Thanks dude, yeah I just can't stop myself making it as good as I can. It might take a little longer, but it's worth it in the long run. I do hope that if anyone wants to copy any of my ideas, they will be able to see what I have done and replicate it. Half the job is in the thinking and designing anyway, so that part is done already for whoever decides to tackle it. Go for it, I'd like to see other people's take on the concept!
Supercool work dude! I started customizing my own few days ago... Hope it turns out as good as yours!
I have still got to finish and paint some lower legs, but couldn't resist taking a few pics...! ...And this one's for Superquad!
I love that last pic.....pure win! What did you use to mount the heads? Looks like they can swivel etc.
Ha ha cheers bud, although my first two (Soundwave and Sideswipe) have since been made redundant by actual upcoming MP releases! :/ Thanks guys! I use those hobby ball/socket parts you can get in packs of different sizes. For Reflector's head I used the double-ended ball joint variety. The KO head is hollow from behind so I put an upturned ball socket inside then filled around it with putty to create the back of the head. This pops onto a double-ball part, which then pops onto a second socket piece. There's a handy hole inside the upper torso which the peg of the socket piece can slot into, then by just shaving a bit off that socket it fits snugly below inside the torso, sandwiched between two horizontal layers of plastic (when the front and back of the bot are screwed together it is held completely solid).
This has come along so wonderfully fellow blue box traveler. The amount of work that you put into making the original cheap OK look factory is amazing. Love the shot of all 3 saluting...classic!
wow bro some awesome progress i love the last pic did u mess with the fingers ? the hand look more open then the stock hand
Thank you kind sir! Cheers, yeah for one set of hands I cut off the fingers and glued them back on in a more open position. I do like the RTS hand design (how it looks like both a natural relaxed hand but at the same time can also hold weapon pegs etc) and it sure beats the old 'square with a hole through', but for certain poses it's nice to have a different option. Guess I ought to have put in a bit more effort and made the fingers on a hinge, but at such a small scale I worry that would break and paint chip easily.
Looking good, really nice work. Reflector's one of those curious characters from the very original lineup who somehow seems a little overlooked.
Well, I have my own KOs purchased, and just waiting for me to find time to do this (or something similar) to them. I've bookmarked your thread to help me when that time comes. Thanks for the inspiration, and for blazing the trail through all the difficult work for us.
Yeah man, there's something fascinating about the character for me... No comic appearance to speak of; a background guy with little personality in the toon; no toy (I didn't even see what the toy Reflector looked like until late G1 when mail away leaflets for him appeared with the Sparkabots/Firecons - of course, "offer not available outside of USA" so still no toy for young me!). He also seemed to have some strange abilities that were never explained in the toon. All added to the uniqueness of him for me. Aw cheers dude!
You know, the thing that worries me about the MP, is the line down the middle for Sideswipe. Yours doesn't have that and looks great. So you may have a one up on them. As for the soundwave, you should still be proud. Yours was one of the best out there that the "high end" radicons copied you. I actually prefer your stuff. Not to mention, we still have to have the in hand soundwave before believing it. I mean that thing is no where close to in hand.
Thanks again bud. I think the line on Sideswipe is just a sketch guide, I'm really looking forward to seeing a prototype though. I like the 3rd party Soundwave too, even though a couple of things aren't the way I would have done it. Will just be great to have a MP of him available.
How did you paint these? I saw a video of a review and it said that it was shampoo bottle like plastic. Does it paint well? I thought it might not adhere.
I always spray paint, with primer first. I imagine just painting straight on by hand would be a bit of a nightmare on this plastic. Had a couple of areas that were tricky but I'm sure that was due to all the layering paint/masking... For example the chest, where I sprayed the green central part, put a stencil over it, then sprayed the purple torso, then another stencil for the silver border. Found that the edge of my stencils could sometimes pull a chunk of the paint off after (all layers inc primer back to bare plastic) and it would need redoing. So a pain to get right, but once done and then clear coated fairly safe.
Not sure I want to do them now. I like hand painting everything I do. But they are really nice looking and you nailed the G1 look. I was honestly just going to either redeco and repaint a RTS Perceptor for my Reflector rep or settle with PE-11's small scale. But, yours are the grade A rep I would really like to have. I'm just not too familiar with spray painting small models like these. They have no windows to mask so that is a plus. Could you get away with spray painting the majority of it and detailing by hand? Even with that i would worry about color variation, but it might be easier for me to pull the trigger on doing these like yours. I am a TRON fan and i was doing a custom for a character from the video game named Abraxas. I used a cape from a Marvel Universe Moon Knight. Not sure if you are familiar with it, but the cape is made of that flex plastic stuff. Kinda like what I believe this one is name of. Anyhow, I painted it black with testors black by hand and the next day i went to touch it and it was not only wet, but came off on my hand. Apparently my paint would not dry on that surface. This thought is what put the brakes on me buying a $43 KO and converting it. What do you think?
Fwiw I hand painted mine (albeit a simple repaint, not a scratch building masterclass like this) and they turned out quite well. May aswell give it a blast, the worst that'll happen is you'll waste a cpl of ko figs!
