Having just scored a G1 Doubledealer for damn good price on ebay I felt compelled to give him the "Animated" treatment. He is my favourite toy from my childhood days after all. I haven't put too much thought into the vehicle- and falcon modes yet, so things like the birdclaws on his elbow were more of an afterthought while I was drawing him.
May i suggest giving DoubleDealer the TFA Shockwave/Longarm treatment, make your original image his Con form, but then give him a autobot form that hides his bird parts and makes him look more autobot-y.
He looks determined.. like he's out for revenge after being so heavily knocked off over these past 20 something years.
I second Rattimus' idea of keeping his robot and falcon modes distinctly seperate, retaining the purity (well, however 'pure' such practices can be deemed) of his double dealing ways, but otherwise thats a superb rendition of on of the very best G1 toys.
Is it the wings that are visible in the robot mode that are bothering you? Because the reason I included them is the fact that back when I owned the toy as a child I thought it was totally awesome that you could unfold his wings in robot mode - even though that meant you couldn't push his shoulders back all the way. I thought it looked wicked cool, kinda like a robotic death angel.
i was just suggesting giving him a slightly altered Autobot mode, i like the wings and they work good for his con mode, but since his missile launcher is his Autobot form and his falcon is his decepticon form maybe you could make robot forms that emphasize each form for each faction. Your original image has some bird parts out and he looks tall and deadly, meanwhile his Autobot form could tuck the bird parts away and make him shorter and stockier, just an idea though.
They don't 'bother' me - as you say its a cool look, but in my mind what really makes DD awesome is the fact that his Autobot and Decepticon modes hide each other so well, with each having distinctive parts (like the wings) which are well disguised when not in use. If I could draw like that, I'd have REALLY hammered home that quality by making his robot face look as noble as possible by using light colours with a square jaw and chin cleft, but then also given him shifty eyes telling you he's hiding something...
Ok, now I see what you mean. When I was drawing him I didn't put nearly as much thought into the design as you two did. I was mostly concerned with fitting a G1 toy into the TFA design aesthetic, since I had never done a drawing in that particular style. But I like your suggestions, I guess I'll have to sit down and try using the full potential of that character. I just finished another DD piece, and because I was already done with it by the time I read your comments I tried to put at least a hint of his double-dealing nature into it by adding the Autobot logo that's partially peeled off to reveal the Decepticon logo. Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it.
I love it. Doubledealer is one of my favorite characters. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with the ideas others provided in this thread. I'm sure it will be great! - Alty
Well, i just now looked up DoubleDealer, and he seems like a pretty bad dude, in either mode XD. But going off the aesthetic purely, the basic structure is very animated: the stancce, the physique, the characteristic pieces and obvious homages. However the lines in the main chasiss are a little to continous and organic. I suggest making more corners (not 90 degress, just points of intersection) and looking at some other TF:A legs to see how the upper legs are constructed. On the point of the wings: I love them, and the truck legs are still cool, however i agree with the others in terms of making the autobot and the decepticon versions different and try to hide as much of either mode, except when he's switching between the two. But this is a great piece of art on its own, if you want to make it animated though, you need to tweak it.
animated had its own style and I think you have complimented this style very well. I like the angel of death idea a lot i can see him being a deranged autobot that got experimented on and now thinks hes the angel of death. (Now i want to see an episode with him and deadend. Im just saying it could be funny)
Today this beauty finally arrived: That's 30 bucks well spent. So gave the TFA style Doubledealer another try. Thanks for the helpful suggestions on that: Also, I started coloring the 'regular' DD drawing, but thatIs a real pain without a graphic tablet.....