The Energon Pub

[Jones]

When I got Reveal the Shield Bumblebee, I was impressed by the mold, headsculpt, and colors, but really disappointed that he didn't come with any kind of weapon. I mean the jetpack thing is neat, but if I had to choose between that and an actual weapon I can shove in his hand, I'll take the weapon.

So I took it upon myself to craft this:



This as a mod of DOTM Bumblebee's Mechtech weapon, with an original G1 Silverstreak/Prowl missile used for the projectile. Painted using simple black acrylic and gunmetal for the accents. Personally I think this turned out pretty OK, considering it's my first time tackling such a mod.

I even decided to write a short bio on the weapon for your enjoyment:
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STINGER Sniper Railgun

Bumblebee's role as a scout made him a natural fit to take on additional missions as a sniper. However, he needed a weapon suitable for the task, so Wheeljack went to work creating the STINGER. While on the surface it appears to be too short and stubby for a sniper weapon, the technology inside makes it the perfect tool for long-range precision attacks. Operating using magnetic-propulsion technology similar to that of a railgun, it fires a svelte needle-like projectile at tremendous velocity over extreme distances.

With a muzzle velocity of 3,500 m/s, the STINGER is easily capable of penetrating a 1/2 inch thick hardened steel plate at a range of 25 miles. Because of the magnetic propulsion design, there is no explosion or muzzle-flash from the weapon that can visually give away the position of the sniper, and due to the extreme speed of the projectile, any audible identifiers would arrive long after the projectile found its target.

The projectiles are constructed of the same super-hard alloys used in bladed weapons like the sword wielded by Springer. However, what really gives the STINGER its 'sting' is the fact that once the projectile penetrates the shell of the target it fragments in to thousands of razor-sharp pieces, causing severe damage to the targets circuitry and internal structure.

Overall, it's a weapon capable of leaving targets devastated, never knowing what hit them.
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There you have it! Would love to know what you guys think!

And of course, here are more pics of my creation:

[paul053]

Welcome aboard.

This is cool. You went a lot of efforts to make him a gun. All I did with my Henkei Bee was just giving him Prowl's pixie pistol.

[Jones]

Thanks man, I appreciate that!

It really didn't take very long (couple of hours, total). I'm just happy that it turned out almost exactly the way I envisioned it when I was looking at the parts.

Only thing I was hoping for was to find a yellow paint that matched the figure. I was originally planning to paint the projectile yellow to match him, but couldn't find any paint that was close, and I didn't feel like messing around with mixing colors.

[Tresob]

Neato!

If you are looking for other guns to cannibalize, I seem to recall that many of the GI Joe Rise of Cobra figures came with projectile weapons that had pegs that seemed curiously fit for TF hands.

[Jones]

Thank man, that's good to know!

Now I have the itch to see what other frankenweapons I can come up with!

Not sure what the logic is behind the weapon designs that are typically include with Transformers over the last few years. They just seem really poorly thought out. I mean, I know what they were going for with the whole 'Mechtech' thing and the TF:Prime 'Powerizer' gimmicks, but if they took the effort, material and labour cost they put in to the average Mechtech weapon and put it in to a well-sculpted, well-painted non-mechanized weapon, I'm sure they could come up with something pretty awesome.

Oh well, just sayin'...