CUSTOM TRANSFORMERS: MEGA OPTIMUS PRIME, BEFORE AND AFTER PICS!

This customized toy model is one of my favs. It was made from the Arms Micron Optimus Prime and the TF Prime Ultra Magnus; both were Voyager Class models, and they were the Hasbro versions.... The legs, arms and torsos were mixed, while Gundam parts were added as the extra smoke stacks of Mega Optimus Prime, giving him a total of six smoke stacks [four on his back, and two more glued onto his shoulders].
He has some Gundam missiles added to his shoulder-pads as well, thus resembling Ultra Magnus. I also customized the regular double-barrel handguns that are made by third-party company Dr. Wu, thus making them longer and sturdier with some household items [such as the parts taken from clicky pens and spare Gundam parts]. And I colored those new handguns, painting them black and silver. And I had to put some putty into the mouths of the new barrels, before coloring their cores gold, within the nozzle.

Additionally I gave Prime some new shoes... heftier feet created with painted putty, which can carry more weight and help to balance him more readily. A ton of nail polish was added to his legs at the hip joints, which were initially super-loose.

His standard articulation remains, but he cannot transform, since I had to glue some of his chest portions, in order to ensure that the toy would stay in position while I was tweaking it. Two shades of red were added to his upper body, and the new ultra-marine blue of his legs was also added to re-color his borrowed light-blue legs. His chest, upper arms and thighs were colored silver as well, and I also colored the circular lights on his chest. And I had to fill the core of his hollow chest with putty, before placing a plastic crest on top and coloring it silver, like a blank Superman logo placed beneath his windshields.

This guy looks very tough and rugged; and he has two extra & recolored arm-blasters added to his outer arms [one large cannon placed on the right side and and a laser rifle on the left], which both came from the "Transformers Titans Return Hardhead". Those two extra weapons were colored stone-gray and green respectively, but you'd never know by just looking at them, unless you're also a TF toy collector ;)

     

    

 

    

I decided to call him Mega Optimus Prime, since Ultra Prime sounded too generic, and his disciplined Commander, Magnus, already has that "Ultra" tag.

And since I had extras, I've also added a "before and after" comparison of some of his custom-made weapons, specifically the double-barrel arm-blasters from Dr. Wu and the classic warhammer [The Forge of Solace Prime], to show the customization results. Honestly, Prime cannot hold that new huge silver hammer. Instead, it is now fit for the hands of the Leader Class toys, which are bigger in size [as shown above]... or at least Voyager Class toys with hand articulation, so that their wrists can open up to receive the large weapon.

BTW, the former article on the guy weilding the hefty warhammer, Battle-Mode Ultra Magnus, is over HERE

CUSTOM TRANSFORMERS: SIXBLADE WINDBLADE, BEFORE AND AFTER PICS!

All right, this fembot is one of my favs... and you'll have to check out the before and after pics, to truly appreciate what happened in the final custom job.
There were actually 3 fembot Transformers sacrificed to create the final product [two Windblades "red" and one Chromia "blue"], in addition to Gundam parts and a borrowed heavy blaster cannon from Generations Leader Jetfire.
Thus my "central chassis" is built upon the body of Chromia, but the arms and legs are from Windblade.

And for those who care about base-model details / specs, there are two different Windblade toys that have been released by Hasbro [in the US] and Takara Tomy [over in Japan]. One is the "Transformers Generations 2014 model", while the other is the "Transformers 2015 Robots in Disguise model". I used the former [the first one, which has super-horrible legs that can't really stand up for the cool poses]. Thus I had to buy some new cool rear heels from the Shapeways.com website, where 3D models are printed by TF fans for other fans.

And I had to buy some extra swords [the fancy samurai blades] from China via a kind seller on ebay [the stuff almost got lost in the mail, and the Chinese guy was willing to send me a fresh set, for free... but luckily they arrived a few days late].

I honestly did not like the Windblade toy when I first saw her. But after the custom kitbash job, she became one of my favs. And for those who are curious: no, she can't transform. She is a cool display piece, and that's what I wanted to make. Also, I didn't give her a golden face, since it just didn't look right per my tests... but now, the blue gem in the sword matches her blue face and the top of her rear motorcycle wheel. The colors used for the paint job were two shades of gold, two shades of red, brown and black. And the rear windshield on her back, which was fully transparent like glass [made from white plastic] had to be painted fully black, inside and outside.
Her former slightly transparent sword was colored fully purple, and I had two of them from the two Windblade base models [they are now holstered at her hips].
At one point, during the lengthy photoshoot, she fell over backwards.... but she instantly balanced herself, via all the sword sheaths sticking out of her rear, so I just kept taking the damn photos while she held herself in position! LOL

Also, I thought of adding a ninja-like golden Optimus Prime mouth-guard to her... I dunno if I'll still do it. Such small things can easily be created from the plastic case that comes with the toy, when you utilize a curved corner and cut it down to size and then glue it onto her face, to cover her mouth... I got that tip from another veteran toy customizer. Over the course of this year, I've also learned to use other small household items to customize TF weapons [making hem bigger or longer], and that sort of endeavor is quite cool and takes some creative thinking ;)

Check out the pics of SixBlade Windblade below and the last image shows her with her buddy, Battle-Magnus, who was posted in the former blog article HERE

  

   

   
 

    

Thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

CUSTOM TRANSFORMERS: BATTLE MODE ULTRA MAGNUS [BATTLE-MAGNUS], BEFORE & AFTER PICS

All right guys, I've finally transported the Transformer pics from my smart phone to my PC. And after adding the watermarks and adjusting the lighting, I can now share them. But to appreciate the custom transformer, you have to know what it looked like before the new paint job and the added accessories [I've built and added the Gatling gun and extra shoulder missiles from some Gundam toys to this customized Transformer, while the Star-saber was bought online as well. Plus there is a side blaster cannon added to his left leg].

The original base model for this custom toy was the "Combiner Wars Leader Class Ultra Magnus toy"; it has a powder blue / Easter blue color, and... it almost looks like he's not wearing any pants, or undies...
Anyway, I had to color him all over, with silver, ultramarine blue, red and some white... and even his shoes got some silver paint [shown in the side view]. Plus the back of his pants were colored blue, after adding some putty to fill in the hollow spaces back there. The two black weapons that he came with, shown in the before pic, had to be colored white as well. Honestly, I've never transformed this guy. And I probably won't... but yeah, he isn't glued tight, so he can change to a hefty vehicle carrier-truck thingy. Its just that I had no interest in the mack-truck mode, for the customization that I had in mind.
Often I drill holes into the Transformer, for the small weapon / missile peg insertions, so that extra guns can be attached to the toy; and other times, I just glue them on, when I know that it won't hinder mobility / articulated movements. And sometimes, luckily, the toy comes with extra holes for the insertion of weapons.
This Ultra Magnus toy came with a tiny headmaster, the little white car, which transforms into a small robot pilot that can sit inside his chest. I don't really care about it, but I show it off anyway ;)
And the very last pic shows a custom Large Hammer [Forge of solace Prime], built upon the smaller warhammer frame that was sold with the TF Prime Ultra Magnus toy.

This was my first TF kitbash model, and I've done about 8 of them so far this year... I don't know if I will post all of them in this blog; only time will tell. But so far, this Battle-Magnus and the SixBlade Windblade fembot that was teased at the DSNG Instagram and Tumblr  pages will be added, one after the other.

 

 

   

Stay tuned for more, and the article on the SixBlade Windblade fembot has been posted HERE!

HOBBY SCHMOBBY... CUSTOMIZING TRANSFORMERS

It has been over two months since I updated this blog... so I thought, what the hell, I might as well dust it off and put something new in this place! [although I've been posting art at Facebook, so check out the Facebook link on the left of this blog page].

Everyone needs a hobby, whether it's making music, DJing, art, sewing, vid-games, LARPing, working out, or a sport. FYI... "malling" / shopping is not a hobby... its a damn addiction! :D
Anyway the hobby keeps your mind active and frankly, it can make you a lot of money, when you have perfected your craft and the right doors open.

Earlier in the year, I joined an underground group of skilled people from all over the world, who secretly do things; very strange things, and dangerous things.... no, it's not a cult, they're a group of Transformer fans, who literally transform their toys, thus making them better.

It's a time consuming hobby. And while an older generation from the 50s and 60s would buy and paint little trains, spitfire jets and toy ship models, those born in the 80s and 90s will be more familiar with the nostalgia created by the Robots In Disguise that they beheld as giant weekend titans on the TV screen, in their childhood days.
And now, I collect some of those TF toys and I Kitbash the hell out of a few of them.

I'll briefly explain what Kitbashing is; this refers to the mixing and matching of TF toys, and some people call it modding or customization.
You can Google "Customized transformer toys", and you'll see all kinds of stuff.

Personally, I prefer to mix Transformers with Gundam parts, using the weapons / wings from the Japanese plastic models to make the Transformers look cooler. In this process, you can glue things together, add putty to enlarge the mismatched joints, or often just sand them down or reattach them.

And when you buy a Power Drill for your stuff, then trust me folks, that goddamn hobby just got serious!!!

This article really isn't a comprehensive "How to customize transformers"; instead, it is more of a teaser with some tips for this hobby interest. 

But for those who want to know, the drill bit recommended for use with drilling holes into your TF toys is the 13/64 in. drill bit, which is the equivalent of the 5mm drill bit size. This is the size for the pegs of most of the handheld weapons that the TFs use... and the attachment pegs of the items from the Gundam models are actually smaller than that, hence you need to drill smaller holes in your TF model, before you attach certain Gundam weapons / wings to them.

And after fixing up the toy, you can re-color them with Acrylic paint or Sharpie markers. Yet you must never use Enamel paints for coloring plastic toys, because that stuff will literally corrupt / melt / weaken your plastic toy's joints, and then the limbs will start snapping without much pressure. Trust me, I had to research that stuff. And I also learned about the intriguing world of 3rd party transformers.... they're super-cool, but also quite expensive.

And please beware; not all TF toys are compatible, per their joints and limbs. So you have to know which ones are placed in the warrior class, versus the commanders, deluxe, leader, legends, voyagers, etc.

Hopefully I will post more pics later. But this post was just a teaser... stay tuned...

EXPLORING DSNG PART 27 - DSNG BOOK 17 HAS BEEN LAUNCHED!

For those fans that missed the previous post on my Facebook page, DSNG Book 17: Ominous Part 2, has been launched at Amazon! Its over Here! And the cover of the new ebook features artwork of a new character, named Aiden Wolf. Despite his youthful appearance, Aiden is actually a General and he bears the title of the "God of Justice".

 


Aiden is not a regular superhero teen / a young adult warrior. He is actually a Paragon, specifically an elite Wind-walker. The Paragons are the ancient Sons of the Gods - or Demigods, with mighty powers and endless life spans. They do exist in the same Makuran Galaxy and they are part of the rich history of the DSNG Sci Fi Series.

The Paragons have existed for over 10 million years. And they perish not from old age, but from destructive blasts or decapitations by their potent peers. And the Centaurs, Fairies, Serpentors, Ravenors, Monkey Kings, Monkey Queens and other ancient beings fall into that category [and in general they are tagged as Paragons]. Those familiar with DSNG Book 16 will know more about that stuff...
Of course the DSNG saga still revolves around Prince Azzar Omenus, the main protagonist [who is an Alpha Senturi Super Soldier]. But there are still over 500 characters in the DSNG Universe, and they all have interactions that affect the Prince in one way or another.

Anyway, this new ebook cover is similar to the one created for Book 16 that features Commander Dezeth the Fairy warrior, per the layout and background colors. [The former blog article with concept art for DSNG Book 16 is over Here!]

I'm not going to waste your time by explaining what this action-packed mature sci fi series is all about, since you're a fan and I assume that you've read the old DSNG teaser ebook that was 99 Cents, over Here :)

And here is the long synopsis for DSNG Book 17... and yeah, it's long, since it is tied to a 1,000+ page novel!
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Presently Prince Azzar and some of his allies are still vacationing on the neighboring techno-world in the Beta sector, planet Taran. And the Prince has finally commenced the MECH Sentinel Program. So he now finds himself locked into a series of meetings with the CEOs of the major robotics firms based on Taran, as he seeks to find the perfect manufacturer for the first generation of giant MECH defenders, which will serve the military force of his home planet Avera.

At the same time, the super-human Prince finds himself in a budding relationship with the lovely female Kataran named Dr. Karli. Their desires seem to be getting stronger, while the near-death experiences that he’d saved her from have only strengthened their bond.

Yet the Prince is fully oblivious to all the events that have been transpiring in the RX-Realm, the alternate reality zone where the Twelve Clans of the Ancient Paragon Beings—the early beings that predated the Era of Mankind—reside in a somewhat tumultuous state.

And in that mystical realm, the Paragons, who are ultra-sentient beings, still live by various ancient laws… such as laws that give them the right to keep what they kill, in terms of the property, position and authority of the Paragon warrior that they slay.

And at this time, five elite Ghoul Commanders from the Paragon Clan called the Larksen Slayers Legion have traveled from the RX-Realm to the Human Realm, as they seek out the new villain named Lord Blacnor. And the five Commanders, comprising of four Ghouls and one Fairy, have decided to split up in order to cover more grounds on their search.

Yet a group of Young Wolves, who are young Paragon warriors led by the military trainer named Abe Apollo, were dispatched to track down the five Ghoul Commanders. And so far they’ve been able to slay one of them, while the four other evil Commanders are still at large.

The threat of the four Commanders begins to amplify, when it is suspected that they’re in league with one of the most powerful evil Paragon warlords of the past, an Ice Necromancer named Argus Demacles. And Argus has been tied to the infamous Gray Hawk Legion, from the days of old.

Thus after he almost kills Rikah the Sea Mistress, Argus is again on the loose… and this forces Aiden Wolf, the young God of Justice and the current leader of the Silver Falcon Legion, to arise and confront the singular threat from Argus. Yet Aiden and his assembled strike team—comprised of fellow Paragons—soon have to seek out some urgent council from an ancient upright Ghoul patriarch, an Arch Mage named Father Benvamos, who resides in a fortified castle within the RX-Realm, a mystified alternate realm in which no mortal has ever set foot before.

But while Aiden and his strike team get set to meet with Father Benvamos in order to get a guiding oracle from him, they have no idea that they’re being hunted down by another team of Paragon mercs that are being led by a separate oracle, one that strangely predicts that Aiden will be the source of a huge act of genocide in the near future…

Additionally, Azzar’s Scalatan half-brother Tek-Hon, aka the vicious Killer of Killers, is sidetracked from his quest for the legendary Makura Stone, so that he can hunt down a certain dangerous Gorilla operative, someone tied to the very band of rebels that he is affiliated with.
Simultaneously, one of Tek's old allies, the female assassin named Agatha the Slayer, finds herself tracking down a group of mobsters that are known as the Brotherhood of Kanu; since they've abducted a young girl that she desperately needs to find on behalf of her sponsors.

Eventually, as the evil Ghoul Commanders from the RX-Realm continue their rampage in the Human Realm, two separate worlds slowly begin to collide… and the hand of fate seems to be steering Prince Azzar towards one last bloody battle, one that he will not have the power to emerge victoriously from…

[Part 17 of 17 e-books. Rated M for Mature; Over 1000 pages!]

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All right, be sure to download the new ebook over Here!!
You can get it on your desktop, laptop, tablet, smartphone or kindle, as long as you download the free Kindle App to any of those devices first!!


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You can keep reading the archived "Exploring DSNG" article series, which show more concept art from past eBooks via these links:
Exploring DSNG Part 26
Exploring DSNG Part 25
Exploring DSNG Part 24
Exploring DSNG Part 23
Exploring DSNG Part 22