Custom Spike Witwicky (G1, see finished pics) & Sparkplug coming soon!

[RobbVega214]

hmmmm.....i was at walmart the other day .....n saw some cool CAT construction worker figures.....dudes already come with the hard hat....n boots......tho ..i think they are at GI JOE figure scale......

[Octopus Prime]

I'm really digging the jacket-as-shirt! I think it's shaping up better than my sculpted shirt, which doesn't hang open as much as yours.

 

Yeah Mandingo, I think you're right that sanding will just scratch the rubber. You'd probably be better off trimming the jacket with a scalpel, if possible. As for the painting, I'd probably test it out first on the inside, just to see how it takes. And to see how it handles the flexing of the rubber.

 

I'd love to see a shot of the Lego tools you picked up, BTW.

 

And RobbVega, are the hats removable from these construction figures? Or do they just look moulded as part of the head? I've been thinking of ideas for making helmets, so I (and Mandingo too, I'm sure) would be very grateful if you could snap a couple of shots with your phone or something next time you were in Walmart?

 

I've finished the sculpting, just have to paint him now. I've also made Daniel too, and plan on painting the shirt white (rather than going for 100% G1 accuracy). So here's mine:

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Man, odd to see you posted 15 min before I logged on to post a few pics. I'm STILL waiting to get the paints, I've had other things to finish (and an Alternator Ultra Magnus to perhaps start too, heh heh).

 

Here's the tools, with a hairpin (courtesy of my girlfriend, they're all over my apartment) for size ref:

 

Here's the guys holding a case and the drill:

 

Nice sculpting, I still need to smooth down my coat and see about clipping the red shirt collar down some... Afraid to do too much yet, without testing paints on the coat. Your Sparkplug seems a tad short-torso-ed right now though, perhaps have the coat overhang just a tad more? He's all legs!

 

Glad to see this isn't dying, I was afraid my other projects would make this one go into hiding for too long. Glad that you're keeping it alive as well.

[Octopus Prime]

Why is that odd?

 

Thanks for the compliments on the sculpting, I just try to keep it as smooth as possible and blend the creases into the original figure as much as possible.

And yeah, I wanted to make the untucked shirt overhang his belt more. My problem is that, like my Spike figure, Sparkplug separates at the waist to be able to sit inside the Alternators (or at least look like he's sitting inside!) And that means that any overhang of the shirt will have to be fairly thin "free floating" clay as I won't be able to sculpt it directly onto the trouser area. That came out rather garbled, I hope I was making sense there! So anyway, I was trying to decide if I should run the risk of having fragile shirttails attached only to the torso, or if I could get away with only a millimetre of overhang. I don't care if it interferes with the ability for the waist to rotate, but I'm stubbornly sticking to the idea of him fitting into the cars! But your response to my blind taste test tells me I need to look at working out the longer option! ;)

 

I also had a thought: if you could find an appropriate colour, you may be able to use spraypaint on the rubber jacket. I'm sure I've seen some that say that they'll work on plastic and rubber, and because it will go on in a much thinner and more even application than brushed on paint, it may prove more durable on the flexible material. If you can stand the potentially embarrassing conversation, maybe even take the jacket into a hardware store and ask for advice on it?

 

Good choices on the tools BTW! I didn't realise they still made the older style spanners (the longer ones that you've got two of in that shot). I've been thinking I should try to dig out one of the old Lego wrenches too. I've got one or two of them from when I was a kid, but you can also buy them from Bricklink:

 

http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?P=x93

 

Have you tried fitting the construction helmet on yet?

 

And I'm sticking to this project because I find it a lot more therapeutic than the other projects I'm (very slowly) working on. My others are all reshells and heavy modding and require constant measuring and test fitting. And there's so much more engineering going into them because of the transformations, I find the freedom of sculpting something more organic quite relaxing. Plus it's awesome finally having humans to go with the Alts!

 

P.S.: What are you planning for Alt Magnus?

[RobbVega214]

http://www.goingape.com/p-16784-kettler-3-...on-figures.html

 

those are teh ones i saw at walmart..

[Mandingo Rex]

Let's just say it involves this little guy's head »

Alyosha apparently sells one that isn't rubbery, I may use that instead, since I don't wanna ruin the little fella. He's a little too cute to chop up.

But the head's awesomely NOT cartoony, unlike Bumblebee. I'd almost kill for an Alternator or MP Bumblebee.

 

ARGH! They didn't have the pipe wrench! How awesome. Haha. Now I want one.

 

Those CAT helmets look pretty good, I wonder if they're removable though. They seem to be molded onto the figures' heads.

 

The LEGO helmet "fits"... although it won't work as-is. I think I'll have to remove the inner reverse peg, but if that can be removed properly and sanded down, it will probably fit then. The outer shell seems like it should, anyways. I only bought one (you have to buy the figure, which is like US$3.00. A tad much to pay for a 3" scale toy helmet, but they don't sell them by themselves, or in yellow for that matter.

[Valkfan]

Bumble (bee) with spike:

 

http://images.wikia.com/transformers/image...lebee-Spike.JPG

 

Hmm, he's interesting. Probably too small though? If he were 3in tall or so, that may work...

 

Shame he's waving.

 

Then again, it might work. I've never seen them in person so I'm not sure of the scale but you COULD get these figures, recast Spike and then cut the head off and try to attach it to another figure. If Spike's head is TOO small, you could always use the sculpt as Daniel. Sometimes you just never know until you try. I might even try this because I've been wanting a Spike and Daniel for my Alternators.

[deceptikhan]

i just read this enTIRE thread :P and even know it was long, it was informative. Im working on my "super secret" :D custom as we speak. I will post it when im done. Only hint i will give, is its transformable related. ;)

 

Happy trails & good work guys

[Octopus Prime]

Im working on my "super secret" :D custom as we speak. I will post it when im done. Only hint i will give, is its transformable related. ;)

 

 

Ooh, is it the same secret project that I'm planning?! :thumb

I hope it is because your's sounds more ambitious, I'm not planning on making it transformable.

[Mandingo Rex]

Wow, talk about a long time to get a project done. Geez. I've still got to do Sparkplug, who will take more work, but here is Spike:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Entire body is Speed, with the helmet and tools care of Lego (helmet inverted "peg" hollowed out slightly) and boots from an IJ German soldier.

Sculpted the little pockets and fold down the front, but other than that, it's taking a lemon and making lemonade from it. :)

 

Tamiya acrylic paints, voila.