Gigastorm custom WIP

Here's the first of 2 WIP threads I'm starting today. A few people have told me they like the WIP steps as well as the finished product, so here it is. For this custom, following the advice of a close friend, I'm documenting all the time it takes to complete the job, something I've not done before - so far I've only ever done rough guesstimates.

Not much to show straight away, except for the initial disassembly. I have a few more pictures that I took of some of the inner workings of the TR Trypticon base mould for my own reference, so I remember where things go. They are not very exciting as they tend to lack context.

So, a disassembled Trypitcon:

https://i.imgur.com/nGBXE34l.jpg

And the smaller parts (some pictured in the above image already):

https://i.imgur.com/qVswVvVl.jpg

I also need to fabricate the horn. I used a dremel to cut down an MP seeker flight stand. Still needs a bit of fine sanding and finishing. I'll be painting it in a transparent orange lacquer on the finished product, so it stays more or less clear. I am still still deciding on whether or not I'll do the other 2 smaller horns on Gigastorm.

https://i.imgur.com/uKFOU7Ql.jpg

I've cleaned each and every piece with isopropyl alcohol to ensure it can take paint. Almost every single piece pictured will be painted in some way.

Current time spent: 2 hours, 40 minutes.

🖒🖒🖒

A small update. I decided to start with the arms and wings.

Most of the purple pieces are staying purple, but I still wanted to give them a painted look, so I painted over them (the claws and wings) with a Transparent Purple lacquer (by SMS). It gives them a richer, deeper colour.

The one on the left is painted, the right one not. It's a bit more vibrant in real life.
https://i.imgur.com/3sBV5Sql.jpg

The grey parts I wanted to look similarly, so I painted them with a transparent smoke (by Alclad), but it darkened them way too much, almost black. I did a fine coat of a mixture of Polished Aluminium and Steel, both Alclcad metallics. Came up nice.
https://i.imgur.com/ANSQ1fTl.jpg

I also base coated the 'hand' bits of the claws (they will be going from pale aqua to gold on the finished model) with a Gloss Black Base (Alclad again).

Finally, I wanted to try out a Transparent Orange (SMS) on the scrap piece of clear plastic I removed from the MP Seeker stand to see how it behaves. Learned a few lessons, mostly make sure I do a deep clean of my airbrush before using it. But I am happy with how bright it came out, with several very thin coats (like about 5-6 passes).
https://i.imgur.com/Mcx4ZWHl.jpg

Total time taken so far: 3 hours 40 minutes.

Wowsers!

Wow that's a pretty extensive repaint.

A bit more progress.

I've now:

Half-painted the back cannons - base coated in black high-gloss lacquer (the bottom half) and painted the whole thing in Alclad Chrome (which comes out with a very shiny finish over the gloss black and a more silvery finish over the raw plastic. The silvery pieces will be painted over with extremely thin coats of another colour so they look very slightly metallic.
https://i.imgur.com/T496A4ll.jpg

Did a bit of masking and painting in Alclad Pale Gold on the arms:
https://i.imgur.com/66N1Gh0l.jpg

I've done the "hands" and claws as well, in gold (as above) and SMS Clear Purple lacquer respectively.

The underneath portions of the dint-mode belly are a beautiful clear green on the base mould and opaque purple on a G1 Gigastorm, so I have a decision to make. I want him to look pretty damned flash, so instead of painting them in regular purple, I've decided to paint those clear green pieces in Alclad Chrome and then SMS Clear Purple over the top, so they look crazy metallic purple. Because they were pretty glossy to begin with, even thin coats of the Alclad Chrome gave it a magnificent mirror shine.
https://i.imgur.com/SxDZj1dl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/GjA4ZETl.jpg

I've also masked up some more of the next pieces to paint, the collars and head pieces.

Total time taken so far: 8 hours 10 minutes.

that Alclad is good stuff.

I've done some more work, most of it a little dull - base coating some of the larger body pieces.

I reassembled the head to do some detail work (much thanks to Demonac who pointed out to me the black pieces on the top of Gigastorm's dino head, which I can now see better on the photos that JITS very generously supplied me with), and found that under bright light, the paint work was not as good as it needed to be. I'll go back and fix it soon.

In order to do some more of the head, I need a horn. I cut and trimmed the transparent section of an MP Seeker flight stand, which was fine, but a little bland. I got out a bunch of unused clear body armour pieces from some RID Minicons (specifically the ones that were clear yellow and clear orange), did some test fitting of some different configurations, cut and Dremelled them down and stuck them on to spruce the horn up a bit. Then did the first few coats of transparent orange lacquer (SMS paints). Will need a few more orange coats and some clear gloss to make it shine.

https://i.imgur.com/P5yAlcTl.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/YMGJuMwl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ZhLn6t6l.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/FwW2u51l.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/copVQSCl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/iD1XJ78l.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/L2W9cyql.jpg

To finish off, here's a pic of the reassembled dino arm, before detailing:
https://i.imgur.com/CQc1HSLl.jpg

Total time taken so far: 15 hours, 10 minutes (that includes 4 hours just on the horn!)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by M-bot

I've done some more work, most of it a little dull - base coating some of the larger body pieces.

I reassembled the head to do some detail work (much thanks to Demonac who pointed out to me the black pieces on the top of Gigastorm's dino head, which I can now see better on the photos that JITS very generously supplied me with), and found that under bright light, the paint work was not as good as it needed to be. I'll go back and fix it soon.

In order to do some more of the head, I need a horn. I cut and trimmed the transparent section of an MP Seeker flight stand, which was fine, but a little bland. I got out a bunch of unused clear body armour pieces from some RID Minicons (specifically the ones that were clear yellow and clear orange), did some test fitting of some different configurations, cut and Dremelled them down and stuck them on to spruce the horn up a bit. Then did the first few coats of transparent orange lacquer (SMS paints). Will need a few more orange coats and some clear gloss to make it shine.



To finish off, here's a pic of the reassembled dino arm, before detailing:
https://i.imgur.com/CQc1HSLl.jpg

Total time taken so far: 15 hours, 10 minutes (that includes 4 hours just on the horn!)

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I'm not sure you need to add the four hours of leisure time to your total. In fact I am not sure I am comfortable with you sharing that sort of information. :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Thurmus

I'm not sure you need to add the four hours of leisure time to your total. In fact I am not sure I am comfortable with you sharing that sort of information. :D

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TMI indeed!:D:D:D

Some more progress pictures, specifically of some of the hand-painted detail work:

https://i.imgur.com/hgqv2XNl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/RLmGgkGl.jpg?1

https://i.imgur.com/Jnkhs4Nl.jpg

I've been using the Molotow chrome pen for some of the detailing )mostly for very small areas only) - it's seriously easy to use and the results are fantastic. Not sure how hard wearing the paint is, time will tell.

Total time taken so far: 20 hours, 35 minutes

the detailing is coming along nicely and the horn design is simply inspired.

you are really highlighting just how much detail Hasbro have put into this humongous toy.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by UltraMarginal

the detailing is coming along nicely and the horn design is simply inspired.

you are really highlighting just how much detail Hasbro have put into this humongous toy.

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Thank you :D

One thing that customising has shown me is that each and every toy, no matter how big or small, no matter how "simple", has been largely created from nothing. All of those details - each and every one - was painstakingly sculpted by someone. One of my biggest aims with most customs is to pay respect to the immense amount of work the original creator has put in.

I had someone mention to me that Gigastorm was (I'm paraphrasing) "just Trypticon with green camo bits". After 20-odd hours of work :rolleyes: I decided I should probably get to a few of them green bits.

Masking this was a right pain, especially since the modern Trypticon has few flat areas and so much more moulded details. As a result, some of the lines are a tad fuzzy - they will be fixed by hand later.

For his "landing strips" I used a similar technique to the "glow" areas on a few previous customs, perhaps with a bit more subtlety.

https://i.imgur.com/Qr8fLlol.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/UnofpXgl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ya8bAoIl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/vRqBogfl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/VbQWsrJl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/O3zBf3jl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/YS7sfaBl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/J2EpEb7l.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/sKQ3bjtl.jpg

Also did some detailing on the collar/cannons.
https://i.imgur.com/hi4krqOl.jpg

Total time taken so far: 29 hours, 40 minutes

One little update shot:

https://i.imgur.com/2a79otUl.jpg

That aqua green colour you are using for the camo looks perfect.

Wow, this is super impressive and is coming along nicely. Thank you for sharing your progress pics, it's really nice to see how much work, time and passion you put into your projects. I look forward to the next instalments. You sir, are a master.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jetfire in the sky

That aqua green colour you are using for the camo looks perfect.

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It’s a lacquer airbrush paint by SMS, an Australian company (support local!), a mix of fluoro green and teal. It matches the green parts present on the base mould almost exactly, and does some cool things under black light... but I’ll wait until the whole project is done before I show that off.;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AJ_Prime

Wow, this is super impressive and is coming along nicely. Thank you for sharing your progress pics, it's really nice to see how much work, time and passion you put into your projects. I look forward to the next instalments. You sir, are a master.

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Thank you for such generous words!

Nice masking job. It's always good to peel off the tape and realise you didn't stuff up and miss a spot.

I've noticed SMS have really increased their range. Time to stock up.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gamblor916

Nice masking job. It's always good to peel off the tape and realise you didn't stuff up and miss a spot.

I've noticed SMS have really increased their range. Time to stock up.

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There were a few spots that needed touch ups by hand - mostly where the masking tape didn’t completely connect with the piece because of moulded detail, detail that wasn’t so much present on the vintage Gigastorm.

wow amazing stuff :D