The Energon Pub

Man, it's been forever since I was able to work on a kitbash, what with graduate work, getting a job, getting married... well, I won't bore you with the details.

I picked up the Optimus Prime Spotlight comic and when I saw Don's concept sketches for Nova Prime I just had to have one. Here's the first set of photos; most of the work was done today. I plan to put together somewhat of a mixture between how he looked in the comic, and the concept sketches, mostly because I think the concept style fits more of his "fallen angel" character motif (most specifically, the "crown" style head design). I think you can all tell what my base toys were, and I think maybe some of Don's inspiration came from the way RiD Prime fits together. Note that these pictures are just mockups where I balanced the parts where I figure they'll be attached.

Robot Mode Mockup


(Super Mode) Head In-Progress


Cybertronian Truck - Front


Cybertronian Truck - Rear



Where I plan to go from here
Legs - as you can probably tell, he doesn't have any yet. The concept art showed him with legs that match the same dual-purpose-flip-style legs that Energon Rodimus has, but those are far too small so I'm going to have to get my hands on an E-Ironhide and work his legs up to it, which should fit almost perfectly.

Wheels - I need to add some to the arms to get the truck cab finished up. I plan to rip them off of an Armada Prime sooner or later.

Matrix - the cornerstone of every Prime. Checking the concept sketches, Nova's cab-only robot mode has a rounded protrusion sticking out of his chest that looks like the central portion of the Matrix of Leadership (bear in mind, it's a black-n-white photo so I could be way off). Character-wise, I could see him having it out in front like his cyber-bling, because at his point in the TF lore there wasn't a war going on, and on top of that he's got something of a God complex, so why not have it proudly on display? The slight bits of gold go nicely with the black, white and silver of the character. As an added bonus, it'll be sticking out the top of his cab mode like a police light. I've already got some structure mocked up to create a folding hatch which will secure it in.

Super Mode Poncho - RiD Prime's super mode head and chest panel will need to work with the added bulk of the Matrix sticking out of mini-robot's chest. In addition to stripping the chest panel bare to get rid of the RiD bandolier thing and flip-up panel, I'm going to basically just fill it in and hollow it out as necessary to fit over everything, then add the external deco. I think I would do best to modify the flap to clip into his armpit area (think Cybertron Wing Saber) instead of clipping into his chest as it is now, for reasons already mentioned.

Wings - they need extendin'. I've got several extra Elita-Ones, whose crossbow would fit perfectly as the end barrels of the wing cannons. Additionally, I could scavenge the exhaust pipes to fit up alongside the truck cab, where they appear in the sketches. I also had to do a little modificiation to make them flip forward enough to be straight in truck mode. Tigerhawk could use a little more Yoga, methinks. Oh, I also think I'll mod the spring-loaded feathers on his back to flip a complete 180, in which case I can turn them into those little trapezoidal solar panel thingies Nova has on his shoulders.

Suffice it to say, I've got a lot of work ahead of me, but it's all looking pretty feasible at this point. If anyone's got suggestions, let me know, because it looks like the talent level has shot through the roof since last I kitbashed, and I'm going to be hard pressed to produce something respectable now

Awesomesauce! I can't wait to see this completed!

Interesting. I've got a Nova Prime on the way too. I've taken a slightly different approach tho.

I'm eager to see the direction you're taking this in. Until Hasbro makes us an official one we might as well do their brainstorming for them

Can't wait to see how the truck mode turns out. I didn't notice the possibilities that the rear section of RID Optimus offers for this custom. Nova Prime is deffinately a cool character.

Dang Dio, long time no see on the boards! Your Nova Prime is looking very awesome. It's going to be interesting comparing your work and Dak's.

How's yours comming along?

Devastator wrote:Dang Dio, long time no see on the boards! Your Nova Prime is looking very awesome. It's going to be interesting comparing your work and Dak's.

See the first post for the short version of why I've been so absent Life is good though, and I'm finally able to devote the time and finance to another project!

Speaking of which, I'm a weekend warrior on this thing, so I'll try to make some progress and post an update tomorrow.

well congrats on the job and marriage at least

Progress thus far has been primarily on the wings and backpack. Since no real photos exist (to my knowledge) of what is going on back there, I figured I could take a little liberty and try for something appropriate.

I got my E-Rodimus in and set to work with parts from him. As I had suspected, the legs are WAY too small to fit on this Prime body, but I got a lot more out of the Rodimus than I had expected, and in the good way.



As you can see, I added a joint at the base of the wing so it can flex backward (like flapping) once it's on his back. This will give some clearance for the shoulder joints as well, so the articulation will be maintained even with the large shoulder pads in place.

You can also see I took the back end of Rodimus and it folds up quite admirably into a neat little drone. It also fits nicely into the gaping empty spot that was inside the middle of the trailer when everything is folded up. I think I shall name it Nova Roller. Which leads me to...



Again, just a balance shot but you can see where I'm going with the pieces. This may not look like much of an update, but the sheer amount of small-scale modifications I had to do was freaky to get everything to fit nicely. I'm pleased to say, the backpack fits onto Prime's back in two different ways - two pegs will hold it straight onto his back, and a third peg will point straight up and fit into the little hole in what used to be the pivot point for the fire truck ladder. This will hold the backpack onto him much more securely, and the jet engines also seem quite appropriate for a flying character.

I've begun some preliminary work on the shoulder pads as well, but so far all that's there is the flat base that I plan to thicken up and add details to. They should be pretty solid once I've got them filled up with epoxy putty.

Speaking of epoxy putty, Home Depot has a pretty good selection of them I discovered. The finish isn't as smooth as Tamiya, but the price difference is great and I can always sand things smooth on the surface. Right now I'm using "AquaMend," which has about a 20min work time and cures in an hour.



Adding the Rodimus-flapper-joints to the wings, while giving the wings some articulation, also adds those two little smokestacks to the top of the wing bases. Drilling a couple of holes in the Super Poncho (right in front of Super Mode Prime's chin) will provide an awesome way for these to fit in and hold firm when in trailer mode (you can see how they will line up).

-excelente work

You will use Energon Rodimus for te main body?

looking pretty tough so far

Mazinkaiser wrote:-excelente work

You will use Energon Rodimus for te main body?

RiD Prime for the majority of the body, Energon Ironhide for the legs, Tigerhawk for the wings and whatever misc. stuff I need to round it all out. Rodimus is just too small to be any good for any major pieces of the toy.

If I were you, I would have used Energon Rodimus, or his white repaint, as the main figure, and built a trailer and such to match that. It is the closest existing figure to the original drawings.

Tramp wrote:If I were you, I would have used Energon Rodimus, or his white repaint, as the main figure, and built a trailer and such to match that. It is the closest existing figure to the original drawings.

I did look into it, but the differences in the way the Nova design and Energon Rodimus work out are very substantial. I'm not sure where people are getting this idea of how similar the two characters look, because when you take a look at where things fold up for their vehicle modes, everything is radically different.

It would be much more difficult to make super-mode parts work with Energon Rodimus because the toy is not designed for pieces to attach in that fashion. Really, the only similarity is in the legs and the fact that the front bumper of the spacy-looking semi cab becomes his knees (similar also to Hero Prime, which has seen some discussion). The robot chest forming the roof of the cab, the shoulders folding back behind to form the wheels, etc all work out well when the RiD Prime is folded up in that fashion.

If you're really interested in bashing a Rodimus into a Nova though, it might work out well if you take two of them and take advantage of the powerlinking feature somehow to facilitate a super mode (i.e. turn one Rodimus into the trailer/super poncho). You're getting the gears turning now, amigo....

Well, the only major difference I see between the two is the arms. Everything else on the torso and such is cosmetic.

Regardless, your's is definately turning out pretty sweet so far. It'll be interesting to see it when it's done.

I agree with you Dio. There are a few similarities between Rodimus and Nova, but not enough to make it a repaint. I too thought about Rodimus for mine, but decided on a larger scale figure. And I prefer transforming accuracy over something that looks close.

How's it coming along?

I did look into it, but the differences in the way the Nova design and Energon Rodimus work out are very substantial. I'm not sure where people are getting this idea of how similar the two characters look, because when you take a look at where things fold up for their vehicle modes, everything is radically different.

It would be much more difficult to make super-mode parts work with Energon Rodimus because the toy is not designed for pieces to attach in that fashion. Really, the only similarity is in the legs and the fact that the front bumper of the spacy-looking semi cab becomes his knees (similar also to Hero Prime, which has seen some discussion). The robot chest forming the roof of the cab, the shoulders folding back behind to form the wheels, etc all work out well when the RiD Prime is folded up in that fashion.

If you're really interested in bashing a Rodimus into a Nova though, it might work out well if you take two of them and take advantage of the powerlinking feature somehow to facilitate a super mode (i.e. turn one Rodimus into the trailer/super poncho). You're getting the gears turning now, amigo....

I disagree. Its obvious that the vehicle mode of energon rodimus would come to mind, but in looking over mine, its not that difficult to see the finished version by doing what we do, customizing/modding what wasn't in the form that we desire. First off, the legs can form into either mode where the truck grill is at the feet or at the knees. Second, the forarms closely resembly nova's except for having a spoiler and lacking wheels. Modding the arms and placing the wheels onto the arms will resolve that. The other challenge is to build a new upper torso. Then there is the supermode trailer, not impossible though. As for attaching super mode parts, I've seen some of you connect things that I once thought impossible.

I do not see how taking 2 rodimus' would work towards a nova prime. Unless it just involves the connector, then any energon 2 team combiner will work. Regardless, I'm talking more than just repainting the fig.

So was I. As Primezimm, said, it could be done. IF I had an extra Energon Rodimus, or that white repaint, I might be tempted to try it myself. I already have the wings left over from my custom Optimus Prime I built from an Endless Waltz Gundam Wing Zero Custom.

Minor update, no pics unfortunately since the majority of my work has been small modifications (thickening bits to prepare them for add-ons, etc).

I've got the chest hollowed out and the Matrix fits in great, now I just need to put the cover panels over it to hold it in place. I may steal a bit of inspiration from Dak on this one and use the Cybertron Prime hinge for the bottom half. I'd like to have some side-hinges as well, we'll see how that goes.

I got my Energon Ironhide finally, and can begin working on the legs now, which was a major sticking point.

The backpack/wing assembly is coming together nicely. I got the holes drilled in the poncho to accomplish what I mocked up in the photo above (where the smokestacks fit in) and it's a good snug fit for trailer mode. I had to hollow some spots out of the super mode feet to fit the super mode head, but the trailer's looking solid.

My next big steps will probably be the legs and the shoulder pads, to get the mini-bot all together structurally, and then I can focus on details.

ooooo, cool. can't wait to see it!