Cybertron Mode Optimus Prime

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May 24, 2008
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Now for the guy that’s been guarding my monitor for weeks, and is from what is fast becoming one of my favourite toylines yet – Cybertron Mode Optimus Prime from Transformers Animated.

This figure is from the first wave of Animated toys to hit the shelves here, along with Bumblebee, Lockdown, and Prowl. I hear most of the US has to wait. Too bad. It’s a nice toy. Sure, there’ll be bigger, badder versions coming out soon, but that’s no excuse to skip this toy (or any of the Animated toys, for that matter!). I can’t comment on whether or not Prime looks like a real Cybertronic semi, what with not having many around for comparison, but it’s a decent looking vehicle mode. Naturally, it’s mostly in red and blue, with a surprising amount of translucent blue plastic forming the front and top of the cab. It’s designed to look fast, and captures the style of Animated pretty decently. The gaps in the pieces are a bit worrisome, particularly the rear section and under the windshield. Otherwise, it’s a pretty nice truck. But who buys Optimus Prime to look at a truck? (more…)

: Toy Review

Big Daddy

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May 23, 2008
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Okay, time to review the first Transformer from my little project, Bring Your Transformer to Work Day. That’s right, it’s time to review that awesomely named Walmart exclusive, Big Daddy.

Big Daddy is a redeco of Cybertron Downshift, according to the Wiki. I don’t own that figure, so don’t expect any comparisons. His altmode is a bitchin’ muscle car, with orange flames against a navy blue body (I think he’s an Oilers fan). It’s quite the styling ride, which apparently fits the character. Being a Cybertron repaint, his gimmick features are activated by the nice little Cyber Planet Key (or is it an Allspark Power Key?) that was included. Lifting up the rear window reveals the keyhole, which pops a capture claw out of the front grille of the car. There’s no way to actually make it pinch, so it’s not really any good for capturing. It sure looks menacing, though. This altmode is almost enough to make me take back any mean things I said about Cybertron. But enough about that… (more…)

: Toy Review

Offroad Ironhide

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May 23, 2008
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I’m going to kick things off with the toy that’s been sitting on my desk at work all week, Offroad Ironhide.

Offroad Ironhide is a redeco of the Ironhide figure from the Movie toyline. Like the original, this figure transforms into a GMC Topkick C4500 pickup truck. The figure is mostly dark blue, with flecked paint similar to what would be found on an automobile. Like all figures from the Allspark Power refresh of the movie toyline, Offroad Ironhide has a healthy dose of baby blue paint applied somewhat randomly pretty much anywhere. My favourite feature of the paint applications added to the figure for the redeco is the mud painted on around each wheel well. The wheels are free rolling in vehicle mode, and it looks pretty spiffy as it is. (more…)

: Toy Review

Back from the dead again

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January 16, 2008
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Yeah, I’ll give it another go, for so long as it amuses me. It’s not like anyone reads this, or comments on it, or anything. :P

I’ve been playing City of Heroes again. Not technically true, I suppose, since before I had played Villains exclusively.  I had almost forgotten how much fun it was. I’ve already created three heroes (that character designer is a BLAST!) Everyone should try a Defender at least once. I’ve been alternating between an Empathy/Sonic Attack Defender (Slambulance, fittingly enough has plenty of healing powers and teleport powers, as well as a heck of a “siren” for dispatching enemies) and a Radiation Emission/Radiation Blast Defender (Captain Cathode, I chose the powers solely for the X-ray beam), and both are a joy to play. They seem to rack up XP decently fast, even soloing (although my Empathy/Sonic character isn’t designed with solo play in mind), and everyone seems to want to team with a Defender.

I’ve also found myself coming up with what seem to be (at the time) funny character concepts. I’ll post some of the ones that seem the most amusing, and add pictures if I get around to building them. If you wind up using one, please add a comment and let me know what server you’re playing it on; I’d love to take a look and see how it turned out. Some of these (if not all of them) have probably been done before too – let me know and I’ll update the post to that effect.

Concept: Passive-Aggressive Man (please don’t call him “Pam”)

Unfortunately for this concept, it is not possible to have an attackless hero. Even Controller powersets include damage in their low-level attacks, but it should be possible to minimize the number of damaging attacks by selecting from the Pool powers when necessary. Leveling with this hero will be a chore to do solo, and I don’t know who would want to team with someone who won’t attack the enemy, but you never know. Go for lots of buffs/debuffs, avoid the enemy (Force Field may be a good powerset for this), or just stand around Atlas and make up excuses not to complete missions.

: Entertainment
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Decepticon Shockwave – Day 1

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August 22, 2007
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A few days ago, I saw Jin Saotome‘s awesome Swindle bash. Shockwave is one of my favourite Decepticons, so how could I ignore this? I can’t possibly afford one of Jin’s customs, but what I can do is buy an extra Swindle. So tonight I laid down a black basecoat over much of the parts that will be drybrushed later on. I still need to do the neck fix on the toy, and I want to find the perfect gun barrel to use for that left hand. I’m excited for this project (since Ratchet has been pretty much forgotten about for the time being – I’ve fixed most of the glaring problems with him, and it’s down to details that can wait for exciting projects like this one to be finished).

Pictures coming when I get around to it. :)

: Hobby

Autobot Ratchet – Upgrade Day 6.9

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July 15, 2007
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Well, not having accomplished much today, I went and boldly set out to get one last thing done (and technically start Day 7). I’ve gone and painted Ratchet’s hands. Touch up will probably be required (the metallic grey that I used didn’t seem to want to cover the yellow, but the paint seemed to stay on the spot test I did, so I’m not too worried about it being unpaintable plastic. It may not stay as well as I’d like, but what can one do?

: Hobby

Autobot Ratchet – Upgrade Day 6

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July 14, 2007
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Ratchet Day 6 SideNot much done so far today – just touchups taking advantage of a nice new brush I found, and I bought some paints that might get some use later on. My goof-around time today has been occupied by adding that little Facebook share link down on my posts. Man, that site is addictive.

Ratchet Day 6 TopAmong the little touch ups I’ve done are the hydraulics on the hood. The next major step for the vehicle mode is the tools on the roof and the flashers on the sides, and all that fun stuff in the back. Ideally, I would like to make some labels using the insignia on his doors and tailgate from the movie. I’ve found a rather nice example of Ratchet’s emblem on Flickr that should do the job nicely – it’s greatly simplified on the toy’s tampograph, but I don’t feel the need to settle for that. I would like to find a blend of paint that closely matches Ratchet’s greenish colour to use, but I’m still unsure of where to begin. Hopefully tomorrow turns into a more productive day painting wise.

: Hobby

Autobot Ratchet – Upgrade Day 3 to 5?

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July 14, 2007
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So, I’ve got a little more done. I’ve done more doorhandle work, finished off the wheels, added silver to the tool rack on the passenger side, and a few smaller details. What I haven’t done is take pictures. I haven’t got as much as I’d like to have done, because on Thursday I went to see the movie, and yesterday I just didn’t get anything accomplished. So, rather than continue to type this out, I’m gonna go paint, I think.

: Hobby

Autobot Ratchet – Upgrade Day 1 & 2

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July 10, 2007
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Well, as promised, here’s what I accomplished on Ratchet yesterday.

Ratchet Day 1As you can see, I’ve only managed to get a partial application of silver paint so far. I’ve got three hubcaps, a door handle, a tool rack, and the flashers. The other side is untouched. I still need to go over some of these areas – the tool area isn’t going to be flat silver, and those flashers need a coat of transparent red to complete the effect.

Now that I’ve actually got this written on Day 2, I’ve added the black area around the door panel. David Willis got a bit of trouble over his use of paint pens from Jin Saotome of Jin Saotome’s Dangerous Toys. Well, don’t tell Jin, but I couldn’t find any paint pens. So I did what came natural on Day 2 when I had some small detail work that my collection of brushes couldn’t tackle – I grabbed a cheap dip pen with a sharp nib, and used that. Cheap ass paint pen. Probably not the best way to do it, but it got the job done, more or less. I’ll fire up a picture later. I’ve also got another wheel and a bit done, but that’s about it. I’ll try and get pictures up later. Day 2 was cut short by back pain, so hopefully I’ll be able to get a decent pace out of things once that’s taken care of.

: Hobby

Coming soon: Updates!

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July 10, 2007
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I’ve decided to start updating again.

Well, I never really “stopped” updating, I just sort of didn’t do it. Yes, there’s a difference. If I “stopped”, it would involve actually giving up. Formally quitting, as it were. Instead, I just didn’t bother. Petty distinction, I know.

But I’ve got a new project on the go, and I’ve decided to post it here rather than under the “hobby” section on the main site. I might as well use WordPress to do the heavy lifting on generating the page.

Anyhow, I’ve decided to imitate Dave Willis, and give Autobot Ratchet a few new paint applications. I’ll post the Day 1 pictures when I get home tonight.

: Hobby
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