Howdy all! A while ago I bough a second Swoop figure from the Transformers Animated line, as my first one's head was getting way too lose (i.e. popping off whenever I so much as touched it). I hated to let the old Swoop go to waste, though, and my other acquisition at the time was an activators Grimlock figure. So I decided to do a little kitbash with them to make my own Transformers Animated version of Dinobot from Beast Wars. This is my first kitbash ever and I didn't use any professional materials to do it, but I thought it came out rather well and decided to share it with you all. I based its hands/velociraptor feet off of Cyber-Kun's Dinobot design: http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-fan-art/225827-tfa-dinobot.html
Thanks! I'll try to post some size comparison pics (hopefully with better lighting) some time tomorrow.
Welcome, and its looking awsome so far! i cannot wait to see the completed version, Dinobot always been my favorite Character in BW. Good Luck
The beast-mode looks unmistakably like Dinobot. Robot mode, not so much. But that doesn't matter since you made this from spare stuffs as opposed to going out of your way to plan this specificly. Like Stratonrye, i also am curious how you made him.
Better pics are up. I still have some more work I'd like to do with this guy, including modifying his head to look more like Dinobot's helmet and giving him some paint so he looks less... well, made from spare parts. Do you think I should go with a color scheme based off of his original form, the transmetal 2 dinobot clone (who he sorta resmbles more, what with his feral, simian posture), or the TFA dinobots' color scheme?
I really like the new pictures. They show off your clever work a lot better. I, personally, think you should try to stick with his original color scheme. I really like Cyber-Kun's ani. Dinobot pics and cool backstory, but (no offensive) I don't really like the color scheme he chose if that's what you mean by TFA Dinobot. The original tanish, dark brown, copper, blue, etc. color scheme to me just says DINOBOT to me. TM2 Dinobot just wasn't ever the really Dinobot to me. (Although I think part of his spirit or personality lingered in the form, especially in the final episode.) So if you are going to make a TFA Dinobot you might as well maketh Dinobot we all know and love. Oh, and you still haven't explained more on how you made him. Please do so as soon a possible. Thanks!
I'm very fond of the original color scheme myself (Dinobot is my all time favorite transformer, although Grimlock and Soundwave are close seconds). I think I'll probably use it then, provided my local hobby store has the right colored paints. As for how I made him: First I basically sawed my activator Grimlock in half, removing the T.rex torso kibble from the rest of the figure. I also removed his robot mode legs and put the robot mode's thighs in the middle of the dinosaur mode's legs to make them longer. I then used some Cayola air dry clay (I told you this is a rather unprofessional kitbash) to make the legs look more muscular as well as build large velociraptor feet over the dinosaur mode feet. I them removed Swoop's arms, using the upper arm piece to make Swoop's legs long. I also removed his wing pieces. After that I hot glued (again, unprofessional) the Tail and robot mode torso of activator Grimlock onto the back plate that once held Swoop's wings (the same plate holds the robot and dinosaur mode together). As luck would have it, when the plate holds the robot mode together,it moves the legs up the body, which allowed me to recreate Dinobot's classic "dinosaur legs become robot arms" transformation. The length of Swoop's robot mode legs also allowed them to snake around Swoop's body in dinosaur mode, allowing them to become velociraptor arms in beast mode (a la Dinobot 2's transformation). From there I glued the dinosaur mode torso from activator Grimlock onto the part of Swoop's pterosaur mode head, using some more air dry clay to fill up the gaps so it would be less likely to fall off. From there I used some foam rubber to make a larger tail, which I glued over the Grimlock tail, a Velociraptor upper jaw that I glued onto Grimlock's neck (and over his upper jaw, allowing the lower jaw to still be used as such), and a piece to cover the exposed Grimlock robot mode torso on the dinosaur mode's back. I also had an activator's starscream lying around, so I took his shoulder plates and glued them to Swoop's now armless shoulders, allowing Dinobot to have Samurai-ish shoulder pads in robot mode. I also tried to give Samurai inspired plates to his robot mode legs so they didn't look so scrawny, but they made transformation too difficult. All in all I'm kinda pleased how well he turned out. The transformation is similar to both the beast mode incarnations, with the "beast mode legs to robot mode arms" and "head to chest" (well, his head is really more of his crotch, but still) of both Dinobot 1 and 2, along with the "beast mode arms to robot legs" of Dinobot 2. I only wish I could make those legs less awkward looking (although Dinobot 2's legs looked rather awkward - at least on his toy), but still. So expect a modded head and a new paint scheme... eventually.
thats amazing for spar part... i may just have to pick an extra swoop and activators grimlcok to try this... my swoops head suffers from the same loose neck joint edit- while looking around the internet i found an amazing drawing by Sajira on deviant art here check out some of the other stuff, its amazing but maybe you could get an idea for the colours from this!
Oh wow, that's a wonderful adaptation of the original Dinobot's paint job. I may end up using it as a reference. Thank you!
Thanks for the detailed explanation man. Now I need to get all those figures. I didn't know Crayola made air dry clay. That's good to know. I have been known to use Model Magic for art projects in school, how good is this air dry clay? Is it sandable or anything?
Model Magic! I knew it had a name. I'm not sure whether sanding would work on it. I've mainly used it to flesh out parts of low budget stop motion armatures, such as to make a lightweight t.rex skull to drape the rubber skin over. I'd say there's about a 50/50 chance of it work, as sometimes it break cleanly and other times it breaks in clumps. You could always take out a small lump, let it dry, and then try to sand it to see if it's work. Other than that, I'd suggest it if you're not too concerned with it looking professional. It's lightweight, relatively inexpensive, molds very easily, and doesn't break too easily - you either have to try to break it, or have a very bad accident.
I thought you meant that you used "Crayola Air-Dry Clay." After you responded I looked it up on crayola.com and Crayola actually makes an air dry clay now too in addition to model magic. I'll probably just use mighty putty. It seems like it is almost as good as green stuff but a fraction of the cost. I was just curious about specifically the "Crayola Air-Dry Clay" for other uses. I might try sanding some model magic just because now though.
