving at with files and sanding. Its melting point is usually around 240? F / 116? C. When you get a drop of this wax melty and it hits your skin... well.. usually instant blister, lots of pain.

P.S. I'd also like a repro.

Love that Goldbug. Hasbro should've done that.


Maybe I'll buy a Bumblebee afterall, so I can do this myself.

Nice head!

Personally, I would've gone for a more orangy champange metallic colour and a little more colour variety to break it up a bit.

I guess I don't need to say wow since everybody else already has. Nice one. Can't wait to see this in the gallery.

T.V. wrote:Nice head!

Personally, I would've gone for a more orangy champange metallic colour and a little more colour variety to break it up a bit.

I have to disagree. The original Goldbug was pretty much all gold except for his wheels and his head, and in the original Marvel TF comics, even his head was gold. There was no orange, nor copper, nor black, nor any other color. He was all gold except for his blue and silver head (or just all gold in the comics). Jourdo actually added much more color than he should have in order to break up the colors.