Hi all, First time poster, long time follower. I've done a lot of other hobby work in the past but this is my first Transformer custom. I wanted to make CW Battle Core Optimus Prime into Ultra Magnus that looks more like the cartoon and comics. The first thing that bothered me with the toy version was the face. I wanted to give Magnus a face and helmet similar to the one from the stories, not just a vanilla version of Optimus/whoever. I searched for a Magnus replacement head and spent a few hours studying the process to remove the old one. I didn't find any actual head kits to convert his head to a Magnus face version and there wasn't anything I found online in my 2+ hours of searching on just how to remove the old head. So, I decided to do it the old fashioned way, pop it off, carve off the old face and sculpt a new one. I assumed that the old head was on some sort of ball joint and that it would pop off with a little applied force. Well, let me tell you that this is NOT the way to go. The head proved very stubborn to remove, so I grabbed a small flat head screwdriver and used a little leverage. It popped all right. I broke the plastic off at the mounting point on the flip around door. At least the head was off, right? I will glue it back later with some zap-a-gap. I then used a razor saw, straight razor blade and a #11 X-acto knife to carve off the weird antenna things and the face mask. I left the point of the mask at the bottom to serve as the foundation for the chin. After carving the antenna away I saw the hollow part of the head underneath and realized that I would have to reinforce that later. After the plastic bits were carved away I use some sandpaper to carefully even out the surfaces. Then I mixed up some plumber's putty (green stuff) and made a little ball for the facial features. I made a mental note of where I wanted the features I needed for the face (nose, mouth, chin) and then arranged the putty in a linear way down the center of the face. I cut off a bit where I wanted the nose to end and then made an indentation below it for the mouth. I moved the bit that I cut from the nose down to become the chin. Then I carefully massaged the blobs to make my crude little Magnus face using old dental tools (you can get these from your dentist for free if you ask). After the face was acceptable I took two small strips of putty and stretched them across both sides of the helmet to form bands to match his G1 look. They came out a little uneven but won't stand out too much when they're painted. Also, they will make the head stronger by reinforcing the points that were weakened by the carving. I used excess putty to continue the molded armor joints running down the sides of the helmet. I'm relatively satisfied with the results and will keep posting my progress here. Take a look and let me know what you think. UPDATE: I primed the head with flat white spray paint and then added a wash of 1/3 Delta ceramcoat black (Walmart craft paint) and 2/3 Future floor finish. This should help you to see it tie together from the previous version of green on white contrast.
Updated with new images from the primed and black-washed version. I have done some base coat work on the body in alt mode, painting the legs blue, cab mostly white and grey. I'm getting rid of the gold colors. The same black wash was applied to the pipes, grills, door handles, etc. I painted the spokes and hubcaps of the wheels light grey with a loose, wet brush technique to just catch the highlights, giving it a slightly dirty look. I am debating whether to paint the windows or use stickers/decals from Reprolabels. I'll post photos of the progress on the body soon. I plan to paint the side portions of the torso dark red and the center and upper portions blue. I'll paint the center plate of the forearms and shoulders blue as well. I don't want to the red and blue to show up much in the combiner mode because I want it to be a mostly white combiner with a little blue, less red. I'm planning to use Rook, First Aid, Prowl, and Streetwise for the combiner, but possibly deluxe Groove as an alternate.
Updated photos attached. The paint is nearly done. I just need to do some detail work, the windows, running stripe on the sides, and apply decals. I'll finish the face and reattach the head once the body is complete.
Thanks. It's from the dark wash over the white paint. It gathers in the recesses and makes it easier to paint the different spots. It's also a lazy man's way of outlining the details.
