Prime Tailgate: my first custom
Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 3:25 pmThis is my first proper attempt at a custom (I once made a Cliffjumper from a Bumblebee but it isn't good enough to count). I made this as my entry into the kitbash competition at Auto Assembly 2012 but it did not get any recognition that I am aware of, other than one guy I spoke to saying it was "F*****g awesome!"
Inspired by Cyberverse Tailgate I came up with the idea of a deluxe version. Using Prime Cliffjumper as a base figure, I resculpted the head and chest to closer resemble MTMTE Tailgate, seeing as we never really saw much of Tailgate in Predatory. I also removed the alt mode horns, altered the headlights and tried to create the 'vent' effect on the back window like on RTS Windcharger.
The custom did have a nice finish to it, as an airbrush was used and details were painted by hand, but I learnt the hard way that Tamiya paint doesn't work well with Citadel purity seal. It reacted with most of the white paint and the red plastic could be seen through it, making some areas look pink. This happened two days before the competition, so I had to cover these pink areas taking less care than I would have done if I had more time. It was not until Tailgate was completed that I realised I should have sanded down some of the edges to avoid chipping the paint. Despite these negatives, I think Tailgate turned out well, considering he’s my first kitbash. Take a look for yourself:
Tailgate with Cliffjumper by CliffBee Prime, on Flickr
Inspired by Cyberverse Tailgate I came up with the idea of a deluxe version. Using Prime Cliffjumper as a base figure, I resculpted the head and chest to closer resemble MTMTE Tailgate, seeing as we never really saw much of Tailgate in Predatory. I also removed the alt mode horns, altered the headlights and tried to create the 'vent' effect on the back window like on RTS Windcharger.
The custom did have a nice finish to it, as an airbrush was used and details were painted by hand, but I learnt the hard way that Tamiya paint doesn't work well with Citadel purity seal. It reacted with most of the white paint and the red plastic could be seen through it, making some areas look pink. This happened two days before the competition, so I had to cover these pink areas taking less care than I would have done if I had more time. It was not until Tailgate was completed that I realised I should have sanded down some of the edges to avoid chipping the paint. Despite these negatives, I think Tailgate turned out well, considering he’s my first kitbash. Take a look for yourself:
Tailgate with Cliffjumper by CliffBee Prime, on Flickr
The head was sculpted on top of the original Cliffjumper head, and the only plastic removed was the horns. For some reason I have an image in my mind of Tailgate having a proportionally larger head, probably because of his appearance in MTMTE. As I didn't cut down Cliffjumper's chin, for example, the head had to be the size it is to have the right proportions. While I was scuplting the head I thought it looked like Chromedome or someone with a similar head. If I was more experienced with styrene I may have been able to make a better one from scratch, but most of the alterations to the head were hand sculpted using green-stuff with only a few pannels of styrene, and I think it turned out well for my first head resculpt.