I had wanted to create transformable arm cannons for Ironhide since the first voyager version came out. I already had the plans drawn up but I never did get around to doing it. Always felt there was more to fix with that mold than just cannons. Deluxe Ironhide fixes a lot of those movie design inaccuracies. It has its own problems of course, least of which is the size. But so far it has become my favorite movie Ironhide mold. Since his left arm has a drone instead of a proper weapon, I decided to create my own cannon. I wanted to create bigger ones for both arms, but I decided I'll wait for what the third movie has to offer. For now, I made one simply to replace the drone. I prefer my TFs to be self-contained: no partsforming. As such, the new arm cannon is transformable.The smaller cylinder is hinged and rotates to fit inside the cab space. I also constructed running boards for the alt mode. These also transform with the figure. The toy was then filled with epoxy where necessary and then sanded. I played around with simulating the different metal sheens and textures using paint. Alt mode is pristine, bot mode is weathered. I also added all the necessary decals and missing elements: from the fender logos to the license plates (both alt and bot modes) to the small GMC logo at the back. I also sculpted the Autobot logo at the back. There are a couple of lights not added, but I didn't want to drill into the figure. Thanks for looking. .
You... you... you... ARGHHHH.... you... Are you an alien man?! That's one awesome ironhide you got there! It's so much more movie-accurate now with the new cannon (not a big fan of those drones, because they're not in the movies). What did you make it from? Great attention to details and those new autobot symbols are sick man! You are an alien!
hey I love the add on ,is the feet an add on too .It looks amazing where can I get a similar figure like this
THIS IS AWESOME!!! PLEASE make a tutorial for the new cannon & let us know how you added the running boards...
Great Ironhide! I'm looking at the headlights, are those painted or are there gems in there? They look really good.
Both this and your Battle Blade Bumblebee customs are extremely wicked and awesome. I love the new cannon. It sort of bothered me that the other cannon was the drone too, but honestly I lack any skill in this amount of sculpting. If I had it, I'd attempt this as well. Next you should totally try customizing Deluxe Ratchet He's an awesome mold, being only really inaccurate in vehicle mode.... but it's hardly enough to disregard the mold though. Far better robot mode than the Voyager, much like the Deluxe Ironhide is to the voyager molds.
Haha, thanks! The cannon is made from an empty pen cylinder with some styrene, monoline, and rubber from electrical wires. Thanks! The feet aren't add-ons. I figured the original ones work well enough, though I was tempted to change them. I think I'll wait for TF3 before I do any more changes. Thanks! For the cannon: using a printed reference, I cut up an empty pen and used that as the main barrel. The smaller barrel is made from an appropriately-sized rubber from an electrical wire. The details are a combination of styrene and monoline. I made sure the cannon fits within the cab. It worked the first time, so I was glad for that. But you have to keep fitting it anytime you add any new part. The running boards are made from electrical wire cut to the proper length. The ends are then bent. They are sandwiched by styrene sheets cut to the proper shape. Thanks! And thanks for noticing the details on the headlights. Those were painted. I wanted to convey the illusion of real headlights using paint, I'm glad they work. Thanks! You should try it. There was actually very little sculpting involved in making the cannon, it's mostly just fabricating using existing shapes. And yes, Ratchet. I've already done prep work for that. Though I have to get back to sculpting again, soon. Argh. Thanks! Thanks! No, I hand-brushed everything. As much as airbrushing would make painting faster and could achieve certain effects, I prefer spending more time painting than prepping/cleaning the tool. It's the painting itself that I find satisfying and relaxing. Prepping/masking/cleaning would feel way too much like work. And since I do this as a hobby, I try to take away as much work-like elements from it as I could.
^Wow. It definitely looks like you use an airbrush and then handbrush the details. Kudos! I don't use an airbrush either, but that's more because I don't wanna shell out money for one.
