Hey Everyone,

So I was definitely inspired by this thread: Minor/Repaint: - Transformers Hot Wheels

I really liked what Darkhawk 79 was doing. I found a Flat Nose (Ruf?) Porsche that looked like a great base vehicle for Jazz and then a Boulevard Lancia Stratos in the perfect livery for Wheeljack and that was it...I was hooked!

So with that, I have decided to create pretty much the entire G1 (season 1 and 2 cast) in Hot-wheels-ish size and scale. Yep, it's going to be a long and difficult project, but I have a lot already in the works so I'll try to post regularly.

As with any of these projects, I like to lay out some ground rules for myself to keep the project focused and moving along quickly.

1. Non-transforming
2. Scale doesn't have to be perfect, but ideally Hotwheels is the target size (1:64)
3. Where possible, I'm going to use the exact vehicle that G1 used. This is going to get tricky with Gears, Huffer, etc. but should be a breeze with characters like the Datsun Bros, Wheeljack etc.
4. Best to get a character DONE than have the exact size/details represented. I can always revisit.
5. I will share any upgrades/3D prints with the community in case you plan to make your favorite characters
6. Microchange stuff like Perceptor, Soundwave, Megs, etc. are going to be a wildcard..I might use accessories, I might print stuff...I might get creative and make vehicles for them...not sure I'll make it up as I go along.

UPDATE: I've decided I'm doing S1/S2 entirely in real-world vehicles that actually existed in the 1980s (or earlier). No fantasy vehicles, no guns, no cassette players, no cameras, no beasts. It's going to be interesting!

Ok, with that...this first post will be a summary of the latest vehicles. Then within the threads I'll share the details of how each vehicle was made.

Thanks for checking it out, everyone. Enjoy!

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Jan 1 2023:

Jazz, Red-Alert and Wheeljack are done!!!







Jan 4 2023:

Hound and Bumblebee are done!





Update Jan 11, 2023:

Sunstreaker is done!!!



Update Jan 21, 2023:

Sideswipe is done!



Update Feb 2, 2023:

Ironhide Revealed!
May 16th: New wheels/chassis for Ironhide to give him a more accurate look!



Update Feb 12:

Ratchet Revealed!
May 16th: New wheels/chassis for Ratchet to give him a more accurate look!



March 1st: Cliffjumper Done!



March 5th: Mirage Revealed!



March 16th: Huffer is good to go.
April 2: I updated the March Huffer design to have a hitch, and look less 'cropped' or 'stubby' at the back.



April 2nd: Windcharger revealed!



April 16th: Tracks and Skids!





April 20th: Winged Tracks



April 26th: Behold, Trailbreaker!



May 3rd: HOIST!



May 30th: Brawn is ready to show



June 20th: Prowl



June 29: Bluestreak



July 12: Gears!



Nov 15: Insecticons







Nov 21st: Inferno



Dec 11: Grapple



Dec 24th: Smokescreen



Jan 17th: Optimus Prime



Jan 28th: Shockwave




Feb 24th: Ravage



March 3: Rumble and Frenzy





March 11: Lazerbeak and Buzzsaw





April 2: Soundwave (Note, this will be replaced with a Car Carrier design, in progress)



April 12: Hook and Long Haul





April 20: Bonecrusher and Scavenger




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GROUP SHOTS BELOW THIS LINE
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Okay, like any project of this nature, the key is to get started and gain momentum. So I picked on some easier characters first.

Wheeljack:
He's a HotWheels Boulevard purchased from retail (Walmart). A bit hard to find but I managed to score one. There's actually a 2-pack out at retail with a BMW M1 that's really easy to find, in case you want one.



All you have to do is slap some new numbers on this guy and you're done!




Jazz:
So the vehicle was really easy to find, as it was a mainline Hotwheels and quite inexpensive. Problem #1 is that it is not quite the same bodywork as the G1...this is the actual racing car, so you can see the rear fenders are a bit squared off. The G1 had an interesting combination of a 911 rear end with the front end of a Porsche...was is it a RUF Porsche, or is there an actual racing car with the rounded fenders? Let me know in the comments. Any way I said 'close enough' for now, as shaving the headlights off a 911 to make it a slant-nose OR somehow welding the nose of this car onto a 911 felt like too much work (for now).





The problem is that livery...hmm...so I grabbed some scratch remover and took off all the tampos. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the process...but basically it takes of the tampos but NOT the white paint. Works like a charm...best of all, I didn't have to repaint the body. I did paint the front bumper tho, so it is white like the OG Jazz. I made some custom graphics for it (I have vector files in case anyone wants them...PM Me) and printed them out. From a natural viewing distance it looks pretty good...(just noticed the wheels a bit chipped from handing it so much, so I'll touch those up...oddly that doesn't show in person...the camera really shows all the issues!)



Red Alert:
So the story here is I was on the hunt for pretty much any Lamborghini Countach to create the Lambo brothers...and I bumped into this old casting at a Flea Market. It was already white so I figured maybe I could somehow rework it into Red Alert with minimal effort. Check out that 1980s pin striping with 'sunset' wheels...Miami Vice vibes, right?



So the first step is to polish the daylights out of this thing, remove the scratches from the windsheild and scrape off those tampos!



Next I dealt with the paint chips...a little Tamiya white will do the trick!



And then as the finisher, I took some red Vinyl and made a couple of custom decals for the wheels and "Fire Department". Also I made the lightbar from a piece of Lexan and painted it with clear Red Tamiya paints. Done!




What's next? Here's a Preview:

 

Yo these look awesome! Can't wait to see more, I predict they will be Hound and Bumblebee!

 

These are all great! Excited to see what else you do

 

I don’t know if this helps but the RID cars had some matchbox style cars. They did a stepper paint job but the car is not same Porsche. You might be able to use the Ironhide pickup truck as Huffer and Pipes?
There was a mirage race car too.

If I was rich and famous, I wouldn’t mind having all of the Autobot cars in my garage. It’s never gonna happen so maybe I should do what your doing? Lol

 

Cool.

I've sorta-wanted to do this myself but settled for trying to amass as many of the old RPMs line from the ROTF era as I could. (that'd make a neat display tho - the Movie-era vehicles with the G1-era ones)

 

These are all super fun!
If you want to drive yourself crazy with scale, TheLazyEyebrow on Youtube has some impressively granular videos about TF vehicle mode scale and detailing.

 

Nice! I've always loved miniature vehicles. I tried assembling a collection of Hot Wheels film and TV vehicles (including Transformers) many years ago and at the moment I'm looking into the same for a slot car collection. Wishing you luck on your quest!

 

Thanks and you're correct about Hound and Bee, I'm gonna post about them today!

Many thanks!

Yes! Those are pretty awesome, actually. I have a few I'll take pics with them. In my case, all must NOT transform.   But yeah, Hotwheels are a great way to enjoy car culture for a small price, it's definitely how I've indulged! (highly recommended)

RPMs are awesome...really why didn't Hasbro make G1 versions? I have a couple I'll try to take some pics with the G1s at some point.

Thanks for the info, I'll check that out!

IIRC they had Transformers slot cars but they weren't regular characters, am I correct? The Movie/TV collection sounds awesome...and good luck on your collecting goals as well!

 

HOUND:

Ok let's start with Hound. Found this nice little M2 Machine...I figured I could just take off the logos, the canopy should be easy to remove, paint some green and done right? (and it does look green here, but it is actually blue-green and NOT a proper color for Hound)



WRONG!

Wow that canopy was hard to remove without damaging it...it was actually glued to the windsheild. I even needed to drill out the supports on the back side. The Maui logo was a really high quality tampo, and only came off with sanding. And quickly I realized there was no back floor.

Here's the chassis taken apart with primer. You can actually see the floor I designed/3D printed in this photo. (I managed to attach it a little better later on)



I also realized the vehicle was missing the classic winch on the front. So I whipped that up along with the floor:



I did get some good luck...the wheels are rubber! After my first coat of the rims I realized I could peel them off...this is my first coat with the wheels off I could do a much better job...



Even though I primed, the green paint orange peeled like crazy...in person it actually looks ok--this thing is TINY...like 2" long. In the photo you can imagine that Hound has been through lots of tough battles right? Or someone spent all day hitting him with a ball peen hammer? It gives it character, right? Any way it is what it is...



I used a Chrome pen for the winch.

BUMBLEBEE:

This went a lot better. Another collector diecast find, only issue I could see with this one was the taxi sign.



It was glued on! All I needed to do was pry it off. There were some pegs in the roof, so I sanded those down and applied some filler:



Just a bit more chrome pen, some paint for the bumpers...and voila, he's done!

 

This looks so fun! I’m looking forward to this and hope you find more!

 

Looks great! I really like your attention to detail on them.

 

These are all awesome!

 

These look amazing, and I'm loving the detailed step-by-step. What scratch remover did you use for the tampos? I wonder if that would work on a figure.

 

Neat!

 

Nice!

 

Just so you know, hotwheels pretty much released a perfect prowl

 

I actually have this…

 

DAMN! I only wish I had the time, patience, and most of all TALENT you posses to accomplish this. I was never that big into Hot Wheels/Matchbox as a kid, Transformers, G.I. Joe, and Masters Of The Universe were more my thing. If I had seen these on the shelves going up as a kid, or even saw them now, I would pick these up in a heartbeat! Your paintwork and attention to detail are phenomenal! I can honestly say for the first time in a long time I am going to watch this thread closely and look forward to everything you do. Here's to you mate!
  

 

First off, excellent work!! Second, jazz. It has been years since I looked. And, the bigger the internet gets the harder it is to find this stuff. If I remember correctly (probably wrong), that body Porsche was run for one year. 1976. Not even a full year. I believe. If you ever find a way to bond pot metal, 1: 64 Porsche rsr turbo has the wide rear fenders. In twenty years I have literally found 2 real pics of these cars. And, only one of the number 4 car.
Edit: Honestly, I dont know why they never thought of this.. I would have killed for a set of g1 hot wheels. Lol....