Digibash: Darksyde Predacons

Discussion in 'Transformers Fan Art' started by coinilius, Jun 1, 2020.

  1. coinilius

    coinilius Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 31, 2007
    Posts:
    685
    Trophy Points:
    222
    Likes:
    +75
    I know it's not an original concept, doing a thread about Pre-Beast Wars character digibashes, but I recently completed a watch-through of the Beast Wars cartoon and it prompted me to get my Botcon 2006 figures out of storage, and that lead me back to the age old question of imagining what the rest of the original cast would look like if they were done in the same way as that set.

    It's been a very long time since I did any digibashing, so please excuse the rough nature of these images - I just started them as proof-of-concept sketches, so I could get an idea of what they might look like. The images I've been using have just been taken from Seibertron.com, as they are a great source of pictures of the figures in neutral poses.

    Tarantulas

    [​IMG]

    The first thing I needed to work out was what scale I wanted the characters to be in - I've always liked the idea of using Cybertron Dirt Boss as Tarantulas, but the 2006 Botcon set actually stays fairly close to the sizes of the various characters as they appear in relation to each other on the cartoon, so I had to start looking for scout-sized figures that would be appropriate for Tarantulas and Scorponok. I also wanted to limit myself to only using molds that were consistent with the original set, so only figures from the Cybertron toyline (or earlier).

    I looked at what depictions of Pre-Beast Wars Tarantulas there has been before, but wasn't very happy with the idea of using Ransack as a base for him (as per the Theft of the Golden Disk). Someone else had done a custom of Cybertron Brakedown into Transmetal Tarantulas which looked really good, so I decided to base my version of the mad scientist Predacon on the same mold, just mapped to his original colours instead.

    To further complicate things, I also tried to make the colours work as if they could be produced on an actual figure, so some compromises had to be made - I already had to have his crotch and his feet be paint apps, and I would probably add some paint to the outside of his lower arms so that he has some purple and yellow on them, to better match his claws. The head was modified from Machine Wars Hubcap, an idea which I got from a really old Shortpacked blog post.

    I'll post what I have for Scorponok tomorrow - I'm still undecided on what mold to use for Terrorsaur, as going by the scale used in the cartoon, he should really be made from a deluxe-sized figure, and Armada, Energon and Cybertron were pretty lacking in good deluxe figures that turn into jets.
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: Jun 2, 2020
    • Like Like x 7
  2. coinilius

    coinilius Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 31, 2007
    Posts:
    685
    Trophy Points:
    222
    Likes:
    +75
    Scorponok

    [​IMG]

    Ugh, so trying to do do Scorponok was really hard - on a real figure, he wouldn't just be such a flat grey but would be more Scorponok coloured, and the cockpit paint would match the dark blue on cartoon Scorponok's crotch. The purple on him would be better matched, too. I borrowed the head from Robots in Disguise Paralon, naturally.

    Trying to choose a mold for Scorponok was tough as well! Theft of the Golden Disk uses the Cybertron Shortround Mold for him, and I have seen a few customs using that concept, but for me that mold is a very poor choice for Scorponok - sure, it has the long, claw like arms, but everything else about the mold just feels wrong. There's not enough bulk in the body, the alternate mode doesn't feel appropriate and there's nothing to evoke a tail, another extremely important aspect of Scorponok's visual design, IMO!

    Scrapmetal, on the other hand, can have the spikes/pile-drivers folded down to create claw-like arms and the shoulder cannon is close enough in visual to Scorponok's tail. The cannon even has a flip out blade to make it more like Scorponok's tail stinger! His vehicle mode is more appropriate as well - even though I'm not usually a fan of walking tanks, there's no denying this mode has a very scorpion/arachnid appearance.

    I'm still working on Terrorsaur - finding an appropriate deluxe sized mold is proving tricky.
     
    • Like Like x 3
  3. Dachande

    Dachande MULTI-QUOTE- USE IT. Super Mod

    Joined:
    Sep 17, 2008
    Posts:
    52,189
    News Credits:
    21
    Trophy Points:
    467
    Location:
    South Central PA
    Likes:
    +144,057
    Maybe Beast Machines Jetstorm, or T-30 Jhiaxis?
     
    • Like Like x 1
  4. coinilius

    coinilius Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 31, 2007
    Posts:
    685
    Trophy Points:
    222
    Likes:
    +75
    Oh, Beast Machine's Jetstorm is actually a really interesting idea, I could see that working as a deluxe-sized Pre-Beast Wars Terrorsaur!

    I was actually thinking of Energon Storm Jet as a possibility as well, although the combiner aspect is a bit of a deterrent.

    EDIT: I've been thinking about it some more and I'm now thinking I might take a shot at using Energon Starscream as a possible mold for Terrorsaur. It's a deluxe jet and a mold that was ultimately used by Botcon themselves - even if there are some issues with it, like the whole asymmetrical thing it has going on, there have been quite a few repaints that show those issues can be worked around with the right colour choices and paint apps.
     
    Last edited: Jun 4, 2020
    • Like Like x 1
  5. coinilius

    coinilius Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 31, 2007
    Posts:
    685
    Trophy Points:
    222
    Likes:
    +75
    Terrorsaur

    [​IMG]

    After going back and forth on a few different molds for Terrorsaur, I finally decided on giving Energon Starscream a chance... and I actually think it turned out pretty well!

    I've probably 'cheated' the most with this one, although I do still think that it could be pulled off using the actual mold as a 'production' figure, but it would probably require some tricky paint work. The clear-plastic I imagine being cast in a dark, translucent smokey grey, kind of like Dark of the Moon Jazz, although clear enough that red paint could still be seen through it on the wings. Otherwise, extensive paint apps on the underside of the wings as well as the top?

    His left-hand shoulder would be cast in red plastic but painted grey, to match up with the other shoulder and his cartoon model more (the G1 repaint of Energon Starscream tries this same trick to have the shoulders match). The head was borrowed from the 2016 Botcon Terrorsaur, as it's such a great sculpt.
     
    • Like Like x 5
  6. coinilius

    coinilius Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 31, 2007
    Posts:
    685
    Trophy Points:
    222
    Likes:
    +75
    A couple more updates:

    Terrorsaur

    [​IMG]

    I decided to take another pass at Terrorsaur, this time just giving him red-plastic for the wings and right upper arm, so that he would be more consistently red in appearance. I also tried another take, this time with even more red, then playing around with paint apps to try and add some much needed grey to break up all the reds.

    [​IMG]

    I think the asymmetrical one is probably the best as far as colour-balance goes.

    Protoform X

    [​IMG]

    Although I originally started this to just work on the missing Nemesis crew members, I decieded to keep going and do Pre-Beast Wars versions of the two other characters who were definitely around before the start of the series and would have had Cybertronian forms - Rampage and Depth Charge.

    I went with Cybertron Menasor as a basis for Protoform X as it's a large, imposing figure, as well as having quite a few insect/crustacean-like design features already present in the sculpt. His alternate mode is also some kind of monstrous tank/construction vehicle type of thing, again with a crab like appearance that seemed suitable for a Pre-Beast Wars version of Rampage. No head remold this time either, as I thought that there was enough details in Menasor's existing head-design to make it recognisable as Rampage.

    The only drawback with this mold is that I have to make use of the Mini-Con that comes with it as well - I'm going to put together what it would look like with matching colours - as far as finding a reason for it's existence, well, I was thinking that maybe it could be something to do with Rampage's mutated Spark, like maybe it's a representation of his original Spark or something.

    Next I'm going to try and do Depth Charge, who I'm currently thinking of making out of Cybertron Jetfire.
     
    Last edited: Jun 7, 2020
    • Like Like x 4
  7. Matthew22 37

    Matthew22 37 Cyberverse Predacons

    Joined:
    Sep 8, 2013
    Posts:
    401
    Trophy Points:
    122
    Likes:
    +136
    All of these are very cool. I believe I have seen customs of Terrorsaur and Scorponok around the boards. These would have rounded out the Dawn of Future Past quite nicely. Can't wait for Depth Charge.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  8. coinilius

    coinilius Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 31, 2007
    Posts:
    685
    Trophy Points:
    222
    Likes:
    +75
    Thank you for the comment, glad to hear you are enjoying seeing them!

    I have seen some customs of both Terrorsaur and Scorponok before, there has been some really nice Terrorsaur customs that use the Energon Skyblast mold, which does make a great Terrorsaur - I just wanted to use a larger mold as the base for my design, as I feel like the Dawn of Future's Past set worked pretty well with the scale of the characters on the show (except for Primal), and Terrorsaur seems to be larger character on the show. I've seen a couple of Scoponok customs based on Cybertron Shortround, but as good as they were, I just can't see that mold as Scorponok (maybe Sea Clamp).

    Will hopefully have Depth Charge finished up soon!
     
    • Like Like x 1
  9. coinilius

    coinilius Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 31, 2007
    Posts:
    685
    Trophy Points:
    222
    Likes:
    +75
    Depth Charge

    [​IMG]

    Trying to find a suitable mold for Depth Charge's Pre-Beast Wars body was very tough - I needed something with a lot of height, so that he could stand relatively toe-to-toe with Megatron and Rampage, while also evoking Depth Charge's design cues enough that he would be recognisable. I was looking at Armada Jetfire for a while, as he has those wings that stand up above his body and he is impressively tall, but ultimately decided on Cybertron Jetfire as I didn't have to worry about any Mini-Cons or other gimmicks (apart from the Cyber Key), and it kept it consistent with the mostly Cybertron molds for the other figures. What also works with this mold is that it doesn't really need a new head, creative paint apps on the existing sculpt works to make it look like Depth Charge.

    Cybertron Jetfire is a mold with various pros and cons, but I think with the right colours it works pretty well as a Pre-Beast Wars Depth Charge.
     
    • Like Like x 4
  10. coinilius

    coinilius Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 31, 2007
    Posts:
    685
    Trophy Points:
    222
    Likes:
    +75
    [​IMG]

    Another pass on Depth Charge, this time making him more grey.
     
    • Like Like x 3
  11. coinilius

    coinilius Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 31, 2007
    Posts:
    685
    Trophy Points:
    222
    Likes:
    +75
    Thanks for all the likes and comments everyone, they are all very much appreciated!

    While this is basically all the digibashes that I set out to do, wanting to complete the Beast Wars characters that would have actually had Pre-Beast Wars modes, it's very tempting to continue under the 'what if' premise of the protoforms in the Axalon stasis pods were all fully fledged Maximals before losing their memories and being reverted to protoforms.

    If I do end up continuing, these are my planned molds for the extra characters:

    Tigatron - Cybertron Defence Hot Shot (plus new head) - while there is already a pre-Beast Wars Tigatron, going for a more show accurate scale means a deluxe sized mold should be used. Cybertron Hot Shot is already basically a 'bigger brother' design wise to the Clocker mold, and the armoured transport alt-mode of Cybertron Defence Hot Shot just seems more appropriate for Tigatron's personality and function

    Airazor - Energon Sky Shadow/Terradive - there has also been verions of Pre-Beast Wars Airazor before as well, but again they aren't quite right scale wise for what I am going for (the 2005 versions basically flipped the size of Tigatron and Airazor relative to each other!), so I had to go looking for scout sized plane modes that could be repurposed... which is actually extremely hard! The Energon Windrazor/Treadshot mold would have been another obvious choice, maybe even more so, but I actually think this one will match up a little better

    Blackarachnia - Energon Arcee (plus new head) - there has already been at least one really awesome custom that uses this mold as Blackarachnia and I completely agree that this would be a great choice

    Inferno - Energon Inferno - maybe not the best mold but I just like the joke of having Inferno be Inferno. The Dawn of Predacus comic implies that G1 Inferno becomes Beast Wars Inferno, so I guess there is some precedence as well...

    Silverbolt - Energon Slugslinger (plus new head) - Funpub used this mold as the base for their version of pre-Beast Wars Airazor, but I think it works better as Silverbolt, and the dual cockpit alt mode becomes a cheeky nod to his dual-animal alt mode as a Fuzor

    Quickstrike - Energon Signal Flare - this guy matches up way too well, with the asymmetrical arms and the alt mode which kind of evokes a scorpion tale with the Maser Cannon arrangement

    I'm not sure about Transmutate, if there is any point in trying to do a Pre-Beast Wars version of the character since by their very nature, they are just way to messed up and, well, mutated, to get any useful design cues to work with...
     
    • Like Like x 3
  12. Kaleb Hart

    Kaleb Hart Walking, talking, rearranging furniture

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2019
    Posts:
    1,884
    Trophy Points:
    197
    Location:
    In space I guess乁( •_• )ㄏ
    Likes:
    +4,304
    You could use Generations Lockdown or Energon Signal-flare for Transmutate or go the BW Uprising route and use Arcee
     
    • Like Like x 2
  13. coinilius

    coinilius Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 31, 2007
    Posts:
    685
    Trophy Points:
    222
    Likes:
    +75
    Thanks for the suggestions! I don't want to double up molds so Signal Flare would be out, although I can see the similarities - hmm, since I've been aiming for something approximating show scale for the characters, and Transmutate is strangely big, maybe Energon Shockblast could be a contender?

    I also like your Lockdown idea - Animated Lockdown would also make for a good Transmutate, what with the asymmetrical design and elongated body shape. I've been trying to stick to Armada/Energon/Cybertron molds, to keep consistency, but it is very tempting to do version of Transmutate from Animated Lockdown.
     
    Last edited: Jun 15, 2020
    • Like Like x 1
  14. coinilius

    coinilius Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 31, 2007
    Posts:
    685
    Trophy Points:
    222
    Likes:
    +75
    Tarantulas

    [​IMG]

    I was playing around with the Botcon 2006 Darksyde Waspinator earlier today and it inspired me to re-visit the suggestion made in an old Shortpacked! blog post about Tarantulas and Machine Wars Hoist/Hubcap - while I originally agreed that the head was a great base for a Tarantulas custom, I didn't really think the rest of the mold would be all that appropriate... well, I decided to give it a quick and dirty digibash, to see how it might look, and I actually kind of like it! This was done really quickly, so the colours aren't all that accurate and more could be done with the theoretical paint applications, but there is more of a resemblance than I thought there would be.
     
    • Like Like x 4
  15. coinilius

    coinilius Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 31, 2007
    Posts:
    685
    Trophy Points:
    222
    Likes:
    +75
    I decided to throw together a really rough alternate version of Pre-Beast Wars Terrorsaur, this time using the Cybertron Thundercracker mold:

    [​IMG]

    This was done very quickly, so I didn't take much time to work on the various colours and paint applications, but I wanted to see what the mold might look like as a version of Terrorsaur.
     
    • Like Like x 2
  16. ThunderDestron

    ThunderDestron Vast predatory bird

    Joined:
    Apr 20, 2020
    Posts:
    3,992
    Trophy Points:
    212
    Location:
    MURICA! USA! USA! USA!
    Likes:
    +6,871
    Machine wars Thundercracker would also make a good terrorsaur
     
    • Like Like x 1
  17. coinilius

    coinilius Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 31, 2007
    Posts:
    685
    Trophy Points:
    222
    Likes:
    +75
    Thanks ThunderDestron! The Machine Wars molds are quite nice scout sized jet figures - FunPub used the Machine Wars Thundercracker mold to make Pre-Beast Wars Waspinator.
     
    • Like Like x 1