DSNG CUSTOM TRANSFORMERS: SWAT OFFICER STRONGARM TOY! [ ROBOTS IN DISGUISE, RID, WARRIOR CLASS, LEGENDS ]

I made this StrongArm toy last year as well [2016]. Initially, I didn't even want to buy the toy and work on this hobby project. It wasn't the price that bugged me; since it was under $20, via ebay. But it was the design that I didn't fully like.... but I pushed onward and I bought her, and I worked on her. And to my delight, she became one of my fav models, per her flexible joints and her slightly modified features that I implemented. The original toy to didn't have good hands, per her transformation style. Hence, I used a Transformers Prime Ratchet toy to give her some new shoulders & arms with new hands; and these new hands actually have "holes" in their bases, so that she can hold a sword if she needs to.

I wanted to make StrongArm into a Bad-Ass Autobot-SWAT officer, so I had to give her lots of weapons to reflect that issue. And one of the pics below shows her arsenal placed in front of her. And she can store / hold almost all of those weapons on her body, via her peg-holes, side-slots and her hands.

The only issue was, once I gave her the new hands, she could no longer transform properly. But that was fine with me, since I mostly make display models to stand with the others in my modest collection. I said modest, because I'm very picky about what I buy... I don't buy everything that I see, regardless of what the fanboys say about it. I have to personally like the toy's design, and often the design And the personality of the toy's cartoon character, before I buy it!
Because I'm picky damn it!!! ;)

Anyway, I repainted her with a special blue mixture of  acrylic paints, and I added several stickers to her. I also added the winged backpack from the Transformers Prime Voyager Class UItra Magnus toy. And then I repainted that jetpack with silver acrylic paints from Tamiya. Her boots were fully white, so I had to slightly repaint them with blue, in front and behind. Her new shoulder-pads were painted as well. Her weapons came from other Transformers [including the "twin-gun shield-blaster", sourced from the 3rd party Chinese company called Iron Factory]. And some weapons came from my Marvel Legends fodder. She even has two Captain America handguns that were inserted into her lower legs!

Her "inner shoulder joints" had to be sanded down, so that her two arms could be lifted and lowered, without forcing her chest-piece / boob-covers to pop open... if you have this toy, then you'll know what I mean.

   

  

   

  

Anyway, since she is an Autobot, the gallery of her created Decepticon opponent, Shockwave, was posted over Here!
Several other Transformers custom toys were previously posted in this blog, like:
Mega Optimus Prime,  Six-Blade Windblade, Turbo Blitz [a remix of the FOC Sideswipe] and Warlord Ultra Magnus.

CUSTOM TRANSFORMERS: SHOCKWAVE TOY! [ GENERATIONS, FALL OF CYBERTRON, FOC, LEGENDS ]

I created this custom toy last year, but I never uploaded it anywhere, until today.
I fused the Combiner Wars  / Titans Return Hardhead toy [his lower body / legs] with the Fall of Cybertron Shockwave [for his upper body, shown here]. Hence I made his new legs sturdier. The winged backpack came from Transformers Prime Voyager Ultra Magnus and the arm-blasters came from the Combiner Wars Thundercracker, and some Gundam model fodder [used for the two cannons that are pointing upwards on his backpack]. He still can transform, but he doesn't look so cool in his "cyber-tanky form", per his new legs, which were formerly jet parts.

Note: when you're working on these TF toy models, you don't always have to buy brand new ones for the spare parts. The main toy can be new, and the accessories can come from used stuff on ebay. But it's advisable to wash the used toys with warm or hot water, before you start using them ;) And btw, the extended title for the name of this article was done for the sake of the search engines, which often marginalize the search results of certain things.

Anyway, the custom toy was fully repainted with Tamiya and Vallejo game-air paints, using mainly the royal purple shade. His weapons and his backpack had to be colored with a shade of glossy black. And I used silver sharpies to add highlights to his body and his weapons. I didn't want to give him a rusted look [which can be done with brownish & bronze paints or shoe polish], since most of the robotic Cybetron residents like Shockwave are not covered in rust, as they move about on their daily tasks.
Since he is a Decepticon scientist and tactician, Shockwave is the bad guy, and I made a corresponding good guy... or  more accurately, a good girl, to be his opponent... That customized fembot is StrongArm, from the TF Robots in Disguise Cartoon and toyline.
She's shown battling him and giving him a dropkick in one of the latter pics.

  

  

  

The article with more pics of StrongArm is over Here. 
Several other Transformers custom toys were previously posted in this blog, like:
Mega Optimus Prime,  Six-Blade Windblade, Turbo Blitz [a remix of the FOC Sideswipe] and Warlord Ultra Magnus.

SUPERMAN AND THE FREAKIN' ART OF OBSESSION [PLUS THE BEST DC COMICS FEMALE YANDERE, EVER!]

Classic Comic Reviews and Other Stuff...

Figured I'd get your attention with a catchy tag-line in the header. But this article isn't exactly about what you think it is.

I shall start by saying this: I, Mr. DSNG, am not Obsessed by Superman.
Yes, I'm a fan of Superman, the well-known symbol of all things good and just, created by two Jewish guys [Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster], way back in 1933. Both of those guys were in high-school at that time, and Jerry was the writer, while Joe was the artist.

Again, I am not Obsessed by Superman.
On the other hand, I have one single Superman action figure. I have one Superman t-shirt. I've probably got some Superman undies, because I don't believe in heading out and going commando everyday.
I saw the Man of Steel 2013 Movie, and every other Superman movie that has ever been released, specifically the old ones that starred Christopher Reeves, the quintessential Superman, per his persona.

Yet I am not Obsessed by Superman.... but on the other hand, this brown-haired chick is [shown on the right]... she is a fictional character in the DC Comics universe [I think it's Earth-Two], and her name is Dana Dearden; and her superhero name is "Obsession".... despite her strong persona, for some strange reason, Dana is a little-used character, who straddles the line between good and evil, per her peculiar strong [you guessed it] Obsession of Superman.

Dana is akin to the crazy knife-wielding "Yandere chick" that you see in the Japanese animes, who is totally in love with the MC [Main Character], and she is willing to kill off all of her competition; or she'll just do outlandish stuff like steal his dirty underwear, strip him naked to bathe him, and steal his personal stuff - like his toothbrush, his socks, his manly chest hair, or his wallet. She basically wants a tangible piece of him. So it's obvious that she also wants to screw his brains out, anywhere and anytime.

And since Dana is a cute horny Yandere, then that's her goal in life - to be passionately connected to the main character, until death does them part... even if she is the one that brings about that death; since in her mind, it's all good, and she believes that self-sacrifice is a part of true love.

I think Dana's first appearance as Obsession [ aka "Mrs. Superman", as she calls herself ], is back in The Adventures of Superman #538 [or just TOS #538 for short], released back 1987.
That story was written by Karl Kesel with art by Stuart Immonen.

In that issue, it is hinted that she is the ex-girlfriend of Jimmy Olsen. And she stole a pair of mystical coins, artifacts that she took from a museum, which gave her the powers of five Greek gods, thus making her rather "Super".
So Obsession has these powers: 1. Strength of Hercules, 2. Speed of Mercury, 3. Flight of Mercury, 4. Sight of Heimdall,  5. Power of Zeus.
All of that should make her a certified bad-ass, but she just isn't used very well in the DC Comics storylines.
Nevertheless, in that tale, she kidnaps Jimmy [who now works as a News Anchor with a hot blonde named Cat]. And Dana forces Jimmy to help her summon Superman, through some sort of special watch that emits a resonating frequency that only Supes can hear. Clark Kent currently gets promoted to be the Senior Managing Editor of the Daily Planet Newspaper Company, which has been bought out by the National Whisperer, to bail them out of some financial trouble [ahhhh, the drama of bankruptcy, even in comics]. But Clark soon hears the special watch's echoing signal at night... so he has to change and fly away from his new office. And when Superman shows up at the summoning venue, he doesn't find Jimmy... instead he finds out that he has a new sexy female super-admirer.

Therefore, Dana is Obsessed with Superman.

She clearly has to be; since in this comic, she collects Superman action figures, newspaper articles, large posters, and other stuff that has been littered across the city, which previously belonged to him in some way, shape or form.

"I love you Kal'El, I want to be there for you every day and every NIGHT." 

Those were Dana's exact words, in the comic; that was right before before Superman extends his hand, gently lifts her into the air, and embraces her tightly, and with his next words.... he blatantly dumps her. So as expected, Dana goes bat-shit-crazy and kicks his ass in mid-air.

The night-time aerial battle crashed Superman down and into an oil tanker, which was straddled out at sea. And the large ship gets heavily damaged, so it starts burning and sinking. Superman leaves the airborne fight to help the stranded sailors. And after a while, Obsession dives in and she willfully starts helping him to save the people from the burning large oil-bearing ship. Finally it seems like all the sailors have been rescued and placed in a small escape-boat, but there may be at least one soldier left behind in a buried cabin of the sinking ship. So while she tells Superman to carry the sailors in the small boat / side-raft all the way to the shore, Obsession goes back to the ship to rescue any stranded people still locked deep inside it's hull.

And while Superman flies away, he is stunned by what he overhears; and he doesn't look back, as the ship goes BOOM!! The oil tanker explodes, with Obsession still trapped inside it!
Of course Superman is heartbroken, and it seems he has lost Obsession, and Lois Lane [who was already gone / lost in the storyline, for some strange reason]. Some other redheaded gal named Lori even shows up at the end of the comic to chat with Clark, in the busy streets of Metropolis at night. Lori seems to know Clark's identity, and Superman refuses to go out on casual late-night date with her, since he tells her that he needs some time to think things over and heal. And he walks away into the night, leaving Lori sad, because she sincerely wanted to comfort him.
[ Sniff.... Awwwww, poor Supes... he definitely didn't get laid! :D ]

[You may need to click the words "Read More" slightly below and on the right, to see the rest of this long article]

EXPLORING DSNG PART 28 - DSNG BOOK 18 HAS BEEN LAUNCHED!

Last night, DSNG Book 18 was launched at Amazon, and the ebook is available right now!! Over HERE!!

Book 18 is probably the longest book that I've ever written, since its roughly 1,040 pages long, inside the Kindle App [but its about 1,056 pages in MS Word]. It's so long that Amazon offered up 124 pages free, which is roughly 12 % of the book. And you can actually read the free stuff online, when you click on the Cover Image shown over HERE.

Anyway, The storyline spans roughly 20 hours from start to finish, and that implies that the sci fi action / adventure doesn't last  up to 24 hours. But it took me a long time to present the contents, since I chose to slow down and give you details that will help you appreciate the characters.

For those fans new to DSNG Sci Fi Series, Prince Azzar Omenus is the main protagonist in the stories; he is an Alpha Senturi super-soldier and  the Senior Commanding Officer of the Centura, aka the military force of planet Avera, his home world. And all of the DSNG adventures, which unfold within the Makuran Galaxy, revolve around Azzar and his experiences, along with those that he interacts with. And his closest allies are featured, in addition to his enemies.

Yet this new ebook features more of Azzar's stepbrother, Tek-Hon, aka the Dark Swordsman. Tek-Hon is a four-armed Scalatan and he is the number-one operative in the notorious Gorilla Rebel Militia - a gang of superhuman terrorists.
There are 7 major planets and roughly 8 alien races in DSNG, having good guys and bad guys. Tek-Hon is shown on the cover of Book 18 above, and he's the ninja-guy. Behind Tek are two characters: Captain Kano [blue skin] and Zalmedah Khan [blonde chick, golden skin]. Tek was also shown on the cover of Book 9, along with a few of his allies.

Here is the Overview of the long ebook, which was posted at Amazon:
_______________________________

The dynamic sci fi adventure continues with the eighteenth installment of the DSNG series! While Prince Azzar is still residing on planet Taran with his new Kataran girlfriend named Dr. Karli, a group of Kataran soldiers known as Strike Team Mortimus, who hail from Karli’s tribe, are en route to the Steampunk World, Planet Entrados.

Led by Captain Zonar Chronos, and accompanied by an expert tracker named Temfur Lurk II, the members of Strike Team Mortimus have been consigned with the difficult task of hunting down a certain four-armed killer, who was guilty of committing several homicides back on Atlantis, one of the five moons of Planoris. The bloody trail leads the Kataran Strike Team to the shores of Emerald Bay, on planet Entrados.

And once the Kataran Team arrives, they are confronted by military soldiers linked to the native land, specifically an armed troop led by two Dark Crow Captains; who are elite enforcers with psychic powers that are tied to the hordes of the Red Witch—the mysterious female dictator of the planet. Yet the two Dark Crow Captains, namely Captain Kano and Captain Cytora, appear to have two completely disparate philosophies, which complicate the entire mission for Captain Zonar and Strike Team Mortimus. And even before the Kataran Team is allowed to embark upon their mission on foreign soil, each of the two Dark Crow Captains make different decisions; critical decisions, which will affect Zonar’s naive team in ways that they never imagined.

And those critical decisions also affect the fate of an innocent Entradan woman, a special young lady named Zalmedah Khan…

[You may need to click the words "Read More" slightly below and on the right, to see the rest of this long article]

DSNG RANTS ABOUT THE SPIDER-MAN HOMECOMING MOVIE! [ WHO IS MJ? ]

Get it Spidey... that’s Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, from the 2012 Amazing Spider-man Movie. And that former 2012 movie had a different cast and characters from the new 2017 Spider-man Homecoming movie, which is out in theaters now, starring Tom Holland as the friendly neighborhood Spidey.

I don’t enjoy ranting, but it’s been a while since I wrote a movie-related blog article. So here goes…. In my opinion, the new Spider-man Homecoming movie was a fun ride, with a nice twist added to the Vulture’s personal identity. But the new movie didn't handle the "MJ" issue very well… and I’ll be hanging my hat on that point for most of this discussion.

The talented Disney actress named Zendaya Coleman [who formerly stared in the Teenybopper dancing sitcom “Shake it up” from 2009-2013, and in “KC Undercover” from 2014 – present] did an excellent job, but her original MJ character [who should be “MaryJane Watson” from the comics, which have been around for over 50 years] was switched to "Michelle Jones", by the directors / writers, when they got scared of the "racial switching backlash", shortly after the casting news was made public last year... yeah, that's probably what happened.

I have no problem with Zendaya; she is very talented and she has a spark of joyful life in her, which she uniquely brings to every role that she plays. Most comic geeks know that the original MJ is a beautiful busty white chick with red hair and she’s a famous model in New York, with a down-to-earth personality [see the quintessential MJ image on the right, by artist Adam Hughes].

But Zendaya, who is also uniquely beautiful and humorously witty, was presented as a geeky classmate of Peter Parker – yet Zendaya clearly made the best out of that restricting role. And Zendaya was actually called “Michelle”, throughout the movie, until the last 5 - 10 minutes when she asks her friends to call her MJ…. And yet per the restriction of the writers, she never told her friends that her last name is “Jones”… and none of them asked her what the “J” stood for in “MJ”…. Hell, they probably could have called her “Micheal Jordan”, and they would have gotten away with it - LOL

You can tell that something wasn’t right, if you're sharp and you've read the BS that the director was saying online about MJ; he sounded like he was rather ignorant or just ambivalent to the true lore and the undeniable significance of that female character’s name, and yet he seemed to respect the legacy of other characters in the presented movieverse. In fact, the new movie didn't present her upfront as “Michelle Jones”; it was the Variety website that first broke the news about her last name... which is awkward....

[You may need to click the words "Read More" slightly below and on the right, to see the rest of this long article]

THE SECOND CUSTOM ELENA EDEN TOY / ACTION FIGURE BY DSNG!

All right guys, I've been procrastinating this post for quite a while, but a few faithful fans saw some teasers a few months ago, tied to the latest Elena Eden toy shown below. The pics of the first Elena toy model were uploaded Here.

As most of the longtime fans know, Elena Eden is one of the Original Characters that I created over 10 years ago for the DSNG Sci Fi Series. And this toy was designed to match Elena's voluptuous physique as much as possible. And if you want to see what Elena looks like, just Google "Elena Eden DSNG".

In this project that took me almost 3 months, I utilized the "Marvel Legends Captain Marvel toy" [shown over Here] as the base figure. But I had to enhance her curves with putty, before I sprayed on a layer of Tamiya Gray Primer.
And Then...................... I painted the whole toy wrong... -sigh- Well Sh#t happens LOL - so I had to strip the entire paint with rubbing alcohol and hot water, before I painted it right.

The belt, the gun holsters, and other body armor pieces in her gauntlets and her boots were all hand-sculpted, or created with rubber bands, where necessary. And the hair was borrowed from a Marvel Legends Mocking Bird toy, although I had to cut and add some putty to make it to fit my purpose. And then the hair was colored white, along with gray highlights. I actually used a sharpie pink marker to make some slightly darker shadows, over some segments of her cool pink costume. I think it made her design to "pop" more.

  

 

When it comes to making these dolls, you have to... well "doll" is the wrong word; rather it's "an articulated poseable action figure with accessories, created for manly men with hair on their chest." ;)

Anyway, the point is, you have to be patient when making these toy models. Because they can take a very long time, especially when there are tiny details to add. And as you get more experience, you will realize the difference between a truly good custom job, and one that was rushed.

For me, this is a hobby; and I've leaned that a truly dedicated hobby can be a very demanding thing, per the time, energy, money and effort that is demanded, when you want to really "tighten all the bolts" and create something that displays a high level of quality. And practice makes perfect... but before you get to perfection, you may have to learn from your mistakes - just like I had to repaint this entire toy, although you'd never know that fact unless I told you.
I started out doing Custom Transformers last year [2016], and I've definitely come a long way, per the things I've learned.

Sometimes I'd just repaint the TFs, which was very therapeutic for me. Or I'd actually break down two toys, one a TF robot and the other a regular car toy, before I'd mix them together to make a new / better good guy. You can see some of those Custom Transformers, like Turbo Blitz, over Here, and Here.

Honestly, in my opinion, customizing Transformers is much easier than customizing action figures, if you are shooting for quality. The faces of these action figure toys are the hardest things to paint, because they are so small... and some people utilize a magnifying glass and even some more acrylic paint / shoe polish / shoe wax to generate matching colored tones & shadows, upon the small faces of the 6 and 7 inch toy models. Honestly, I don't do that, not because I can't; it's just that I'm shooting for creating a "perfect full-body sample" of the character that I see in my mind. Moving an Original Character from the DSNG Sci Fi Series, like Elena Eden, from a design on paper to a tangible toy is very significant, because it literally gives her life. And one day she will be mass produced... oh it's true, it's damn true!!!! :D

Of course, I do other toy customs like Domino from Marvel, Killer Frost from DC Comics, and Ashoka from Star Wars. I even have a cool Deathstroke Custom that I haven't taken pictures of yet. So just Stay Tuned for more!!!!

NEW ELENA EDEN TOY HEAD-SCULPT [FROM MARVEL LEGENDS SCARLET WITCH]

I recently updated / upgraded the head-sculpt for the first Elena Eden toy... workin' on another toy model of her, which a few faithful fans have seen...
For this current upgrade, I used the head from Marvel Legends Scarlet Witch, and I had to repaint it fully to match the body and color of the original Elena toy [which was based on the body of Wasp, from the same toy line].

 

Elena Eden is one of the Original Characters that I created over 10 years ago for the DSNG Sci Fi Series. And this toy was designed to match Elena's voluptuous physique as much as possible. And the original custom toy building article, along with the original head are shown Here!

Stay tuned for more!