The Energon Pub

The customisation of Sentinel Prime took weeks to complete, partly because life got in the way but mainly because I thinned some of the paints down so much that the drying time was extended from six hours to twenty. Some of the modifications also took quite a bit of time.

The fixes:

Trim the hole in Sentinel's left hand so he can hold the shield without it flopping around.
Add a ball joint neck. Unfortunately, due to lack of space behind the head he still couldn't look up as the back of his (rather long) head hits part of the truck's roof. To remedy this I removed a 5mm slice from the middle of his head to enable him to look up. His jaw also needed stiffening so it didn't flop open.
Build a spike for his right wrist. I don't know what it's for but he's supposed to have one.
Add a hose to his chest. Again, I don't know its purpose.
Build his hand-held acid rust cannon.
Put gashes and dents in his shield.
Chip the sword blades.

In Dark Of The Moon his firetruck mode is pristine and shiny but his robot mode has chipped paint. I decided to replicate this but also decided to add a little road dirt around the wheel arches. The lettering/numbering is hand painted. He was supposed to have Autobot symbols on the doors but the molding made it very difficult to fit them on and besides, he doesn't deserve them. In the concept art he has numbers on both legs but in the film they seem to only appear on the right.

In the film his shield is perfect, mirror-shiny and never sustains any damage but I wanted it to look well used and battle-worn so added gashes, holes and scorch marks.


























Much better head mobility.






In the film his shield is perfect, mirror-shiny and never sustains any damage but I wanted it to look well used and battle-worn so added gashes, holes and scorch marks.







There are plenty more pictures here so please take a look.

quite impressive!

not very high on my list of toys for DOTM - i just dont like the mould for some reason - but your modifications actually make it more interesting

my god i need to get him! sentiel is the last DOTM toy i need to get then i can take a break for a bit. but the gun is really cool! i might have to make one myself ^_^ awesome work my friend.

Baneblade wrote:quite impressive!

not very high on my list of toys for DOTM - i just dont like the mould for some reason - but your modifications actually make it more interesting

Impressive work, indeed.

However, I must recommend the figure itself. One of the better molds. I'm not kidding.

ROTF Leader Class Optimus is my favorite TF toy, hands down. DOTM Sentinel Prime comes in at a very close second. I'm not kidding.

Out of all of the TF series and toylines, those two are my # 1 and 2. No joke.

Wow, another impressive job. Love the weathering on the double-blade and the shield, as well as the custom acid rust canon.

One question, though. Did you intentionally give the alt mode paint job a more rugged, uneven finish? I'm asking because you did a perfectly glossy metallic job on BB Bumblebee, so it can't be the result of inexperienced brushing.

That aside, I love the added articulation you gave Sentinel's head. It allows the fig to "emote" so much better in poses.

BTW, what did you use to kitbash the acid rust canon from, anyways?

A work of art, what a beauty.

SKYWARPED_128 wrote:Did you intentionally give the alt mode paint job a more rugged, uneven finish? I'm asking because you did a perfectly glossy metallic job on BB Bumblebee, so it can't be the result of inexperienced brushing.

There were several factors causing that:

Some of the surfaces are really uneven,
The black part on the front under the windshield is a rough surface,
I think I thinned the paint down too much,
The varnish went off just before I varnished the alt mode and didn't dry very nicely.

SKYWARPED_128 wrote:BTW, what did you use to kitbash the acid rust canon from, anyways?

A gundam gun that someone gave me. I removed a part from underneath and stuck it on top. The three spiky bits are from Barricade's mechtech weapon. The red overlay and the hose are from a neoshifter. I think that covers it.

Can anyone guess what the chest hose is made from?

Mykltron wrote:Can anyone guess what the chest hose is made from?

a metal wire and a key ring?
Anyhow, in the movie, I think it's just a water hose that works it's way into his alt mode. anyhow, the "spike" on his arm is an extra hose from his fire truck mode. the two (Chest and arm I mean) may even be connected.

Mykltron wrote:

SKYWARPED_128 wrote:Did you intentionally give the alt mode paint job a more rugged, uneven finish? I'm asking because you did a perfectly glossy metallic job on BB Bumblebee, so it can't be the result of inexperienced brushing.

There were several factors causing that:

Some of the surfaces are really uneven,
The black part on the front under the windshield is a rough surface,
I think I thinned the paint down too much,
The varnish went off just before I varnished the alt mode and didn't dry very nicely.

I had no idea varnish has an expiry date...wait, was that a joke or are you serious?

Does this apply to Tamiya acrylics as well? I just bought a crapload of paints for future use, and I did not read about any expiry date on the bottles at all.

Mykltron wrote:

SKYWARPED_128 wrote:BTW, what did you use to kitbash the acid rust canon from, anyways?

A gundam gun that someone gave me. I removed a part from underneath and stuck it on top. The three spiky bits are from Barricade's mechtech weapon. The red overlay and the hose are from a neoshifter. I think that covers it.

Can anyone guess what the chest hose is made from?

I'm guessing an insulated wire and a metal ring. Either that, or the wire from an MP3 earphone.

SKYWARPED_128 wrote:I had no idea varnish has an expiry date...wait, was that a joke or are you serious?

Does this apply to Tamiya acrylics as well?

Totally serious The varnish was enamel. Enamel products do dry out if they're opened and closed. Acrylics do to, but not so much.

BeastProwl wrote:

Mykltron wrote:Can anyone guess what the chest hose is made from?

a metal wire and a key ring?

SKYWARPED_128 wrote:I'm guessing an insulated wire and a metal ring. Either that, or the wire from an MP3 earphone.

Close but wrong.

A TF TWISTY TIE! Just the twisty tie, nothing else.

Autobot032 wrote:

Baneblade wrote:quite impressive!

not very high on my list of toys for DOTM - i just dont like the mould for some reason - but your modifications actually make it more interesting

Impressive work, indeed.

However, I must recommend the figure itself. One of the better molds. I'm not kidding.

ROTF Leader Class Optimus is my favorite TF toy, hands down. DOTM Sentinel Prime comes in at a very close second. I'm not kidding.

Out of all of the TF series and toylines, those two are my # 1 and 2. No joke.

i think its because in the box it looks like an armoured action man...or that from the waist down at the front (again in the box) doesn't look like a transformer

Mykltron wrote:Totally serious The varnish was enamel. Enamel products do dry out if they're opened and closed. Acrylics do to, but not so much.

That's scary. Fortunately, I haven't opened the majority of the bottles. BTW, in the event that they do dry out in the distant future, would they still be usable if you added some thinner (Tamiya thinner, in my case)? Acrylic bottles are basically just paint held in some thinner/alcohol, anyways. New bottles clearly show the paint in the bottom, separated from the layer of alcohol above.

Mykltron wrote:Close but wrong.

A TF TWISTY TIE! Just the twisty tie, nothing else.

Now that is true genius. You got a nice looking hose without paying a cent for it. Love the way your mind works, Myk.

SKYWARPED_128 wrote:

Mykltron wrote:Totally serious The varnish was enamel. Enamel products do dry out if they're opened and closed. Acrylics do to, but not so much.

That's scary. Fortunately, I haven't opened the majority of the bottles. BTW, in the event that they do dry out in the distant future, would they still be usable if you added some thinner (Tamiya thinner, in my case)?

Thinner works up to a point but there comes a point when thinner won't do the trick and you have to throw it away.

Mykltron wrote:Close but wrong.

A TF TWISTY TIE! Just the twisty tie, nothing else.

Now that is true genius. You got a nice looking hose without paying a cent for it. Love the way your mind works, Myk.[/quote]

Thanks. I keep pots of random crap cut off other bits of random crap in the hopes that one day they'll come in handy. I do the same with clothes for fancy dress.

Mykltron wrote:Thinner works up to a point but there comes a point when thinner won't do the trick and you have to throw it away.

Damn. So, how many years do you figure a bottle of acrylics will last before they go off? I kept thinking they would last a lifetime, or at least up to ten years before drying up.

Mykltron wrote:Close but wrong.

A TF TWISTY TIE! Just the twisty tie, nothing else.

Now that is true genius. You got a nice looking hose without paying a cent for it. Love the way your mind works, Myk.[/quote]

Thanks. I keep pots of random crap cut off other bits of random crap in the hopes that one day they'll come in handy. I do the same with clothes for fancy dress.[/quote]

Someone said that true creativity is when you take an item of least value and make it into something worth far more than it could ever be on its own. You, my friend, have done exactly that.

SKYWARPED_128 wrote:

Mykltron wrote:Thinner works up to a point but there comes a point when thinner won't do the trick and you have to throw it away.

Damn. So, how many years do you figure a bottle of acrylics will last before they go off? I kept thinking they would last a lifetime, or at least up to ten years before drying up.

I can't even begin to speculate. If it's never been opened then it should last a few years but don't take my word as law! I accept no responsibility if it goes off sooner! The matt black acrylic I've been using (comes in a tube, thicker than toothpaste) can be re-used after it's dried in the pot. Only trouble is, after a few weeks it develops mould!

SKYWARPED_128 wrote:

Mykltron wrote:Close but wrong.

A TF TWISTY TIE! Just the twisty tie, nothing else.

Now that is true genius. You got a nice looking hose without paying a cent for it. Love the way your mind works, Myk.

Thanks. I keep pots of random crap cut off other bits of random crap in the hopes that one day they'll come in handy. I do the same with clothes for fancy dress.

Someone said that true creativity is when you take an item of least value and make it into something worth far more than it could ever be on its own. You, my friend, have done exactly that.[/quote]

Thanks! That's really encouraging.

quite impressive!

I just discovered that the link to the full gallery was wrong. You can see all the pictures of Sentinel Prime here.