Here's my take on Ironhide. I wasn't originally going to get him, but finding him at Wal-Mart still at $7.77, I couldn't resist a good project to work on. I didn't post this in the garage, as there's something about him that still feels incomplete. If anyone has some suggestions, I'm all ears. This figure was done with a Sharpie Ultra Fine marker, and a SRX Metallic Silver Colorsharp pen made by Rose Art / Mega Brands.

 

 

For his robot mode, I did his crest(it's kind of hard to see) and face with the silver. For his chest, I decided to bring attention to the visor-y thing above the window, the windshield wiper and rear-handles in black. (I love the little sculpted in windshield wiper. I wish they did it on the front window, too.) I decided to cover up the Oregon license plate with black and silver. The plate was a nice detail, but I thought it kind of stood out too much in robot mode. (Kind of as if he was wearing a "I <3 NY" shirt.)

On his shoulders, I couldn't decide if I should do the entire thing in black, so I settled on doing certain areas in black. For his feet, I opted to paint part of it silver, since I remembered the silver from the G1 toy and liked it.

 

 

Most of the work I did was actually on the vehicle mode. I recently did a little bit of extra touching up on it, so these pics are a bit outdated.

The front of the vehicle, I used the silver on the lower 'grills' to bring them out more. Not shown, I put a coat of the silver on the brush guard to make it match with the side-rails.

On the top & sides, I covered the sky-blue windows with silver. (I've recently gone over the windows again, so there isn't any blue peeking through.) More silver was used on the rims and mirror. The rest of the rear view mirrors were done in black, as were the handles. (If I had an ultra-fine silver sharpie, I'd detailed the little keyhole.) I already covered the rear of the vehicle in robot mode. :tflaugh Not shown, I also did the bumper in silver to tie in with the side-rails and brush guard.

 

I need a new silver sharpie. :tfevil and a camera that can zoom into the smaller details. :redface

 

Hope you guys enjoyed reading this!

Looks pretty good. The silver on the windows actually looks better than the blue that they used. I may derive from your verison when I get him myself. Just wish you could get sharpie markers in Spain :grr I'm going to have to paint everything in :argh

Nice detail work there, AJ... these kind of realism-enhancing cosmetic touch-ups are among my personal faves. The feet look more solid (metallic!) & the added black on the arms helps lead one's eyes away from those shiny screws. Also liking the (now matching) front intake, thought the biggest improvement are the rear brushguards & wiper.

 

Staying on the positive side, I would have you use a few strips of masking tape on the front (or fine-grit sandpaper on the over-painted areas) and start your panel-lines with a lighter gray, working in layers up to the darker shades as needed (even a darker red could work). With just a touch more prep-work & just a few tiny brushes / pens, you can really bring out the details perfectly.

Again, Great work; I'm glad to see these!

You inspired me!

 

I hope you don't mind if I took some liberties with your ideas. I really liked a lot of them. :beer

 

This is my crash test dummy Iron Hide, he's currently in the "Blown Apart Configuration".

 

This is the back two tires/rims and top view of the first foot completed.

 

This is a closeup of one of the rims(all four are semi-done)

 

This is a side shot of the foot, I mistakenly went with the upper arch area but I think it's passable.

 

 

I have not detailed like this in about 10 years, so I'm pretty rusty.

 

And Yes, Machwulf has some excellent advice for you as well. :thumb

Thanks for the comments, guys. :D

 

I appreciate the advice, Machwulf. Any recommendations on the brand of masking tape? (I used the regular white stuff ages ago on a project, and the paint always kept getting under it.)

 

 

I love how you did the rims, Clockworkmecha. I was thinking about doing something similar to that, but ended up doing it in all silver since I didn't have an ultra-fine. Can't wait to see how your Ironhide turns out!

how about painting the black bits on his arms and legs red as well?

I gotta ask, was it troublesome to paint his face? honestly that is my biggest fear in painting him.

I gotta ask, was it troublesome to paint his face? honestly that is my biggest fear in painting him.

 

 

I used a 3/0 brush, some aluminum/silver testors paint and in about a minute, Iron Hide as he should be. Just take your time doing it, you should be fine. :thumb

Not that troublesome for me, either. All I did was take the head apart so I wouldn't end up getting paint on the the light piping eyes, let dry, then reassemble.