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*I actually started this project in July of 2008 and just now got back to it--this is from the original thread posted at TFW and Sector70*

Long time, no custom........so once I got my extra Universe Prowl in the mail yesterday and once I saw how it transformed and looked, I decided to try the beats of the streets........JAZZ!

Keep in mind, this is a WIP, so what you see is about half done. I modded the front fender last night (cut it off just above the front wheels and glued it onto the chest/front of the car), removed the Prowl head, and slapped the Jazz head on it (used a bit of super glue to allow the head to fit better, while still being able to turn). I'm working on the paint still and after that, some labels (I'm hoping to mod the Generation 1 labels I have from my reissue Jazz to work on this in the next day or two). I'm not worried about fixing the neck or making it shorter (it doesn't look that bad to me and it's not worth the trouble). I also gotta thank my bud, WheelJack at Sector70 for supplying me with the Jazz head for this (he casted it from the Botcon '08 Jazz head--thanks again bro!)

Enjoy and keep an eye out for the final version (hopefully in the next few days or so).

*This was WIP update #2 from July of 2008*

Here are some more WIP pics on Jazz. I've removed the legs and swapped them at the hip to allow his lower legs (between the knee and ankle) to look more "G1". I also added the small styrene strips to the front of the car/chest. I painted some of the inside of his lower legs black to be more like the original G1 Jazz. Up next, I'll finish filling in the roof (where I removed the siren from Prowl), finish up painting, and add the labels (if these look ok--if not, I'll paint 'em myself). I also removed the unused shoulder launcher and painted the other, so that it can be flipped out or hidden. Hope you enjoy the few small tweaks.

*This is updated as of yesterday--these were taken between July 24th and 25th of this year, 2009)*

Well, it's been almost a year since I've done anything to this sucker--it was sitting in a box for MONTHS, before ever pulling it out and thinking things over with the shin guard/hinge thing. I've been keeping tabs over at Sector70 on Wheel_Jack's Jazz re-shell and it got me motivated to finish this sucker up. I started night before last and finally worked out a nice hinge system for the shins based on a test that Radicons member "spoonman" did using Energon Downshift's leg/shin hinges (so credit to him for trying this out and giving me the idea to go with--thanks, man!). I never saw if he finished his with the new shin guards, but from the looks of it, he had the hinge a little too far in and the second hinge would have overlapped the other and it wouldn't transform correctly (at least that's how it looked from the image). I fixed that by shaving down just enough of the hinges to allow them to function correctly and still allow transformation. Now I'm trying to work on getting some sort of feet or small notch to work with the transformation and hinges.

If you look back at the other pictures in this thread, you'll see what I had previously done--well since then, as of about 2 days ago, I decided to rip the old styrene strips off and completely rebuild the front with styrene to resemble the G1 styled front end. I'm not done with it yet and I plan to drill out some larger headlights (the holes in the front) since they look kinda small. I plan to fill the gaps with Procreate putty and sand it smooth a bit. After that, the paint. I've also changed the transformation of the doors a bit--just moved them up and folded them behing the back/head. I had already cut the pieces for the car's front end a year ago and I've now glued them in place and painted over the original lights (to help me get a better feel for Jazz without staring at the clear plastic. The feet you see in the pics probably won't be staying (not enough clearance room--I took the screw out of the middle of each lower leg and cut out the plastic piece it was screwed into--this allows for the legs to fold in a little deeper and the shin guards/hinge to fold flush in alt mode. I'll toss some alt mode pics up soon once I finish a bit more here and let some glue dry.

Enjoy!

DANG! thats the best classics jazz i have ever seen! nice work! is it finished or not?

Doubledealer25 wrote:DANG! thats the best classics jazz i have ever seen! nice work! is it finished or not?

Thanks for the compliment, man. I definitely don't consider it "the best" or anything, but I'm glad you like it. I will say that I think you'd change that if you saw the one my bud Wheeljack-S70 is working on. He's doing a complete reshell with a 1/32 model kit (trust me, it's insane and looks awesome). As for mine here, it's not completely done yet, still a few more mods with some styrene and putty, I need to figure out the foot issue now that I have the hinges attached, and then the paint.

I just got the Smokescreen version of this mold, I really like the little things you've done to the legs.

Nightscreech wrote:I just got the Smokescreen version of this mold, I really like the little things you've done to the legs.

Thanks, man! If you don't mind me asking, how good/bad is your Smokescreen mold? I've had one for a while and I just cracked it open last night to find a few flaws (the head mechanism won't sit flush in alt or bot mode, the ball joints on the doors seem loose, and the ball joints on the legs seem extremely tight and I actually cracked the leg while simply moving it forward). I still like the figure though--I've just never experienced this many small issues on ONE Transformer at once. I think I may use it for a custom and maybe get another down the road.

this is a new level of awesome for jazz
(Micheal bay must never find out)

Superb job!

hXcpunk23 wrote:

Nightscreech wrote:I just got the Smokescreen version of this mold, I really like the little things you've done to the legs.

Thanks, man! If you don't mind me asking, how good/bad is your Smokescreen mold? I've had one for a while and I just cracked it open last night to find a few flaws (the head mechanism won't sit flush in alt or bot mode, the ball joints on the doors seem loose, and the ball joints on the legs seem extremely tight and I actually cracked the leg while simply moving it forward). I still like the figure though--I've just never experienced this many small issues on ONE Transformer at once. I think I may use it for a custom and maybe get another down the road.

I cant say i've run into these issues, the only thing that stands out are the side panels when going to alt mode, they pop a bit to easily, but i think thats mainly due to the poor design in that particular area. head sits flush on mine and the joints are all pretty balanced. Im thinking of turning mine into a custom myself, purely because of the paint scheme it has... i'm not into the cartoony look, but thats just me.

This Jazz is just so...cool.

DUDE! Thats awesome! Could you make a video review of it? Explaining all the custom work in detail?

That's probably the best Jazz repaint I've seen! I finished a TF Animated Jazz upgrade today (I added horns, black hands, and I painted the head black) and it doesn't even come close to this one! (Not that mine isn't good, but being my first, it's not detailed)