At first I was tempted to do an original character but then I decided to work with an existing character. I always liked Wheeljack because of his unique design, it gave him a character many of the other G1 characters simply lacked visually. I know there's a version of him in the games already but I don't own either and I couldn't find a good enough image of him to make sure I didn't copy any elements too much. So if there's any similarities it's either chance or that they're simply iconic elements of his design. Although working in the live action franchise's style was different and at times difficult this is my end result of two hours work. The two forms are largely set down now, detailing and small elements might change but I'm happy with the general design. I did try working on a facemask-less version, but it didn't feel right and Wheeljack hasn't really had a version where he didn't have his facemask so in the end I didn't bother. I drew his Cybertronian form, not because I couldn't draw a real car, but simply because I don't really know anything about cars and I would be unable to choose a real vehicle to base his form off. As a result I used his G1 Cybertronian form for a lot of inspiration for the vehicle mode. I had to go back and redo elements three times. First was when I first started the legs, it took me a while to first off balance them to the body as the movies Transformers are more balanced and less blocky or bulky. Secondly was the arms which took me a while to work on and then they were again too blocky. Just when I thought I'd finished I remembered I needed to do a more realistic eye. That's partly what the close up of his face is for. Comments and critique are welcome. I'll take all on-board, although I'll just reiterate that I'm unlikely to go back and do any major revamps of the design. Update 1: Started detailing work! Man it's tedious, but again it's fun layering things up and going to town with the fiddly details. I was working on a larger scale with the legs, the arms and hands will be smaller. This is why the hand and arm so far are more detailed than the legs. The muscle groups are more complex and smaller, and so the fiddly details were as well. Also I wanted to make the hands into convertible guns, so that's an extra reason for detail as well. Update 2: Finished the detailing work. Tedious is the keyword here but the result feels rewarding for 7 hours!
Looks great so far. Like how your using his G1 design. Planning to do an Earth verison of him? Can't wait to see more of him.
Updated with my current progress. Also, I finally picked a car for him. Apologies to anyone in advance if it offends you, I really don't know anything about cars. It'll be a Vector WX-8. It looks pretty cool and is a concept sports car just like his original G1 vehicle was a custom. It'll be in red though, after all if Iron-Hide can be black, Wheeljack can be red.
Finally finished the detailing on the lines. I can't say whether this will go further or not; I'd like to but I can't say I relish another 7 or more hours on lines, only then to have to move onto colours....
I really like the overall design, from the waist up he is awesome but I can't help but get the feeling of loose fitting pants when I look at his legs, maybe you could try exaggerating the calves out and widening the visual gap between hip and thigh, and the space between ankles and lower legs. More mechanical less compact. I hope that helps and I dont sound like an ass.
Nice! I personally like it better than that other version that's up. >.> <.< And I don't see why people think it looks like Hot Rod. -.-
No I agree with you in part in fact. The best images and models I had to work with however were Bumblebee and Ironhide, who had similar kind of molding around their legs. I'll certainly take it on board. As for the Hot-Rod I think it's the wings on the back. Of course, in his Earth form those will be doors, but why would his Cybertronian form need doors? I hope when I do the Earth version (even if it is just a quickish concept sketch) it looks more like Wheeljack to those people.
Looks really cool, I really like the body, but maybe the head could be more broken up to look more movie and less G1, just a suggestion. It looks great though, a lot of people's entries are lookin' pretty good.
I was showing it to a friend and they said that it looked more like a TF1 character than RotF. RotF had lots of new characters with different interesting and unusual shapes. TF1 had Starscream and Scorponok. So I tried experimenting a little; especially seeing the quality of some of the entries. I need to lift my game. I've been experimenting a bit with concepts for another version of Wheeljack, so any feedback on these is appreciated. It's very rough art since I was focused more on the concept than on quality. One of my friends really liked the Chibi Wheeljack, so I did him separately.
The new head is HUGE improvement buddy! Not to be mean or anything dude, but the old one just looked like G1 Wheeljack's head just plonked onto a Autobot drone's body! Looking forward to seeing some more detail! Oh yeah, I'd watch where you go with his hips and waist there man, the pose and physique looks slightly feminine there!
After getting sick and starting uni again I've finally found the time to finish off my redesign. I won't be able to do a nicer copy before the contest closes, but I hope the design and the concept which are what count, are enough to get me through. If not, no amount of art would help I think. Anyway, here's the redesign. I'd like to finish it off and maybe colour it regardless now that I don't have a deadline to meet!
