The Energon Pub

Here are some previews of my first ever kitbash.








He seems to be coming along nicely after LOTS of trial and error. Now im just trying to make everything fit together nicer when he is transformed by sculpting the shapes i need with model filler, just like you would fill in a dent or a weld on a car with body filler.

I have been doing lots of sanding and filing down (hence all the dust on him) but hopefully i can finally start putting it all back together again to make sure it all looks ok and then finally take it all to pieces once again for the final paint job.

I have also made a small modification to his head which isnt pictured but i basically just shaved off his goatee.

I will update this thread with new pictures as soon as i finish it.

I must say i have alot of respect for those full-time kitbashers out there after this. As this is my first ever project i have had no idea what to do and i have had to basically make everything up as i went along for the most part and it has been freaking hard and frustrating work. How these guys manage to do this on a regular basis is beyond me.

But i guess the more you practice the easier it gets eh?

I was thinking of making a little gun for him, something that he may have used in the G1 cartoon, could somebody post a pic of any weapons he may have used so i can make one?

Thanks and let me know what you think!

http://transformers.wikia.com/wiki/Bumblebee_(G1)

I couldn't find anything helpful from the cartoon doing a Google Image Search, but I did see a couple of guns that the figure'd carried on the above link... Hope it helps...

Looking really stellar! Is that a 1/32 scale model? I might have to try that!
In the IDW books Bumblebee's front tires flip down and turn into his heels. It would be cool if you could make that work.
Good luck. I'm rooting for you on this one.

Tom_Servo wrote:Looking really stellar! Is that a 1/32 scale model? I might have to try that!
In the IDW books Bumblebee's front tires flip down and turn into his heels. It would be cool if you could make that work.
Good luck. I'm rooting for you on this one.

Nah thats way beyond my current skill level. His wheels will stay in the same place as the classics figure, cept they wont be able to rotate as theres not enough room to allow rotation inside those wheel arches and i dont know how to make a pin that lets wheels rotate either.

And yes it is a 1/32 scale model which i had a hell of a time finding let me tell you. So good luck in finding one too.

Thanks for the vote of confidence too!

Methusalen wrote:http://transformers.wikia.com/wiki/Bumblebee_(G1)

I couldn't find anything helpful from the cartoon doing a Google Image Search, but I did see a couple of guns that the figure'd carried on the above link... Hope it helps...

Ah teletraan, i forgot about them. Thanks for reminding me! That'll come in handy for the gun.

Pretty freakin sweet dude-well done

Looking good, keep it up.

Geekee1 wrote:Looking good, keep it up.

I am trying, but its slow and tedious work applying that model filler, waiting for it to dry and then sanding/sculpting it all down so everything looks like it fits well.

GrimSqueaker wrote:Pretty freakin sweet dude-well done

Thanks, glad you like it considering it looks like garbage right now. I hope you are as impressed with the end result.

Sonray wrote:

Geekee1 wrote:Looking good, keep it up.

I am trying, but its slow and tedious work applying that model filler, waiting for it to dry and then sanding/sculpting it all down so everything looks like it fits well.

Waiting for stuff to dry is the hardest part. But nobody likes fingerprints!

Geekee1 wrote:

Sonray wrote:

Geekee1 wrote:Looking good, keep it up.

I am trying, but its slow and tedious work applying that model filler, waiting for it to dry and then sanding/sculpting it all down so everything looks like it fits well.

Waiting for stuff to dry is the hardest part. But nobody likes fingerprints!

Fingerprints are the spawn of satan! lol.

I just gotta make sure all surfaces are smooth otherwise the paint will show up the slightest inconsistency (sp?) in the bodywork.

I guess those skills on restoring that real VW beetle i learnt are coming in handy for this model of a VW, ironic huh.

Hows the coloring coming along btw?

Looking good sonray. wow, first kitbash? you're not wasting anytime getting right into the tough stuff.

Wow, your realy pulling it off!
Damn now I'm realy ashamed that I didn't kontinu my kitbash, mherem I must find that head I did.

Now that looks so cool, and it's not finished jet. Nice to see something more G1 made of this.
Hope nothing goes rong during the last steps!

Wheel_Jack wrote:Looking good sonray. wow, first kitbash? you're not wasting anytime getting right into the tough stuff.

Hehe thanks.

The way i see it, if you start out with the hard stuff first not knowing any different, then things can only get easier in the future.

Dead Metal wrote:Wow, your realy pulling it off!
Damn now I'm realy ashamed that I didn't kontinu my kitbash, mherem I must find that head I did.

Now that looks so cool, and it's not finished jet. Nice to see something more G1 made of this.
Hope nothing goes rong during the last steps!

It shouldnt do since i dont have much left to do. Just a bit more sanding down and fabrication for the feet and hood then a bit of fine tuning on some parts and its all ready for paint.

Paint is the easy part for me lol. What was your kitbash of? Id like to see it.

Sonray wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:Wow, your realy pulling it off!
Damn now I'm realy ashamed that I didn't kontinu my kitbash, mherem I must find that head I did.

Now that looks so cool, and it's not finished jet. Nice to see something more G1 made of this.
Hope nothing goes rong during the last steps!

It shouldnt do since i dont have much left to do. Just a bit more sanding down and fabrication for the feet and hood then a bit of fine tuning on some parts and its all ready for paint.

Paint is the easy part for me lol. What was your kitbash of? Id like to see it.

My kitbash was of my caracter Dead Metal.
Untill now only the head exists, and varius parts I wanted to use.
Well I'll be reviving the projekt soon.

Dead Metal wrote:

Sonray wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:Wow, your realy pulling it off!
Damn now I'm realy ashamed that I didn't kontinu my kitbash, mherem I must find that head I did.

Now that looks so cool, and it's not finished jet. Nice to see something more G1 made of this.
Hope nothing goes rong during the last steps!

It shouldnt do since i dont have much left to do. Just a bit more sanding down and fabrication for the feet and hood then a bit of fine tuning on some parts and its all ready for paint.

Paint is the easy part for me lol. What was your kitbash of? Id like to see it.

My kitbash was of my caracter Dead Metal.
Untill now only the head exists, and varius parts I wanted to use.
Well I'll be reviving the projekt soon.

What does he look like again? If he bares any resemblance to any of the toys you could save yourself alot of time and hassle by just buying a toy and modding it to look like the character you want, like i have with BB.

Here he is.



As I designt hin I was looking at Armada Megatron.

Dead Metal wrote:Here he is.



As I designt hin I was looking at Armada Megatron.

Then buying an Armada Megs would be the toy to buy, then mod it to look like DM.

Sonray wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:Here he is.



As I designt hin I was looking at Armada Megatron.

Then buying an Armada Megs would be the toy to buy, then mod it to look like DM.

I've got one, but am not willing to butcher him, maybe I'll find a busted one on ebay ore a fleemarket.

Just buy a new cheap one off ebay, or a used one. Looking around on flea markets is a waste of time. People are too smart in this day and age to sell things like tf's on flea markets (which will now be referred to as "boot sales" as that what we call them in the UK). I would know as ive been looking for them on boot sales for ages, thinking id find loads but all in vein. Ebay has ruined any chances we have of finding cheap tf's on boot sales.

That looks awesome dude, wish I was a good artist or maker or whatever.

Bumbled wrote:That looks awesome dude, wish I was a good artist or maker or whatever.

Thankyou, it looks even better now but i wont post any more pics till ive finished it.

As for being good at this stuff...you just gotta be creative and smart (the latter doesnt apply to me since im a dumbass) and be patient.

If youve ever played with lego or built a model air plane before that helps too.

You havnt got to be a good artist to do this stuff, but it helps to be good with your hands.

Looking really good so far. As for allowing the wheels to rotate, or if you want to give him the wheel to heel thing, all you really need is a twirling hinge piece. I've actually got a hole pack of something that would work that I got at a shop specializing in model trains a few years ago.

If you just wanted the wheels to rotate first you need clearance, which would involve lowering them slightly do to the low arch on the fender you have there. Then slide a smooth pin through the wheel so it can spin freely on it, and mount the end of the pin to the car. Its actually incredibly easy.

As for having it flip down to the heel, wheel the placement is already right to get it there, all you'd need is a hinge on the pin holding to the car so that it can fold down. Little harder to pull of but still fairly easy to accomplish.

Of course I say this with a few years of kitbashing experience behind me, when I first started I don't think I could have done something looking as good as this guy is looking so far.

Sonray wrote:Just buy a new cheap one off ebay, or a used one. Looking around on flea markets is a waste of time. People are too smart in this day and age to sell things like tf's on flea markets (which will now be referred to as "boot sales" as that what we call them in the UK). I would know as ive been looking for them on boot sales for ages, thinking id find loads but all in vein. Ebay has ruined any chances we have of finding cheap tf's on boot sales.

Oh Bootsales, that's wy I wasn't entirely hapy with fleemarket (damn, I must stop beeing to lazy to think of the english names, and stop translating German into english like that)
Well that's not completly true!
Last summer I was visiting my grany in Bedford and found MISB Beast Wars for nothing! I got myself a MISB Optimal Optimus for a fiver! And a few smal ones for two quid each!