Hello everyone,
I have put this off for a while cause I never really liked Studio Series Ironhide over the DOTM Voyager custom I made, since I hate the under kibble and disliked the Bumper in robotmode.

Then @savio-prime came with a bumpermod and I did some fiddeling on my own so I bought one and decided to give it a go and repaint the guy.

First of I modded the bumper like Savio-prime did but used the legs from a Comander scale figure so I could make the the way I wanted and to give it a bit more filler (I like the mod but hate the empty bumper.)

So I cut the hinge to size, With a Dremel I removed the innerworks from the bumper and started cutting.
this is what I ended up with:

I used a 2 component epoxy to fit it all together and make it futureproof.

Then I went over to his heel-spurs and cut them off..

Before..

And After!

I did this so when Ironhide is in robotmode,We no longer have his heels on the back sticking out.
you can now see the wheels as on the model used for the filming.


next up is the inevitable paintjob..

 

Since I always do a complete respray, I cleaned the model with a degreaser, washed it with soapy water and then dryed him.
and Since I will be spraying paint on him fully, I only masked of the windows on Ironhide to keep those translucent.


And then it was to the spraybooth with a nice black gloss from Tamiya


After the 4th coat of black I allowed him to cure for an hour and removed the maskingtape, I then let him cure for a full day in a warm spot. (above a radiator)


I then was a bit to enthousiastic and I did aply the molotow chrome on him, Witch didn't last when I sprayed him with a clearcoat obviously.


I let it cure for a day and the next day, I transformed him and Painted his robotmode. It was a bit of a hassle since he is pinned together and I could not remove anything from his frame. So i masked all the vehicleparts off thatalready were painted.

This is Ironhide after the full body tan-job ;-)

Of course I also painted the black on his cannons to match:

 

Then came the gunmettal grey basecoat for his robotmode and a LOT of details in silver, Titanium, Gold and copper.


And then it was coating him with clear and then he really came to shine:

(sorry for the fingerprints)

 

I also made Ironhide a bedcover for the part that stays open, so it is a bit of partsforming.


As you can see I am getting close to finishing Ironhide.


All I need to finish is some slight touchups, a Polish and the rechroming and a waxcoat for him.

 

I think that this means he is done.. I will post pictures of his complete robotmode later, For now he needs to cure a while and then I can polish,buff and wax the altmode before transforming him to Ironhide mode.

What do you guys think?

 

Thanks Optimistic Prime

 

Thank you! he grew on me, at first I hated the bumper but it looks great like this.

 

How does it stand since you cut off his heels?

 

Actually it does not change that much in the stance, he is a little bit more wobbly since he stands on his wheels, but posing and stability are not at all compromised.
for me it is nothing more than a improvement.

 

Oh! I almost forgit since I started working on Ratchet..
Here is Ironhide in his his ro-bot-meuuuddeee


I do believe a lot of people prefer to see the robotmode over the Altmode.. For me they are both eually important!
How do you like?

 

This was an awesome custom. As always, great job!!  

 

thank you!