Minor/Repaint: "Looks are always deceiving" - Arcee

Discussion in 'Radicons Customs' started by kryptofred, Mar 6, 2012.

  1. kryptofred

    kryptofred super-con

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    Here's my attempt to fill a hole in my alternators collection. She's made from a Human Alliance Jazz with arms from Alt. Skids and a head mod'ed from one I got from Kidbash a few years ago. The doors are the only other mod I made, they now attach to the dashboard and swivle up in bot mode. The idea was to mimick the "thrusters-on-back" look from her classic look. While she didn't end up looking quite as feminine as I had hoped I think she does look diffrent enough from the normal Alternator look to get the idea across.

    EDIT 3/12/12

    Finished work on the new neck and wanted to show some new pics with the altered thighs. I think those changes really help to sell the female aspect of the figure and show off the diffrences between her and her male counterparts.

    I've still got to go back and touch up some paint spots that came from me reworking some stuff but thought I'd put her up here first in case there are any other ideas for improvement.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

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    He she is with her season 3 boyfriend

    [​IMG]

    And one with Alternators Jazz, just seemed appropriate somehow

    [​IMG]

    And one to show how she stands up to Classics, Alternators and MPs

    [​IMG]

    Comments are welcome, let me know what you think!

    There are also pics of the arm and door mods on page 2.
     

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  2. Bern

    Bern Pathetic fools!

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    Nice headlights [​IMG]
     
  3. kryptofred

    kryptofred super-con

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    Here are a few fun ones that I call "the many loves of Arcee!"

    You probably just didn't understand the situation
    [​IMG]

    I got better thing to do tonight...
    [​IMG]

    One shall win, One shall lose
    [​IMG]

    Ah well, at least I got the matrix.
    [​IMG]

    One for the G.I. Joe crossover fans
    [​IMG]

    and not really a love story but heres IDW's match
    [​IMG]
     

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  4. UltraMagnus2008

    UltraMagnus2008 Autobot

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    The head looks a little too much like Jetfires, but good job otherwise :) 
     
  5. primeone

    primeone PRIME

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    in robot mode her chest looks like a creepy fisher price phones face nice job other than that
     
  6. Shatterpoint

    Shatterpoint Neato

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    I think some paint on the lips would help fix the "not very feminine" problem.

    Other than that I think it looks great. :thumb 
     
  7. kryptofred

    kryptofred super-con

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    Well I'll be damned. I never saw it but your kinda right. And thanks.

    Man! Some things you just can't unsee! Thanks though, glad you like it.

    I tried that acctually but those are small lips. I'm not sure if it's my unsteady hand or if the mouth is too big but it just looked too clownish.

    Thanks for the input though and I'm glad you like her.
     
  8. SMOG

    SMOG Vocabchampion ArgueTitan

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    Red lips never work on robots. It doesn't work for IDW's new Arcee, and I don't think it'll work here... it always ends up looking like some kind of drag queen overcompensating or something.

    This is a really nice custom... I'm thinking that maybe a longer neck would help with the "feminine form" issue, just because at the moment, her head is sort of sunken into her shoulders, so it looks a bit less graceful for a fembot. And how would the thigh fenders look rotated to the sides of the legs? It might suggest a slimmer line.

    I have a spare Jazz... hmmmm. It's a great mold, and deserves to have something like this done with it. :thumb 

    zmog
     
  9. jru42287

    jru42287 Ass Möde is a way of life.

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    Are her high beams on, or is she just happy to see me?
     
  10. kryptofred

    kryptofred super-con

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    I took some suggestions under advisement and made some minor changes.

    First I rotated the thigh panels out. Originally I thought the panels would add to the shape of the figure, giving her wider hips (hope I'm not sounding to sexist - lol) but I agree they seemed to be bulking up the overall silhouette.

    Second I gave her a bit more neck. I still need to flesh it out a bit to blend it in but I think it does help to "girl up" the head.

    Thanks Smog, you've got a good eye for detail and really seem to know the feminine form. :thumb  :lol 

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

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    and one for a comparison
    [​IMG]

    I gotta say, with the panels turned the white on her back makes the pink and black of her waist/hip area look female. Especially compaired to a masculine figure like Hot Rod. (even a mis-transformed one :redface2:  )
     

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  11. SMOG

    SMOG Vocabchampion ArgueTitan

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    Hey, it worked! Cool! :D 

    I totally could see what you were going for with the skirt armour on the legs, but it does look more curvy and graceful now with that kibble rotated to the side... it works quite well with the colours you added. I like the way the overall effect is slightly "feminine", but doesn't necessarily look wildly girly. It has an androgynous look that makes sense for giant robots.

    Have you experimented with an even longer neck, one that is not just a joint, but has some shape (maybe painted white too)? Just curious if it could go further (though of course that would make her even taller).

    I'm amazed that you made those adjustments so quickly! You don't waste time! :thumb 

    zmog
     
  12. plowking

    plowking I'm with ErechOveraker. Veteran

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    Very nice. I agree with Smog too on the neck and hip panels....she does look better now.

    Loving the arm and door mod too....how hard was it to pull that off if you don't mind me asking?
     
  13. kryptofred

    kryptofred super-con

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    Well rotating the leg armor is part of the transformation. The head is just sitting on a long post right now, it's not even glued on yet, so it'd be easy to extend it further but too much more and it won't fit the transformation. I am gonna better blend the neck and make it part of the head but come on, it's only been 18 hours man! :D 
     
  14. SMOG

    SMOG Vocabchampion ArgueTitan

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    Haha! I know I know! I'm impressed!

    But let me also say that I too am very impressed with the door mod, and the addition of the new arms. Great job on that... I forgot to mention it earlier! :D 

    zmog
     
  15. Warpshard

    Warpshard Well-Known Member

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    I see optimus's head in pink on her crotch-piece.
     
  16. kryptofred

    kryptofred super-con

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    I agree with him too! I'd've probably tried moving the leg armor on my own but I never would have thought the neck would make that big a diffrence! I guess that's one of the advantages of sharing our work here.

    The arms aren't too hard. I probably got lucky that I happened to have an Alt Skids laying around because those arms were the perfect size and had an upeer arm joint just where I needed one. And removing the old arms was a cinch, then its a matter of careful cutting and fitting. If you do it just right the hardware can connect without any screws or glue or anything. infact that's all that's holding mine together now, and I can hold her up by one arm without fear of it falling or breaking. I'll take a pic and show you if you want.

    The doors are ridiculously simple but for some reason it took me 6 weeks of trying diffrent things to come up with it. once you strip the doors down of there original kibble just attach a post to them (I used Lego peices because I had a bunch handy and Milliput) and drill into the dash board at and angle to avoid the screws. they slide in and out easily and friction hold them in place.

    Thanks for looking and commenting! Glad you like her.

    Thanks again! Like I said above it was part luck and part careful planning and cutting but I am really happy with those two changes as well.

    I have no response to this. Except that I do not see what you see.
     
  17. SMOG

    SMOG Vocabchampion ArgueTitan

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    Whenever you get a chance, I'd love to see some detail shots of what you did to the arms and doors. :D 

    zmog
     
  18. kryptofred

    kryptofred super-con

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    I put some new pics with the new neck and thighs in the first post, a more complete figure but now,because almost two people asked for it, here's my arm and door mod!

    The arm and door mods I made are not terribly hard to do but there is some careful planning involved to get the best fit. I'll start with the arms which came from Alternator Skids

    I happened to have an unmodded Skids in my collection so here's a before-and-after view:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    I ground the outsides of the fore arms down some to get a more rounded/less beefed up look then filed in a new line to keep some of the charactor. The important part is the upper arm, though, as that's what fits into the Jazz figure. You have to cut very close to the screw holes but not into them.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    I don't have another HA Jazz to compare to but the red lines on the two above show what needs to be cut away to make the parts fit cleanly. You can see in the second picture that the white outer part of the shoulder (the under part in the picture) sticks out further than the black inner part. This helps to keep the fittings straigh and hold everything in line.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    snap, click, everything is flush and tight and straight. So much so that if you do it just right, without any glue or screws or anything you can do this without fear:

    [​IMG]

    TA-DAA!

    The door are much simpler but you do still need to be careful.

    [​IMG]

    I ground and sanded everything but the hing down on the inside of the door to make room for the arm in car mode then used some Milli-put to attach a post (I used lego pieces but whatever) at a small angle

    [​IMG]

    Here you see the bigger circle shows the two screw posts you need to keep in tact, the inner circle is the area you need to fit your drill bit into. On the right you see what it looks like assembled.

    [​IMG]

    There's not a lot of room in there but there is enough you just gotta get the angles right and your posts sized correctly.
     

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  19. Rumble02

    Rumble02 Radicon of Obliticons

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    Dang. I love this
     
  20. kryptofred

    kryptofred super-con

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    Thanks man! And thanks for looking.