ok, so I think I'm finished with the lower legs. Ran into a bit of a issue with alclad's clear coat, it didn't seem to want to dry, it may not have liked Tamiya's synthetic lacquer or else it was a bad batch. so I ended up wet sanding most of it away and applied a light blue wash then weathered with silver paint and then a little more wetsanding leaving the parts really smooth. Probably would have looked different if the clearcoat was a success but as I stated before I'm kinda learning as I go.

 

I was going to say the teal colour looked really nice until I saw the final legs... looks amazing... Stella work!!!!

 

Hey all! I'm back for the wrap up with this custom. Just wanted to give a bit of breakdown on the process.

I started off by sanding all the pieces with 400 grit and laid down some generic primer then wet sanded with 600 grit.



once everything was smoothed out I applied Tamiya fine white primer. My first time using it. Nice stuff but really temperature sensitive, I had to keep warming the can to lay down properly. It's also not the best time of year where I am for outside spraying.



Next was a coat of model master semi gloss black lacquer but forgot to snap some pics. After 24 hours drying I hit various areas with a few different alclad paints. polished aluminum, stainless steel, and steel.




Pretty happy with the way it turned out so far.

Next up is the painful task of masking and prepping for the red. I'm going with Tamiya Mica Red. Hopfully by the end of the week I'll have an update. This masking job is gonna kill me. LOL

 

Looking good so far! Can't wait to see him done, that faux metal turned out great.
Really appreciate the progress pics. I know the last thing most folks want to do when they are on a roll during a work in progress is stop and play with a camera.  

 

Those colors are GORGEOUS!!!! Absolutely a piece to be admired. 

 

Thanks Shan and soundfreak! It's a fun process. Here is some loot that arrived yesterday for some 2016 repaints I want to tackle. Next up is soundwave. Not sure If I want to take on the CW megatron yet as I'm not totally sold on that figure after messing with him for a bit. I love the little voyager TFP figures, I WANT THEM ALL!!!!!! TFP Shockwave is on the way too.  

 

This is all turning out really handsome. I was customizing for years before I developed patience for such pain-staking work. I guess good habits come easier to some folks.  

 

Thanks! While I'm new to transformers I have always had a knack for taking stuff apart and making them better. Transformers really scratch that itch for me. First was computers, then bikes but at the end of the day I'm an graphic/traditional artist. I attached a couple samples of my stuff if anyone is interested in that sort of stuff.

 

Almost there! Should be ready for paint tomorrow!

 

Finally had a chance to lay down some red paint. The tamiya paint did not come out as I thought it would. Originally I was thinking it would be a semi-gloss dark red. Turns out tamiya mica red is more of a transparent red with metal flake with a fairly high gloss finish. After my first coat I was a little worried but as I laid down a couple more coats I started to like it. A lot. Only issue is that some of the parts were silver and others were black so there are slightly different shades of red due to the paint being somewhat transparent. If your looking for a nice candy red, a couple light coats of this stuff over alclad chrome would really do the trick. Here are a couple pics but they don't really do the paint justice. I'll get the good camera out soon and work on my photography a bit tomorrow.

 

Getting closer! I still have the little yellow bits on the arms to finish, the head needs a bit of work after that fiasco with the alclad clear coat that refused to dry and I haven't done anything to the hands yet. These are still pics with my phone, once he is all done I'll try and take some nicer photos.

 

thanks for sharing your work in progress. it looks awesome! did you have an chance to transform him along the way? any paint rubs? i wanted to repaint mine for awhile, but the potential paint rubs prevents me from starting...

 

Thanks for checking him out! I have not attempted transforming him yet. Not sure if I'm going to, while the paint is pretty strong and I think he would transform alright, he probably wouldn't make it out without a few scratches here and there. I'm particularly worried about collapsing the legs.

Before I started repainting him I watched and read a lot of scale car model how-to's online. Also the gunpla guys really know what they are doing especially with metallic paints. So my best advice is to just educate yourself as much as possible prior to going into it and don't be afraid to screw up. Accidents happen and sometimes the accidents can be a good thing. Also my repaint is from a used, beat up missing parts auction, maybe keep and eye out for one that you wont feel bad about taking apart and painting up.

 

Wow! I just ran across your thread today and skimmed through it all. I had to pop in and say that it looks absolutely gorgeous. I look forward to seeing it complete.  

I so need to break away from the computer and play with real paint one of these days...

 

Thanks Shiro!! I finally feel like it's finished! This was quite an undertaking. I'm pretty happy with the way he turned out. I would like to note that this was originally a YOTH optimus. I'm gonna take a crack at Soundwave in the spring.

 

Also thanks to everybody that followed along in the process. Your feedback really helps the push to finish projects like this!

 

You guys keep saying "teal" but that doesn't look like teal to me at all. Not even remotely. It looks like an excellent metallic blue though that is very fitting for an MP Prime. The normal gloss blues look like what you'd get from a basic shelf bought plastic toy. Not bad at all, but not as classy as that "teal" metallic blue.

EDIT- I see you already did go with the darker normal blue, and with the wear effects it does look nice.

 

Thanks! If I could go back I would probably layer on a couple more coats of the transparent blue. I think if I had kept going, it would have eventually got to the blue that I was going for.