Glad you like it bro!

I agree that a little more detail could be put on the thighs, but before I do, can you explain one thing? What does 'knock-kneed' mean?

 

Like his knees are bent inward, the opposite of being bow-legged. Except that the inside of the leg is straight, it looks like he's holding his legs together to keep himself from peeing.

 

Ah, gotcha. Well, first, I think it's more a problem with the thigh, as the knee is the top of the silver/gray section.

Secondly, I'll get to work on it, probably move the inside of the legs inward, so they dont meet flush with the silver, which should make him look more natural.

Edit: oh wait, I get what you mean now. Like his legs bend outward from below the knee. Hmm, not sure how I can fix that. If you look at Shrapnel, you'll see that they both use the same leg design, and that's to allow the arms to fold in, in vehicle mode. I'm not sure if there's any room left...

And yeah, I do like the idea of the Decepticons being Battlebots (which as I understand it is the US equivalent of the UK's Robot Wars). Just seems meaner.

 

This better?







It's about all that could be done within the space available in the alt.mode.   I'm just trying to get the silhouette right, the detail can be added later.

 

Much better.

However, I think you could take away those tabs on the ends of his arms. while I understand it's for vehicle accuracy, I think it hurts the robot mode too much by getting in the way of the hands. I think you should also take away the spikes at the bottom/back of his vehicle mode pincer weapon. That will save on cost and remove kibble that will get in the way of his legs.

One thing you could also do to make the robot mode more fluid is to put his forward shoulder spikes on hinges so they can fold down and peg onto his biceps.

Finally, though doing this may end up not working, I think you should lower the hinge for his chest piece so it doesn't block his head.

 

What the fu................

That's awesome!

 

Okay, let's see what can be implemented:

Removing tabs on arms: Well, it can be done, but as you can see from the 3rd pic above, the tabs don't come close to hitting his legs, and because they're so far away from the hands, Megatron should still be able to hold most 5mm weapons. I don't think it'd do much to help the robot mode.

Remove the spikes: Okay, these i've tried, and they take off maybe $5 from the price for both of them. Also, these spikes, while vehicle accurate, were actually placed there for a different reason. You see how these spikes form a 'tail' of sorts in vehicle mode (and how the weapon looks bird-like)? Well, these spikes are on the opposite side of the pincer's hinge, which mean they can be used when playing with Megatron, and an easy way to bring the claw back up (sort of like pushing down on one end of a see-saw brings the the side back up). It's part of the gimmick, as it's pretty hard to pull Megatron's pincer up when it's already sunk deep into another transformer, you need the leverage from the spikes.

Hinge the front part of the shoulders: Well, ignoring the ages i spent getting the robot's shoulders to point forward, do you see the little sphere in the pointy shoulders? That's where the shoulder ball joint is located, and in front of that is probably on 2mm thick, maybe 3mm (i forget after the scaling). Either way, adding another joint (which i've already tried, though without much success)...it just doesn't fit within the size. If i were to upscale this back to original size, then i think it would fit, and i'd do as you said. Still...it's $95 now, or $180 at original size...ouch.

Lower the hinge: Believe it or not, there was a Megatron built with the hinge as it is on Shrapnel, so the head isn't blocked. The only problem was that the front of the car (the thin wedge-shaped part) was so long that it hung over his crotch piece, which meant that even though there was waist articulation built into the design, it didn't have any room to move (so basically might as ell not have had a joint in there, it wouldn't have made any difference). I decided in the end to take a slight sacrifice in the hinge by moving it up, because i thought that the sacrifice to the waist articulation was a bit worse than a slight vision block. Plus, assuming i've got my mental maths right, he should still be able to turn his head left and right. I agree with you, now it does look a bit awkward, but...well, this seemed better than not having waist articulation.

I'm sorry i seem to be rebuking a lot of your points lately Yuyu, it's just that...well, i can't see how to make them work sometimes. It's nothing personal.  

Thanks bro. Good to see another person likes Battlebots almost as much as i do!  

 

the megatron and shrapnel designs are cool, but i really dont like the sideswipe one
its something in his abdomen, and his alt mode, i just dont like it

 

Don't worry about it. I understand that I only get to see a little bit of the geometry.

 

That's fine bro. To each his own, and Sideswipe was a Baynimated figure, so that style might not work with everyone anyways. I'm glad you like the Battlebots-inspired designs.  

Can't show you too much can i? Or you'd usurp my position!  

Oh, and i'm working on my next project now. A little teaser:


(picture from the Robot Wars Wiki)

It splits into three parts. Let's just say that Shrapnel's at the back, and leave it at that, shall we?

 

can i make a sugestion? why dont you make them smaller, like between deluxe and scout?
it would be great
XP

 

Well, Shrapnel is a large Scout, Crosshairs is between Scout and Deluxe, and so is Sideswipe.

Only Raziel Megatron is slightly larger, probably around Deluxe size, maybe slightly bigger.

So your suggestion has already been implemented!   I kept Megatron larger for two reasons: a) it's Megatron, he's big and scary, and b) he needs to be bigger to allow his crusher weapon to work (if he were too small, his crusher couldn't grab around an opponent).

 

(picture from the Robot Wars Wiki)

Part 1

RWX-09a Kickback (inspired by S.O.Xbot)

As soon as i saw V3, the machine pictured above, the first thing i thought of was the HOS Insectitrain, and how the three component machines (left to right: S.O.Xbot, Elevation and ODT-0.33) would be perfect for my RWX Insecticons. I knew right away that the middle section, Elevation, would be the inspiration for Bombshell. It took a while, but then i saw the silver side panels on the front, on S.O.Xbot, and decided that somehow, i was going to make Kickback out of it. I didn't sleep until 3am last night, just lying in bed thinking of how the transformation would work. I knew the legs would be folded up front, but how could i get those wheels to blend in, while still rolling? The answer? Three ball jointed pieces and a 180 degree rotation.

Obviously, i focused heavily on getting an accurate S.O.Xbot altmode for Kickback, making sure he'd work also as the front of the racecar combined mode. That meant getting the triangular wedge shape (which i affectionately call the 'cheese on wheels'), the large wheels and the flipper in the centre. In the end my version had to shrink the wheels just slightly, to allow the robot mode to work, but the only thing this sacrifices is invertibility (S.O.Xbot would be able to run upside-down, Kickback can't). But when you have a flipper to right yourself, that's not a problem.

In robot mode, i really wanted to not do what i did with only of my earlier RWX customs, Thermidor 2. That meant no wheels hanging off the arms (think DOTM Backfire's arms, but with bigger wheels). So, i had to devise a way to swivel the sides of the machine, while making extra depth available for the wheel. A complex 3 piece mechanism and 2 hours later, and i had that working. I can't say too much about it, though, as even I don't remember the specifics of how i did it. I think the maths had 2 parts the excess height of the wheel, 2 parts wheel width and the rest of split in 2 and tacked on...somewhere. I forget. All i do know is that the complex maths works.  

Of course, the other reason for the complex maths was that Kickback just had to have his wings. I mean, without the wings at the sides of his body...it just isn't Kickback. I took the two side front panels of S.O.Xbot's shape, and had them ball jointed to the wheel casing, before adding the swivel and complex maths, to ensure that Kickback would still retain some of his grasshopper looks in robot mode. I even round and sculpted most of the limbs, to further create a techno-organic feel to the robot mode.

Anyways, hope you guys like him, and yes, Bombshell and Shrapnel will be made, inspired by Elevation and ODT-0.33 respectively.

Oh, and before anyone asks, the fictional reason for why there are two Shrapnels: Megatron originally came to Earth with Shrapnel as one of his commanders. When Megatron decided to upgrade to his new Raziel form, Shrapnel took on the form you see as RWX-07, sporting twin side axes. Still, the axes required too much time to use, having to be aimed properly and only delivered damage when ramming at high speed. This left Shrapnel ineffective in battle compared to Megatron's own destructive pincer. To combat this problem, Megatron had Shrapnel reformatted, in the process creating Bombshell and Kickback to create RWX-09a/b/c. However, as punishment for Shrapnel's ineffectiveness, he was reduced to being the rear of the machine, and left weaponless, leaving Kickback and Bombshell sporting fast-firing flippers.













Kickback will be up on Shapeways, i'm expecting around the $50 range for him, and hopefully the same for Bombshell and Shrapnel.

 

i mean, for all of them, megatron will be out of scale but with shapeways prices i think its better if all were scout sized

 

That is true, with Shapeways prices Scout class would be cheaper, but to be fair, even a Scout-sized Transformer would still cost ~$50-$55, like Shrapnel, so considering the difference is only about $10 (Crosshairs comes to $65, iirc), i'd rather keep them in scale. I wasn't expecting to sell too many units, as i can understand the price may throw people off, but the drop in price isn't worth taking the characters out of scale. Plus, Crosshairs has to stay the same size as Pinpointer is already fixed (to be in scale with the other Arqueste, Pinpointer was set at a certain size and Crosshairs made to fit him).


Oh, and i've now finished Kickback, detailing and hollowing done. Here's the final shots of him:













I'm working on transformation shots to show how to convert from one mode to the other, as it is slightly...unusual.

 

Here's how to transform RWX-09a Kickback:



1) Unclasp and open the side panels. Lift flipping arm up.


2) Rotate Kickback 180 degrees. Swing wheels and arms up 90 degrees.


3) On the same hinge, rotate the previous assembly 180 degrees. Repeat on the other side. Note, do not rotate the hinge itself, only the assembly from Step 2.


4) Now raise the assembly upwards and inwards, bending the two joints nearest to the yellow chest section. In this picture, the left side has been completed, while the right has not.


5) This is what Kickback should look like after Step 4 has been completed on both sides. Note the slanted peg on the bottom of the wheel.


6)Using the joint on the other side of the hinge you used in Steps 2 and 3, swing the wheels and arms down 90 degrees. The pegs on the wheels as noted above, plug into holes in the sides of the yellow torso piece (holes are visible in Step 3's picture).


7)On the front of Kickback's vehicle mode, split the two halves.


8) Fold out the pointed parts to make the feet.


9) Straighten the legs, and rotate 90 degrees. Also, unfold the purple parts to form the arms.


10) Stand robot.


11) Swing up head, swivel arms 90 degrees.


And there you go, that's Kickback's robot mode!

*I've still got some scaling to do, but that will only happen after Bombshell and Shrapnel have been designed.

 

(picture from the Robot Wars Wiki)

Part 2

RWX-09b Bombshell

As soon as i saw V3, the machine pictured above, the first thing i thought of was the HOS Insectitrain, and how the three component machines (left to right: S.O.Xbot, Elevation and ODT-0.33) would be perfect for my RWX Insecticons. I knew right away that the middle section, Elevation, would be the inspiration for Bombshell. The single front flipper emulated Bombshell's horn, and the black box shape was practically spot on for the back of Bombshell's beetle mode. The only challenge was to get 4 wheels in the build, 4 large wheels and that, which had to be hidden in vehicle mode.

After building Kickback, i thought to myself, "That was easy...a bit too easy for Kickback. That means Bombshell is going to be a living hell". Boy was i right. Kickback went very well, very smoothly, but Bombshell took a lot more effort. It felt like i was fighting the computer every step of the way. Just goes to show, it's a good idea to try not to jinx yourself.  

For Bombshell, i focused way more on the robot mode. Let's face it, Elevation (the middle bot that Bombshell is based on) is in essence a box on wheels with a flipper, there wasn't much to be accurate to. I tried to make Bombshell accurate to his G1 self as much as i could, scouring TFWiki and TFU for reference. For me, there wer a few things that had to be kept. He had to have a horn behind his head and he had to have some beetle elements. To that end, i made sure the flipper folded up behind his head, and I sculpted the shoulders to resemble his comic-self's appearance. The vehicle mode i detailed to look like the back of Bombshell's beetle mode, with a few vents and whatnot thrown in.

Anyways, hope you guys like him. He will combine with Shrapnel and Kickback when they're all done, to make the racecar pictured above. Also a quick shout out to Rodentus Prime, who built the original Bombshell head for my Mind Controller Bug upgrade kit. I've recycled that head (after many fixes...argh) for this Bombshell.

Oh, and one final thing. Does anyone have a good name for the combined racecar mode? I mean, the HOS Insecticons formed the Insectitrain, so what do we call these guys?

 

bombshell should be bulkier in robot mode
but i think your going the right way with these

 

That Kickback is amazing. At first I thought the proportions were slightly off, but after looking at it for a while, his robot mode suits him very well. I think he could benefit from his hip balljoints being further apart, but that would make his thighs shorter, but it's not a big deal.

Once he is available I will definitely be buying him.

Bombshell's pretty good, too. He's nicely proportioned for a bruiser. He just happens to not have my taste in quirky robot aesthetics.

Also, am I correct in assuming you're working in a combined vehicle mode? It looks like the bumpers on Bombshell are designed to slot into Kickback's fists on the back of his vehicle mode.

 

Thanks bro. I agree Bombshell could do with being a bit bulkier, probably a wider chest. The reason i went with this design in the end is because to widen the chest equals thinning the wheels. Due to the mass of Bombshell, i wanted wider wheels to minimise the stress onto the ground (i intend to play with Bombshell on carpet, so too much stress would cause Bombshell to run itself into the ground and snag onto something).

Also, i do have some good news for you, f-primusunicron. I've measured Bombshell and Kickback, and both are ~85mm wide, so they actually are about Scout class!  

How perceptive of you, Yuyu. Indeed, the combined vehicle mode will be as you see in the pictures above of V3, a combined race car. Kickback leads, Bombshell forms the middle and Shrapnels brings up the rear. In fact, Bombshell's appearance was heavily influenced by the fact the rear of the machine had to have a vertical gap cut into the centre. That's to allow Kickback's flipper enough room to fire, even when linked in race car mode. And I am glad to see the word 'bumpers' on the screen, as that's exactly what i had in mind when i was trying to hide Bombshell's connectors. I'm very happy that i got the bumper vibe across in the final design. Fun fact, I never intendedto make Kickback's fists his combiner connections, it just worked out that way.  

I'm really pleased to hear you like Kickback, i myself am amazed at how smoothly he came together. I know what's throwing the proportions off, as it did the same to me when i first drafted up Kickback: the wings. They are large wings, no doubt about that. I had to keep them that size to facilitate the alt.mode, though they do draw your eyes in robot mode so the robot itself looks slightly off at first glance. I like to think he grows on you after a while.   You're right about the hip ball joints, and you even guessed the exact reason i chose to keep it this way! Shortening the thighs was just a no-go, that would have really messed up his proportions.  

As for Bombshell's aesthetics, i have to agree with both of you. He could be bulkier, and as far as quirky robot aesthetics go, he doesn't check all my boxes either, probably about 90% of them. I guess the robot mode i was going for was ROTF Overload's style (the red flatbed thing from ROTF Legends Devastator, aka the seventh Constructicon), so large arms and blocky legs. Still, i have to accept that Bombshell, of the three, had to have the most sacrifices made, as i went through 3 different leg designs on him, scrapping the first two just because of the connection ports not being able to fit! And anyways, he looks good to me.  

BTW, any names guys? I mean, Insecticar just doesn't have that ring to it that Insectitrain does...  

EDIT: Here's where i am now. I'm probably 80% complete on Shrapnel, just need to do the hollowing and add a new head, and sculpt a few more details. He'll be revealed in full tomorrow. At any rate, this is a draft (i.e. still working on it) pic of the combined car mode:



(picture from the Robot Wars Wiki)