M-bot
25th June 2017, 11:09 PM
I was commissioned to create Horri-Bull, Fangry and Squeezplay from TR Skullsmasher, Wolfwire and Twinferno respectively. This thread will be a WIP thread for the ongoing creation of them. I expect it will take a couple of months, and I will update the thread when I can until they are done.
I went back and forth with the commissioner about ideas, and concepts, switching out weapons and using official Titan masters for the heads (there are ones for Horri-Bull and Fangry, and I believe Crashbash is supposed to be Squeezeplay - can anyone confirm this?). I had a great idea for Squeezeplay and took the following "fan-mode" picture to illustrate a potential alt mode proof-of-concept:
http://i.imgur.com/KjXWaBRm.jpg
I would of course remove the tail sections and add a monster head, but you get the general idea. The idea was nixed though, so Squeezeplay will be almost a straight repaint only, without Twinferno's wings, which would be donated to Fangry.
I really wanted Horri-Bull to look like a bull and not an alligator with horns, so I used my new-found resin casting abilities (lol whatever) to make a mock up of the head and rear legs to try and get another look going for Horri-Bull. I wasn't able to successfully cast the back legs - the shapes and forms were too convoluted to cast with my meagre skills, but the original G1 had pretty stumpy back legs so I'm happy to leave it at that. The front legs can be raised up slightly so his chest isn't flat to the ground in alt mode, like so:
http://i.imgur.com/TE37Fb2m.jpg
The resin cast head was useful. To get the bull-not-gator look, I wanted to shorten the snout, I did so by marking out (in pink) the section I wanted to remove from the middle and cutting it in 2 with a Dremel.
http://i.imgur.com/KC8wtaZm.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/3j5eUvCm.jpg
I also did a rough cast (very very rough) of the horns from Fansproject Cubrar (not-Slag) to stick on the sides of the new head. I snuck the snout end to the head section with yellow plasticine. Remember, this is just to see if what was in my head would actually work in practice. The first pic is with only one horn on so you can see the profile of the head, the rest are with both horns, which I reckon look bad-ass, perfect for a monstrous 'Con.
http://i.imgur.com/O0Iiw26m.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/3YMHhWBm.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Zs54KDpm.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/nvPXYvPm.jpg
...and then I had a brainwave. Why not flip the snout end upside down, to give him an underbite?
http://i.imgur.com/Ggc3yeVm.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/6rdNkMrm.jpg
Even better, IMO. The commissioner agreed, and we're off to the races.
http://i.imgur.com/QeEkx1Tm.jpg
To accommodate Twinferno's gun for Horri-Bull's gun and double tail, I need to make a few small alterations to the robot legs/gator butt:
http://i.imgur.com/xIu4AzPm.jpg?1
And I also needed to carve off Twinferno's dragon head horns:
http://i.imgur.com/BYJMQ03m.jpg?1
If you're interested to see what the 3 base figures look like disassembled (as much as I was able save for a couple of one way pins that I couldn't confidently shift), here are all the pieces:
http://i.imgur.com/0Fskcgrm.jpg
I did have a small breakage issue with Wolfwire's back, but it is not a vital piece so it won't effect the toy in either mode or in transformation at all, or be particularly noticeable unless you are looking for it, so I'm not fussed.
For the sake of it, here's Wolfwire's wolf head disassembled. I'm including it as it is not a side of TF toys one often sees, and I can say from experience of taking them apart, it has seriously deepened my appreciation for the work that has gone into creating the toys in the first place.
http://i.imgur.com/Mr1lOSBm.jpg
Next step is finishing and modding the pieces as I need to, and then cleaning/prepping before sanding, priming, & painting. Further updates as I do more.
I went back and forth with the commissioner about ideas, and concepts, switching out weapons and using official Titan masters for the heads (there are ones for Horri-Bull and Fangry, and I believe Crashbash is supposed to be Squeezeplay - can anyone confirm this?). I had a great idea for Squeezeplay and took the following "fan-mode" picture to illustrate a potential alt mode proof-of-concept:
http://i.imgur.com/KjXWaBRm.jpg
I would of course remove the tail sections and add a monster head, but you get the general idea. The idea was nixed though, so Squeezeplay will be almost a straight repaint only, without Twinferno's wings, which would be donated to Fangry.
I really wanted Horri-Bull to look like a bull and not an alligator with horns, so I used my new-found resin casting abilities (lol whatever) to make a mock up of the head and rear legs to try and get another look going for Horri-Bull. I wasn't able to successfully cast the back legs - the shapes and forms were too convoluted to cast with my meagre skills, but the original G1 had pretty stumpy back legs so I'm happy to leave it at that. The front legs can be raised up slightly so his chest isn't flat to the ground in alt mode, like so:
http://i.imgur.com/TE37Fb2m.jpg
The resin cast head was useful. To get the bull-not-gator look, I wanted to shorten the snout, I did so by marking out (in pink) the section I wanted to remove from the middle and cutting it in 2 with a Dremel.
http://i.imgur.com/KC8wtaZm.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/3j5eUvCm.jpg
I also did a rough cast (very very rough) of the horns from Fansproject Cubrar (not-Slag) to stick on the sides of the new head. I snuck the snout end to the head section with yellow plasticine. Remember, this is just to see if what was in my head would actually work in practice. The first pic is with only one horn on so you can see the profile of the head, the rest are with both horns, which I reckon look bad-ass, perfect for a monstrous 'Con.
http://i.imgur.com/O0Iiw26m.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/3YMHhWBm.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Zs54KDpm.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/nvPXYvPm.jpg
...and then I had a brainwave. Why not flip the snout end upside down, to give him an underbite?
http://i.imgur.com/Ggc3yeVm.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/6rdNkMrm.jpg
Even better, IMO. The commissioner agreed, and we're off to the races.
http://i.imgur.com/QeEkx1Tm.jpg
To accommodate Twinferno's gun for Horri-Bull's gun and double tail, I need to make a few small alterations to the robot legs/gator butt:
http://i.imgur.com/xIu4AzPm.jpg?1
And I also needed to carve off Twinferno's dragon head horns:
http://i.imgur.com/BYJMQ03m.jpg?1
If you're interested to see what the 3 base figures look like disassembled (as much as I was able save for a couple of one way pins that I couldn't confidently shift), here are all the pieces:
http://i.imgur.com/0Fskcgrm.jpg
I did have a small breakage issue with Wolfwire's back, but it is not a vital piece so it won't effect the toy in either mode or in transformation at all, or be particularly noticeable unless you are looking for it, so I'm not fussed.
For the sake of it, here's Wolfwire's wolf head disassembled. I'm including it as it is not a side of TF toys one often sees, and I can say from experience of taking them apart, it has seriously deepened my appreciation for the work that has gone into creating the toys in the first place.
http://i.imgur.com/Mr1lOSBm.jpg
Next step is finishing and modding the pieces as I need to, and then cleaning/prepping before sanding, priming, & painting. Further updates as I do more.