OK, so I haven't posted anything in a while. I've been working on a few larger projects though, so they won't be finished for quite a while yet.

On the other hand, I was going back through my previous posts, and became quite disgusted with how amateur and horrible most of the pictures look, so I think I'll be spending some time to re-photograph most of my work and give this blog an update.

Stay tuned!

Classics Optimus Prime Update

Since I had decided to make this Optimus figure as similar as possible to his TV Generation 1 styling, I went on the search for a better weapon. I had heard of some 3rd party products, and after a bit of searching through various Transformer sites, found one by 3rd party company Dr. Wu. This gun is styled after the G1 ion blaster that Optimus Prime had in the TV show and even better, it's diecast (cast in metal).

Here's the G! ion blaster by Dr. Wu. Diecast in solid metal and factory painted gloss black.

I decided to add a silver wash to bring out all the detail panel lines. Just to push it a bit further.

 And it's a perfect size and fit for Classics Optimus Prime. Now he looks complete with his new G1 inspired paint job and G1 ion blaster.

Custom movie-accurate Lego Star Wars

Finally, a bit of a change. I didn't paint a Transformer this time. hahaha Instead, I took some Star Wars Legos to make them more movie-accurate.

First off, let's take a look at Boba Fett.

Alright, so I got the updated Lego Boba Fett... (old version left, new version right)

This time, his helmet is NOT connected to his jetpack, which is great. However, the sculpt is not as accurate as the old jetpack.

Here's a reference photo from Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary. You can see that the thrusters are on the sides (like the old Lego jetpack) and not on the bottom (like the new Lego jetpack). Also, the missile is much larger than on the new Lego sculpt.

So what to do... How about taking a dremel and cutting the old jetpack off the helmet?  :P  Well, that's exactly what I did. Here's the inside of the old jetpack with the helmet removed.

I filled in the inside with Aves Fixit Sculpt (similar to epoxy) and pressed a Lego piece into it to make the indent.

Here's Boba Fett next to the newly painted jetpack. The black piece on his back has a neck loop on it so you can attach things to mini figure's backs. PERFECT!

Back side of the jetpack. This was hand-painted with custom mixed acrylic colors. I tried to match the colors of actual Lego pieces.

Boba Fett with his new jetpack attached. Now he has a movie-accurate jetpack AND he can turn his head because his helmet isn't attached to it.

Right side view. I made sure to give it enough space so that his head could turn without running into the missile.

Left side view.

And secondly, Jabba's Gamorrean Guard.

Now, I also have a few of the old Lego Gamorrean Guards. The brand new ones have fully painted bodies, but the old ones were solid green plastic.

Back view.

 Here's another reference from Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary.

And it's all painted... again, by hand. The only thing the figure is missing is the fur waist wrap. I might paint that in later, although that'll probably scrape off when the legs are moved because that's a REALLY tight space. All done in acrylic except for the black and dry-brushed silver which is enamel. I should mention... I painted two of these figures. One has grey arms and one has green arms, so that's why the arms changed color.

Right side view.

Back view.

Left side view.

Custom BTS Classics Optimus Trailer

OK, so I had finally gotten a Classics Optimus Prime figure, but something was missing... Then, I found a trailer made by 3rd party company BTS Toys. Unfortunately, being that it's a 3rd party product, the price range is extremely high ($85). So to Ebay I went. Found the same trailer but in Nemesis Prime's colors for $35! So after receiving it, I went to work switching it's color scheme back to the classic Optimus Prime colors (silver, blue, and yellow).

Here's the BTS trailer in Nemesis Prime's colors. Left side view.

Front view.

Right side view.

Back view.

Left side view. First, I spray-painted the ENTIRE trailer silver.

Right side view. Right after spraying, I accidentally dropped it in the grass (facepalm), which I quickly decided gave the side a "battle-damaged" look. So no worries. haha

Left side view. Here's the finished piece. After painting the silver I painted the yellow near the front, the blue stripe on the side, and the white trim along the edges of the blue. The white stripe inside the blue and the Autobot symbol are a decal from Reprolabels.com. Driving to work every day, I noticed that all the semi's had red and white striping along the base of the trailers, so I decided to add some to Optimus. The red and white glow striping along the bottom is made from cut strips of glow tape (found at your local hardware store).

Front view.

Right side view. Here you can see the striping glow a bit. Also, the blast marks above the blue/white side stripe were carved in with an exacto and painted with a drybrushing of black and silver. The entire trailer was given a wash of brown acrylic to bring out all the detailing and make it look worn and dirty. 

Back view. Here, I added the red and white striping along the bottom as well as the white, L-shaped corners at the top. The tail lights were cut from thin styrene with a hole puncher and painted. The license plate is another decal from Reprolabels.com.

Back view with the door open (unpainted).

The trailer fully opens up to become some sort of technical base of operations (or something like that). Complete with weapon storage, computer, helipad, loading ramps, and crane.

Looking down at the base.

The two weapons included with the trailer, in their storage area.

Back view with the door open.

I decided I didn't care for the multi-colored flooring so everything was given a base-coat of black and then dry-brushed with silver. After that, I went back in and dry-brushed another thin layer of brown sparatically to simulate rusting. All icons and colored lines/dots are decals from Reprolabels.com.

Top view. Here, you can see all the detailing on the floor of the base. The helipad is on the far left with the X and four yellow dots.

The screen behind the crane looks MUCH better thanks to the decal.

The weapon storage is now labeled with which gun goes in which side.

Gun 1, unpainted.

Gun 1, painted.

Gun 2, unpainted.

Gun 2, painted.

Now, neither of these guns were sculpted with a hole in the barrel.

Again, no hole in the barrel.

Well, I fixed that. Took the dremel to the tips, then painted the center black.

Now, the wheels of the trailer are actually a detachable transport vehicle. I believe it has a name, but I can't think of what it is at the moment.

Left side view, unpainted.

Front view, unpainted.

Right side view, unpainted.

Back view, unpainted.

Left side view. For this one, I repainted all the dark teel to a true blue. I also painted in the silver hub caps, and gave the whole thing a wash of brown.

Front view. I added an Autobot symbol to the front ( another decal from Reprolabels.com). I also changed the search lights on the vehicle's left side to yellow, instead of the metallic green.

Right side view.

Back view, The tail lights, as I described earlier, where cut from thin styrene with a hole puncher and then painted. The license plate is a decal from Reprolabels.com.

I also painted in the console which was previously unpainted. I left the teel on the console and floor to differentiate it from the rest of the vehicle.

Here's the completed Classics Optimus Prime with trailer. Left side view.

Angled.

Right side view.

Angled.