Hey guys! Rather than update the old thread from April 2008(LOL), I figured I'd start fresh in here. This guy has been in progress since either January or February of 2008. Somewhere around the same time I found my original Devs from the 1980's and Ptitvite made his masterpiece that inspired us all. Hence my making this guy. It's taken a loooong time due to several reasons, one being my short attention span and a big one being my busy work schedule. Regardless, he's coming along. 5/7/09(five minutes later): Less-rough pictures, post clearcoat. The parts aren't nearly as shiny as they appear in the pics, the clear wasn't totally set-up at that point. 5/7/09: Rough pictures during the drybrushing phase. More picture(s?) later. 5/8/09: Some detail pictures, showing the areas folks have inquired about. ...and just to show that I've also been working on the little guys 5/12/09: Hook!
Wow this is looking almost as good as Cregfigz' one! The drybrushing and dirty paint look fantastic! How do you do that?
It's actually an "easy" trick to pull off. It's all about how you prime/basecoat the figure, and what you use as a top coat. If you strategically[drybush the] basecoat the figure, you can vary the base color in areas, then if your topcoat that you drybrush on is transparent enough, the variations show through slightly. More pictures in like 30 seconds
This is looking very good. You have inspired me, for real. Your approach is original, and I am going to steal it for mine!!!! especial the chest set up.
I really dig how this is similar to the other Devastator customs, yet it's done in a completely different (and awesome) way. The detail on the waist/crotch region is great and I agree, that chest piece is perfect. I definitely see this inspiring a few people to do things a different way. Can't wait to see more updates on this. Keep up the great work (also, the level of paint detail is very nice).
i like your take on the crotch and chest piece, original, yet perfect. the unicron waist plates just didn't look quite right,
Out of all the WIP's I've seen, this one really inspires me to try to make my own. These look great! What is the chest piece made from?
Wow, wow, wow...thanks so much guys. It's been an enjoyable project for sure I appreciate the kind words, especially from such an esteemed crowd; and amongst so many other similar customs. Thanks guys. The crotch piece is made from the center of Unicron's original crotch, and the sides of Primus' crotch piece. I cut them away using a razor saw(hobby saw), then fixed male Bionicle/Lego connectors into the sides. I trimmed and worked another Lego piece into Unicron's original piece. I'll try to take some pictures in the next few days(when I can escape work ). The chest piece is made up of a Cybertron Optimus Prime's wings, trimmed to fit, along with an Energon Steamhammer(combiner chest) body. The bottom portion of the wing is the top portion of Steam's legs and the centerpiece of the wing would be Steam's chest/torso. I like how it turned out, especially the 'Con logo embossed into the middle. Believe it or not, my mom owned a craft/ceramic store when I was younger and she forced me to learn how to drybrush those blasted ceramic bunnies and the like! I learned a lot despite my reluctance.
I'm sorry, I didn't really answer your question earlier. I saw "chest piece" and automatically thought "wing." I bet you're curious about this conglomoration: It's made of the now-typical "Primus back," that is to say the back of his torso/chest. You basically gut the innards of it out and it fits nearly perfectly over the Energon Demolishor mold when folded strategically. I used Primus' knee pieces as the shoulders, cut the centers out of them and added the female portion of a Mega Bloks BTR kit's joints. They ratchet nicely and can carry a bit of weight before giving. I topped those off with Bionicle pieces, which also give me a multitude of mounting options for Hook's crane boom/turret. A few other Bionicle pieces fill in the gaps and add some interesting detail(as well as some structure). Again, I can take some detail shots if anyone is interested
wooo...how can i missed this...it is already in long conversations...i think this brush method that coolest i ever saw...good job
Seriously, besides Ptitvite's Devastator, this is this only one that I has my mind going none stop. Just the chest idea has had me brainstorming non-stop for a couple of days. Thanks for taking such a cool approach. You have helped me figure out a new way to configure shoulders for my large scale non-transforming movie figs, plus help me designs a unique Devs which I will do in July!!!
I know how to drybrush but only with silver. So are you saying that what you do is basecoat with a dark color as normal, and then drybrush the color over that, and then add another coat of drybrushed transparent paint over that?
dry brushing is the same technique but with other colors. Pretty sure there are tutorials right here on this site explaining all these details.
I'm flattered, especially considering the source-your customs are works of art in their own right! I look forward to seeing where your brainstorming takes you in the future; and what you draw from my silly engineering You're on the right track. To get the variations in color(i.e. the "dirty" look), you can actually drybrush patches of varying color UNDER the top(main) color that you drybrush on. Light-colored acrylics, such as my green, will really show those colors through. The down side is that it takes several coats of the topcoat to build up to the desired color. Most of the green and purple you see in the above pictures is six or more coats!
I see, im still a little confused though, thats why if you could point me in the direction of a tutorial on how to do it that way i would be very thankful. Theres nothing on here that really goes beyond anything other than what i already know.
