For reference (these two links show the progress I made a year ago on this, before shelving it for a while)--shifted the project to Heavy/Scratch since I'm doing a lot more work to it than before:

Universe Jazz - WIP

Universe Jazz - WIP [Round 2]

Well, it's been almost a year since I've done anything to this sucker--it was sitting in a box for MONTHS, before ever pulling it out and thinking things over with the shin guard/hinge thing. I've been keeping tabs over at Sector70 on Wheel_Jack's Jazz re-shell and it got me motivated to finish this sucker up. I started night before last and finally worked out a nice hinge system for the shins based on a test that Radicons member "spoonman" did using Energon Downshift's leg/shin hinges (so credit to him for trying this out and giving me the idea to go with--thanks, man!). I never saw if he finished his with the new shin guards, but from the looks of it, he had the hinge a little too far in and the second hinge would have overlapped the other and it wouldn't transform correctly (at least that's how it looked from the image). I fixed that by shaving down just enough of the hinges to allow them to function correctly and still allow transformation. Now I'm trying to work on getting some sort of feet or small notch to work with the transformation and hinges.

If you look back at the other pictures in this thread, you'll see what I had previously done--well since then, as of about 2 days ago, I decided to rip the old styrene strips off and completely rebuild the front with styrene to resemble the G1 styled front end. I'm not done with it yet and I plan to drill out some larger headlights (the holes in the front) since they look kinda small. I plan to fill the gaps with Procreate putty and sand it smooth a bit. After that, the paint. I've also changed the transformation of the doors a bit--just moved them up and folded them behing the back/head. I had already cut the pieces for the car's front end a year ago and I've now glued them in place and painted over the original lights (to help me get a better feel for Jazz without staring at the clear plastic. The feet you see in the pics probably won't be staying (not enough clearance room--I took the screw out of the middle of each lower leg and cut out the plastic piece it was screwed into--this allows for the legs to fold in a little deeper and the shin guards/hinge to fold flush in alt mode. I'll toss some alt mode pics up soon once I finish a bit more here and let some glue dry.

Enjoy!

 

awesome. Probaly next year i'll try to make mine again.

 

Woah! that is awesome bro! can't wait to see it with decals. keep it up!

 

That looks great!

 

Thanks! And yes, you should--I'd like to see it, man.

Thanks, man! Glad you like it.

Thanks, Solrac!

 

I'm not a huge fan of having wip projects becoming fine wine, but I've also found that with some of them I have and continually work on the time spent is still sweet versus bittersweet. It's especially nice when things come together when this happens.

I think I can say the same for your piece here. I think you're doing an excellent job on it, and I commend you on simply not rushing it for whatever reasons. Keep up the good work, bud  

 

dang, that's looking awesome

 

Cool, I love looking at these sorts of projects.

 

I didn't think anyone had used a hinge system but myself. color myself educated I guess.

 

LOL--yes, I do have a tendency to let my work get away from me (I do have good reasons though--my fiancee's father has cancer so we're here helping out with whatever we can, including taking him to chemo). So I really don't get as much time to devote to the hobby like I'd like to, but I gotta go with the more important things first, then the fun/hobby stuff second. I still tend to start too many projects at once, but when an idea hits me, I need to hit it there and then. I also do like you said, man--I try not to rush anything and just let it come, no matter how long it takes to complete it. I'm not in some race to be first to drop a custom of anything in particular, so I just have fun and enjoy what I do. It actually keeps me grounded with all the stuff I deal with. Thanks for the support, Allen--I appreciate it.

Thanks, man--I think so also. Looks much better than the WIP I did a year ago (at least in my opinion).

Thanks--glad you like it, bro!

Thanks, fateastray--I do too. I really enjoy kicking back and seeing all the cool projects everyone comes up with. I just need to find the time to comment more than I get to (you do good work, man).

 

Hearing you talk about your hinge system and how there was a way to do it had me thinking a lot about it, Andy (it also inspired me to actually try to come up with something for this). I was all set to actually try and build one from scratch, but I had a junker Energon Downshift and once I saw spoonman's try with those leg hinges, I had to try it out. They ended up working great. I don't recall if he ever finished his thread about the mod, but I know he did a Jazz custom and was trying to figure out the shin guard deal. Once he did, it gave me the idea to give it a go. I know your hinge system looks much sleeker than this, so I can't wait to see yours finished up, man.

Here's a link to his thread: Classics Jazz Update! BREAKTHROUGH!

 

aww hell, I posted in that thread   arrrgh  

Annnnnnyway,   I don't know about sleeker, but mine are certainly smaller (and on the outside, on that thin place inside the wheel wells. Mine also fold in half, to keep from hanging out the back in car mode, and still be good and tall in bot mode.

 

lol

I'm really looking forward to seeing yours, Andy. I saw that they fold in half and I'm interested in seeing how they'll work once you're done with it all. Now get busy.........on top of all things RADICONS.  

 

*Update--8/29/09

More updates--I'm still working on the front end with styrene and ProCreate putty, I filled in the holes in the roof (originally Prowl's with the screw holes for the siren). I filled in some of the gaps in the front end and once dried, I sanded them down a bit to try and mold it into a more G1 front end. The front end is still a WIP and I'll update more soon. As for the spoiler, I completely built it from sheet styrene (I scored the large piece and bent it up a bit, then cut the smaller pieces and glued them on). I used the G1 Jazz Takara reissue as a reference point for this--I scaled it up a bit and tried to make it similar to the G1 Jazz spoiler, slightly updated. I finally fixed the feet issue by cutting a bit of the existing Prowl toes (this is the piece with the ankle swivel and hinge still on it). Now the toes fold down and in bot mode they can swivel at the ankle, but only a tiny bit (it helps with certain poses in bot mode, nothing spectacular though). And last but not least, I cut an extra Sunstreaker's engine piece (that small gray piece that flipped down) and added some small strips of styrene to cover the gap, then glued them onto his hips (basically, what used to be facing the rear is now facing forward so that I can add these pieces on). This is to give the illusion of side/hip speakers for Jazz--these are permanent and do not detach. I also hollowed out the insides of the lower legs so that everything can fold up into it nice and smooth and allow for easy transformation once again.

Still chugging along on this one, hopefully I can get more done on it soon. For now, enjoy more WIP shots.

 

you and wheeljack are a tie in my book for the most accurate jazz yet.  

 

I like how this looks so far man, good luck!

 

very cool but thats one big wing out back... :s

 

Hey bro I'm really loving your Jazz, I particularly enjoy his front skirt work. I love the 935 and I always appreciate when someone attempts to make it as accurate as possible. @#$%& Porsche consent.....Anyway, keep up the great work and when you get a chance, take a look at my "Radicons, Challenge yourself" link in my sig, I'm still looking to own an accurate Jazz. Again, great work, looking forward to you working on this!!

 

This is looking really nice, both vehicle- and bot-mode looks amazing!

Loving it!