Here's a closeup of my Stunticon Deadend.

Any new pics? I want to see them all assembled, and together!

I bought a set of his Stunticon heads (as well as Ironhide/Ratchet, Sideswipe and Cliffjumper a while back). They arrived last week and are AWESOME. They popped right onto the bodies except for the Breakdown head on the KO White Sideswipe Binaltech which required just a little dremeling. I am still planning on working on them, including replacing the emblem on Breakdown with a purple one as well as adding paint here and there (I was burned out watching the Olympics from 8pm to 2am and from 5am every day - damn West Coast delay!) but I wanted to show what they looked like. Excellent job Valky and thank you so much again for making these available (and with color), I would not have gotten these if you hadn't made unique heads for them!

Al

p.s. oh and M.R. really appreciate you making those Ark walls/Teletran 1, I downloaded them but haven't had a chance to print out and assemble them yet, sweet job!

Nice. I never thought about attaching that particular head to the white Viper but it looks good. Overall, you did a great job AL!

Not yet because I'm trading for a spare Wheeljack body soon and that'll be used for my Breakdown custom. Then I'll take some high quality pictures of them together. Although, I'm sure they'll look much better displayed inside your Nemesis creation.

I have to get on that! I'm done with the Nemmy, just have to make the computer console now. I thought about using Wheeljack for Breakdown, it's actually the best use, I'm afraid... I just don't want to have to get another Wheeljack...

I've wanted to do the Reprolabel's Wheeljack switch with Grimlock's red parts to "fix" Wheeljack, But that would require getting a second WJ AND Grimlock.

Do you think the head fits on Camshaft at all? I know the color's not quite right, but the silver and blue look quite nice together, and I REALLY hate Camshaft, but like the color scheme.

Nice pics, A L! Yeah, your Ironhide and Ratchet customs were what got me to contact Valkfan the first time around. You always beat me to the punch, I can't wait to get these heads from Valkfan. I've got to build him an Ark display first, whenever THAT happens... haha.



Thanks! I like the customs as well. Although I don't want 2 Vipers in my Stunticons, and I'm not sure if I want to hunt down another Wheeljack, as he's sorta pricey-ish... Although both the Viper and Mustang are MUCH better cars as Stunticons than the RSX, even if I pretend it's a Type R Integra. Not quite as "badass" a car.

man that is awsome.

You know, after taking a look at these longer, my "favorites" have changed... I think the "best" fit is Drag Strip... It may just be A L's paint job, but he looks fantastic. Better than Hasbro could do for this mold.

Wildrider is the second, and it's almost a tie for first. The only thing that I think is a little off about him, is the red face. Ravage has a metallic red on everything, and although metallic red on the face would probably look terrible, the reds are slightly off (this is exactly how I'll paint mine though, I'm not bashing the sculpt or the paintjob) and that bugs me just enough to bump this guy to #2.

#3 is Dead End... because the Viper mold is a tad awkard, and I hated how Hasbro's Dead End ended up being a goth Sunstreaker, whose head is gigantic, and ONLY works for the Viper mold. The Valkfan Dead End head is just a tad small to me, but as far as a head looking right on the slightly-awkward Viper body, I think he did the best job possible. The head sculpt is perfect for Dead End though, and I think it's a lot like a fat model with a beautiful face. Haha. I HATED how the Dead End "Sunstreaker" head actually had a mouth and was so iconic as Sunstreaker that I couldn't get past that. I've seen some people shave down the head and do bad mouth plates, but this one just looks damn good.

My #4, is Breakdown, and perhaps because I haven't seen Valkfan's finished body... The Viper, being one of my least favorite molds, ends up looking like a white Sideswipe with a blue head. And if I put the blue head on the Camshaft RSX body (after taking off all that hideous yellow), I'm not sure if it will look any better. I do think after putting some thought into it that the Mustang MAY very well be the best body, and since that's what Valkfan designed the head around, I'm going to hold final critique til I see his version.

But 3 out of 4 ain't bad, A L. Your paint jobs are fantastic, and I like that you are doing your own thing for your collection. In the end, it only matters if you're happy with it, and I hope you are. Please don't take it as anything besides me stating my silly opinion. Great photography, by the way. And as usual, fantastic head sculpts, Valkfan.

It's amazing what new head sculpts can do... They really bring these characters out of otherwise ill-fitted bodies that weren't bad, but had a lot of potential that didn't quite make it. The bodies are actually good repaints... The Hasbro heads? Not so much. These really turn into the Stunticons without needing a bunch of paint on the bodies.

Do you think you could fix Swindle next? Haha. He has the same problem as these guys, taking an Autobot head that just doesn't work for his character, and you seem to have worked magic with the Stunticons.

WarMachine beat me to it and I think he did a great job.

You're right, he did do a great job!
Is he making casts of them, though?

I like having Swindle as an Alternator, it makes sense with the Hound mold. But the one I bought from Hasbro? That ain't Swindle.

Hey, VF, not that GI Joe doesn't rock, but I'm wondering if you had time to photograph and finish the set of these 4?



(Don't worry, I've been spending most of my time on Joe lately, and need to get my ass back in gear with TFs).

Hey mandigo Rex, did you end up buying a set of Valkfan's heads?

Valkfan, you have vast superiority with making & molding Tf heads. I have been following your work for some time now. You make it look smooth, G1, and easy, which is awesome! Keep up the great work!

I especially like your Dragstrip head! THAT looks fab

Well, I did when he originally made the first 3. But those first customs I did burned up.

I'm waiting on getting them from him a second time, with the new Stunticons. I don't live far from him (about an hour?), so we have to just meet up and make our trades/cash exchange/etc.

I will have to say, besides my F-ups painting (hint: use silly putty to mask off the areas you DON'T want painted, and use spray for the larger portions, only brushes/toothpicks for details like eyes) his heads look 100% factory. The only flaw being that I painted them and didn't do a 100% job myself. The sculpts and materials are fantastic, and my Ironhide and Ratchet were 2 of my favorite figures I ever made. It really saddened me to lose them.

He does top-notch work, I will vouch for that.

Well, I decided to take a break from my custom head sculpting and ended up in GIJoeLand as you know. lol! I haven't taken any more photographs of my Stunticon customs. There was a guy here who had an Alternators Wheeljack partsbot that was going to trade with me but he hasn't come through with it so my Alt. Breakdown is currently on hold. But at least you can see the final product on page one with my painted heads.

I still haven't finished retooling my Ironhide or Sideswipe head to recast them but all others are completed and ready for anyone that wants them. The finished heads are available for the following customs:

Alternators

Ratchet
Soundwave
Dragstrip
Deadend
Breakdown
Wildrider

Classics

Cliffjumper

I really don't like the head on Classics Sideswipe so there is a chance that I might sculpt my own version for those like myself who dislike the factory head.

Thanks for the compliments deceptikhan. I just sent our very own SAMI all of my available heads minus Cliffjumper(Sorry Sami!) so I'm looking forward to seeing her interpretations of the Stunticons, Soundwave and Ratchet. Let's start bugging her to get to work on them. ;-)

lol I need to get some Alts in first..But I do have to say, like I told Valkfan..His quality of work is just AMAZING. They're prefect sculpts. The lines are smooth and straight, everything is even. Detailing is crisp and clean, these heads look like they just came out of the factory. And his pricing is VERY reasonable. I really hope more of you guys get these and try them out.

You are too kind Sami. Do you plan on any modifications or are you going to use them on the bots I designed them for?

I know a lot of people were impressed by a Mustang Soundwave and went that route but honestly, the Scion seemed more appropriate to me. I used the Laserbeak and the batteries/weapons from a Titanium Soundwave and I attached the battery for a shoulder weapon in bot mode and a speaker/woofer in vehicle mode. Laserbeak is my amplifier but I still haven't decided on how I want to store him yet. I just drilled a hole in one of the black shoulder flaps so the battery plugs in for his shoulder cannon. In vehicle mode you'll notice that either rear seat attached to the back of his legs have holes in them. I just filled the holes in completely with resin and then drilled out a hole big enough for the battery to plug in while in vehicle mode.

This is a picture of my Soundwave before I improved the visor.

I FORGOT TO MENTION THAT THE BACK OF SOUNDWAVE'S HEAD ALLOWS THE SCION ENGINE TO PLUG INTO IT IN VEHICLE MODE JUST LIKE IT DID WITH THE SKIDS HEAD.

It was you! Damn, I couldn't remember who I had heard this from but it works great! I've used this technique ever since. All of my custom heads that I've painted including the Stunticons in this thread were painted with the assistance of silly putty. Thanks for the tip my friend.

Now here's a tip from me to anyone interested in knowing how I paint the faces. First, I'll cover the area around the face with silly putty as Mandingo has suggested. Then I'll paint the face using Tamiya Silver Leaf ACRYLIC paint. Then I use Testor's ENAMEL sky blue (1162) to paint the eye's with a fine point paint brush. You'll more than likely get some paint outside of the eye but don't worry about it. After it dries(give it a couple of hours) take a brand new wooden toothpick and lightly scrap the areas outside of the eye and as long as you're not pushing too hard, it'll flake off without damaging the silver acrylic beneath it. You must use ENAMEL for the eye's though or it won't work.

Also, some customizers worry too much about the silver acrylic not holding up so they seal the face paint with a clear coat. DON'T DO THIS!!! Clear coating over silver will take the shine away from the silver and honestly, there's no reason to touch the face with your fingers. You can turn the head and transform the figure by touching the helmet.

I will definitely be using your ideas, Soundwave will be the scion, Ratchet a Jeep, but, I might use my original Scion/Ironhide that i've already painted with your head, maybe. Then just get the other Alts in to do the rest.

Actually Valkfan, it was Iron Maniac's idea, I dunno where he got it from, but I've been using it and swearing by it ever since. It works great.

I'll have to try Tamiya Silver Leaf Acrylics, I used Testors spray silver, but now that I've gotten on the Tamiya acrylics bandwagon painting custom Joes, I'm really digging their quality. Also, I do something similar with an Xacto for the eyes on TFs and Joes (more specifically on Joes, as you need an even finer point than a toothpick for their pesky eyes since it involves an arch, white area, and pupil) but for TFs, I may try toothpicks to scrape off the extra.

With lack of new TFs that I care about (now that the Alternator line is dead, and MPs are coming out slower than hell) I had to start wasting my money on something else, right? So it was my other favorite 80s-toy-revised-with-kickass-21st-Century-technology: G.I. Joe!

I could strangle Hasbro for killing the Alternator line. I hope they don't do that with the 25th Joes. If the stupid Joe movie craps on my favorite Joe line like the TF movie did on my beloved Alternators, I'll be pissed, to say the least.

I'm trying to build you and me a big Teletraan so we can meet up and swap for the heads... Working on custom Joes has given me an itch to get back to TF customs... I have to have my Alternator Stunticons, Ratchet and Ironhide back. Can't wait to see the revisions on Ratchet!

P.S. I'd give my first born (well, almost) for that Bumblebee head sculpt. *cough*

lol! That's just wrong on so many levels.

I'll bring it with me when we meet up in Fairfield so you can check it out. There is only one so I usually keep it under lock and key. ;-)

If you use brush on clear coat on silver, it doesn't take the shine away as much. Something about the aerosol is what kills the shine. It still looses some luster but nowhere near as much.

When I spray Tamiya Silver Leaf acrylic paint, the shine I get is on par or better than factory applied silver paint. Only when I've tried to spray a clear coat over the Silver Leaf did I lose some of the luster. I'm not one to use a paint brush though, unless its to dry brush some texture or detail. Part of the reason is that I really dislike brush strokes and it takes away from the factory look I try to achieve with my sculpts and paint jobs.

Oh, I wouldn't use a brush ever for any of the paint, but the clear coat is so thin that brush strokes don't show up.