Hello, I am already working on a Leader class Ironhide and had some Junkers laying around. One of them was a black version of Bumblebee (human alliance) and also a oversized KO-Bumblebee from DOTM with a broken arm. Since Bee never was black (except the 1969 version) and the roof was broken, I decided to use his midsection and legs for Ironhide.. Then I looked at E-bay and found 2 junkers Yellow HA bee's for a bargain... So long story short, Human alliance Bumblebee Custom!! I will use parts of the black one with the yellow one and make a perfect HA-Bumblebee. What will I do? - use the yellow parts of the black Bumblebee on the yellow Bumblebee ( I will custom paint it but Yellow is a better base since it matches the car-body perfectly) - Improve the Feet (to long and therefore not acurate) - remove the bulky seats and add arm-(arm)our - remove the missile holders - remodel the gun to work with.. - another hand - Reverse the hip-part so the body panels will be movie-acurate - remove Human-alliance stuff that hinders look & Transformation - Find a way to compact back-kibble and preferably find a way to do a mod to the doors (to the middle) - Custom paint the darn thing. All 3 junkers together The yellow Bumblebee parts
First thing I did was replace the Gray Bumblebee parts with the yellow, As said before. I made the base model as yellow as possible (for repaint in the future) I also sliced down the B-pillar to sit flush in between the quarter-window and door-windows. once it was flush,I painted it flat black this also accentuated the quarter panel slightly more, making the car look better. While I had him apart I cut down the seat-bases and removed the missile-holders, and I added a second hand on witch I first removed the thumb and switched it over to the other side. then with the arms I decided to cut 2 mm of the arm to give the hand room to lay flush when the cannon was shown. Oh! and while I researched Bumblebee (statue and movie-pictures) I noticed HA bee's head was slightly to big, I opted to use the KO head and it looked much better. Once these items were done, I added the arm armour and that was the upper body for now.. I am still brooding over the doors.
On to his legs. I looked over several pictures of Bumblebee and when it came to his knee-protectors, (grey in the yellow Bumblebee) I noticed that they were yellow on the model.. So I swapped these out of course with the yellow knee pads from the Black Bumblebee (of course they are yellow on that mold) Now with Bee all yellowed up, arm-plate edges trimmed and new head installed it was time to sit back and look at what I had done.. Not to bad right? but still there was something sticking out like a sore toe.. that is right, his way to long feet kept bugging me senseless, they look horrible in robot-mode and stick out like ski's under the car in car-mode! When I looked if it was for stability, I placed him as far back possible on the table but it looked like he didn't need them.. so.. I unscrewed the feet, Then I cut of the toes right under the line And then looked at how much the feet should stick out This is the polystone prime Bee's foot. so.. So this should do it, I hollowed out a good portion of the foot and then used a good glue and a lot of patience to stick it under there so Bee can stand once more. First picture shows he doesn't need the toes for stability: done! and it helps in Vehicle mode as well! I will now start brooding on the doors for a bit.
I started painting today since I for now can not see a door-mod that would allow him to remain transformable. The base is gunmetal grey metallic and once he is dry I will add bronze and aluminium to resemble his (prime1 studio) statue. I will paint him as true to that statue as possible. His head is off to get a coat of paint as well. here is he painted with his base colour So, what do you guys think this far?
Oh my holy friggin goodness that is pure awesomeness!!!! Love what you have done and can not wait to see him finished.
He is getting there, Just 3 more colours to add and then I will detail the car to match the studio vehicle and then it is back to Ironhide Thanks, it was one of the things that disturbed me most on this awesome figure
I need to get the correct yellow, but for now he is 90% finished. here he is with my other HA's I will get back to the doors and look for a way to mod them and I will give you guys a proper shoot once I have the correct colour yellow for his hands and helmet.
Ok, I am still working on modding the doors but this will take a while and I am eager to finish Ironhide first so I don't loose any parts of him. (working-things-out-as-I-go-tread here: Customs: - Leader class Ironhide Kibble mod? ) For now a selection of pictures of Bee with some of my other custom-painted HA figures. I ho[pe you all have enjoyed the mini-build tread for now as I know I have had fun building him.. Please leave comments or remarks if you have any or you have an idea regarding the doors kind regards, Erwin
