The Energon Pub

Sat Apr 14, 2007 11:59 pm

I had an extra Meister sitting around, so I decided to use it for a Bumblebee. I read some of the tutorials in the Bromen forum, and it was actually pretty easy -

Will primer and paint it tomorrow.

I am pleased so far.

Sun Apr 15, 2007 12:38 pm

Now with paint! Haven't drawn the mouth on yet, but it's basically finilshed.

Wed Apr 25, 2007 8:21 pm

Change of plans... Bee's going to have a Subaru body, and will have some Minibot friends...

Thu Apr 26, 2007 2:13 pm

Your pics aren't showing up...

Thu Apr 26, 2007 2:26 pm

yep...

Fri Apr 27, 2007 9:03 pm

The links should be working again.

Sat Apr 28, 2007 12:09 pm

yep they're showing. The ylooks great. Good Job on your first scratchbuilt head

Sat Apr 28, 2007 7:10 pm

Pretty good going!

Sat Apr 28, 2007 7:33 pm

I gotta tell ya the truth man. It needs a lot of work and he sticks out like a sore thumb in that group shot.

How bout a clear close up shot?

Sat Apr 28, 2007 7:44 pm

It does need work. But no-one's first try is gonna be perfect.

Sat Apr 28, 2007 9:08 pm

It's about as good as I can get it - the face is a bit flat compared to the rest of the head, but it still looks like Bumblebee.

I might try sculpting a new head for him when I get some smaller bits for the dremel and can do finer detailing, but I think it's fine for the moment. Keep in mind that I've never ever sculpting anything before this. Given that, I was extatic that the head even looked remotely like what I was trying for

Sun Apr 29, 2007 8:23 am

Wait the other heads weren't sculpted? You still did a good job though. I wouldn't be able to do that

Sun Apr 29, 2007 9:48 am

Err... the other heads are Ricochet and Decepticharge...

Sun May 13, 2007 4:38 pm

Finally got back to this.

Bumblebee robot

Bumblebee car (for the moment)

I'm going to add some black stripes diagonally to the car mode (to make it look more like a bee).

It'll look something like this

Sun May 13, 2007 7:41 pm

Finished!

Car left
Car right
Robot front
Robot back

Sun May 13, 2007 11:08 pm

Nice Work dude!

Mon May 14, 2007 8:46 pm

That's really nice, the black stripes suit him.
Are you going to try redoing the head at some point, after you've had a bit more practice with the sculpting? As good as it is for a first attempt, I can't help thinking that fantastic bodywork deserves better.

Mon May 14, 2007 9:02 pm

At some point, yeah. First attempts at anything are typically shots in the dark, so to speak. When I make another one, I'll have a much better idea of what I'm doing. I've also bought some smaller detailing bits for the dremel, and those will help a lot.

As it stands though, the head is still the part I'm most proud of since it's scratch-made

Mon May 14, 2007 9:48 pm

If I may make a suggestion about making new heads. You might want to consider fabricating them out of plastic instead of sculpting them out of clay. All of the heads I scratch-build are fabricated from styrene tubing and sheet styrene. There is no real sculpting involved.

Mon May 14, 2007 9:56 pm

Good idea, actually. As long as you can get styrene where you are it's definitely worth a try. You could even try combining the two approaches; for instance building up flat areas and a framework with styrene, then padding it out with putty work.

Mon May 14, 2007 10:01 pm

The only thing I use putty for in my TF kitbashing is as a gap filler. I don't use it for fabrication at all. Even my faces are fabricated from styrene, including the mouths, cheeks, and noses. I use colored clear acrylic rods to make all of my optics.

Mon May 14, 2007 10:06 pm

Only problem with that is that styrene is not available anywhere around here. The head that he has now was made with epoxy putty. I made the general shape of BB's head first, and then added more parts as I went (face, forehead, horns, etc.).

Next time, I'll try it a bit differently - starting with a block and whittling with the dremel. If that doesn't work, I can try again a different way :wink:

Mon May 14, 2007 10:10 pm

You don't have any hobby stores that deal with model trains and building dioramas for them and such? You don't have a Hobbytown USA near you? They would certainly have styrene. You may also want to check online sources. Styrene is a must for kitbashing.

Mon May 14, 2007 10:14 pm

Nope. Only hobby-related store is a Hobby Lobby about 45 miles away. I've checked with them, and they don't carry the stuff.

Have any recommended online stores?

Mon May 14, 2007 10:17 pm

Yeah, Check Plastruct's website. They are one of the major manufactureres of styrene parts used in model making. Here is their web asddress: http://plastruct.com/