LCZ128's customising thread + energon downshift photos

[Zippo]

I've gone and got myself confused reading this thread. What customs do you do currently as orders for others?

[lcz128]

I've gone and got myself confused reading this thread. What customs do you do currently as orders for others?

Sorry about the confusion Zippo!

The list of things I've been 'booked' to do is in the first post - though that's a rough guide for what people want - things really get done on a 'if the customer has the toy and wants me to start now' basis - and I also have to juggle life and a full time job - so customs take different amts of time to do too!

Either way, drop me a pm if you're interested in anything or have questions

[lcz128]

So, between doing customs for others(slowly), I'm also looking at my own toys and making changes
So - anyone else thought that Springer's head looked too d@mn old?
So, shouldn't be too hard to do a headswap, right?
WRONG.
So, off I go to custom-land, trying to think of a way to get his head off, and discover that firstly, you have to get the pins out of the side of his chopper mode. When I first discovered this, I was thinking : "Okay, that's not TOO bad. Can be done - but will have to find time to heat those pins up"

So, I sat down today while at work and did just that.

While trying to get the bloody pins out, I manage to melt a nice big hole in one of the grey wheel thing where the pin come out. Greaaaat. The up side is now I know that the pin's ridged end is facing the back of the toy, making any future attempts infinitely easier and with much less guesswork. Thankfully the two pieces can also be swapped around and I can have the one with the large hole at the back (should take just a lil'putty or something to fill it - but I'm not convinced it needs doing )

Once that was removed, I thought I could remove the two screws in the lower back area and be able to access the head.
WRONG.
There were another two screws at the back of the top-back that needed to be unscrewed before I could go anywhere near the guts of the toy.
SO, I had to remove yet another two pins (the ones that hold the tail of the chopper to the main body ; the ridged end is at the top in case anyone needs to know!)

That said, once that was done, it was a simple process heating up the final pin/thing that held springer's head in to place.
Done and done.
NOW what?

I had no intention of going through this entire process again just to reattach a head for my toy - so what do I do?
ball joint.
If you look at the pics below, you'll notice that where his head normally sits is a transparent ball joint. Yep. He'll have up-down movement as well as the usual side-to-side movement. That said, that's only once I finish work on his head...

Any ideas for another head? Else I'm likely to chop his whole face off and try my hand at sculpting a new one... <_<; (not impossible - simply more work and time consumed :b)
Anyhoo - here are the pics:



Also- another project that I started yesterday cause I just received a cheap Octane from STL.
First, I wanted to silver up his comb and guns - not too hard - but I am planning on doing it again :\ While characteristically weathered, I kind of want a cleaner look... Oh well - still experimenting with that.
Also, I gave him a few touchups that I feel add a lot to him and makes him far less boring:
Gunmetal'd Wheels and the stripe on his propellers.
Extremely simple (especially the propellers), but it immediately brings attention to the detail that's already there. Good stuff, Hasbro - This has rocketed from a 'I'll wait for Henkei' to "I've got the Henkei - now I want a Hasbro one to mod the hell out of"

:b

What bugged me about him though is that the head was a little recessed until you turned his head. I started cutting and filing and got that up ever so little (just enough to not need to use any effort when turning his head) but then decided it'd be nicer to give him a ball joint
So - after a fair bit of waiting and waiting for superglue to cure - here we go:





Hope this was a fun and informative read, dudes

[Pulse]

Your workspace looks so organised...

A head for Springer? Hmmmm...

Well, IMO the G1 head looks pretty nice as it is...



You reckon your sculpting skills are good enough?

[iceburn]

• iceburn - Cosmos [ 30th July 2008, 11:15 AM ]
• iceburn - Brawn [ 30th July 2008, 11:57 AM ]
• iceburn - Gears [ 30th July 2008, 11:57 AM ]
• iceburn - Outback [ 30th July 2008, 11:57 AM ]
• iceburn - Rainmaker (Green)
• iceburn - Rainmaker (Blue)
• iceburn - Rainmaker (Yellow)
• iceburn - Seaspray
• iceburn - Beachcomber

Undone: Cosmos (and probably Outback)

Hi Albie, just wondering when i can pick these up from you. Thanks