The Energon Pub

Here's a scratchbuilt Springer I'm currently working on. Made mainly from a 1:48 scale Apache Longbow AH-64D model kit.

As you can see, I still have a ways to go. Trying for the same kind of look as my Powerglide kitbash found here: http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/showthread.php?t=108799&highlight=powerglide+kitbash but this time, Springer will be tranformable. If I can get it right, anyhow.

Thanks for taking a look and for any comments you might like to share.

I hope to update my WIP soon.

Take care.

Wait, that was your Powerglide? Well done mate. Freaking well done. Never knew that was your work.

Springer is going to look awesome, I have a lot of faith in your skill. Funny thing was, I saw the thread title and was expecting a digital design for a movie Springer

Mulla™ wrote:Wait, that was your Powerglide? Well done mate. Freaking well done. Never knew that was your work.

Yep. That's me. Thanks.

timshinn73 wrote:

Mulla™ wrote:Wait, that was your Powerglide? Well done mate. Freaking well done. Never knew that was your work.

Yep. That's me. Thanks.

Seriously, the base you made for that ruled.

How long do you reckon Springer will take? And any intention of retaining his triple-changing ability, or is this going to be a standard transformation?

Mulla™ wrote:How long do you reckon Springer will take? And any intention of retaining his triple-changing ability, or is this going to be a standard transformation?

Not sure how long. Depends on free time, of course. I do hope to go the full triplechanger route.

timshinn73 wrote:

Mulla™ wrote:How long do you reckon Springer will take? And any intention of retaining his triple-changing ability, or is this going to be a standard transformation?

Not sure how long. Depends on free time, of course. I do hope to go the full triplechanger route.

If you manage full triple-changing ability, I will be in awe. Then I'll pay you to make more

Really looking forward to seeing it finished! Ur powerglide is a beaut

Love the powerglide, loving this Springer concept, loving your Movie Transformers.

So just do it and make us happy.

That powerglide's feet are Lego Bionicle aren't they?
Ore are they from Slizer?

Dead Metal wrote:That powerglide's feet are Lego Bionicle aren't they?

Modified Bionicle feet, yes.

How on earth does one take a model kit, and then turn it into a transformer?!?!

I mean, how do you make all the joints and figure out the complexities of the transformation?

Im curious since i wanna get into kitbashing myself, and seeing people do this just baffles my mind.

Springer looks very promising. BUT DUDE? Powerglide. I didn't really care for the guy in the cartoon and the toy was a couple notches above wheelie but you did an outstanding job taking a comparatively lame character and turn him into a seriously bad ass fella.
so yeah, I like it.

I have two questions. well...yeah two.
ONE, how do these guys fit in with your other TFs...in terms of scale?
TWO, how much of it is custom made parts? as in molding.
and TWO point FIVE, what kind of molding stuff do you use? (a product website would great)
THREE, yeah I know, THREE, what other dudes have you done?

Thanks
Keep it going

Sonray wrote:How on earth does one take a model kit, and then turn it into a transformer?!?!

I mean, how do you make all the joints and figure out the complexities of the transformation?

Im curious since i wanna get into kitbashing myself, and seeing people do this just baffles my mind.

For me, lots of research and preplanning helps. With this bash, I'm hoping the end result will retain some of the aspects of the original toy, the cartoon character with a dose of reality (hence the real world alt mode). As for the joints and such, I'm using parts from many different sources. Ban Dai stuff (Patlabor & Gundam kits) as well as scratchbuilding some of the joints and hindges myself.

It takes a little longer than just a repaint or reshell (difficult in their own right), but I find it challenging. Lots of trial and error.

Wheel_Jack wrote:I have two questions. well...yeah two.
ONE, how do these guys fit in with your other TFs...in terms of scale?
TWO, how much of it is custom made parts? as in molding.
and TWO point FIVE, what kind of molding stuff do you use? (a product website would great)
THREE, yeah I know, THREE, what other dudes have you done?

Thanks
Keep it going

1: Not sure what you mean with "fit in". The Powerglide is a 1:72 scale A-10 Warthog. He stands about 9.5 inches tall. In reality , that would be nearly 60 feet tall, dwarfing many of his fellow Autobots. Springer is a 1:48 scale Apache helicopter. He will also stand about 9.5 inches tall, but in reality would be about 40 feet tall.

2: I try to use as much of the actual model as possible. I try not to cheat too much. If you look through the thread on Powerglide, I go into what parts came from what source. The original stuff is mostly sheet styrene. I used green stuff to fill gaps.

3: I have several guys in the works. I hope to do Bumblebee, Beachcomber, Cosmos, Kup, Trailbreaker, Hoist, Ironhide, Prowl, Superion, Bluestreak, The Seekers, Blitzwing (that's a reall challenge), Huffer, Gears, Windcharger, Jazz, Wheeljack, Cliffjumper, Cyclonus, Soundwave, G2 Megatron and of course Prime. You know, the classics. These are all in very early stages (planning mainly). Most of the Autobots will be 1:32 or 1:24 scale. The Decepticons will be either 1:72 or 1:48 scale.

So sheet styrine, is this an easy to sculpt material and what sorta places do you buy it from.

Do you build your own joints out of that stuff too?

So if i were to buy a few damaged gundam or power ranger or other bot like toys off a flea market/bootsale id be able to use pieces from those like joints and body parts to make my own autobot or decepticon?

How do you get the pieces from the model to stick onto the frame of the robot?

And again, how on earth do you get round the complexities of the transformation.

Taking an alternator, buying a model kit and changing the type of car the alternator is i understand, but i still dont understand how you can make a model from scratch like this.

Sorry for all the questions but i am keen to get into this sorta stuff myself, but i dont have alot of money so i cant afford to make many mistakes.

Sonray wrote:So sheet styrine, is this an easy to sculpt material and what sorta places do you buy it from.

Do you build your own joints out of that stuff too?

So if i were to buy a few damaged gundam or power ranger or other bot like toys off a flea market/bootsale id be able to use pieces from those like joints and body parts to make my own autobot or decepticon?

How do you get the pieces from the model to stick onto the frame of the robot?

And again, how on earth do you get round the complexities of the transformation.

Taking an alternator, buying a model kit and changing the type of car the alternator is i understand, but i still dont understand how you can make a model from scratch like this.

Sorry for all the questions but i am keen to get into this sorta stuff myself, but i dont have alot of money so i cant afford to make many mistakes.

Sheet styrene can be found at hobby shops. http://www.hobbylinc.com/prods/re.htm

I do build some of my own joints, but many are from Gundam, Stikfas, or Bionicle toys. You can use whatever works.

I usually use superglue.

As for the rest of your questions, many of the answers might be found here: http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/showthread.php?t=87627 Huge resource of "how-to" solutions.

Ah, very ncie, thanks for the link too.

Hey thanks for taking the time to answer my questions.

oh, and I meant how they fit in with say the classic line or alternators etc. but you answered it.

cheers

Wheel_Jack wrote:Hey thanks for taking the time to answer my questions.

No problem. Thanks for your interest.

So far I've managed to avoid spending money on sheet styrene thanks to the supply of DVD and CD section dividers that I accumulated during my time as an Suncoast employee. Want lots of cheap plastic? Make friends at your local video store!

Tom_Servo wrote:Want lots of cheap plastic? Make friends at your local video store!

Good to know.