Heavy/Scratch: Cirrus - Fully Transformable Original Design

Discussion in 'Radicons Customs' started by Bitstream, Dec 4, 2022.

  1. Bitstream

    Bitstream Nobody's side

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    Well, this is my most emphatic use of the Heavy/Scratch tag, because I literally designed this guy from the ground up, based on a very very old design from my RP days, modeled, printed, and assembled. He's a bit of a mess, but he's mine!

    This guy is Cirrus, member of a neutral faction. He's a little guy that transforms into an unmanned recon aircraft.

    Cirrus Robot Mode.jpg Cirrus Alt Mode.jpg

    He's fully articulated, with balljointed head, shoulders, and hips, double jointed elbows and knees, and a rotating waist. No ankle tilts. Maybe next time. He came out a bit tubby, and the head is smaller than I'd like, but it was about as big as I could make it in the space available.

    Despite my primitive design skills, I'm nonetheless kind of proud of some of the transformation elements I worked out. The legs collapse on a Combiner Wars-inspired hinge that worked out surprisingly well, the arms slide forward on a track after pulling out of the body, and I don't think I've ever seen an assembly that unfolds quite like nosecone section.

    He transforms in roughly 15 steps! Shown here with a faction logo I added a little after the initial pics.
    Cirrus Step 1.jpg Cirrus Step 2.jpg Cirrus Step 3.jpg Cirrus Step 4.jpg Cirrus Step 5.jpg Cirrus Step 6.jpg Cirrus Step 7.jpg Cirrus Step 8.jpg Cirrus Step 9.jpg Cirrus Step 10.jpg Cirrus Step 11.jpg Cirrus Step 12.jpg Cirrus Step 13.jpg Cirrus Step 14.jpg Cirrus Step 15.jpg Cirrus Step 16.jpg Cirrus Step 17.jpg

    Bonus, here's the ancient 3D model he's inspired by. (NOT the one used to produce the figure!)
    cirrus-big.jpg cirrus-jet.jpg

    One day perhaps I might take a second pass on him, with a more refined vehicle mode and better integrated transformation scheme. He's a mess, comes apart much too easily, and doesn't hold together well. But I'm still very happy with him.
     
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  2. TAAO

    TAAO Well-Known Member

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    Very nice! It really gives off some major Skyfire proto vibes.
     
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  3. shiftypenguin

    shiftypenguin Fancy-Pantsless Dancer

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    Wow! Amazing work on this guy!
     
  4. autobot prowl

    autobot prowl Well-Known Member

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    Nice! I'm also seeing Skyfire and some Powerglide in this
     
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  5. Signal LancR

    Signal LancR Bah weep gragnah

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    That's pretty impressize that you made him from scratch. He looks a bit like Skyfire's backpack given life. Maybe Skyfire one day realized he wasn't fighting his war anyway, left, and made himself a friend out of what he had on hand...or back, for that matter. Cool figure, anyway.
     
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  6. Glarryg

    Glarryg Well-Known Member

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    That's awesome, designing and building an original from the ground up!

    Glarryg
     
  7. Geminii

    Geminii Toyetic multiformophile

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    Honestly really interesting. It kind of feels like a more elaborate version of G1 Broadside - lots more articulation and transformation complexity.
     
  8. Stormvapor

    Stormvapor Well-Known Member

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    This is so epic! So damn EPIC!
    I love this so much, that I drew this up for you mate!
    Hope you Enjoy this as much as I Enjoy yours:
     

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  9. Bitstream

    Bitstream Nobody's side

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    Oh wow! Thanks so much, this is awesome :D 
     
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  10. echotransformer

    echotransformer Well-Known Member

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    Awesome work on this! The joy of creation...
     
  11. DeathsTreads77

    DeathsTreads77 Loves obscurity a bit too much.

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    This is genius my guy
     
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  12. bellpeppers

    bellpeppers A Meat Popsicle

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    Good job!
     
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  13. Fostorial

    Fostorial Well-Known Member

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    This is awesome! Wouldn't be so down on yourself, my first attempt at a full figure didn't go anyway near as well!!

    In regards to falling apart and not holding and what not, what's been an utter game changer for me is stiffening the joints after printing. Find it really makes them hold together so much better and be generally less floppy. And it's so easy! Plenty of tutorials on the forum. Pledge furniture polish, nail varnish, super glue. Loads of low cost options. If you find loose bits, maybe have a look. Didn't start until my 3rd figure and I have so much more consistent results now!

    But again, this mint!
     
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  14. Optimalprimal

    Optimalprimal Diecast construction. It's a lost art.

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    Wow, that's awesome! Good work and I like the backstory.
     
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  15. Bitstream

    Bitstream Nobody's side

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    Actually, it's not so much an issue with loose joints, but assembly and clearance issues. The transformation joints in the middle of the wings, for instance, are a bulky peg and just pop apart. I've actually already redone them with a nail as a pin, and it's much cleaner and stays together great. Also, the assembly for sliding the arms out has some issues where it's both too tight and too loose, and requires me to be able to access the interior and free it up with a tool, so I can't permanently attach a part (the head/nosecone assembly) I intended to be glued on. So that whole thing just comes off. My ball joints and hinges actually came out surprisingly great!
     
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  16. Fostorial

    Fostorial Well-Known Member

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    The slide like g1 soundwave hands yeah? I did the same for my thundertank and they slide really well. The internal sliding mechanism bucked and locked. The trick was adding a stabilising outside part that held the internal slide against track. Like a tab you can pull.
     
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  17. Bitstream

    Bitstream Nobody's side

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    Similar, yeah. There's a top and bottom track inside, and I thought that it would be enough to keep it in place, but I guess the pieces are too flat, so there's room for them to tip over while sliding. An external slider would be nice, but there's nowhere good to implement it, as currently constructed. The engineering of it was sort of ad-hoc as I went, with multiple discreet segments. Maybe if I gave it a second, more integrated pass, I could work that out. It's tempting to try.
     
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  18. darqen

    darqen Well-Known Member

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    Nice when I saw the jet I thought it was slingshots jet from MASK
     
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  19. Admiral Lilwall

    Admiral Lilwall Lilwall Leader

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    AWESOME, no bias ;) 
     
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  20. ProfessionalIcee

    ProfessionalIcee I have a fear of places so I want to change shape.

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    Broadside has hope after all…

    This is scarily similar to my own design, at least a former revision of mine. Hope I can accomplish half as much as you did!