I must have missed where you said she was going to be a fembot! That is awesome! Great work, as always, @NOCV!

 

Thanks!

I figured it was easier to sell a retconned G1 Blackarachnia than it would be to do as Skrapnel.

 

Cool Beetle-Babe.

 

Figured out the feet last night. Sadly, ankle tilt wasn't possible, but I did decide on some weapons.

Since TFA's Blackarachnia was originally Elita-1, and this is to be a G1 Blackarachnia, it only seemed appropriate to use G1 Elita-1's pistol design.

With a few tweaks, it'll be another thing to cross off the list, leaving the some rework on her head as the last major hurdle.

Side note: Elita-1's episodes are full of untapped designs. War Dawn's got two different type of Decepticon red shirts, and Orion's homeboy, Dion. The Search for Alpha Trion's got a couple accessory options, like an Energon Scanner, blasters for Ratchet and Powerglide, some drone that Shockwave dispatches, and all the Autobabes.

 

I really dig that gun, man. And if you want to get started on a Legends-scale G1 weapons rack, like they used to sell for the old MOTU toys, you've got my full support!

 

That's a fun idea. I'll have to try and get into Wheeljack's headspace to think of what that would look like.

 

If I may put some thoughts into your brain module G1 Centurions packed together with an ancient worker droid (as TFWiki.net calls them) or Deceptitran and his droid army in legend scale.

 

Definitely on my list. I love the 70s robo-vibe of their designs.

 

Had some time to work on this spider sweetie, this morning.

Dialed in the details on the blaster to better mirror Elita-1's:

She'll get two of them so that there's symmetry in spider mode, where they peg into the bottom of her bot feet, on the sides of the spider abdomen.

Also, redesigned the helmet:

Originally I had wanted the spider head (or at least a panel with some eyes to cover the back of the bot head) to flip out of her chest, like Shrapnel's bug "head" is done. I just couldn't get anything out of the limited chest space, that I was happy with. So, I went this approach instead. I'm not too thrilled that I couldn't avoid some VHS, but having something that actually looks like a spider's head makes up for it.

And what was a "happy accident" the negative/black space around her robot head crest creates the perfect profile of spider fangs, when viewed from the front.

I think I'll have this one all wrapped up by the end of the weekend, and hopefully I'll have a printed prototype at Florida's TFcon later in March, with Half The Battle Toys.

 

Leg detailing is done. I took inspiration from TFA BA's bustle for the design, and New Age's Bombshell.

And, when you model an opening chest canopy to enclose a head, but the head don't fit..

You add a weapon port and call it a day.

 

Man this is a really neat design, and she's gonna fit in perfectly with the official insecticons! I'm really impressed with how you managed to basically nail the g1 style while keeping the character recognisable

 

Thanks! That's really been the goal (that and I want a spider transformer, damn it!). Hopefully I can do the deluxes like Venom and Chop Shop as much justice.

 

After some time off to work on other things, I was able to get back to this bot babe.

I did some rework to the torso to give it a more suiting feminine form, and to incorporate a couple more nods to her TFA design.

I'm pretty happy with the upper body details, and now just have to wrap up her lower body.

 

I'm absolutely thrilled with how this turned out. I can't wait to see what she's gonna cost to print!

 

I'm blown away every time I look at her, man. I wish I had the money to throw at a printer!

 

Great job @NOCV! She looks fantastic! Great g1 look to a wonderful character.

have you done any test printings yet? Do you use an FDM or Resin 3D printer for this work? Or do you just use shapeways? Also, how do the pins in the legs work? Are you just using like 1 or 2mm rods cut to length (and glued)?

 

I have not printed any of the pieces for this, but intend to do so with Polyamide-12 Nylon through Shapeways. It's very strong, and is pretty good at holding detail.

The pins are McMaster-Carr stainless dowel pins, that I will need to cut to length.

 

thanks for the response. I hope all goes well getting this baby wrapped up!

 

I'm laying out the sprue for printing today, and ended up with enough free space to include an alternate, a little more traditional head:

 

I think I like this one even more.