Aaaaaand I typed that post completely forgetting you used the windshield on the back of the main figure. Doy. Clearly, I need more caffeine.

I'd say try attaching some greebly jet bits from other kits and see what happens....anything you stick on the front of that wheel joint should help with the robot mode silhouette as well.

 

Well I do have this that I keep grabbing but it just looks funny to me. And a pair of wing choices too.

 

that reminds me of a speeder bike from destiny or something. i like it.

 

You know, if I could get the orange wings to be on ball joints attached to her shoulder blades that could actually be really cool. They could almost be angel wings.

So how would I go about making them ball joints and attaching them?

 

As far as how long to sand in order to get results, it is dependent on several factors,

first is the grit of sandpaper are you using, the higher the grit the longer it will take, but the smother the finish, which is why, typically speaking, you start around 80g and working up from there in roughly 20g intervals, and ending where you want the finish to be, which if you are slightly insane and want a mirror finish will be 2000g and up into using polishing compounds

Second is the pressure you apply to the piece, now for straight flat surfaces you will want to anchor the sandpaper to a flat surface, to ensure the grinding is perfectly level I wrap the sandpaper around a small whetstone because it is an easily accessible surface that I know is nearly perfectly flat (so long as its not been extensively used) then I place it on a table and move the piece over it appling moderate pressure, and repeat whith progressively finer grits every 5 to 10 min after the initial rough grind is to my satisfaction (that can be tricky to judge but it really is a case by case basis on the roughing)

On curved surfaces, (unless you own a drum sander), you will want to use the sandpaper freehand so you don't destroy the curves, because your hand has give to it the sandpaper will more easily conform to the curved surfaces

Third thing is the kind of sanding tools you can use, of course sandpaper is the most simple but I recommend wetdry sandpaper, you wet it during use and it allows the grit to reorient itself and remain sharp as well as keeping the sandpaper from loading with swill (fillings), along with using polishing compounds and a cotton or microfiber cloth to buff the piece to mirror sheen, another kind of tool that is handy are files they are great for getting into corners and tight spaces where sanding is problematic, the last group of tools I use (that are easily obtained at least) are power tools like a dremel with a buffing wheel and polishing compound, I don't recommend using a dremel on plastics for polishing until you have extensively practiced because it is really really easy to set it too fast or apply to much pressure or too little or too much compound and cause major damage to the workpiece



Sorry I can't provide more concrete guidelines on amount of time to sand something, there really are just too many variables, you just have to get a feel for it, and check periodically, sanding can be very tedious, but don't forget you can fix things by sculpting more, which is a lot harder when using prefab scraps to get back to base after messing something up, but like I said earlier on such a thin fin like that I would have used a styrene sheet, because it is easier to get into the desired shape and more sturdy/easier to replace

As for the other chromia body with windblade limbs and gdo springer bits, with bh wheel jack wings, I think it looks like a speeder hover bike thing and its pretty cool so far

 

You've got a lot of great custom tools. I only use those when fixing a toy

 

Hey man, thanks for that! I didn't ever really think about some of this stuff. I have a pack of 600 sandpaper that I've had for a while to sand stuff. It didn't occur to me that it might go faster with lower. I got the 600 because I knew that would give me the smoothest finish. Not I'll try actually the harsher stuff and use the 600 afterwards. I feel dumb, haha.

I knew about the block stuff but it never seemed to do much for me, probably again because of the fineness. So I think I'll try that again. Very useful stuff.


Again on the other figure front I have a very firm grasp of what I'm going for in some of the stuff now. Thanks guys. Now I just need to figure out a way to make a head with something like this on top.

I'm thinking I should not use the green stuff for this. I'm going to cyber-fy it a bit and make it angular. So for that I think something harder would be useful.

 

That is just stuff I had at hand that isn't cost prohibitive, mostly left over tools from years of art, and that I've used moding and disassembling stuff for as long as I can remember, but I just wanted to show some common tools used in surfacing work

That makes sense, if you go at it with 80g sandpaper, I guarantee you will see a noticeable difference after a very short amount of time, I recommend 3M wetdry sandpaper, it is suitable for almost any surface, including mild steel, and other metals

You can make a hat like that out of styrene slats glued together, that would give it an angular look if left as is, or then you could cover it with epoxy putty and go from there, otherwise you might be able to use the bottom of a spinning top, (uber cheap plastic party favor kind) or possibly you could use a lego ninjago hat as a base

 

Here's the wok I did today on her. The cockpit has quite a lot of variability as do the wings. I literally spent about an hour brainstorming how to do the wings. Then another hour or so actually making them.












And her weapon.




EDIT:
HA! Just messing around with stuff and managed to get her face to stay on with her hat. Didn't expect that. Still have major sculpting to do for her head but this is the most complete version of her yet! I dig it!

 

Aww, no one had any comments about the new stuff? Hehe. I'm actually really digging this new character born from random ideas in my head. I did the first bit of sculpting for her today by putting her head on a ball joint and trying to fill in the gaps of the hat. Tomorrow I'll trim the hat a bit and probably do the second pass at sculpting the head. I'm not quite sure what to do to clean up the staff but I really do love her staff. If only I could figure out a good way to store it in both modes. She also received a minor part change on her body.

 

wow. its turning out amazing.

 

Yup looking good, that is what I had in mind for the hat, though I'd like it to be larger, but that would likely interfere with transformation, so I'm cool with it as is, can't wait to see it painted  

 

Thanks guys.  

I went with a smaller hat because I didn't want to just make a Japanese transformer. I wanted it to emulate but be different. So it's smaller and angular. Plus it's supposed to be part of her head not a hat.

I tossed some green stuff onto her today and am a bit disappointed with what I've done. I'll post pictures tomorrow when everything is dry. Her head looks a bit too big now so I'll probably be sanding the heck out of it.

 

Oh my, lol, your latest update, spawned a very strange image in my head of what the head might look like...




Go Venture!

 

Really getting somewhere with these.  

 

Haha, not quite.  

Thanks man!   I'm looking forward to getting to painting them.




Update time!
Okay so I took my dremel to her head and did some other minor stuff today. For her new head adornment I actually had taken left over green stuff and squashed it into a few "plates". I took one of those and cut out the shape I wanted and just glued it onto her head. I then took a dremel to that to make it fit in her alt mode. I also added a couple things.













So I also have an idea for a sash for her but I'm not convinced. And since in order to even do it would require me to destroy a couple pieces I wanted to pool the audience as it were. What would you guys think of a sash like this for her?

 

Loving what you did with the fan, pretty ingenious

On the chord, I'm a bit indifferent, and would try using copper electrical wiring, or other materials, if you have reservations about using the part in the pics

 

Hehe, yeah I had the fan idea almost from the start. I was a little concerned it wouldn't work out but it worked better than the head actually did.  

I'm reserved about trying it not about loosing the pieces. Basically to do it I'd have to destroy those pieces as they are and if it turns out badly then I'd destroy them for no reason. But I am leaning towards doing it because it tickles me. I did just want other opinions before I make a final decision.

Speaking of the head I didn't give a close up shot of her noggin. I rather dig it.




EDIT: Great goodly moogly did I discover her perfect name. Ataraxia.

 

It looks very nice. This was a great idea

 

Ataxia, you might want to see a doctor about that, lol jk

I have a sugestion on the sash, if you want it to look like its knotted, or to hide a connection, use epoxy putty to sculpt the knot, or beltloop

And I mostly like the head, the "hat" just sits a tad to high up for my taste, from the sides it looks ok but head on I think it looks a little off