OK, here is what I have so far on the hardtop roof for Ratchet.

In robot mode the hardtop simply hangs off of his front windshield, pretty tightly I might add. Perfect fit.

 

 

I haven't painted any of the window trim or instaled the plastic windows yet but you get the picture.

That's looking pretty sweet IM. You and Mandingo are making me want to start that Alt Brawn head now. I didn't like the idea as much as I do now with that new top for the Jeep. Maybe I'll start it when I finish with my Alt Soundwave head.

Small update, some new pics:

 

 

 

Looking at your Jeep's spare tire reminds me that I still need to get a 1:24 Jeep Wrangler Model kit so that I can replace the "4X4" with water-slide decals that say JEEP.

Iron Maniac, I used your silly putty experiment on a new head I'm painting, and it worked so well I decided to strip Ironhide's head and start from scratch. Works wonders!

 

I redid Ratchet's face as well, now it's a smooth sheet of silver, no brush strokes at all!

 

It's a great tip, make sure to post it elsewhere whenever you have the chance as well!

 

Do you reuse the putty, or trash it? I've found that you can semi-reuse it, depending on how heavy the spray is. Sometimes, it's just easier to trash it.

Iron Maniac, I used your silly putty experiment on a new head I'm painting, and it worked so well I decided to strip Ironhide's head and start from scratch. Works wonders!

 

I redid Ratchet's face as well, now it's a smooth sheet of silver, no brush strokes at all!

 

It's a great tip, make sure to post it elsewhere whenever you have the chance as well!

 

Do you reuse the putty, or trash it? I've found that you can semi-reuse it, depending on how heavy the spray is. Sometimes, it's just easier to trash it.

 

I told you, it works SO well it will change the way you kitbash. I have reused the same piece of putty several times with absolutely no problems. You can usually get 3 silly putty eggs for a $1 at the dollar store anyway. Remember, don't use orange silly putty. For some reason it does not work.

Glad to hear it worked so well for you.

Valkfan,

 

I'm finished with my heads (for the last time, using the Silly Putty works wonders) and I was wondering what you did for your Ironhide's blue parts. I just found a spare Skids at Wal-Mart (in case I decide to get your Soundwave head or make another custom) so I could swap out the black hands, but I'd still have to paint the blue. I'm not a huge fan of painting "real" figures (I can always swap out the heads and peel off Reprolabel stickers to resell them if I ever wanted to, which is why I got a KO Swerve head for my "Wildrider") but I've been considering getting a spare Nemesis Prime (yeah, even an opened one is expensive, and I still hate painting it) but using all the black parts for Ironhide and painting the few teal parts black on the legs, and putting the blue parts from Prime on the Nem Prime body and making an Alternator Trailbreaker (I figure the blue would look good with the blue visor and a gunmetal face).

 

My biggest concerns are 1) painting Prime, even though I hate the mold and wouldn't feel TOO bad about it, 2) removing the pins and getting the parts swapped anyways) and 3) painting moving parts, as I still like for them to be able to transform.

 

The blue on Ironhide looks weird, more or less like IronPrime, and the head's too perfect to not address that.

hi guys...newbies over here...

 

wanna know frm when u guys find the alarm signal on top of that rachet?

 

can i use these?

 

http://www.hlj.com/product/FUJ11105

Valkfan,

 

I'm finished with my heads (for the last time, using the Silly Putty works wonders) and I was wondering what you did for your Ironhide's blue parts. I just found a spare Skids at Wal-Mart (in case I decide to get your Soundwave head or make another custom) so I could swap out the black hands, but I'd still have to paint the blue.

 

I found a loose Nemesis Prime and swapped the blue parts with it. I could've repainted the blue but when it comes to painted hands, it's a no-no for me. I can't stand the paint chips. Once I swapped the blue parts I was going to paint one of my Alternator Ironhide heads black to make a Nemesis Ironhide or Alternator styled movie Ironhide but my friend liked the way the blue parts looked on the Nemesis and made me an offer. I probably could have made more on eBay but he really liked it as is. I in turn had my red, black and silver Ironhide with only about $15 out of pocket.

 

As for the Skids, it was a good idea to pick up an extra one because I think you and many others are really going to like my custom Alt. Soundwave head.

hi guys...newbies over here...

 

wanna know frm when u guys find the alarm signal on top of that rachet?

Buy them here:

 

1:24 scale Light Bar

 

He will paint the lights in a number of custom colors combinations. Its really up to you, I choose red on red.

 

His price seems to have gone up a bit but still well worth the price.