Accessing Decepticon Justice Division secure files. Opening THE LIST. Entry #1, 673: Malaclese Malaclese began life as a cargo worker in what became known as Slaughter City. At some point he was inducted into the underworld of the city and was eventually in charge of planning the gladiatorial fights. He excelled at that task as his sharp mind and love of violence often yielded spectacular fights for the crowds. For some time he attempted to make it his mission to actually kill the gladiator called Megatronus in one of the fights Malaclese designed. Every victory Megatronus earned delighted Malaclese who adored the challenge of attempting to find some way to destroy the unkillable warrior. Malaclese's voice was often the loudest cheering when Megatronus emerged victorious. It did not surprise Malaclese when Megatron turned from the gladiatorial arena to the political. Malaclese's own ideals ran close enough to Megatron's that he quickly joined the then nameless Decepticons. When Megatron went to speak to the council, Malaclese also traveled to Iacon but was forced to watch the event on the streets outside the Senate tower due to overcrowding. The birth of the war was the outcome Malaclese had predicted but Optimus Prime had not been. Still loyal to the Decepticon cause Malaclese was a useful tactician. He was eventually assigned his own squad consisting of Sunder, Roadburn, and Nosedive. Other commanders would have been angry at command of an idiot, a zealot, and a klutz but Malaclese took it as a challenge. Luckily for him Malaclese greatly enjoys his squad mates and is skilled in their application. Under his calculating command what would normally be a horrendously ineffective squad is just slightly better than competent. Traitorous Threat Level: Miniscule Logging off Decepticon Justice Division server. ----------------- So here's Malaclese; the leader of my Decepticon squad and the figure I had the hardest time with for numerous reasons. First off, this isn't the base figure I would have chosen as his Fall of Cybertron self uses the Ironhide torso and alt mode. The head I wanted to use was completely out of the question (Bruticus's head). Then once I "finished" painting him he started to fall apart ( http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-toy-discussion/962524-breakage-warning-orion-pax.html ). In fact after I took these pictures I disassembled him and have swapped out his entire torso with a new one Satomiblood sold me. He's currently in the midst of being RE-finished... But I really dig the way he turned out. I wanted to make him look as UN-Optimus like as I could so I went as far out on modifying him as I could. I'm not sure if this warrants the Heavy title or not but for me it was rather heavy. To give the full parts breakdown, the body is Orion Pax, the head is Trailcutter, the shoulder spikes are from the deluxe movie Dread whose name escapes me, the spikes at the end of his arm panels are the blades from PRID Megatron's gauntlet and the spikes on either side of his head are also from there, the green fins on the front of the vehicle mode are the shoulder bits from FoC Thundercracker, the engine block is from a human alliance figure who turned into a 3 wheeled bike thing and cannon whose name I don't remember, and his guns are from Takara FoC Skywarp. Originally I wanted him to be primarily purple but I didn't have purple spray paint so I went with gun metal instead. After adding the purple he was looking too Motormaster-y to me so I added the green. Shout out to Neekatronus for the mold idea and general sounding board. Here are the other figures seen in the pictures and Malclese's squadmates. http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/radicons-customs/718868-custom-character-sunder.html http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/radicons-customs/737336-custom-character-roadburn.html http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/radicons-customs/737353-custom-character-nosedive.html And now the pictures. As always comments and criticisms are welcome. EDIT: Since I finished fixing the crumbling torso (by replacing it and repainting it) I took some new shots. The brush paint I have is darker than the spray I originally used (and ran out of). Both still gun metal but a darker one. Still kinda works alright. ^Megatron declares war in the Senate Tower. A crowd gathered on the street in Iacon watches the even live. A couple no frills shots. Comparing with the old torso. ^New orders have been passed down. A combat mission. ^Red team, flag captured! ^Whole squad at the end of shore leave. ^Wish you were in Kaon.
Oh LOVE this one, didn't even recognize the base mold until you did the side by side with the stock Prime, bravo!
Glad you guys like him. Thanks Satomiblood. Actually when trying to decide what tertiary color to choose I ended up thinking of Lex Luthor who's battle armor is often annoyingly bright green and purple. So I decided to try out the dark green I had and liked the results. Now that is what I like to hear. Some molds are far too identifiable as to which character they are. Soundwave always will be Soundwave to my eyes. So I'm glad I was successful in turning this Optimus (basically) into something that fooled you. I do try to make my stuff unique but not Mary Sue's. I'm glad you like my work. SO DO I! Thanks. I agree that they look pretty awesome together.
You did an awesome job, Ryoku! Even with the side by side it took me a minute to realize this was the Prime mold. =)
Gotta say, Ryoku, I really enjoy reading the backstory write-ups on these just as much as looking at the figures to go with them. As always, very creative characterizations...and the spikes and greebly bits you added go a very long way to changing Malaclese's silhouette from Pax's. Keep knockin' 'em out of the park!
Awesome. I love hearing that I've actually managed to make people not see Optimus at first. Don't they?! If a 3rd party releases a better FoC Jazz or something along those lines I'll probably redo Roadburn. I guess the same is true for Sunder even though I don't have any huge issues with the mold. Yesterday I took some pics of the Autobot squad with a new background that turned out amazing. I'll probably do the same for these guys when Malaclese is fixed. YES! This pleases me! Come now, you'll give this amateur a big head. I wouldn't ever say I knock anything out of the park. But this latest batch is some of my favorites I own. And yeah, I feel that adding the bio greatly expands the character and makes me like the figures all the more. For Malaclese here I knew very little of him until I sat down to write him. I only knew that I wanted him to be intellectual and that he had to be loyal to his very eccentric squad-mates. The rest just evolved as I took those concepts into his past. I'm glad you get as much out of them as I do.
Thanks TCracker. Since I finished fixing the crumbling torso (by replacing it and repainting it) I took some new shots. The brush paint I have is darker than the spray I originally used (and ran out of). Both still gun metal but a darker one. Still kinda works alright. ^Megatron declares war in the Senate Tower. A crowd gathered on the street in Iacon watches the even live. A couple no frills shots. Comparing with the old torso. ^New orders have been passed down. A combat mission. ^Red team, flag captured! ^Whole squad at the end of shore leave. ^Wish you were in Kaon.
