Timstuff
Avenger
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- Jul 26, 2004
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Well, it took me long enough, but I finally got around to photographing my custom Optimus Prime. Before you ask, no, this guy is not going to be on eBay, since I made him for my own collection. But I hope enjoy these pictures!
Ah, the "pinup shot." The biggest thing you'll probably notice is that almost all of the gray parts have been re-painted with chrome. And if you'll notice, he's also got more blue in his upper legs. I also put in some additional silver details onto his head to make it look more like the movie version. But that's hardly the only change I made.
As you can see, I added additional flames to his inner calves. I also added additional silver details. His arms got some additional enhancement as well. The entire side of his forearm that you see below was originally solid blue, but I painted in additional red and added silver details.
Furthermore, the blue and gold you see on his elbow was not originally there. I actually discovered that Optimus Prime as you buy him in the store has his elbows on the wrong arms! Normally, you get screws on the outer arm and the "discs" on the inner arm, and as Alton Brown says, "That's not good eats." So some screwdriving and near-cussing later, I had gotten the elbows on the correct arms. I also added flames to the shoulder plates like in the movie, so overall this Optimus has a much better distribution of red throughout.
Of course, I could not resist swapping out the boring old yellow LEDs with some swanky new blue ones. This was quite possibly the most frustrating part of all. Opening up Optimus Prime's chest cavity is absolutely painful, because first of all I had to tap out several hinge pins, secondly I had to make my own right-angle screwdriver, and lastly, HE WAS A PAIN IN THE @$$ TO RE-ASSEMBLE CORRECTLY! Also, the LEDs I used were actually differently size, oddly enough. The ones in his chest were slightly smaller, but not small enough that any additional hassle was necessary. However, the one in his head was tiny, which I was not expecting, so I had to carve out some plastic inside his head to make the bulb fit, and then hot glue it into place to make sure it wouldn't wiggle around. Fortunately, it all turned out to be worth it, because the blue LEDS look absolutely awesome when he's lit up, and way more reminiscent of the movie version.
And of course, he's not a Transformer if he can't transform. Great care was taken that his vehicle mode would see just as much improvement as his robot mode. Originally, hardly any of his truck body had silver trim, and none of it had the blue lights painted, and it was all just left the color of the plain plastic. I remedied that, and I also painted the lights over his windshield with chrome. I used some black wash on his grille to make it look more authentic. He's got lots of fancy chrome (notice them fancy rims!), so he overall looks a lot shinier like the movie version. And I painted those stupid gray squares on his hood red!
Also, I painted his tail lights and added more chrome to his back cabin vents! Yay! And of course, this wouldn't be complete without a nice shot of his lights lit up in truck mode.
Well, that's it for now. This guy was a lot of work to do, but I'm very pleased with the results I got, and this guy will definately be one of the crown jewels in my collection for years to come. Hopefully I've inspired you to do some tinkering of you own! Thanks for looking!
Ah, the "pinup shot." The biggest thing you'll probably notice is that almost all of the gray parts have been re-painted with chrome. And if you'll notice, he's also got more blue in his upper legs. I also put in some additional silver details onto his head to make it look more like the movie version. But that's hardly the only change I made.
As you can see, I added additional flames to his inner calves. I also added additional silver details. His arms got some additional enhancement as well. The entire side of his forearm that you see below was originally solid blue, but I painted in additional red and added silver details.
Furthermore, the blue and gold you see on his elbow was not originally there. I actually discovered that Optimus Prime as you buy him in the store has his elbows on the wrong arms! Normally, you get screws on the outer arm and the "discs" on the inner arm, and as Alton Brown says, "That's not good eats." So some screwdriving and near-cussing later, I had gotten the elbows on the correct arms. I also added flames to the shoulder plates like in the movie, so overall this Optimus has a much better distribution of red throughout.
Of course, I could not resist swapping out the boring old yellow LEDs with some swanky new blue ones. This was quite possibly the most frustrating part of all. Opening up Optimus Prime's chest cavity is absolutely painful, because first of all I had to tap out several hinge pins, secondly I had to make my own right-angle screwdriver, and lastly, HE WAS A PAIN IN THE @$$ TO RE-ASSEMBLE CORRECTLY! Also, the LEDs I used were actually differently size, oddly enough. The ones in his chest were slightly smaller, but not small enough that any additional hassle was necessary. However, the one in his head was tiny, which I was not expecting, so I had to carve out some plastic inside his head to make the bulb fit, and then hot glue it into place to make sure it wouldn't wiggle around. Fortunately, it all turned out to be worth it, because the blue LEDS look absolutely awesome when he's lit up, and way more reminiscent of the movie version.
And of course, he's not a Transformer if he can't transform. Great care was taken that his vehicle mode would see just as much improvement as his robot mode. Originally, hardly any of his truck body had silver trim, and none of it had the blue lights painted, and it was all just left the color of the plain plastic. I remedied that, and I also painted the lights over his windshield with chrome. I used some black wash on his grille to make it look more authentic. He's got lots of fancy chrome (notice them fancy rims!), so he overall looks a lot shinier like the movie version. And I painted those stupid gray squares on his hood red!
Also, I painted his tail lights and added more chrome to his back cabin vents! Yay! And of course, this wouldn't be complete without a nice shot of his lights lit up in truck mode.
Well, that's it for now. This guy was a lot of work to do, but I'm very pleased with the results I got, and this guy will definately be one of the crown jewels in my collection for years to come. Hopefully I've inspired you to do some tinkering of you own! Thanks for looking!
