Dave's Gallery of Robot Art TF MUSH Characters Last updated: 3/1/11 My Little Pony Channel added.

    This page has images of the characters I've played on various Transformers MUSHes (Multi-User Shared Habitat, a text VR thing). Mostly of Channel. Images are copyright Dave Van Domelen on the date of drawing.

    Bullet wasn't my first Transformers MUSH character, but he was the first OC/NFC (original or non-feature cahracter) that I drew. Prior to Bullet, I played Bluestreak on the original TFMUSH, then Ironworks and Dynamo (based on Dynamo Joe, with an immobile altmode I'd later return to for Channel) on the reboot of TF1. Bullet was my character on Transformers 2005, a MUSH that's actually still around, although I haven't played there in ages. I do have a wiki entry on their site, though.

• Bullet: The original design, very "toyetic". Almost, but not quite, a workable transformation. 5/18/95, rescanned 2008.
• Revamped Bullet: Bullet as he might have evolved had I kept playing at TF2K5. 3/29/08

    My first character on Transformers the Lost Years MUSH, which was set in the time right after the Ark departed. Never really got a hook for play, and ended up switching over to playing Channel.

• Cowl Drawing: Started to really try to get workable transformations designed at this point. His vehicle form doesn't look like any real vehicle, but I think it looks cool anyway. 1/12/95. Actually designed as a drawing years before The Lost Years started up, and was going to be named Hood, but I forgot that when drawing the logo.
• Cowl Kitbash: A very lumpy attempt at making Cowl from Cyberjet Space Case.
• Cowl-chan: Cute little Superdeformed Cowl. Scary thing is, his eyes are really that big compared to his head. Note that the Decepticon symbol doesn't really superdeform well. I had almost stopped playing Cowl by the time I drew this. 5/15/99
• TF:A Cowl Drawing: Cowl gets a sex change on the way over to the Animated style! 9/28/08

    Ah, such plans I had for Channel when Neale Davidson and I came up with the idea during a TF fan get-together in Muncie in March of 1999. Channel was going to be a "god armor" combiner with Neale's Vanguard character. The admin never approved that part, though, and eventually Vanguard was rebuilt into Guardstar, removing the possibility. And then Neale left The Lost Years, TOTALLY removing the possibility. I eventually drifted away from the MUSH too, although I've ended up redesigning Channel numerous times, making him my signature fan character.

"Original" Channel

• Computer-drawn Robot Mode: A drawing of the robot mode that I did using a basic drawing program (ClarisWorks). 3/29/99
• Info Center Mode: Not much of a transformation, eh? Another computer drawing. 4/12/99
• "Decoy": Mostly scratch-built from plastic pieces and putty (including Testor's Contour Putty, which isn't worth bothering with...too goopy, too slow-drying, too brittle). I used a spare Valkyrie VF-1J head turned backwards with a face built on it for the head, since I wanted to be sure of decent symmetry in the head. Scanned in at double size, the actual size is 2.25" (6cm), a bit taller than regular decoys. The upper legs turned out a little skinnier than they're supposed to be. 4/19/99
• Chan-chan: Superdeformed Channel. 5/15/99
• Animated Icon: A six frame GIF animation of Channel transforming. Note that I changed his altmode a little since the one done in April 1999. 1/25/00
• First proper Channel Drawing: Finally sat down and did a serious drawing, even through I believe I'd stopped playing TLY by that time. He'd become my signature character by this point. 2/17/02. Rescanned 4/17/06, at which point I finally realized that the Autobot symbol on his left shoulder is on the wrong facing. Oops.
• Hand-drawn G1 Altmode: Finally made a serious drawing of the G1 version's altmode. Note that the shoulder symbols retract to show secondary viewscreens. 4/17/06. Drew this for the More Than Meets the AllSpark project, click here for a low res version of Channel's page.
• Attacktix Channel: Attacktix Omnicon TF02 heavily modded into Channel. Some time in 2007.

• Headmasters Crash Altmodes: Neale Davidson used the basic idea of Channel in his fanfic scripts for Headmasters II and Headmasters Crash (aka Masterforce II). Channel is a triplechanger in this universe, and in HMC has modes of an airlift helicopter and a rescue van. 12/22/00
• Armada Channel with Tuner Mini-Con: My Armada update of Channel turns into a big-wheeled yard tractor, like a monster truck version of Huffer, while his Mini-Con partner becomes a dune buggy with radar dish. Vehicle modes of both. 8/12/02 and 8/13/02.
• Cybertron Channel plans: Not a full drawing, just some design sketches I worked out in early August 2005. Maybe I'll flesh it out someday.
• Channel as Flash: One of the AllSpark regulars did an homage to a JLA/Avengers cover using fan characters in place of the Avengers and JLA, and he put Channel in the place of the Flash. So I drew Wally West in a costume based on Channel. 3/30/06
• Super Robot Channel: Channel re-imagined as a Go Nagai-style Super Robot. Purple background splash added digitally. Inks before some tweaking with a new pen. 2/27/07
• Movie-style Robot Heroes Channel: Robot Heroes Autobot Ratchet modded into how Channel might look in the Bayformers universe. October 2007
• TF: Animated Channel: Channel re-imagined in the Transformers Animated style, with a body type related to Ratchet (although his vehicle mode is a "cab-over" van rather than the ambulance style of Ratchet, giving him less of a belly). He has Soundwave-style speaker rings as well. 9/21/08
• Classics Channel kitbash: Classics Ironhide rebuilt as Channel. October 2008
• Great Reformatting Channel: After the Great War, Channel was reformatted as a Maximal with a task of helping restore services to devastated sectors of Cybertron. His all-terrain mode is meant to foreshadow a beast mode of a mule should he end up on Earth. Done for the June 2009 AllSpark Art Challenge.
  • Vehicle Mode - the thing behind the cockpit is a stowed satellite communications dish. The panels on the top rear can open to deploy cranes and various rescue equipment. His robot hands can emerge from the panels at the front of his treads, or any of his tool hands. 6/11/09
  • Robot Mode - Ratchet-inspired tool hands, and animated Ratchet style Cybertron-EMT symbol on his right shoulder. He can use the treads on his forearms as melee weapons, bzzzzz! 6/12/09
• My Little Pony Channel - Mule, pony, whatever. :) Channel ends up in Equestria (from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic) and has to reformat into an organic form to avoid damage to his circuitry from the ambient magic. Or something. An excuse to draw the pony Channel that I kitbashed earlier. Also available as a board avatar. 2/19/11