OK then ive drilled a hole into the arm and put the magnet in. luckily the drill bit was exactly the same size as the magnet so it was a nice tight fit and i didnt need glue. and the paint has covered it nicely, you can hardly see it. and the wheel goes on nice and easy also at the start i cut off the 2 little machine guns on the front of the stand thinking i could use them for something. well i also had a small piece i cut off the arm (y'know the piece that covers the hand in robot mode?) and glued them together. then glued part of a paper clip underneith so it can be attached to the magnet. and so it now has an interchangable weapon cool eh? well all i have to do now is spray the base silver and touch up the smuged edges. so hopefully i will have finished pics up tonight. or if not tomorrow. see you later
It's looking good. That shade of purple you used I'm betting will be quite similar to what Hasbro's is gonna be on Chromia. nice job man.
and finally we have the finished product. ladies and gents i present Elita-1. i can also attach the gun to the magnet on the side i stuck a small strip of plastic in the middle of the base so the 1 remaining wheel would fit in nice a nightly, then sprayed the whole thing silver. so is it great or brilliant?
I think you did a better job than we'll get from Hasbro. Awesome work. Simply awesome. I'm really looking forward to any new custom work from you!
looks great!!! my only gripes are minor details, which I'll just fill in on my Elita- the murderhand that goes with the arm wheel, the one spike on her leg wheel... and I think I'm gonna go ahead and order that cybertronian glyph sticker set from Reprolabels. But that's just me, otherwise your custom looks fantastic!!! but you need to move the finished pics to the 1st page of this thread, let everyone see its finished in the thumbnail!
Very nice, the only thing I would change is to give her the handlebars behind the head thing, but in hindsight that'd be really hard to pull-off.
Can you please post a detailed tutorial on how you made this figure? I so want do do the same to my own ROTF Arcee!!!
ye if i could put the whole front of the bike behind her head i would but that would take a lot more modification. and im not quite that skilled yet. the only parts im a little disapointed in are the symbols which i painted on wit a brush. if i do a second coat over them they might look a little better. the '3f' design is from the artwork and was painted on the actual bike, and the symbol on the other side says 'E1' which i came up with my self. the other thing is the stand. im glad the strip of plastic wiorked but the figure does tend to fall back if it isnt leaned forward enough. but apart from that im well pleased with it thanks for all your comments
Man, what a success! She really does look great, paint scheme and everything. I'd pay money for a figure like this.
Indeed. We must see a combination. But you may want to add a few protective paint layers before manhandling Elita-1 too much (definitely gonna scratch the paint without some extra gloss on top).
So here is my guide to make your own Elita-1 from Arcee. Remember though it is your custom after all so you can make whatever changes you want. You don’t have to follow it to the letter. You will need.. * An Arcee figure •1 rare earth magnet •Drill bit (same thickness as magnet) •Something to the remove pins •Tiny screwdriver •Hacksaw •Pliers •File •Paints (I recommend Tamiya paint) •Masking tape •Isopropyl alcohol To start off you can either begin with the modifications or the paint. If you want to start with the paint go further down for the instructions, but don’t start painting the wheel section or the left arm until the end. These are the 2 areas you will be modifying, if you paint it purple now and cut into it later you will see the red inside and need to paint over it again. First of all you will need to dismantle as much of the figure as possible. You will need a tiny Philips (cross head) screw driver to remove the screws. Then remove the pins that hold the rest of the parts together. I think there are tools especially for this, but I used the tiny screw driver and a hammer to gently tap them out a little then pull them the rest of the way out with a pair of pliers. Although it would probably be best to use the proper tools in case you break the screw driver. Be aware that some of the pins are very difficult to remove, and some of them you might not be able to get out at all. In this case you will just have to cover one part with masking tape while you paint the part it is stuck too. Keep all the screws and pins safe for later on and make sure you remember where each one goes on the figure. I’ll leave that to you. Next take the main part of the wheel section and cut the front wheel arch off as shown bellow. Then file the ends where you just cut it to make it smooth. It might be difficult to remove both the wheels as you can't tap the pins out from the other side. But if you use the screwdriver as a sort of crowbar you can gently prise it off. But do it gently from all sides or you will warp the plastic. Now my original plan was going to be to drill into the part where you just cut the wheel arch from and put a magnet in there. Then put a tiny screw into the top of the wheel arch which will allow the wheel to be reattached in vehicle mode. However, the brake disc on the other side has a small pin in it that plugs into the side of the wheel arch. This turned out to be tight enough to hold the entire wheel in place without a magnet. So see if this will work on your figure, if not then you will have to try the magnet option. Next take the left arm (again you probably won't be able to remove the arm because of the pin) and get a drill and a drill bit that is the same thickness as the magnet. Drill thought the panel attached then slot the magnet in the hole. If the drill bit is the right size then it will be a nice tight fit, but if it does turn out to be loose just use some super glue. I also cut a small piece of the arm off here. When you transform the figure this part of the panel covers the hand so I cut it off and kept it later for the gun I made. Of course it's not all that important so you can skip it. Painting Now it's time to paint. You still need to modify the base but leave that till last as you need to reassemble the figure. As I said above you can start painting from the beginning if you like. First use the isopropyl alcohol to remove the existing paint. It might be best to soak the parts first as the paint apps are quite tough on arcee. Rub with some cotton wool or a cloth then once they are removed you can start. If you are going to be painting a part with 2 colours remember to use masking tape. So for example if you want to spray a part silver and purple, spray the whole thing purple, cover the parts that will stay purple with masking tape then spray the silver on. The paint I recommend using is called tamiya paint. You can buy them from modelling shops, online or even from eBay. I recommend these because they dry well and don’t scratch off easily. When using them only spray a thin coat on then leave it to dry for an hour or 2. If you put it on too thick it will dry soft and scrape off easily, so do about 3 thin coats. They dry better at room temperature so if you are doing this during cold weather bring them in the house to dry, but leave them by a window or vent so your not breathing in the fumes. Once that’s done you can paint the cybertronian symbols on or you could buy some reprolabels. The base The next step is to reassemble the figure. I think it's best to reassemble the figure before you make the base as it will help you to see if the figure will fall back or forward. When you push the pins back in you will probably need to use some pliers or maybe a vice, so put some paper in between the vice/priers and the parts otherwise the grip will mark or scratch the paint away Before you start on the base you might remember the small gun accessory I made. I used the small machine guns off the base. If you want to make this gun for yourself cut them off before you begin to customise it. For the base put the wheel she is going to stand on in the base and try and hold it against the side. Then mark the front and the back. Use whatever you want but I used a craft knife to make a small groove. Then you will need a strong strip of plastic to put inside the base. Cut it to size and put it where you have made the marking, then put the wheel in to see if it makes a nice fit. This can be really fiddly, so be patient. If anything it might be better to make the gap for the wheel smaller. This might make an even tighter fit. When you think you have the right position glue the strip in. The hole slopes inwards inside the base so try and push it down. This will wedge it in slightly as well as being held in by the glue. If the figure is still not quite balanced the put something on the back to prop it up. Then once you’re happy paint it. Gun accessory So to make the gun that can be interchanged with the wheel on the arm you will need the 2 machine guns you cut off the base and a paper clip. I also used the piece of plastic I cut of the arm earlier just to make it a bit fancier. I glued the guns together with the plastic in the middle and just to glue it firmer together I used the pliers. When it dried I squashed up part of a paper clip and glued it underneath. This is what will make it stick to the magnet. And there you have it. Hope this guide was helpful and I look forward to seeing your own custom Elita-1’s. any problems just let me know. and as for combining them, i havent got a sodding clue
