My first transformer was Ironhide. I got him in 85 and I never liked him. Reason being, where the hell is his head? Recently I disovered that a few folks are making a head for Ironhide so I decided to restore the old guy. Here is a video that shows his old state.

G1 transformers ironhide | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Since his plastic was faded and showing a good deal of stress areas, I decided to make him a black diaclone. I used Tamiya black paint with a grey Tamiya primer. The paint is like steel and he transforms without problem. All joins were stiffened up and he is like a new transformer. Decals are from reprolabels and yes I know the rub sign does not belong on him. Don't really care, I like it. Built him over a rainy weekend since I could not go out and work on the full size cars. Enjoy!

More images can be found here:

Transformers - a set on Flickr

 

This looks great. What paints are you using for the diecast parts, what's your experience been with them, and how are they holding up thus far?

 

Ditto for me.

Nice job on the restore.

 

Thanks guys. The die cast parts were done with Testors paint. I heated the metal in the oven to about 150 degrees and then heated automotive primer (careful here, it can explode so just use hot water) and then sprayed 3 very light coats. The paint will not chip and he has been transformed about 10 times so far with no sticking or scratching. I will not lie and say I don’t take special care when I transform him but since he is not going to be played with any more, the strength is sufficient to be parked on a shelf and transformed from time to time. My experience with Testors paint is that over time it becomes steel but the first few months, it is very weak and soft. I was just happy they matched. I am thrilled at the outcome as before he was a catastrophe.

 

Nice work. I would seal the whole thing just to be safe.

 

Thank you. Do you mean seal it with a clear? I did shoot it with a semi-gloss Testors and Tamiya, respectively. It was to shinny to look real prior to that.

 

You used acrylics or enamels?

 

Nice. But I'd rather buy the Encore Black Ironhide (Trust me, TakaraTomy made those during the release of Encore Ironhide) and a Diaclone driver from TransRepro.

 

Nice! I have done a yellow trailbreaker, a black skids and a red hoist , also a blue hoist (with a blue diakron trailbreaker) I am waiting for the reprolabels to how the gallery, keep the good work!

 

TransRepro hasn't been active for years now. I hope you're not waiting on parts or planning another order.

Darkov may make them, but I'm not sure.

 

Diaclone drivers? Talk to me buddy....

here is the link:

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/commi...-real-repro-diaclone-drivers-cast-demand.html

here is a picture of mine with the proper REPRO driver casted by myself.

 

Thanks you guys.

Superquad7 - I think Tamiya paint is a lacquer and Testors is enamel.

WheeljackDude - I didn't want the repop as my takare repop Ratchets are of very poor quality. This guy came out near perfect and was the best thing to do with a trashed old Ironhide. You can see the video I made on youtube comparing the Originals VS the Repops on the first post of this thread.

convoymagnus - thank you very much. Means a lot coming from someone with your abilities (those Diaclone drivers are awesome).