So, I'm considering rounding out my TFA collection by trying my hand at some customs for the missing characters, and I was hoping to run some ideas behind the fine crew of customizers around here and see how viable they are. AUTOTROOPER: Obviously, this would be based on the Cybertron Ratchet/Ironhide mold, but what would be a good base for the head? Should I modify another bot's existing head, or would scratch-build be more viable? (I am completely new to scratch-building, so I would probably have to commission the head.) FLAREUP: My initial thought was to utilize Arcee, but since Flareup is obviously based on the original Flareup, her motorcycle kibble makes that very difficult. Part of me wants to say that it can be done with a combination of Arcee and Prowl parts, but I'm hesitant. OIL SLICK: I love the figure, but I love his in-show paint job more. I'm willing to marry the two, since making the toy resemble his Cybertronian mode would be more work than my amateur skills can manage, but how can I get in and paint his head without destroying the bubble? CYCLONUS: Seen a few done based on Starscream, figured it couldn't hurt to give it a shot. Just looking for suggestions on how to rearrange the parts. STARSCREAM CLONES (Ramjet, Slipstream, Dirge, Thrust): All would be straight repaints of the Starscream mold, except Slipstream who would require a slight chin reduction and some other mods to the head. My question here is, which versions to use? I talked to someone who used Sunstorm to make Ramjet, due to the matching canopy color, but mentioned that repainting the creamcicle-orange to white was excruciating and still showed through in a few spots. Would it be wisest to mask off the canopy and just spray whichever one(s) with a white primer? Also, suggestions for the conehead helmets (and possibly Sunstorm's G1 Seeker helmet) are greatly appreciated. ELITA ONE: Another Arcee repaint idea, since Elita supposedly turned into a Cybertronian coupe. I know that she didn't have the over-the-shoulder kibble that Arcee has, but with the spider-claws on Blackarachnia, I figure there's some wiggle room. Like Autotrooper, my main concern is the head - can I modify it from Arcee or Blackarachnia, someone else, or would a scratch-built be the best option? S4 IRONHIDE: Yes, based off the unused Earth-mode concept art from the Allspark Almanac 2. What I'm wondering here, is could I get away with a more-or-less straight repaint of Sentinel Prime with an Ironhide head-swap? Or is the head too big for transformation to still be an option? Also, suggestions for his cannons would be good, too. Lastly, would Jazz work as a straight repaint into TFA versions of Ricochet and/or Jackpot? Thoughts? Thanks for your time!
i have seen jazz repainted into both ricochet and jackpot so that would work. flareup will be problematic b/c of the small head on prowl and the fairly large one on arcee. elita-1's head can be modded from a BA head. autotrooper can also be modded from the preexisting head r/ih
most of them are better off scratch builds (excluding the clones,except slipstream and the autotroopers.) but that are my thoughts really.
AUTOTROOPER: I'm trying to get time to do one (several) of these. I made a mold and casted the original Kiss players head and it's surprisingly perfect for it. you have to massage the head on the sides a bit to make it fit between the backpack bars, and the ball joint socket isn't the same, but otherwise its perfect. Once i have a new mold made I'm going to start selling more castings of it. boardmember Kylash has made of these in radicons with the head i cast him. he did a good job. FLAREUP: I was going to do some kitbashing with this one utilizing TFTM Arcee for alot of parts. her bike is a little bigger than ani prowl, but i think i can take that out in the legs. And the exhaust pieces i was going to use the barrels from the cybertron defense hot shot. it looks close enough. the head maybe a modified ani arcee head? OIL SLICK: I want a show accurate version of him to. i havent' tried cracking the bubble, but i was looking at him yesterday and i think it'd be easier then you think to add some styrene to make tracks for the front. the back is a bit trickier CYCLONUS: I'm still picking my brain on this one. i was hoping an oversized KO of the classics/universe would come out. otherwise I think it's better as a scrathbuild. STARSCREAM CLONES (Ramjet, Slipstream, Dirge, Thrust): I was going to use a modified SS as my slipstream, but haven't figured out the base for dirge either. My hope was to concentrate on autobots for awhile, and maybe something would pop up. And canopy color shouldn't be the only reason to pick one mold. I'm pretty sure you can crack that open and use the canopy on anouther body. At least I think I remember doing that.... My other idea was to make something to switch out of there cannons for non-firing show accurate versions. Or, make them detachable ala G1 and have them mount to the wings and upper arm like the show. ELITA ONE: I haven't looked into other options for the head, but i was going to modify the blackarachnia toy to do the figure. i was hoping to use the same head since the helmet is somewhat the same, but again, tryign to focus on autobots right now. S4 IRONHIDE: I'm trying not to think about ironhide right now, beacsue that art is too badass. i don't have ironhide yet, so i can't tell you whether or not the head fits. Good luck! and i'll be watching this thread. Randy!
