So, I got my Dr. Wu Scythe today. This thing is great. One peg is kinda tight fitting into the little adapter piece and I may have bend it a little trying to plug it in at one point but that's an easy blow-dryer fix. This thing is great and is quiet long as well.



Being so impressed by the Scythe I decided to drill my holes bigger so Mindwipe could hold it. I wanted to use a pin vice again but considering I didn't have a large enough centering drill bit I decided to use my Dads power drill. The holes were a little crooked and took a few tries to make them straight and they are kinda sloppy but the end result is great.







I'm really pleased with how this is turning out. There is still a little gap in Mindwipe's "palm" from where his knives used to be that I could put a little putty in to fill out his hands but I don't need the putty to keep the weapon straight like I originally thought I would.

I'll pick up a small batch of putty at some point (That is if I can find some for cheap and not get my parents more upset that I'm spending their money  ). After that it's pretty much just gluing in the wrist washers, repainting, and then modifying his original knives so he can still hold them and store in vehicle mode. I may also cut out some of the excess plastic between his thumb and index finger so it doesn't look like they're attached.
And of course buying Dr. Wu's tyrant sword but that can wait for a while.  

 

Yeah, that looks pretty bad@$$, glad you didn't need to reinforce anything, getting angles perfect without a drill press is tricky on such an irregular surface, even if you had large enough pin vice, its still not that easy, and honestly the only real advantages in using a pin vice, (other than safety) is that its easier to "course correct" and fine tune the hole

Now to decide if I want that scythe, close to 20$ want it, that is

 

Looks good!

What kind of putty are you gonna use? Not sure if it's been mentioned by anybody else, but there's epoxy putty available most any hardware store & possibly places like Walmart. If I use any, it's usually a silvery gray compound in a tube(forget the brand) that's for plumbing. It cures in about 15-30 min, and is hard as a rock. It can be sanded down and is easy to paint. and the color isn't an ugly color in case you don't paint. It's about $5...

I'm sure there's others on here with better skills that use other stuff or be quick to tell you I'm wrong or there's other options out there. But considering you're just starting out & on somebody else's budget, these are good starting points to try...

 

I did use a vice to keep the hand in place while I drilled and even if it wasn't perfect I'm really pleased with the results.

And if you're thinking about getting the scythe, do it! It's fantastic. Even if you don't use it with Mindwipe, it's a great addition to any Decepticon (or Autobot) arsenal.  

Is it by Loctite? I read on one forum that Loctite epoxy from Walmart, while works great, has a terrible odor. Maybe yours is a different kind. Regardless I will probably go this route and pick something up from Walmart or Meijer just because it's cheaper and more convenient. I was originally thinking about either picking up some milliput, Tamiya epoxy, or Aves Apoxie but considering I don't need the putty for what I thought I would, a simple epoxy from a supermarket or hardware store will do just fine.

I appreciate the help. Honestly I don't understand people on the forums who see it as their mission to yell at people and tell them that they're wrong. Anyone who is willing to give advise to a fellow board member is helping one way or another so thank you. I'll look into what Walmart or Meijer has and pick something up.  

 

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Pretty sure this is the brand. It's definitely the same type.

 

So when it says it's for plumbing does that mean it works with PVC which means it'll work well with ABS plastic?

 

It does for me. It'll harden to whatever it's molded to. It might still pop out. But it works incredibly well with super glue. In fact, a layer of super glue over it after it hardens strengthen it tenfold & keep it from chipping.

 

So that putty is ok, but if you intend to sculpt anything a 3 minute work time is not good, both the aves and tamiya putties have work times ranging from 45 minutes to 5 hours, depending on the exact type you get, and tamiya particularly is designed to be used with plastics, though I'm pretty sure there are PC brand formulations that have specialized uses and varied work times, just keep in mind the primary intended use of those gears them towards minimizing work time, because their focus is repair work

And I feel like I need to clarify that (aside from sanding down a soldering iron tip) I'm not trying dissuade anyone from taking your advice digit, I'm just voicing my own experiences, so that there is as much information as possible about both the pros and the cons, of any approach one may take  

 

I'll look into different PC brand formulas and see what would work best. I know the Tamiya epoxy would probably be best but the amount of space I'm working with is so small that sculpting would be quite difficult anyways. I'll look around though. And all help is greatly appreciated. Different opinions and pieces of advise can help me and other board members on future projects so all help is welcomed  

 

In the interest of sharing trial & error, & failing: while attempting to do my own unique CW Huffer mod, I accidentally killed him. I was trying to pop the pins out of the front wheels using my soldering iron, & the hinges that are connected to the grill melted thru. Oops. Now I need another Huffer...

 

Exactly. They're repair epoxy putties. Their cure time begins at about 3 minutes. But doesn't really start to harden for at least 10. They're also cheap, larger quantities, and probably easier to find. I've never even seen hobby style putty. Then again, there aren't any hobby shops near me where I could find them. It might be a good starting point for Sideswipe29, especially since his intention is repair & strengthening, rather than sculpting or designing anything intricate.

 

Agreed, that if you have no access to a hobby shop they are perfectly viable alternatives, hell even if you do have a hobby shop, however, cost wise its a wash, tamiya putty runs at a comparable cost of around 5$ for the same amount, and I believe Apoxie Sculpts smallest available quantity is a whole pound, for about 10$

I think Walmart may sell those PC putties at a lower cost, but I personally go with what I've used in the past, even if it is a few bucks more, because I've never encountered any issues while using it, and it isn't so expensive as to be cost prohibitive

As far as strengthening is concerned, pretty much any epoxy will do, as long as it adheres to plastic

 

Agreed.

Another trick I've done to help with epoxy putty is to drill holes in the plastic to allow the putty to fill in the holes and bond better. Might not be a good idea here tho lol

 

I appreciate the discussion here in trying to help me find a good epoxy. And ultimately, since this is my first true custom I'm willing to go through some trial and error. Even if Tamiya epoxy is better it's not as convenient for me to pick up. My nearest hobby store is way out of my way and if I were to buy some on Amazon it would take weeks to get here since it would come from over seas. Just for convenience sake I'll pick up some PC epoxy from Walmart on my way home from school. It's right there and can see how that works. If it does - great. If not I'll pick up some Tamiya. Since I'm just starting out I can figure out what works for me and what doesn't. Thanks for the help guys  .

 

No prob.

It also comes in handy if the pipes break in the basement lol.

Also, I'm not sure there's a real difference in the different kinds of those putties(metal, wood, etc). The only real difference I've noticed is their color...

 

I considered mentioning roughing with sandpaper and creating holes/panel lines as a way to increase surface area, thereby promoting adhesion, but it was late and I forgot lol

Right on  

 

Hey guys! I know it's been a while but I Finally have an update.

So last week I went to Meijer and picked up a simple tube of putty. I would have like to have epoxied my hands last week but I had an AP History test to study for so it had to wait until today  

So obviously the picture speaks for itself. I just filled in the little circular gaps in his hands and also added some putty to where the plastic posts used to be.

It could have been better but in a pinch I'm quite pleased with the results. Once it's cured and hardened I'll sand it down a little to make it prettier but after that I'll glue on the red washers, paint up the hands and that'll pretty much be it  

 

Nice

 

Update 6/15/15

So, I've finally gotten around to painting the hands today. I used a huge variety of acrylic paints to get to this result. The finish obviously isn't metallic like the normal hands, despite me adding various metallic paints, but I think the color will match quite well.



However, at this point I have a question. With the paint dried the end result is a matte/thick feeling finish. What would be the best way to achieve a glossy/smooth finish on the paint to replicate normal plastic?

I've read that I could use floor polish with future shine or an actual acrylic clear coat. What would work best? And would said answer also prevent the paint from chipping?



EDIT: Update 6/16/15

So, I found some semi-gloss clear coat enamel and applied that to the hands. I probably didn't apply enough or let it dry for long enough (the paints scuffs off from time to time when I put the scythe in his hand) but at this point I'm just glad to be pretty much done with the project. The color of the hands match perfectly with the figure and I'm really pleased with how this custom turned out.







I looked into how to modify the cockpit knives to Mindwipe could still hold them and be placed in his vehicle form but unfortunately there isn't enough space for two 5mm pegs to fit. I'll experiments with it and post anything I come up with but at this point it looks as though Mindwipe won't be able to transform "completely." That's a moot point however since he'll always be in robot mode.

Overall, with this being my first real custom, I couldn't be happier with the results. I'm looking into buying Dr. Wu's red Tyrant sword to go with this guy and I'll work on the knives but overall this custom is pretty much finished. Thank you to all who gave me advice along the way and supporting me with this whole thing! It turned out fantastic!