Magic
Based on the Turok action figure Adon
Magic image


    Eva "Magic" Gillmann, a Transformers fan from Germany who I met through Raksha, commissioned me to make this kitbash of her signature character, Magic. Magic, as I understand it, Megatron's mate (not daughter as I initially said) in an extended fanfic universe of Eva's, and she wears her own unique sigil that combines the Decepticon logo, the Egyptian infinity symbol (or a stylized Omega) and a sort of iconic representation of a unicorn. Magic transforms into a robotic unicorn. For the base figure, I used Adon from the Turok line, who seemed to be a close fit and had just gone on deep clearance at Target (so I could afford to snag several in case I botched one).

    I started by removing all the unnecessary parts from Adon. Long braid (wrong kind of hairstyle), chrome shinguards (which would make adding Magic's own shin details harder) and chrome skullcap. Then I cut off Adon's head so I could work on all the details of Magic's head without worrying about stuff getting in the way. I glued the leftover hair from Angela (Spawn figure used to make the Rapture kitbash) to Adon's bald pate and then filled in the gaps with putty. Then I cut off the eyes and flattened the eye area.

    Over the course of a couple nights, I added most of the necessary details with putty. Entirely new chest and abdomen, extra belt detail, headdress and more hair, metal strips along the legs, kneepads, shoulderpads (which should actually be part of the upper arms, but Adon had non-removable shoulderpads I had to work around). I used sheet plastic to add more of the headdress and to make the hip pouches, as well as the half-cogs at the elbows (not really visible in the scan). Rather than trying to add the elfen ears separately, I carved them into the headdress as indentations of the right shape. Surface hair features and the abdominal details were added with Testor's Contour Putty, which is weaker but easier to apply in small amounts. After excessive cutting and filing and gluing, I decided I'd gotten as close as I was likely to get to the model sheets Eva had mailed me. The only area I'd really had to depart from model on was the upper arms, which should be squared off and topped with the bits that I left as shoulderpads.

    The main color scheme was to be black, purple and silver, with white hair. I still haven't found a proper "Decepticon Purple," so I compromised by using metallic purple for most parts and violet for the torso details, so they'd stand out a little better. I also made the face light grey instead of silver, and added a few shadows under the nose and lips with medium grey paint. The hair I painted gloss white with sky blue wash (a dollop of sky blue paint in a bunch of water). I added details with a technical pen, and drew Magic's sigil on her chest with a Pentel silver gel pen. The forehead jewel which Adon and Magic share is supposed to be transparent on Magic. I toyed with using a section of clear plastic rod, but glue made it all foggy, so I ended up just painting the molded jewel sky blue.

    Adon also came with a stand which I painted metallic purple and silver with a higher resolution version of Magic's sigil. The sword came from a Mortal Kombat figure, with tassels made from aluminum wire and dabs of contour putty.


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