IDW Prowl from CW First Aid

[EDIT: Custom Complete!]

Finally got around to completing this guy! The paint job is a little rougher in places than I'd like, but overall I'm quite happy with the balance between comic accuracy and working with the figure itself.

A few things changed since the concept below, including picking up a CW Ironhide so I part-swapped out First Aid's red limbs for the more suitable dark grey and deciding to use the Prowl head that came with the PE set for CW Devastator (which is more in keeping with the IDW Prowl, natch).

I haven't tried to combine him yet, though the new chest should limit him to leg-mode only: I broke the bull-bars on the alt-mode right after taking these photos, so will try again once I've made the repairs!

Thoughts and feedback welcome, folks!





[Original Post]

Starting another CW project, this time creating a Prowl closer to the current IDW version. CW First Aid is the base figure, so I've trimmed/sanded down the ball joint to fit CW Prowl's head.

Next, I've been testing potential additions to make him more accurate: so bull bars for vehicle/bot mode and more bumper chest for the bot. This doesn't effect ground clearance/transformation for the alt mode at all.





For the actual mods, I'll be using Milliput but for now these are just made out of Blu-Tack, just to give me an idea of size and shape.

Thoughts folks?

 

good luck covering that red. With 3 coats of primer it still bleeds through 5 coats of white.

 

Use acetone to strip the red. Solid idea though.

 

Looks great.

 

When you're stripping paint apps, it's good to start by lightly sanding them with a 600 grit sand paper. That will take the sheen off of them and allow the solvent of your choice to do its job. I've used acetone, but you have to be careful. It will eat the plastic. I've heard lacquer thinner is better.

 

I've had the best luck with sanding down paint apps and getting the last bit with paint thinner (I use enamel paints). You can sorta alternate as you go too-just be patient.

 

Yaujta is absolutely correct. I thought about this the entire ride home today, hoping you did not use acetone. Sorry about the foul-up.

 

I have one of his arms sitting in isopropyl alcohol overnight. If it doesn't shift it, I'll gently sand it down as recommended and try again.

 

On a side note, does anyone know if the same alcohol would adversely effect the rubber fins, such as on CW Skydive?

 

Ha - I knew someone was thinking the same thing I was. This should have been Prowl  s:

 

I'm quite surprised I haven't seen a custom of this idea yet (and disappointed that HasTak didn't go down this official route)!

 

I have been using mr clean magic erasers and water to strip the paint. It's like an ultra fine sandpaper so it also helps prep the plastic for paint apps.

 

You've gotta be careful with solvents and soft PVC parts like that. Alcohol might be ok, but it can discolor it. If you're painting over it, it might best to just sand it and paint over it. You can't use enamels paints on them either. The solvents in the paint sink into the soft plastics and can ruin the parts. T the very least, they can take forever to dry- like weeks. Long story short, acrylics only on soft parts.

 

I always use acrylics regardless, but I'll keep that in mind when working on those softer tail fins! Cheers!

 

I had to sand mine down, alcohol did nothing. Anyways good luck with this

 

Thanks! the alcohol seems to have removed the majority of it, but there's still some sanding to be done.

 

cool proof of concept!

 

Thanks for the support everyone!

Just had a thought: in much the same way as my other CW custom (a mod of Air Raid) prevents him from being used as a leg, the extra chest will most likely prevent Prowl from being used as an arm.

I generally use First Aid/Offroad as legs anyway, so I think I can live with this compromise.

 

Project complete and original post updated with photos of the completed custom! Thanks for your feedback everyone!