After being reintroduced to the world of Transformers toys (I always kept up on the shows, generally) by the evil minions of Hasbro (damn Argos and their £20 MP Skywarps, and Colin's Animated Grimlock for my b'day), I got the collecting bug big time. Surfing around looking for toy info and what do I stumble upon but the world of Radicons!. So I lurk for a bit, then a bit more, seeing all these great things being produced, and decided I want a go! So I went, got materials, and I've started throwing together my very first custom anything, in the form of the old fave, classics Shockwave. There's still a bit of painting to be done on the backpack and arm once I figure out what to use for his big dirty wire (ideas are appreciated!), and I need to finish off the chest piece, but I'm quite happy with him so far. Be glad to know that you guys have given me the bug and I'm now trying to figure out what the next custom I do is going to be, before this one is even done. I'll get alt mode pics up when he's done and fully varnished, hope you guys can provide some useful comments for a first time basher! (Apologies if the pics are poor quality, only got my phone to take them on, and I just realised that my photo viewing software automatically opens them aligned correctly and the boards dont)
Very nice! Great paintwork, not too over-done which is often the problem with first-timer customs. Best Shockwave I've seen in a while Whose arms did you cannibalise? I spy mighty putty... great stuff. I've rebuilt a huge chunk of leader megs with it! Any chance of a comparison shot next to some movie figs? I'd be interested to see if it blends well with that aesthetic.
Wow nice job there. A first timer? I Can hardly belive that, because its really gret. Thumbs up mate nice customwork.
Wow, first time. Huh, it looks like you have done some research. If you want to protect it from the elements they suggest clearcoat or something called Future Floor polish if you live across the pond in the UK maybe find something similar to that. If not look at the tutorials about Future Floor Polish there are some hints of other similar products to use. Hope that helps and keep up the good work.
For your first custom that is great, better than my custom Bombshock. There is something similar to future proof as I have used it.
Oh wow. You actually used the shoulders from the Jetfire mold too. Any problems attaching those to the torso?
Cheers guys I'm glad you like it! To answer Bovril's question the arms are from a Universe Treadbolt that was sacrificed in the name of the Greater Good. Its a really inelegant method of attaching them to the torso, I used the existing screw and big plastic nut that originally attached them to Treadbolt, along with a piece of spring from ShockBlast to stop the nut moving, to create the arm joint. This then slots into the existing space. I reversed the square block of plastic already present from ShockBlasts ratchet joint, the spring pushes the nut into this to provide tension and keep the arms in position. Bit of a hack job but it works! I've been looking for some Future Floor polish but I've not spotted anything similar yet, I've given the leg pieces a spray of Games Workshops 'Purity Seal', but this doesn't seem like it will provide enough protection. I have seen some Plasti-Kote Clear spray that looks interesting, has anyone tried it before? I've not got many movie figs and Voyager Skywarp is remaining in his box with the other Skywarps, so I'm limited for comparison pics, but I've managed to pop these out. This guy is going to be with my classic 'cons when finished, so I figured I may as well include a shot of him with some of them as well!
That's not a hack job, it's ingenious! Very nice work there Nice one for the photos, he looks great with both lines - more so with the classics but it's confirmed my theory that a good movie shockwave could come from that mould!
That's a really good work dude, I would only suggest you to connect some pre cut VCR A/V cable to his arm/backpack treads, it's easy.
Cheers man Yeah I hadn't really figured out how I was going to do that but I wanted to get started painting. Ipicked some telephone cable to use today, I think I'm going to cut down 2 wall plugs and model them onto the arm/backpack using greenstuff. The cable can then just plug in and is easily removable if needed.
Well I've finished the modelling, built up the base off the gun a bit more and scratch built a set of hexagonal ports using chopped up wall plugs, green stuff and a lot of sanding. Think I might shorten the cable, or use something thats a bit more flexible so it hangs nicer.
Dude, I think you should use the VCR cable, it has a good consitency. Get to my thread and see the latest pics of mine SW and see what I'm talking about. Good luck and I'm eager to see the final shape of your custom.
I'll give it a go, I'm sure that there most be some spare in a box round here. I can't even remember the the last time I needed an AV lead!
Just thought I'd mention that I've posted the completed (apart from finding a spare black AV lead!) custom up in this thread here! http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/radicons-customs/323289-classics-shockwave-my-first-custom.html
