The Thugmeister and Dejector

The Thugmeister
Update February 8, 2013



Finally, after all these weeks of waiting, testing, teasing and painting, they are finally available!
I am very happy to present to you guys THE THUGMEISTER! It really has been a crazy journey
since I made my first model for Shapeways, which you guessed it, is the Thugger.

Finally with the experience I picked up after all this time and the providence of good source material,
I was able to do these characters justice. That being said, let's show you the good stuff, shall we?



These guys stand 2 inches tall and feel very solid. They are very posable with thirteen moving joints
and can hold a large variety of poses. Each (unless specified) comes with two accompanying blasters
which can be stored in 2 peg holes on their back. Incidently, the Thugmeister is capable of using
cyberverse scaled accessories and vice versa.






The ability of Shapeways material to convey this level of detail is astounding. I mean, you can make
a comparison between a painted blue FUD and red WSF model shown in the pictures. With minimal
cleanup, I was able to pull off a paintjob on the FUD model that I can be proud of. The WSF model
is not too shabby either; even though it feels very much faded compared to FUD, I was able to bring
out his details with some paint. Besides, the WSF guy feels much sturdier and stronger, and he was
soo fun to pose with.






And yes, I did make a pair of 'KaBlammer' accessories for him. The are held by 3 mm pegs and all four
'prongs' are posable.




I have made a Thugmeister variant called the "Fierier", which is a Thugmeister with a different,
smirky head sculpt and extra accessories consisting of two Drillers and one Zapper. These, of course,
are cyberverse compatible.





In response to popular request, I've also made Dejector. He is exactly the same as the Thugmeister
in assembly, transformation and performance, except he has different sculpt on his torso, head and
arms. He comes with different blasters as well. Dejector comes in 2 different head variants: the regular
and "Mitmitie". Shown here is the latter printed in Frosted Ultra Detail.






All these models can be folded into a rough 'disc' shape which can be stored on the FOC voyager
Soundblaster mold. It is possible to fit three inside; the door doesn't close completely but it latches
on fine and remains in place. I should probably mention at this point the Thugmeisters (and Dejector)
are not designed for the disc launching gimmick. Do not try launching them unless you want to damage
them. Extricate them gently from the chest cavity, like good little boys.








Assembly Instructions

Assembling these models is a simple process but you will need to take note of a few things.
This model has been tested to work on Frosted Ultra Detail and Strong Flexible, but for the former
there is still a risk you might break a part during assembly. When assembling an FUD joint, do it
gingerly and carefully, and if you feel the joint might be too tight and will snap, back off and shave
off material from within the socket before trying again.

Common areas of breakage are the hip joints, back plate hinge and the sockets of the KaBlammer.
If a part ever snaps, you can try repairing it. I repaired the broken hip on mine with Gorilla Glue.


First, assemble the head and backplate onto the torso. You can also mount his blasters at this time.


At this stage, be sure to insert the ball joints into the sockets in the directions shown in the picture.
Without doing this you will cause the joint to snap (for FUD).


This also applies for assembling the KaBlammer. Insert as the directions indicate.

And there you have it! Go ahead and have fun!




Which material should I use?

This is a common question asked for models like these, and my advice is if you are experienced
in modelling and can be careful with fragile material, then go ahead with Frosted Ultra Detail.
The level of quality in FUD in simply too good to pass upon.

If you just want a nifty little figure to mess around with and you don't want to worry too much
about assembly and painting, then White Strong Flexible (or its dyed versions) is perfect. Even though
the model looks rough and fuzzy in the photos, remember that they are only 2 inches tall. If there's one
thing WSF wins FUD in, it's how sturdy the joints are. My FUD Thugmeister joints are somewhat floppy,
but the WSF Thug is as tight as day one.

Lastly, if anyone needs more information or just want to see the Thugmeister in action, why don't you
check out the most excellent review by CustomsbyZ? You can watch it here:

Customs By Z Presents the THUGMEISTER 1.5 by Fakebusker

And this is it! I'm really glad to have done this project and I hope you guys will enjoy the models as much
as me! Should you have questions, critiques, queries, hit me up on this thread and I'll do my best to assist!
Hugs!


- Ariel -


You can order them right here, specially on Shapeways!



The Thugmeister on Shapeways



The Thugmeister "Fierier" on Shapeways



Thugmeister KaBlammers on Shapeways



The Dejector on Shapeways



The Dejector "Mitmitie" on Shapeways


Flickr is here.