The Energon Pub

[tentagil]

Well a mod in progress at least, have some detailing left to do, but I thought people might like to see it. Let me know what you think.




He looks alot more classic to me like this.

[Ramrider]

Hmm... he looks a lot more 'toon to me...

Nice job, though.

And I appear to see a Hot Rod and Crosswise in vertical positions there... Menasor in progress, perhaps..?

[tentagil]

Yeah, I mean the toy is already a great classic version of the original toy. But I wanted a Skyfire. I had a scrap G1 Jetfire to offer up the top wings/fins, and a SWTF Palpatine that had a perfect cockpit to offer. Styrene, putty, and the mounting block from the classics figure and off I went.

As for the two vertical bots. Ideas more the anything on those two at the moment. Though I've started modding for a Wildride head. I've decided that my Menasor won't be a scramble city style though. I could probably pull it off, but Dragstrip never looked good as a leg anyways, and I think I can do a better job without adding in that extra complexity.

[Ramrider]

I know what you mean - I'm sticking with two arm-bots and two leg-bots myself. As far as I was concerned, Drag Strip was always an arm and Wildrider was a leg - although Dead End and Breakdown seemed to swap depending on your sources...
I think I'm looking at Drag Strip and Breakdown from Brakedowns (one significantly more heavily modified), and Wildrider and Dead End from Clocker-types.

Anyway... a Palpatine cockpit? I actually wouldn't have guessed. Clever. Do you intend to keep the FAST pack as a detachable shuttle then?

[tentagil]

Yeah, the pack will work as a detachable shuttle, but it doesn't have to come off for transformation, it stays on, wings fold in and the cockpit stands up behind his head like the toon version did. I'm putting a few more coats of red on it (the bottom wasn't painted when I took to pics) and then I'll start adding some detailing. When i get him done, hopefully today or tomorrow, I'll post some pics in bot mode.

And I have the classics fast packs as well, I bought an extra Jetfire so I could get the mounting block that attached the fast packs to his back. Figured I might as well use that so I wouldn't have to dick around with trying to make a strong enough clip from scratch.

[tentagil]

Well he's complete now. Added a few little detail and accent colors to the pack and he's ready to blast some Decepticons while studying the stars.

Critiques are of course welcome.

First some jetmode pics.



Tried to get a jet mode that was fairly close to the "Skyfire" look as seen in the toon. The pack uses the mounting block from Classics Jetfire as the base, then I mounted the cockpit of a SWTF Emperor Palpatine shuttle to the front, then added the tail wing assembly from a junker G1 Jetfire on top. Lots of putty, styrene, and epoxy filled gaps and evened things out. Then I mounted the booster parts from the Classic Jetfire fast packs to the back of the shuttle. Several layers of red Krylon Fusion and some detailing with acrylic silver and black finished him up.

You'll also that I moved his hand gun. I drilled a hole in the stomach area thats covered in bot mode and shaved down the sides of the gun to fit, then mounted it underneath the jet.

Now the bot mode.


The pack stays on for transformation, and thanks to some more silver detailing its got that strip on the underbelly of the shuttle pack. That Skyfire had. Its about the same weight as the fast pack that came with him so he's not back heavy or anything.

[Dough-bot]

excellent
and finally someone has found a use for the SWTF
you should try and edge line him as well as i fhink that would bring out the greatness of Skyfire

[plowking]

Looks good.

Job well done!

[Autobot Shade 0066]

Looks bad ass my friend.

[Pun-3X]

I like it. Really brings the character out.

[Skullgrin140]

Well done! I love the new Backpack

[DTM]

Awesome!

[jimsloth]

Love it. Only suggestion, tint the new windshield blue like the chest one. Might be difficult given the gray it already has to it, but I think if you added a tint paint to the outside of it, it would still work.

I'd been tempted to buy that SW shuttle for KB purposes, but had no direct use in mind. Glad to see you came up with a beaut.

[tentagil]

I'm actually tempted to try dyeing it. Never attempted that with clear plastic though so not sure what effect it might have.

And the cockpit of the shuttle comes off very easily without damaging the rest of the bot. So I've got a good base left from the SWTF shuttle to build something else at some point.

[Ramrider]

I don't see why dyeing the clear plastic would be a problem, although I've found transparent stuff tends to be quite hard, and doesn't take dye that well; you'd probably have to leave it in for ages to have any real effect.
I remember when I dyed my Clocker black to make Blackjack, the transparent blue wheels just turned a little bit darker.

[jimsloth]

I don't see why dyeing the clear plastic would be a problem, although I've found transparent stuff tends to be quite hard, and doesn't take dye that well; you'd probably have to leave it in for ages to have any real effect.
I remember when I dyed my Clocker black to make Blackjack, the transparent blue wheels just turned a little bit darker.

were you using a solvent? and what was the heat like?

[Tramp]

I’d say your best bet, Tentagil, is to use a colored clear-coat rather than attempting to dye the clear plastic.

[Ramrider]

were you using a solvent? and what was the heat like?

I had it on a low simmer (sort of bubbling a bit); it was on a gas hob so I don't know what the actual temperature would have been. And as usual, I added a small amount of acetone-based nail varnish remover, which usually helps the plastic take the dye. It had a pretty significant effect on most of the fig, but like I said, the transparent stuff tends to be a bit harder, so it doesn't take dye very well.

[tentagil]

I think its a matter of the formulation for the clear plastics. I may try to dye it, but most likely I'll end up having to try a clear paint like Tramp suggested. Now if i could jsut find a hobby shop in my area that actually carried styrene and a decent paint selection.