Hi guys, back again with some more mods I've made to my SS-38 Optimus that I feel like anyone can do. These are tiny but substantial mods that, I think, significantly help the figure become more screen accurate and fun. These are the things I've done:

1. Shoulder Wings
2. More Neck movement/Head Placement
3. Secure Angled Chest
4. Inner Elbow guard
5. Enlarged Thighs
6. Shin guards
7. Ankle Freedom
8. Pointed "Toes"
9. Extended Rifle

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All very small mods but when all applied, I feel like a makes a world of a difference. I know the paint isn't the cleanest but tried to make do with what I had. Everything after this point is how and why I decided to make these changes, most of which was made by cutting plastic gift cards (essentially in place of styrene/plastic plates) into the correct shape. So, sorry the post ended up being so long.  

I've posted my shoulder mod on a different post, and all i did since then was add the white stripe. If you're interested in that post, you can fine that here : Minor/Repaint: - Studio Series-38 Optimus Prime Shoulder Mod

I cut a sliver of plastic card and glued it on the bottom placement of where the head sits. It allows the head to sit just a bit higher and makes for a more angular look. It is still able to "snap" into place, so I wouldn't recommend using anything thicker than a single layer. I shaved down the back/bottom of the head as well as the cylinder-shape at the bottom-back of his head for more head movement. Honestly, him being able to look in all directions is a game changer, as opposed to the practically side-to-side movement as packaged.


I'm sure, like a lot of people who have SS-38, I like to keep the chest windows un-tabbed to make for a more angular chest. However in doing so, they just kind sit there and can wobble at times when you press on it. A small fix as simple as sanding down the corners of the gray middle pieces allow for the windows to sit more firmly on his body. Not much of a change, but I'm definitely never going to tab those windows into place now.

The inner elbow pieces were the most difficult mod to work with because of how small they where. idk what they're actually called, so im just gonna call them inner arm guards. It's just barely thin enough to not mess with the articulation, which I am grateful it even has room for, and finally lets you have those accurate (I cut them into the shape as best I could) inner elbow guards.



As we all know, the bots and cons from the Knightverse are THIKKUM BOIS. So with that, I wanted to give Optimus the leg day looks he deserved. Pretty straight forward, I cut out the shape on the plastic cards and glued them into place. The silver really makes the thighs pop out, which is something that I think is lacking on the original mold. It makes much more of a difference than you'd initially think.


The shin guards were the most unnecessary mod, in my opinion. Yeah, it is more accurate to his CGI movie render, but honestly, the original mold looked great and didn't bother me enough to make feel like this was absolutely needed. Regardless, I was going for accuracy, so i did it anyway.


After looking all over the forums and the threads seeing if anyone else had done similar mods on this guy, I found that a lot of people hated that stupid ankle tab. If you have SS-38, you know what tab I'm talking about. One movement too far and the whole damn leg untabs. Thankfully, there is a clean mod to fix this, and I don't recommend cutting off the tab. I have @Hexatron to thank for this mod.

-https://bit.ly/2YnjF24

The missing pointed toes were the thing that bothered me MOST about SS-38. His feet looked terrible. I don't blame Hasbro for being given outdated concept art but this was the most necessary fix for me. I didn't want to cut the whole damn thing off so I just added an extended piece and I think it works really well. There were a lot of trial and error with this so I'm kinda proud with how it came out. a well cut flat piece of plastic and some super glue did the trick just fine. I recommend trying out with some paper to get the right shape first.


And now at the last mod I have as of now. Not much to say, I cut some more plastic bits in a "cool lookin shape" whatever that means, and glued them into place. I originally used the tube of an empty pen for the tip of the barrel of the gun, but it kept falling off. I eventually used a cylinder lego piece (not pictured but you get the jist), glued it on, and melted the parts that attached to the gun for reassurance. Gotta say, the extended rifle was not something I thought it needed so much.

Yay! We've made it to the end! I really am sorry that this post is so long, and if you have any questions feel free to ask! I wanted to share this with anybody who wanted to "fix up" their SS-38 without really harming the figure.

Bonus Round: Photos my girlfriend took of Optimus. :hearteyes:

 

What plastic did you get to do the pointed toes I tried using the foc deluxe optimus toes but i cant get them to cut.

 

You fixed so many of the minor things that bugged me about this Op. Great job!  

 

I used (specifically) a Wendy's gift card. I used a pair of ordinary scissors so hopefully it won't be too hard to work with  

Haha Thank you! I know that this BB Optimus comes with a lot of flaws but I still really enjoy it. Hopefully they'll redo it more accurately in the future  

 

Nice! Did you use any of the OSKO figures (of this mold) for inspiration?

 

How do the mods effect the transformation?

 

I think, if anything, I looked at and referenced the Yolopark figure to get the details down. I do however hope to someday get some articulated hands for this scale much like the Weijiang Optimus does to really bring it all together. Looking at it now, it would have been a great way to compare what SS-38 would look like pre vs post mod. xD

The mods do not hinder anything in the transformation whatsoever if done right. If I wasn't careful, the toe would snap off if it hit the pin joint on the back of the knee. I shaved it down just a smidge so that wouldn't happen and the two don't make contact. I also generously superglued the toes in place to hold stronger. Also, (if this counts) extending the rifle no longer allows it to be stored in between the legs in truck mode, but that's honestly fine with me. It can still peg into the trailer hitch.

 

Speaking of Yolopark, Thanks to them for releasing what the the Matrix of Leadership looks like in the Knightverse. I made a "homemade-sticker" and slapped it on him.  

 

I realize this post has not been updated for a while. But I reckoned this might be a place to ask about this. Is there a particular shapeways set of hands that would work for SS-38?

The SS-38 is definitely one I'm going to apply some paint and dry brushing to touch up. Dexterous hands would be a nice touch.

 

I've been waiting for someone to ask this too I can honestly see him benefiting from those i know that someone on Instagram told everyone about the articulation hands he had on his

 

I saw that Instagram post. But it appears not to have been updated for some time, and no path to order those particular hands. The SS-38 hands seem to have a mushroom-like peg. There are many different articulated hands on Shapeways, for instance. But I wonder if anyone has tried any of them in particular.

 

Speaking of Shapeways, I am looking at these and wondering if they may work with this Prime. Haven't done precise measurements.

FOC Soundwave Hands by fakebusker83 on Shapeways

 

Do the toes add a bit of weight that helps him fall backward less, even just a bit? The feet design doesn't bug me, coz accuracy isn't a concern, but his lack of much of a heel support is slightly annoying for posing.

 

If you

If you have a spare earthrise/kingdom prime then his hands can actually work on this prime. It may not provide full finger articulation but it does work.

 

I can't say that the toes help with support but I've definitely never had an issue with him falling over forwards with them on. I cant remember it being a problem before i added them on and having more area for the feet won't hurt for sure! Hope that helps!

Funny you should say that, I recently DID move over the hands! Earthrise hands mushroom pegs are a little smaller than ss38's. but with some tape and a little cushion, it definitely works!

I have also since this post made other modifications, including a silhouette fix, antenna ear fix, battle mask, smaller eyes, rifle accuracy, accurate smokestacks and ROTB sunvisor!! The silhouette mod was probably the biggest mod ive done yet I will post pictures of them soon!

 

Cool!! I'm looking forward to seeing them!

 

ALRIGHT! The long overdue update to this post that I made over 2 years ago! Please keep in mind I'm not much of a painter so it did rub off but I'll eventually get back to fixing it down the line. In a meantime, here are a couple more mods I did to Studio Series 38 Optimus Prime!

1. ROTB Window Visor! Cut up some plastic gift cards and taped over with aluminum tape! (worked a lot better than I thought) I didn't realize it at first but I had to trim a small corner of the truck in order to transform.
2a. Head fixes! I knew there was something off about the face that I couldn't get over until I realized that the eyes are too long. Simply scratching part of the paint off the eyes leading to the temples gave him that "Knightverse Autobot eye" look. Also used a paperclip to wrap the forehead crest bc I didn't want to paint it (it would eventually rub off if i did)
2b. Extended antennas and ear discs. Once I figured out the head was too wide, I shaved down outer sides of the antenna and added longer ones on the interior sides. I rolled up a piece of paper, solidified with super glue, and cut off discs (much like a sushi) and glued them onto his ears.
2c. NEW MASK Probably the most influencing change on the face. BBM Optimus has a very unique mask and its a shame we didn't see that on ss38 from the start.
3. New smokestacks! I cut off the original and used gundam frames, melted a paperclip into it and screwed it into the bottom "vent-half" of the smokestacks. They now rotate when converting from robot to truck
4. As mentioned before, I gave him Earthrise Optimus' hands to allow for finger articulation! Not an issue at all while transforming. The mushroom peg is smaller than the OG ss38 hands to I had to fill it in a bit with tape.
5. Waist pieces. Idk what else to call them but I glued on cutouts that I felt were more accurate to the movie. plus i think it pops more which I think definitely something that I think BBM optimus also uniquely does (it does kinda rub against the waist when the leg is raised up but it doesn't bother me too much.
6. NEW THICK THIGHS. I worked really hard to get the shape right and even though it isn't perfect, but I like it much more than before bc of how round it is. really noticeable when at a side angle. I also included some bits to fill in the inner thigh.
7. Aluminum tape on the back thigh was more of an experiment that I felt too lazy to remove but I also don't hate it enough to take off. it emphasizes the inner back piece methinks (plus chrome gas tanks are a plus in truck mode)
8. I added some heels for accuracy sake that probably suffered the most rubbing when transforming back and forth but might revisit in the future to improve it. Not a huge hinderance on transformation but definitely rub going on sometimes.
9. Rotated the butt-end of the rifle 180 degrees. Cant say that was my idea and I give credit to @TooKean for the inspiration. (for this, antenna extension, and inner thigh mods) Thank you!!!
10. Okay the biggest change: The silhouette mod. This is the most invasive and scariest mod. I cut the removable pieces attached to the wheels into two pieces (specifically at this location so it doesn't interfere with hand rotation) and one piece is glued back on the arm to stay indefinitely. The other halves are glued into a glasses hinge i got at the dollar store (which had to be buried and glued into the back) These pieces now add an extra step to transformation and flip in to form the silver shoulder blades that he has in the movie! I will post pictures I took as I made the mod to hopefully give a better idea as to how it works.
- This mod ultimately makes his silhouette look much leaner and less boxy from all sides which fixes SOOOOO much about what's wrong with this figure. (and if you're into it, the wheels can now sit on the side of his waist instead of the back) overall, I'm very happy I took this step and it makes him look so much better IMO.

and that's all! Again, he is due for a better paintjob so please excuse the mess but the mods and shape is there! Thank you guys for checking out this radicon thread even after 2+ years of its og post date and I hope it helps anyone at all who might be thinking about making this rad figure even better.

ps I made a lego axe

 

This looks great, I especially love how u fixed the feet and made it look so much better! Hasbro/Takara take note!

 

Hey guys! I just wanted to update this post for what will probably be the last time before SS-102 comes out. Just wanted to say how fun these past 3 years of customizing has been and I can't wait for more!

I realize I haven't posted the progress pictures for the shoulder blade mod so now is better than never. These are older pictures and I've had a repaint since then so please excuse the worn-out-ness of the paint. and of course, I've made some small additions/changes since my last post, but first, let's explain the back.

Cutting these side panels at this location is what you need to do, if the cut is anywhere else, you run the risk of hindering wrist movement.


I drilled in two holes at the shoulder blades and glued/epoxied in some metal hinges I got from a pair of cheap wired glasses at the dollar store. These hinges will allow the shoulder blade pieces to fold in seamlessly with the back and it won't have to stick out. Make sure you do not get any glue into any of the hinges or you'll have a much harder time like I did haha. These two pieces that will glue onto the hinges are meant to mimic these parts on the CG render:



Some of the new changes I've included since my last post are:

1. Orange (turn signal lights) square bits glued at the upper chest and lower back (thank you 1:1 ROTB statues for the reference)
2. New sword as accurate as I could do before the movie came out
3. Repainted to look cleaner and more effort/gun metal brush put into the robotic parts
4. Small gray detail pieces added to the top of the foot (right above the toes, made from leftover gundam frames)
5. Truck mode's Bull-bar and silver side panels (card cutouts covered with aluminum tape)

I just wanted to say thank you to everybody who took the time out of their day to check out this thread. I know I've been bringing it back up every couple months for updates so it's been a whole lot of fun to keep up with ever since covid decided to keep us at home with nothing else to do in the first place. I will definitely be back to mods/customs to be done with on SS-102, so while i'm excited for the future, I'm just happy ppl were able to take a look at this post I made 3 years ago and get something from it.

Special thanks to @Oktiduz for crediting me and others in their post about this figure! They explained how the silhouette/back mod works in his video in great detail! It's so cool to see how many different people worked on this to make SS-38 so much better! Check out his post here!

 

Goodness, how did I miss out this thread before?!?! Truly pioneering and inspirational stuff here. Honestly it's great to see so many different ways to tackle SS38, Hasbro should learn a thing or two from the variety of approaches seen here.

I particularly like the side profile you've achieved for Prime, so curvy but angular at the same time. And those new thigh pieces you sculpted..... beyond nice.