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Transformers Universe may have been a very brief entry into the Transformers franchise, but for some people it left a lasting impression. It sought to add new life to the lore by introducing brand new characters, each with new appearances, personalities, names, and talents. Unfortunately due to the game's untimely demise it seems less and less likely we might ever see these characters again, especially not in toy form. I believe that's a tragedy, and my collection longs to have the Autobots and Decepticons of Transformers Universe on my shelf.

You might've seen my Macro custom thread, but as I start planning more and more custom figures I thought it would be better to keep them all in one place. So here it is, my personal project to bring the bots and cons of TFU to life.

First up was Macro, the Autobot Suppressor. He still needs a new head, but as of yet I've been unable to get a 3d modeler lined up to help me design the heads and weapons I'd like to complete these characters. I used GDO Wheelie as a base, and a Dr. Wu sword for his weapon.



The latest Autobot is the Demolisher, Overclock. One of the starter bots for the Autobots I am currently waiting on some metallic paints to help finish him up, as the gunmetal blue I had originally gotten for his robot bits turned out to be much too dark for my intentions (though I may end up keeping it in some spots). Used Combiner Wars G2 Brake-Neck as a base, shaved down Brake-Neck's ears, and used a Shapeways part for his chest.




Macro and Overclock, together again at last.


I have many more ideas for further characters, and hope that I'll be able to do them justice. These are my first major customizing attempts, so they aren't professional, but I'm still pleased with the results so far.

(Below is a list of the characters and figures I plan to use for them. This list probably isn't final, especially considering the first time I made this list is on a computer I can't access right now, but when I do get back into it I'll update the list here)

Characters with figures already in hand to work on:
Meltdown - Prime RID Ratchet with Beast Hunters Ratchet head and legs, just need to figure out how to separate the front and back of his lower legs so I can swap them, too.
Doubletake - TLK Barricade, gonna need a new head for him
Sparkscape - 2007 Movie Landmine, also will need a new head
Drive-By - Prime First Edition Cliffjumper, again, new head

Characters I also have planned:
Triage - Studio Series Ratchet, probably need a new head
Anomaly -Thrilling 30 Trailbreaker (Thanks, JomasterII)
Front-Line - Prime RID Bulkhead
Derail - AoE Hound
Deadheat - Prime Smokescreen
Astraea -RID Strongarm (Thanks, JomasterII)
Rampart - Animated Sentinel Prime

Characters I already have acceptable stand-ins for:
Diabla (Perfect Effect Aranea)
Cameo (Perfect Effect RC)
Switchblade (Prime RID Dreadwing)
Prowl (Prime Prowl)
Ironhide (Arms Micron Ironhide)
Barricade (TFCC Barricade)

Characters I need figures for:
Monsoon - Arms Micron Breakdown/Swerve?
Ripraw - Studio Series Ironhide?
Catapult -
Showdown -
Swagger -
Outsider -
Bombast - TLK Hound?
Hotwire -
Conduit - Animated Swindle?
Flatline - Beast Hunters Voyager Optimus Prime?
Duststorm -
Pandemic - TLK Hot Rod?
Firebreaker -
Mismatch - Beast Hunters Bumblebee?
Shellshock - Universe Ultra Class Onslaught?
Contagion -

As more work is completed on Macro and Overclock, or any further characters, I'll post them in this thread.

 

I'd suggest the Thrilling 30 Hoist/Trailbreaker mould for Anomaly, and the RID Strongarm mould for Astraea. If you can think of any better moulds then go for them instead.
Rad customs, dude!

 

LMAO That's awesome, thank you.

Thanks! Strongarm is definitely not one I considered but could work quite well now that I look at her in that light. Astraea's... 'lean' build makes it hard to get a truck out of her but Strongarm has the right altmode and has some of the right parts in the right places, so not a bad choice.

Thrilling 30 Trailbreaker as Anomaly is a fantastic idea, too. I'm gonna add them to my list.

 

Looking forward to updates on this thread.

 

Metallic paints arrived today, so I was able to finish up Overclock once I got home from Work. I might try to fill in some of those spots where the yellow is still shining through in some of the deeper recesses of the mold, but honestly without the light shining directly on them (like in these pics...) it's not really all that noticeable. For now, considering he doesn't need a whole new head mold, he's technically more finished than Macro!



In that first pic I equipped him with a couple of (unpainted) Cliffjumper blasters from Shapeways to act as his shoulder rockets for the time being. May very well go ahead and paint them as rocket launchers for him until I can get some proper ones modeled as they do the job well enough.

 

While I haven't started painting him yet, still wanna show off the parts swap I've done for Meltdown. I used the First Aid repaint of Prime RID Ratchet (just because I was able to get that version for cheap), while swapping out the legs and head for Beast Hunters Ratchet. I still want to see if I can split the front and back of the legs so I can use the cleaner First Aid vehicle mode front, while keeping the edgy Beast Hunters shins just to give Meltdown a little extra unique flair from Ratchet in robot mode. This mold does have the added bonus of being able to cross his arms.



Also, though they aren't customized, figured I'd show why Perfect Effect Aranea and RC are my stand-ins for Diabla and Cameo.


The colors aren't perfect, but they're close enough for me to be happy. RC comes with a sniper rifle, and from what I can recall Cameo was going to be the second Autobot sniper in the game, so that works. Aranea as Diabla works well because she can even recreate one of Diabla's special equipments where she immobilized herself while going invulnerable for a few seconds. Tentacles would sprout from her back when she did this.


Yesterday was payday so I ordered several figures for customizing. I'm currently on the lookout for some flame decals for Sparkscape and (hopefully eventually, if Studio Series Ironhide ever goes to a reasonable price again) Ripraw. Also got my eye on some carbon fiber decals that could work well for Doubletake's black details in vehicle mode.

 

Poor Meltdown still getting pushed back in the list... Work has begun on Sparkscape, though he won't be close to done for a while as I wait for flame decals and Shapeways parts to arrive. But still liking how he's coming out so far.




No robot mode pics of the figure just yet as I haven't really done anything with it (except remove the old hands while waiting for new hands to arrive) but I'm really getting excited about this guy.

Also had several figures arrive today to add to my queue for customization. Today I got the figures for Triage, Astraea, Derail, Deadheat, and Rampart. Front-Line and Anomaly are still coming. And of course I already had Drive-By and Doubletake in hand in addition to those I've already shown so far.

I think after Sparkscape I might do Doubletake or Astraea next.

 

Flame decals arrived today. Only got as far as applying and cutting them so far. Planning on going over them with varnish in hopes of sealing them onto the figure better. They're pinewood derby decals so not as high quality as I'd like but they do the job well enough.

 

I like how he's comming out. Any bot pics yet?

 

I did take one bot pic but it's before I did a lot of details, and I don't want to transform him too much before I can protect the paint. With these decals vehicle mode is pretty much done, so once I'm happy with the varnish I'll transform him back and hopefully get robot mode done. Might not be til this weekend, though.

I also plan on trying my hand at making a head for him myself. I got several thicknesses of polystyrene and I think I can possibly make a decent helmet of sorts to fit over Landmine's stock head, if everything goes as I'm picturing in my head... but that may not be finished this weekend. Of course the best case scenario would be getting heads 3d modeled but I'm a bit worried with how much it might cost to get all the heads I need and all the weapons I'd like done.

 

Sparkscape's new hands and weapon arrived today from Shapeways. Unfortunately it seems the very tip of the big blaster (serving now as his vapor gun/flamethrower) is missing. Not sure if I just dropped the part while putting it together or it didn't arrive with the order... but I'll see what I can do to get it fixed.

In the meantime, here's an armed (in more ways than one) Sparkscape. And yes, the hands do still fit in vehicle mode. I still have to finish painting robot mode, I didn't get as much done this weekend as I hoped.




Trentulas is modelling Doubletake's head and SMGs for my next project after Sparkscape here, after that's done I hope to go back and commission him for Sparkscape and Macro heads, too.

 

Looking good

 

Heads for Sparkscape and Macro are currently being modeled by Trentulas, and head/weapons for Doubletake are in production at Shapeways while I wait for a new figure to arrive for him (wasn't happy with how my first go at Doubletake was coming out), but in the meantime the team is looking good.


Sparkscape, Overclock, and Macro forming a solid squad on their own. Sparkscape with the heals, support equipment, and serious spark damaging firepower; Overclock with all around strong damage and some defensive equipment; and Macro giving his teammates some breathing room with his equipment while that sword of his deals some serious finishing blows. When I can finally add Doubletake they'll really be a force to be reckoned with.


A shot of Sparkscape on his own, as well as a closer view of the painted vapor gun. I have a plan of attaching a fuel tank to the side of the gun but I need to figure out how I'm going to actually glue it on.


A closer shot of Overclock and Sparkscape side by side. This shot's before I put the Autobot logo on Sparkscape's chest.

 

Trentulas modeled Doubletake's SMGs for me, they're available on his Shapeways shop for anyone who may want them. He fit some amazing detail in there, and printed in black professional plastic make them a cool accessory for any Transformer to wield.



They're also WFC: Siege effect compatible. Which means they're also compatible with Ariel Lemon's effects parts. These ones make great rapid fire shots.


And they take transparent blue paint very well for Omni damage. (Also begun painting the SMGs. Dreading the tiny blue details.)


Trent and I are still trying to dial in the right sizes for the heads to fit the balljoints for Sparkscape and Doubletake, but Macro's head is working pretty well on the first print.


Definitely recommend commissioning some parts from Trent, he does some amazing work and he's quick at it, too.

Edit: The detail Trentulas was able to model into this thing made painting the blue bits easy even with my mediocre skills. (The ammo drum could've been better but that's my own fault.   )

 

Soon...

(Just need to find a screwdriver tiny enough to remove the Wheelie head...)

 

*licks lips*
Sooooooooooooooooooooooon.

 

Turns out a screwdriver from a glasses repair kit works wonders for Wheelie's screw.

I need to touch up a couple spots where the paint wasn't quite dried when I put the head on, and then apply a varnish, but other than that... Macro is officially done!



Barricade and his Vehicons try to get the drop on Macro and Overclock.

 

Finally got around to painting the Sparkscape head I got designed by Trentulas. (Be sure to check out his thread and Shapeways store, he's been a big help with making these customs complete.)



And with that I guess I can consider Sparkscape complete!



I don't know if/when I'll have time for more painting soon, work has been kicking my butt lately while other hobbies have taken my limited free time, but I have Autotrooper heads, a new Macro head (the first one sits a little too high on the balljoint so it drags the ground in car mode, but Trentulas fixed the socket so it sits more flush on the neck), Doubletake head (still gotta finish painting the base figure), and several laser rifles (one each for Overclock, Macro, and Doubletake, complete with Siege-like effects parts to paint in their respective damage types). Chances are Overclock's gun will be next on my agenda, but hope to have all the above done at some point.

 

 .....hawt.