Mandingo Rex

The console, I believe, would be the smaller pronged thing that sits in the center, mounted near the keyboards and in front of the big screen. The terminal, being the larger computer unit. It's just how I named the pieces, they may not be technical terms but was the easiest way for me to describe the parts.

Here's #5 of 6 for the Nemesis plates. #5 is a variation on #2, but hopefully you can't tell. :) DOWNLOAD NEMESIS BACKGROUND PLATE #5 » Unfortunately, my work laptop's logic board died on me, and I lost the working PSD for file #3, so we won't be seeing any new variations from that one again, but lucky for me that plate #3 was the one I made #4 from, so hopefully I won't be needing the original PSD anymore. I may end up making orange versions of these so that people have more-detailed plates for the Ark that match the Teletraan in level of detail and design. Having a year between making the first Ark plates and Teletraan-1 gave me time to improve on the original designs, and the old ones don't really cut it for me anymore. BTW, check out some hot things people have been doing with the backgrounds: AMARO'S G.I. JOE BASE OVER AT HISSTANK.COM » WHEELJACKSWORKSHOP'S AND OTHERS DISPLAY CASES »

Download Nemesis Background Plate #3 » Download Nemesis Background Plate #4 »

Haha. Sort of the same way that the Ark/Teletraan-I went. I'm trying to get the Nemesis background plates done first. I'm about half done with them... All I have to do is one more unique plate, and then I'll modify those 3 to make 3 more. Sort of like Hasbro does with their repaints, but with more effort. I'll start on the Nemesis control within a few weeks, more than likely. July's a busy month for me, with a lot of family and friends visiting from out of town.

Small update, sorry... Been busy. NEMESIS BACKGROUND PLATE #2 » You'll notice the lines are ALL new. I'm planning on at least 1 more original, then perhaps modifying the first 3 so that there are still variants to tile properly. Will keep you guys posted.

TB, That's one of the best wall plates I've seen assembled! you did a good job seaming them together, that was exactly the way I intended them to be modular and fit together properly! Can't wait to see yours assembled with figures in it. I think I may be able to actually plot mine out tonight, we have to sneak into my girlfriend's office and use her plotter. Mine at work is off limits, and I don't feel like paying the rates to plot it (VERY expensive here). You'd think I could get away with it, but you'd be surprised. That's advertising, you always have to bill someone!

Wow, that's actually very helpful. Someone should take the time to pull better references for Teletraan as well, the same crappy quality screengrabs are all over the web. That's part of the reason I had such a time coming up with a consistent design. Actually, I don't want to see more Teletraan's, cause then I'll get mad because I know they'll vary from my design too much. I based mine off 3 that I could find that I liked the arrangement of screens. Haha. Very helpful! Oddly, I don't remember their computer at all. I think it's due to it not having Casey Kasem voice it, and being an actual character. But from your screen shots, it's fairly distinctive and semi-consistent to the design. It's different enough though that repurposing Teletraan-I won't make sense. It's less complicated though, which is good. A good challenge for me, I'll have to see what I can do with it! ;) Not promising anything, but it seems like a much less involved project than Teletraan, so I'll definitely tackle this before I attempt any other pieces of the Ark. Thanks!

BTW, thanks for all the great comments guys. I haven't found someone who didn't like yet, which is rare. Thanks for being supportive! I'm tracking comments on about 15 sites, and it's fun to see this thing spread! Hope everyone enjoys it. More to come! Also, post pics! Please! :)

For the sites, have you tried running them through Google's translator? http://www.google.com/language_tools?hl=en That's what I've been doing with a few JP sites as of late, and while it still comes off rather broken, it's a lot more understandable than it used to be a few years back. I tried babelfish, the translations just didn't make much sense. Why I was wondering if someone could maybe do a better job of translating. My favorite line that I could make out was "The wife too showed due respect for the feelings!". Meaning that his wife thought it was cool too? The rest were much stranger and made no sense whatsoever. haha.

Haha. Now I'm getting requests! I haven't had plans for making any seats or anything else, I suppose I always could if I had time. I'd need reference shots though, I still don't have the series on DVD (I did though, just not anymore, thanks Allied Vans). So are you building an entire Ark? Or just want seats to put in front of the terminal? I'd love to see pics, I've only seen a few trickle in. Does anyone on here read traditional Chinese? (I'm guessing "traditional Chinese", I'm not trying to offend anyone if I got anything wrong with this, I know how these TF fans can get moody or offended easily!). So I've been getting a TON of hits on my site because of this silly Teletraan, but it's actually blowing up on nerd sites worldwide. Haha. I have been humoring myself by keeping up with as many English-speaking sites as I can, but it's the foreign ones that I can't read the replies/comments, because, well, they're in another language. http://www.actoys.net/bbs/read.php?tid-276103.html http://www.actoys.net/bbs/read.php?tid-275527.html http://www.hk-tf.com/discuz/upload/viewthr...;extra=page%3D1 http://club.tfclub.com/viewthread.php?tid=19916&fpage=1 And is this Arabic? I got a few Italian sites as well... http://hydepark.hevre.co.il/topic.asp?topi...p;forum_id=9678 I'm curious to know what they say.

HERE'S THE BACK I PROMISED » It's only in high-res format, but I figured people could scale it as they need it. I'm sure they'd want it high-res anyways. It's sized to fit the "HIGH RES" folder download, but I didn't include it in the zip file. If anyone is downloading it from here, make sure you download the back file as well, if you want it. It was an extra 8MB, which is why I didn't include it. And here's the first Nemesis plate: CLICK TO DOWNLOAD THE NEMESIS PLATE » I'll be adding more, but if anyone wants a new plate to color match the Ark plates to and jump the gun, go ahead and recolor the others. Just to help you out, here's a Photoshop file with my exact adjustment layers. Just drag them to the Ark plates I made and they should recolor to match pretty close. DOWNLOAD THE NEMESIS COLOR ADJUSTMENT PSD FILE » You may want to desaturate them a bit, but at least this way you can get the same color until I'm done with the set.

TB, I wouldn't remove anything, just cut. If you simply cut the "door" flaps in the middle, and cut along the top and bottom edges, (so it looks like a sideways H) then fold back the 2 flaps, then you can attach the inset pieces at the top and bottom. There are 2 folds in the inset piece, so if you attach the top and bottom edges, the folds should still be covered by the flaps. Part of this was laziness on my part to keep from having to measure all the angles, but it also lets you align it with a little wiggle room. If you feel free, cut the flaps to match up to your edges, but my plan was to just tape it from the backside where nobody will see it. Hope that helps. Awesome if you can get some screen captures from the DVDs, I'm trying to acquire a set off Craigslist (I live in the SF Bay area, so it's easier to get quality Japanese stuff on CL) and not dealing with eBay for this again. Trying not to spend more than $50 if I can help it. I have a back plate for T1 now as well, hope to post it in the next day or so, if you're interested.

Trailbreaker, Actually, I don't have ANY Nemesis references, other than memory and what I can find online of what the outside of the ship looks like. The designs on the interior paneling/plating is fairly the same as the Ark, I believe... (if I remember correctly) I'm just trying to make it seem a bit more "menacing" as I design the new walls. I'm only working on the wall plates so far, but I wanted to design new ones and not just color adjust the Ark ones to match. It's purple, but if anyone has any screengrabs to offer, that'd rock. I may get to the computer display, if there's one that I can find that's iconic or consistent enough. I just don't recall the Decepticons having a computer as memorable or consistent (and I use this loosely, seeing how T1 never looked the same twice) as Teletraan. I sadly lost my G1 DVD collection with all my Transformers in my moving truck fire (with almost everything else, and about 500 other DVDs to boot) so I can't just watch the show yet to pull screen captures. I need to buy the series again, but I'm holding off in hopes that Hasbro will release a more official version Stateside in the next year, now that they bought the rights from Sunbow. –––– AJ, Yep, I'm well aware of the papercraft site, it's awesome stuff! If you check back a few pages, you'll see some cool G1 Ratchet/Ironhide papercraft models that I found linked through that site. They have some really sweet stuff on there, great designs! Theirs are SUPER complicated (if you thought mine looked complicated, it's simple in comparison). I thought about submitting Teletraan-I, but since mine takes a bit more construction than just paper (meaning they don't really stand on their own) I'm not sure it meets their regular requirements as simple "paper" craft.

Okay, I can't leave well enough alone... I'm currently working on a backside to Teletraan-I that is sized correctly and matches up with the side panels. It bothered me that it wasn't "complete" all the way around. I will absolutely not do a bottom, but it really does need a back that fits. Also, a Nemesis-colored set of Ark plates is in the works as well... But all new designs. So it's not just a re-hashed Ark set. :)

Amaro, I sent you an e-mail with the correction in it. Seems that you're off a fold entirely! It's amazing that it still worked being a fold off, but it still did. Took me a while to figure out the problem... That should fix your center console not fitting right and make the keyboards on the tops of the "desktop" area, instead of the back display wall. For anyone still yet to assemble this, I do apologize if the instructions are a TAD confusing... not my intentions, but once you've been staring at this thing for over a month, it starts to all look too familiar to you and I can't even remove myself from it to see it from someone else's eyes... To me, it should fit together easily, but I can understand troubles people may have... Use the 3D composite I did for reference, and make sure all the planes are matching up where they do in that layout. The folds are a tad tricky, but I tried to label them as clearly as possible with the space provided in the layouts. Note that the inner and outer walls START fold is not the same line. (That is, if you start folding from the top folds down). The 2 outer "wings" start slightly higher than the center fold, and will give you 2 different console heights. The center console's keyboard area should be lower than the outer console's keyboard height. From the side though, the outer console should seem to be offset from the inner but follow roughly the same angles. I need to actually get this thing built myself so people have less confusion. Hope it helps... and I didn't confuse anybody any more!

Thanks for posting! You beat me to making one, and I designed it! Hmm, almost looks like the levels need to be increased, so that the darks are much darker? Or is the camera flash washing out the shot? Seems that there's not enough contrast in the file (mine as the base file, and yours seemed to copy my error). Or are me eyes playing tricks? I'm still trying to get mine printed and built, haven't had ONE spare second in the last few weeks to tackle it. My nerd side projects are suffering, thanks, real job.

Actually, no finished pics, the only one I assembled was a 40%-scale, really rough paper model. I can guarantee that everything lines up if cut out properly, although a little trimming may have to be done, depending on construction methods (and I mean slight trimming, if that). Depending on whether foam core is used, stock paper, etc. MP Prime is roughly 12" tall, the final dimensions of the "high-res" files are 20" tall x 16" wide x 8" deep, at 200 dpi. So it should still be tall enough if you want it larger for Prime, or you can scale the file down to print it as well. Just make sure you scale all to the same proportion or things won't line up. The original files ended up being about 70MB when flattened to JPGs, so I had to scale from 30" tall to 20" to save file size and make them more easily downloadable. If anyone wants the full 30" files, PM me, I'll have to give you my IM and send them over IM file transfer. The 20" files should work for the MPs and Alts though if printed at full scale. Teletraan WAS always pretty big in the cartoons. Check references online for scale with characters. I plan on building one full-scale and properly in the next few weeks, I actually still have all my TFs unopened in their boxes, and don't have room right now for a display even. I just moved to California from NC and lost everything in a freak moving truck fire, so when I started this project a year agi, I actually had all my TFs at that point displayed on shelves in my home office. Luckily, I had my files on my laptop and not my backup drives. If anyone else has assembled one, please post pics, I'm interested to see what folks are doing with them.

THE DESIGN AND PRODUCTION FILES ARE OFFICIALLY TESTED AND DONE! I've printed them, tested assembled pieces and resized a few things. Here you go: TELETRAAN-I HIGH RES PRINTABLE FILES » (File Size: 24.1 MB) The center console NOW FITS! Everything else fit together fine the first time, I had to adjust some angles and size it down a tad on the part that fits around the keyboard area. I made the background on white now, with a bleed so that edges weren't on white, but people weren't wasting ink to print the parts that would end up in the trash anyways. I also added instructions according to folds and cutting, and also assembly. Details such as where to cut, where not to, and where things go once you've cut everything out. Hopefully with these new instructions and the "Fully Assembled" version as reference, people should be able to make their own Teletraan. I suggest mounting the face and any items that need to be folded onto thinner board, or print it directly on stiffer stock paper. For the walls that don't need folds, I would recommend using foam core board (cut with a very sharp X-Acto to prevent tearing) for the rigidity, and since it doesn't need to be folded, should give you a really sturdy structure. The front's folds should give it strength, and either tape or glue from the insides, depending on how you want to assemble this. I would have included tabs, but I figured people could make their own, since they need to be spray-mounted in some instances. I didn't include a bottom, which isn't necessary at all, but if you're not sitting this against a wall, you can either use a black piece of foam core board for the back. Turn one of the Ark plates lengthwise and scale it to match your Teletraan, and use one of them for the back. It should be a rectangular back, so it shouldn't be too hard to fabricate your own if you deem it necessary to have a free-standing Teletraan. Feedback and photos welcomed! *If for some reason my site is down, check back soon. It may be that traffic swamps my site.

Working on them as we speak. I'm putting new instructions on the prints, and also making them on white with bleeds, so not so much ink gets wasted. Didn't think about that the first time. Will have them posted by tomorrow at the latest with instructions. Thanks for being patient. :)

Good news guys, I revised the center console, and it fits much better now. I had to scale it down as well, but it fits much more comfortably and I actually squeezed in a few more folds too. I'm adding directions/notes on the designs, but will post shortly. :)

Gar! So I did a paper test, and everything folds together just fine. There's one small problem that I was afraid of though, and it's not too complicated but I was hoping it would line up, and it just didn't. The center console that has the pronged display screen is too deep. At least the bottom half is, the top portion may end up all right. The individual pieces all fit together along the folds, it's when you assemble the small piece to the larger that they don't fit at all. It's just way too deep to fit on the top of the dash, so that it hangs off and doesn't look right. Now, if people are hasty (like I usually am), they can go ahead and assemble the entire thing, and leave off the pronged part, or attach the scanner part and omit the lower pronged part. It will fit just fine. Of course, I'm not happy with it, so I need to retool the design slightly so it all fits properly. The rest all fit together fine on the paper model I just assembled, and I'm sure having stronger backing will make it all fit perfectly. All the lines line up, it just needs stiffer board to hold its weight. So I need to edit the design file for the center console, I'll try and get that done tomorrow, but everything fits fine except for that, so I'll go ahead and give my production seal of approval for folks to start assembling it if they want. I definitely recommend mounting it to presentation board, sturdy foam core (the black presentation kind, not the cheap Michael's white kind), or cardboard. Some edges may need slight angles tweaked, depending on what method you use to mount it... But if you cut on the outermost edges, and stick to the linework, everything should match up almost perfectly. You should be able to tell the folds, but use the reference "Assembled" file for reference.

I didn't expect this to end up on Seibertron (not that it's a bad thing, just caught me off guard), so I added temporary higher-res files, with color corrections made so that they match the Ark panels better. So nobody's downloading the old, smaller files and using them. Keep checking this thread, I'll post an updated final file set, and clean up my site and the posts' links so nobody's using the smaller outdated versions.

The screens are a mix of my own artwork for the techy parts, and digital graphics, but the artwork, I pulled from various sources online. Since I'm not selling these, I assume they're fine for public use. I do regret using Alex Milne's "Alternated Masterpiece" in one of the Ark plates (I made it duotone, but it's still all his work) so I may have to pull that down at some point. I didn't realize this would blow up like it did in popularity. Oops! I have done my own artwork and am quite capable of pulling off that level of work I believe, I just opted not to since I already had so much more to tackle with the actual mainframe design. Plus the existing artwork just looks SO GOOD. The charts and graphs are pulled from online tech-ish charts just for filler, I deleted most text and replaced it with "Ancient Autobot" gibberish (font available for free online) simply because I didn't feel like BSing 50 small screens full of information. There are a few comic shots, but they are very small. Hopefully nobody minds, it was never any intent to rip off work for profit... Since I'm not selling these, it's more or less for the community to enjoy. Any work that I did use, I used it because it was awesome and worked well for what I was looking for, for the specific use. I think it falls under "Public Domain" or "Art Expression", but I'm not 100% sure. Anyways, please nobody be mad if I inserted your work. :)

At least mine aren't as complicated as these » Click the link above to see some cool 3D paper fold-outs of actual Transformer figures from G1. At least Teletraan has less than 300 folds. :)

It looks like I may have to adjust colors slightly? Now that they're assembled together, it may just mean that the saturation and colors may need to be adjusted slightly. I kind of prefer the slightly yellower/more saturaded Ark walls versus the T1 peachy tones... Or did you print on separate printers? It may be that people will have to adjust depending on the files they want to showcase... It's hard to pinpoint an exact color for the Ark, since it always changes depending on the cartoon screenshot. Damn you, animation inconsistencies!