Dave's Transformers Painting Projects

Paints, Repaints and Kitbashes, Oh My!
Transformers Quickbashes
Last Updated 11/15/08
TF:A Legends Optimus Prime added to Full Repaints.

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This page is for my Transformers Quickbashes. These are little projects that didn't take a whole lot of time or effort, but most do still transform (except for a few accessories and a PVC or two) and I felt were worth showing off. Sometimes they're just repaints, or adding an ink wash, other times they involve really simple physical mods.

Paint Touchups - Same character, just better.
Repaints - No physical changes, but a new character.
Minor Modifications - Compensating for design issues, fan altmodes, etc.
Lesser Kitbashes - Some physical mods and serious repainting, but it didn't take a lot of work.

Touch-ups

TMII Cheetor Touchup: Not really a kitbash at all, but this repaint was such a spectacular improvement over the original that I had to put it up. I got the spots by using Pactra gloss black paint and the smallest of the brushes that comes with a Pactra kit, just dabbed black here and there (except on the face and head, where I used a pin for more detailed spotting). The rest of the details are various acrylic paints I have. To get the white fur on the chest effect I actually smeared the paint with my thumb to blur the edges like fur.
jaAm!: Armada Hot Shot touched up with panel lines and other details, plus a quick little jaAm jar (there's a "redone dialogue" parody of the minicomic that comes with Armada toys, involving Hot Shot having Torgo-like speech patterns and a fixation on jam).
Touched-Up Vector Prime: I had a bunch of metallic leaf pens sitting around, so I decided to make Vector Prime shinier. Vehicle Mode views: 1, 2.
Cybertron Snarl Touchup: Filled in the panel lines with dark blue paint, did a light blue drybrush over the dark blue plastic. Painted the claws later.
Winged Thunderblast: Added paint to the inside shells of Cybertron Thunderblast's boat parts to make them look more like mechanical angel wings.
Cybertron Mini-Con Versus Pack 4 touchups: Fixed up High Wire's joints, gave both ink washes and other details.
Classic Ultra Magnus touchup: I mainly just painted the helmet blue, but also added a few touches of red. I think it makes the figure a little less dull without going overboard into "mapping the G1 scheme onto a cab-only version" scheme.
Speed Dial Mod: Real Gear Robot Speed Dial 800 modified so that he doesn't use his keyboard as his chest. Used some scrap from the Exo-Force Golden Guardian sticker sheet for the gold bits.
Robot Replicas Touchups: The Revoltech-like Robot Replicas seem to have been a touch over-ambitious and under-funded, resulting in a lot of molded detail but not a lot of painted detail. So I've been fixing some of them.
- Bumblebee: I didn't go completely movie-accurate, I like the metallic blue on the windows seen in some other toys. I gave the yellow more highlights, put black in the nooks and crannies, and made the gray parts more gunmetal.
- Megatron: Much simpler, just a black wash (paint mixed with water) and then a thin layer of metallic pearl white.
Neo Shifter Atlas::Raan: The stock colors of the toy had too much weird color separation in robot mode, so I added some yellow up top and some blue stripes on the "pants". 3" Titanium Bumblebee included for scale.
Night Beat 7: I felt it looked a little drab, so I added some coloration to more evoke Headmaster Nightbeat. 9/2/07.
Battle Begins Optimus Prime: Removed the battle damage and generally touched up the figure from the "Battle Begins" two-pack from Transformers Animated. June 2008.
Battle Begins Megatron: Likewise, removed battle damage and touched up the figure in general. June 2008.
McDonald's Lugnut: A Happy Meal toy with the colors improved and more details added. July 2008.
- Robot View 1 - With alternate leg transformation.
- Robot View 2 - Different angle, same alternate transformation.
- Robot View 3 - Official leg transformation.
- Vehicle Mode
Powerglide's Heart: Universe Classics Powerglide has a molded heart under his chest panel (an homage to "The Girl Who Loved Powerglide"), I simply painted is neon red.
Universe Classics Legends: Megatron (G2 tank), Hound (G1) and Jazz (G1) Legends figures given a bit more paint.
- Robot Modes
- Vehicle Modes

Full Repaints

Grrl Action Team: Repaints of the Street Action Team as Arcee (Sureshock), Chromia (Grindor) and Moonracer (High Wire). They no longer transform without scraping off paint, though.
- Herceptor PVC: Repainted a pewter color Perceptor PVC with the Grrl Action Team colors.
- PVC with Mini-Cons
Cybertron Oval painted: The Oval remold for Cybertron has clear police flashers on top, but the colors almost hide this. I knew I couldn't make it white without making it untransformable, but I otherwise got it as close to G1 Prowl as I could.
Cybertron Garboil: Garboil is a blue Laserbeak recolor released in Japan in 2005. I repainted a Cybertron figure as Garboil for a friend. It's not meant to transform.
Hot Wheels Cliffjumper: Got a red Concept Camaro Hot Wheels and painted AllSpark Power Cliffjumper's hood stripes onto it. No big deal. January 2008.
Movie Optimus Primal: I noticed how close Stockade (2007 Movie "AllSpark Power" line) was to Optimus Primal, and did a quick repaint, building a knockoff Primal sword a handle so the toy could hold it. February 2008.
- Robot Mode (action pose)
- Robot Mode (static pose)
- Robot Mode (action pose)
Legends TF:A Optimus Prime: Beyond a simple touch-up, most of the toy ended up repainted, even if it was just as the same color in order to ensure matching. October 2008.
- Robot Mode (full)
- Robot Mode (upper body)
- Vehicle Mode

Minor Modifications

Saber: A robot mode for the Star Saber team. It's kinda weird, but actually works without needing any physical modifications to the toys. I painted some red bits on to highlight the eyes and mouth.
Unsafety Thrust: Thrust's missile launchers were modified to make them unremovable and thus not a choking hazard. As any under-3 child in my apartment would probably find hundreds of ways to kill itself, I removed these launchers and added new pegs using bits of Lego vine.
Voyager Animated Megatron: A strut on Megatron's cannon was strengthened to meet safety concerns, but this impeded function. So I made it less safe. June 2008.
Animated Bumblebee: Another safety mod resulted in Bumblebee's stingers not being fully stowable, so I carved out the blockages. June 2008.
Animated Blitzwing: As molded, TF:A Blitzwing has a pair of pegs that go into U-shaped slots rather than proper holes. I used Apoxie Sculpt to block off the sides and make the slots into holes, improving stability in jet mode. September 2008.
Animated Swoop's Mace: The flames-pop-out gimmick was neutered, possibly because it made the toy fail a drop test. I restored it. September 2008.
- What to cut.
- How it looks when completed.

Lesser Kitbashes

Blast Off Ground Mode: I got a Blast Off at a flea market for a buck because the toy was missing a wing and had no accessories. So I replaced the wings with Lego wheels and turned the remaining wing into an axe. It should be noted that Blast Off does NOT like being stuck as a ground vehicle, and this wasn't his choice. Tinkering with an Intermezzo based on this.
Micromaster Griffin: I don't offhand know the name of this Micromaster Sports Car Patrol member, but I got it at a toy show or flea market or something, and it was all rusted out and the hood was floppy. I filed off the rust, added some vehicular weapons (the turret is a googly eye and a bit of rod, the side lasers are arms from a cheap vending machine robot) and repainted the whole thing. The hood's still floppy, which made this a bear to scan. The car is named after both the Griffin car from "Midnight Rambler" (episode of Bubblegum Crisis) and the Griffin mecha from Patlabor. If I were into writing crossover fics, I might do one where the Decepticons find the wreckage of the BGC Griffin and use parts to repair one of their damaged comrades, who then acquires the "haunting" effect and a hatred of motorcycles....
Armada Over-run: Optimus Prime's Mini-Con with a bit more paint and with the gun barrel carved out a bit more.
Trimmed Energon Arcee: Got a spare E-Arcee and trimmed down the oversized chest and moved the spark crystal.
Alternators Windcharger Gun: The gun barrel of Alternators Windcharger was left out for reasons I won't go into here, so I made my own rather than buy a reproduction. Pretty simple job.
Battle-Damaged Windrazor: The first A4 Windrazor I got was defective, missing a cockpit and having two left forearms. Once I replaced it, I made this out of the defective one.
Happy Hannukah from Optimus Prime: A cheap Galaxy Force Galaxy Convoy figure built into a Menorah. Because, as per the Family Guy cartoon, Optimus Prime is Jewish. Some tips on making your own.
jaAmMaster Hot Shot: A McDonald's Armada Hot Shot toy quickly modded to look like it's got an all-new gimmick: pump sugary goop out of the belt! Done for the March 2008 AllSpark Art Challenge, AllSparker Maximo Prime made the final ad image.
- Plain Robot Mode
- jaAm Capsule view
- Pumping action! (does not actually pump, all of the "jaAm' is painted hot glue)
- Vehicle with jaAm Capsule
- Vehicle front corner view
- Vehicle rear corner view
- Quick mockup of ad

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