send him my way jk do something great with him maybe Red Alert

 

I think KITT would be interesting. But there are so many possiblities of what to customize from that mold. Thats really up to you.

 

G2 Drench please, with a custom water shooter.. 

 

Gotta Agree with Mikey on this. Money is the last thing on the list of a customizers priority. You need to actually want to make the character so you do a committed and good job on it. Just doing it for the money or because you can make the money is not the right attitude. But I digress. I know for the two molds I have I will eventually do straight repaints in a candy style. I love them two(Sunsteaker and sideswipe) and I will be putting all my effort into them. sure I will sell them after and if people wanna bid on em(or not) its cool as I will just keep making things I like.

 

Reshell with some random truck model, and use the hood-chest transformation for a deluxe Trailbreaker/Hoist. =X

 

Breakdown. I loves me some Decepticons.

 

I get what you are saying, both of you. But you are both missing my point by a light-year. I paint because i enjoy it but recently i have found that i can make money from it at the same time. Right now I need money, this is a skill i can make money from, one fo the few skills i actually have. So why not do something about it? Thats my point. Wether im doing something just to sell it or not isnt going to effect how it will look it will come out well either way as long as i dont mess it up. I dont skip on the quality if im just planning on selling it right afterward, why would anybody? If you can do something that can earn you some much needed cash so you can help feed your family then why not put it into effect? Ya know what i mean? I want to do something that i find appealing with this toy because i find it fun-yes indeed otherwise i wouldnt bother at all as i cant put my heart into something i dont find interesting. But i need to do somehting that i think other people will like enough to buy it as well so i can pay for my materials and put a little extra in my wife's empty purse so she can feed us all. For people who are unemployed like me we dont have the luxury of just doing everything "for the love" like you guys seem to, as wonderful as that would be, we also need to do whatever we can to survive in a world where everything costs money...too much money.
If you were in my shoes you would understand my predicament.
Anyway this thread wasnt meant to be about peoples opinions on why or why you shouldnt do something for money or whatever so can we move on and put the thread-train back on the rails please?

Its funny you mention the candy paint tony because i have a really nice shade of yellow and some candy pearl powder to go over it, a proper sunstreaker paint job with a bit of extra sparkle in it would look lovely. But so would a pearl-white police car...ohh i hate tough decisions.

 

I'd actually rather just ignore the reply above, but other inspiring kitbashers/artists (not just transformer customizers) might also read it and this thread and perhaps misunderstand and make bad decisions.

I never "chose" to be a full time customizer. I was happy with getting a paycheck every other Friday for the exact same amount. I'd do my hours, complete my work, and I'd get a check signed by someone I don't even know. I had benefits, retirement plan, stocks..it was awesome.

However, I did dabble into making some customs (on the side) while working for that company. I didn't do a single custom (still haven't) so I can make some money. I did it because (a) I love art and (b) I love transformers. I saw a market and demand for customized Transformers, so put a deadbeat's commission on ebay to just get rid of it.. it was a figure I had no interest in keeping (TFTM Smokescreen)

While it was on auction, I don't think I even checked how it was doing until the last day. I'd like to believe that people who commission or show interest in my work/customs see my passion and love in each piece. I do characters and customs that I want to do, and put my heart into each paint stroke. I think that if I cranked out 5 per week from the start, I wouldn't be where I am today. I don't think my auctions would be viewed the same, nor do I think I'd have more than a few commissions. I like to think those interested in my art are also interested in my passion for my art, and can see in each custom.

Bottom line is, I don't think it's possible to intentionally go into an artistic field to make money. Artistic work is most likely the most competitive field out there. Look at fine artists, how many do you think do it so they can "one day have million dollar pieces in an exclusive gallery" ...it just doesn't happen. How many people try to cash in on a good idea(s) until they milk it out, and then what do they do? disappear.

Whether this thread's about opinions or whaever, (uh oh here he goes sounding arrogant again) I want some of the inspiring artists to realize what it DOESN'T take to do what I do this full time and be "successful". I support my family very comfortably by believing in and following these beliefs. The day someone comes around and says "I want to make lots of money by doing customs" and sticks around for more than a month or 2, I will then listen to his opinion and question mine.

don't take this the wrong way, this has nothing to do with you, I don't even know you. I just don't think it's possible to come into the "custom world" with questions like "hey guys, what character can I do that will make me some dough on ebay"....I've seen too many customizers with similar intentions disappear as quick as they came.

 

No i get you.

That's how it happens, your right.

Thats why this is sort of a dream jobs for the likes of Mikey and I.

This is where your wrong. Its the wrong mindset. Wrong, Wrong, Wrong, Wrong. This shows that money is the ambition. It shouldnt be, making the custom is what should be, money is the after effect of doing a good job is all. Wanting to do something you think other people will like should not be your priority. Sure you can make something popular. Like me for example with the Sunstreaker of Sideswipes, I love the characters and the toys so it makes sense for me to customize them the way i wanna see them. Thing is I would do this regardless of what I think the marketability is for them. If I do a good job tho I am sure they will sell just fine. That's all. I never sit here and plot what will sell the best and just make that. If that was the case I would be making deadpools all the time as they are easy customs and people pay the most for them. I dont tho I do custom transformers which take about 20x longer to make and for less than I could sell a deadpool for. Looking at it that way it doesnt make much sense right? Wrong, I love what I am doing and the satisfaction I get completing the customs I do. Money is just the compensation, if it was there or not I would still do customs. What will you do if you make a custom and it doesnt sell well btw? Quit? jJust curious.

This is also a big misunderstanding. Not many know but I am in the same shoes as Mikey and yourself. I had a killer Job. I hated it. But! I made a lot of money doing it. As we all know though, the current situation has given lots of people the layoff. I was one of the first ones back in February 07 and it was tough. Very tough. Bills were high and needed to be paid, job market sucked. But I had skills that I could use as an artist. so like you I wanted to make money sure. I started by making a site and doing all the things like registering at multiple forums and stuff. Then I just made customs. And they were ones I wanted to do. Look at my site they are right at the bottom. Protoforms and a big a$$ venom are what I wanted to make. And you know what? They are sitting on my shelf still. Once people saw what I could do and that i loved doing it the rest just fell into place. I still laugh about my fist commission all I charged was 50 bucks, coulda got more, sure! But I was just happy as hell I got to work on something for someone else that would appreciate it and love it. And even today when I get commission emails I get so excited thinking about making what they want that I even buy the stuff before I get a price and still make it even if they pull out on it.

Preaching to the choir my man.

I agree and I apologize and this will be my last post on the matter here.

There you go man, sounds like you already have the stuff to do it so get at it and lets see it in the gallery soon!  

 

Thanks tony, i wont say any more because of the de-railing thing, but i just wanted to thank you for understanding. While im here though, i'll answer your question: Cut my losses, take it like a man and move on to something else. Sure i'll be pissed off but thats just an emotion and they go away after a while.   If theres one thing me and the missus know how to do, its survive on practically nothing. If my plan fails then we'll find some other way but i wont quit.  

Ok so i have a plan now and i know what im gonna do and thanks to this idea im thinking of painting a whole line of toys like this! I wont tell ya what im gonna do, but i think its cool and more importantly i want to do it because i just want to. If they sell afterwards then that'll be a bonus. I have already started on sunstreaker, he was quite a lot of fun to take apart. Very simple and easy..a fun toy to work on thats for sure.

 

Turn him into REV  

REV - Transformers Robots In Disguise - Transformers Resources

 

make it into a cybertronian mode sunstreaker

 

Lol, I enjoyed reading this thread... whatever you are planning for your Sunstreaker, I know if you put all your heart to it, people will notice, and it will garner good returns. Good luck bro.

 

Buy some more classics molds and make Gobots Puzzler

 

I was actually thinking of that but I would use Sideswipe since he's already red.

 

Or basically any sports car spychanger (read: non F1 car or truck). I'd personally love to see a deluxe scale take on the spychangers, as i've already seen legends spychangers customs.

Personally, i'd say Crosswise. The mold is perfect since it has a flat enough hood to allow for the 'x' shape design on him.

Otherwise, you could always shoehorn some character into a car alt mode. Alt seekers have been made before, not that far of a stretch.

Or, the turbomasters are an option, specifically Flash, Boss and Hurricane.

 

I dont know, or even heard of any of these things.

 

 

I admit, I didn't know much outside G1 until doing this full time. I get many obscure requests, but intend to know every TF in and out before I retire.

 

Why use google when im already in the best place for everything regarding transformers?   

Thats like being at the Kennedy Space Center and asking about how they launch the shuttle only to be told to go read about it or watch a documentary lmao.

 

because in reality there are people with hundreds of posts who don't know anything outside of their 5-10 character (which of course is a personal choice)
From what you've described as of late, it would be beneficial to you to look up characters rather than always say "i have no idea who that is"