Well, after building little Revenge of the Fallen Wheelie a small drum to drum out his surrender I wanted to move up to something more challenging and grander. I don't think I disappointed myself when I finished something like this.... I present to you, without further ado, all across the country from Sometown, USA... Sir MIXMASTER Alot! More photos here: Transformers - Completed pictures by My03Tundra - Photobucket This "scratch" built project has been a very long, and challenging build. The first part in the whole build process were the two turn tables (no microphone at this point) or the deck. I started with drawing out a template on graphing paper, taping it to the FRONT of the graphing paper's binder (poster-board type material) and cutting it out. After cutting it out, I then began on using my Sharpie markers to paint in some of the details. I initially wasn't going to do a wood grain, but more of a solid black look. After having a few errors/mistakes in the process I decided on doing a wood grain look and masked off the top and top edges so nothing would get on there. After doing that, I then painted the top silver and UNDERNEATH the records I painted them silver. Yes, that is right. There isn't a photo of this but I did take some video I plan on linking here soon enough. To give the deck it's own subtle look, I added some semi-transparent scotch tape over it and to also add as a clearcoat too. The control panel for the turntable is made from styrofoam from a drinking cup. The little LCD type screen is made from poster-board as is the top right control panel to give it a SMALL amount of depth. Because of the position of the records and how I had to mount the control panel I had to extend out the overall length of it by adding a couple of layered pieces of styrofoam to the front/back (towards Mixmaster) to give the control panel some extra durability and stability. The next hard part and decision was what I was going to mount the turntable too... I first started off with a VERY rough looking table I eventually scrapped and after building a second one I decided on the whole old stereo system look from the 70s and 80s. I first built the side towers gluing them onto the middle table, then built up on them from there. The actual speaker parts were made from, no surprise, styrofoam from cups! The trim around the speakers was made from the same material with the exception of two places (including the gold trim near the deck) where I used swizel sticks. The records on the deck were made from posterboard, meant to be removed and the arms move too! After having it all assembled I then started off with the painting process which (after learning on the deck) I went slowly on. I masked off around the speakers on the top and sides and used a black sharpie and a black enamel marker to paint the front portions. The rest of the speakers were then subjected to the rest of the painting process. After having everything glued down and held on with a bit of spit and luck I SANDED the paperboard/posterboard material and after brushing off the dust I then brushed on my glue (it is a brush on super-glue) to give the wood a bit more texture. After that, it was a matter of using a brown sharpie in various levels of pressure and position to make the grain look and to finally cover it with my brush on super glue. Now, the brush on super glue works WONDERFULLY as it is easier to control, generally less messy, and provides some really cool and even surprising results. The downside is that even after the ink/paint has dried I have to be careful as the glue will make it darker AND make it run. This happened a bit on the turntable. The final steps were to put the two together, add the gold trim, and make the headphones and microphone. The microphone was made from a piece of swizel stick, some styrofoam, and a bit of twistie tie the Transformers packaging! I painted the head silver and the handle black and added tape to the handle for grip strength. The headphones, by far, are one of my favorite parts. I was stuck on thinking how I was going to make them when it hit me. I took a piece of the twistie tie, put it inside a swizel stick and I could then bend and position it. After positioning it I sandwiched either end with a piece of posterboard, styrofoam, posterboard, and a final outside piece to give them more realism. They were originally made to fit a Deluxe class figure's head, so it took a bit of finagling for Mixmaster to wear them but he does! Oh, I also used some gold and silver markers to touchup Mixmaster's head quite a bit to help his appearance a bit more, IMHO. The end result, which I'm proud to say, ended up being Sir MIXMASTER Alot. It should be noted that he likes chrome bumpers and cannot lie.
This reminds me of Cinemastique's signature. This is really cool (BTW, you need to attach all of your images to your thread, bud )
I love it. I wanted to do something similar for my Ani. Soundwave, but scrapped the idea awhile back. I got lots of friends who are DJ's, and I can't wait to show them this. I'm sure they'll get a kick out of it! You should hook it up to an mp3 player for some extra real-ness.
Oh, I forgot to mention. I cut a small notch on the bottom of each tower just so one could put small speakers under the towers. I need to make a video of it, and show it off.
Ha! Just look at him mixin' & scratchin! Rippin up wax! That's awesome, love it! ..."but then came remixes....scratching and cuts, which was too much for many, drove some djs nuts!"
Here is a YouTube video breakdown of how I made the system. YouTube - Custom built DJ sound system for Transformers Figures
