To start, I always thought the Predacons were neat. I never had them as a child, but that didn't stop me from ogling the catalogue. Needless to say, I was pretty smitten when the reissue came out a few years ago, and even more so with how good of a toy it was. It's not perfect, obviously, but it has a charm. I suppose it was the unified color scheme of red/yellow/orange/black for all the individual units that made the gestalt catch my eye when I was a kid, but I also thought it would translate very well to a new set of figures. I was enticed into making some Alternator Predacons after seeing an incomplete set on the TFMaster forum in the summer of 2007. It consisted of the two Reprolabels-supplied Predacons (intricate sticker sets are offered to convert Rollbar and Ricochet into Tantrum and Divebomb) and a Nemesis Prime as Razorclaw.
I thought the idea was nifty, so I started thinking of ideas for the other two. I decided on the Mazda for Rampage almost immediately, but considered the Honda S2000, Corvette, Viper, and Civic before deciding to use the Acura for Headstrong. Razorclaw was a relatively last-minute improv: I decided not to use the spare Hot Rod I had purchased for another custom, so I was left with a surplus GT. I thought it both fit Razorclaw better than the Ram and would look great in black with red stripes. Also, its red innards wouldn't clash with Razorclaw's color scheme (and were in precisely the right places anyway), so the choice made itself. I'm happy with the result!
Rampage was the first one finished. I made him from a white Alternator Meister and a modified Richochet head. I made the faceplate with epoxy putty. The Reprolabels set was actually meant for the red Binaltech Meister, but it reminds me of tiger stripes, so I used it for the second time (the first was for Tigatron).
Divebomb was the second one finished, and is a slightly repainted Richochet that uses the Reprolabels set made for him. I painted him to match the original as closely as I could, but did not modify the head. The chromed gun is not accurate homage, but I think it looks better than a solid black one.
Tantrum was the third one completed, and uses the Reprolabels set meant for him. I originally planned to only paint the head and arms, but it didn't look enough like Tantrum, so I continued with the fenders and legs. I also added detailing in the grill and around the edges of the doors. I don't like that Tantrum is so similar to Rollbar in the Jeep form, but there were no other changes I could think to make.
Razorclaw was #4. I had never worked on a GT before, so I worked slowly and cautiously (the other four took a day or two each; Razorclaw took over a week). As I said, the decision to use the GT was rather impromptu; I was still intent on using a Prime or Grimlock head when I was taking it apart! I decided to remold the Hot Rod head with epoxy putty instead, and I was pretty well enthralled with the result. I was also pleased with how well the striping came out. I was more neurotic than normal and used a tape measure to make sure the areas taped off were correct before I painted. I am proud of how well they turned out :-). The lion sticker on the chest comes from the Reprolabels conversion kit for Battle Ravage; I had to re-cut the sticker by hand to make it fit on the GT's curved hood, and used only a small portion of the set. Point of note: Razorclaw was made from the Hasbro Comicon Hot Rod, not the Kiss Players version. However, I didn't have another loose Hasbro Hot Rod to photograph with Razorclaw, so I made the substitute. The only difference between the two is the application of stripes on the Kiss version and flames on the Comicon version.
Headstrong was the last one done, and painted completely in one day. He's mostly made from an Alternator Camshaft. I swapped some key blue parts (joints, mostly) with my Binaltech Breakdown. The head is from Skids and the visor comes from Grimlock (spare from the Elita-1 I made for a friend). The rifle was made by drilling a small hole in the handle of the blight stick; it mounts directly to the barrel on the engine/gun. I chose the Acura for Headstrong because, with the doors modified to hang down and the Nightbeat sticker set added, it would put plenty of red on his arms and a splash on the ankles, just like the original. Headstrong is the only one of the group that has any modifications done, excluding the heads.
That was the rationale involved in the making of this group. Like a lot of my customs, several months came and went between the idea and the implementation, along with numerous changes in the interim. Ultimately though, I think ended up creating a good looking set that, while inspired by someone else's work, ended up being entirely my own design. I'm very proud of them, and they rank among my favorite customs that I've done.
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