Transformers Transtopia News on Seibertron.com

Transtopia Newsletter - February 2010

Date: Sunday, February 21st 2010 10:16pm CST
Categories: Site Articles, Transtopia
Posted by: First Gen | Credit(s): Art of Transtopia

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Views: 143,721

Hello Seibertronians,

First Gen here with your newest addition to the Art of Transtopia Newsletter! We have some more great custom figures, kit bashes, fan artwork and for the first month in Transtopia history, we will be featuring non Transformers artwork also. Lots to see this month, so scroll down to check it out!



How to Showcase Your Work

The newsletter is your opportunity to show off your work and talent. We rely on your articles, artwork, and customs to make it interesting. Entries will be reviewed on a monthly basis. You can submit your work here:
Repaints, Kitbashes, Scratchbuilds
Fan Art
Fan Fiction
Guides

Banner credits: Flix






First up, we have a group of repaints for your viewing pleasure. When it comes to customizing Transformers, the repaint is often the first type of customization that a Transtopian will undertake. This group of Transtopians have mastered there craft with unique styles and unique figures.

We had an abundance of postings this month for repaints. Unfortunately, we can’t showcase them all, but you can see them all in our Repaint Forum.
.



zfeakye has done a couple repaints that have been showcased for us. His first is a repaint of an extremely popular mold, Classics Universe Starscream. Here we get this mold made into an Autobot incarnation Starfire!




A second piece done by zfeakye is a Revenge of the Fallen Jetfire.






Next we have Skyfire77 with a Revenge of the Fallen repaint of Construction Scavenger.







Resident Transtopian omega666 has treated us again to a couple more repaints of his, the first being Revenge of the Fallen Lockdown.



Second up is his take on the Target exclusive Universe 2.0 Leo Prime.






Grimlockprime108 has given us a look on his take of Transmetal Rhinox.



Grimlockprime108 also gave us a new figure out of Cybertron Undermine: Skullcruncher.











Next up are the kit bashes. From a simple modification to a full out custom built, kit bashes take creativity to the next level. Here are some great submissions by our members.



Blobatron got shot by Cupid and made a custom heart transformer. At the time of posting, the figure didn’t have a name.







Magnus510 used Universe 2.0 Prowl to give us Classics Jazz






Viagra Prime took an Omnicon Arcee and a Transformers Movie Bumblebee to make a new Arcee that has four wheels instead of two






Streetsweeper made a custom Leader class movie figure: Barricade.










First up under our Featured Artwork is a new take on a G1 Favorite. Rodimus_Major86 did this piece of his version of Shockwave.





HOWEE74 did this piece initially in pen and pencil then colored it in photoshop: Blackarachnia.





As I said at the beginning of the newsletter, we are featuring non transformers artwork this month and once you see them, I think you’ll understand why.


Joshua Vallse is our first featured non TF artist with his rendition of the Thundercats leader Lion-O.



Here is some digital art by Joshua Vallse, depicting a worldly scene.





Next we have one of our newest Transtopians, Kristian. Kristian is credited with the creation of the Non Transformers Art thread with these pieces that he’s shared with us here.






We would love to see your artwork, whether Transformers related or not.





Normally our fan fiction section is dominated by resident Fan Fic writer hell kitty, but this month we have a brand new Seibertronian stepping to the plate with fiction, NemesisUK‘s: Nemesis Prime Chronicles

Part 1

Planet Cybertron

A peaceful day (Sarcasm)

Nemesis prime (with shadow commander trailer) is driving down a highway having just killed his creator Straxus (see fans project shadow commander comic for more details) when in the distance a gun fight is happening, Nemesis prime decides to investigate.

As he get nearer he sees that a small transformer (Shadow Warrior) is being attacked by a larger transformer (Blaster).

He speeds to wards them (his honorable side kicking in) and fly’s up in to the air transforming in to his robot mode, both of the transformers stop shooting at each other as nemesis prime stands with his stellar converter cannon pointed at blaster, his right eye lights up red as he blasts Blaster.

Blaster falls to the ground, nemesis prime walks up to the small transformer who is shaking scared that he’s next.

Nemesis prime
“Are you ok?”

He says in his gravely voice down at the small transformer. He then walks away to wards his trailer.

Blaster stands up and ejects a cassette out of his chest that splits in to two guns, nemesis prime transformers in to Shadow commander but is being bombarded with laser fire.

Shadow warrior seeing nemesis prime in trouble he scans a weapon that is discarded on the floor, he transforms in to a double barrel Gatling gun and combines on to shadow commander’s shoulder.

Blaster is now being bombarded and is over powered, he retreats.

Shadow Commander
“Why did you help me?”

Shadow warrior
“You helped me so I repaid the favor”

Shadow commander walks away but Shadow Warrior follows him.

Shadow commander
“Why are you following me?”

Shadow warrior
“We should become partners”

Shadow commander
“Partners?”



You can read the rest of the story by clicking here.



Its been a while since we featured our Photograph section of Transtopia, so we’d like to try and reboot this feature by sharing these submissions.


Seibertron.com News Crew member Nekoman submitted this pic titled Urban Battle.





Drecepticon submitted these great pieces featuring Buster Optimus Prime and Battle Rollar.






Chuuzetsu got creative with an Armada Unicron figure and a Cybertron Primus figure to create this pic titled Unicron’s Snack Time.






There is so much more artwork that you can find in our Transtopia Forums, so feel free to stop by, check it out and comment on them. A huge thank you to all the Transtopians that submitted work, we try to feature as much as we can, but ultimately work gets left out, so get on over to the Forums and check it out.

We’ll be back next month with more custom goodness that you can find right here at Seibertron.com!

Transtopia Masterclass - Transformers Movie Grimlock

Date: Saturday, February 6th 2010 11:34pm CST
Categories: Site News, Movie Related News, Transtopia
Posted by: Blurrz | Credit(s): Simone Maganuco, Sergio Rocco

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Views: 179,975

Transformers. What does the word mean to you? It's a passion. It's a dedication. It's a hobby. It's what you come to this website for. Ever since it's insertion in 1984, it's a franchise that has effectively been a part of our daily lives - it's a part of who we are. Among the hundreds of thousand Transformers fans, there are few and far between that can say Transformers has affected their interests, even so far as their job and lifestyle.

Simone Maganuco, also known as Seibertron.com member Yellow Camaro is one of the few who can fit the description above. After becoming a Dinobot fan at the age of 4, Transformers helped initiate his curiosity in meat eating Dinosaurs. 27 years later, Simone is a Vertebrate Palaeontologist. He's able to put his interest of Transformers and his job together.

Now what does this mean for us?

Like many of us here on Seibertron.com, Simone watched the Transformers Live Movies directed by Michael Bay. After seeing the movies, he was inspired to get a movie version of Grimlock done. Together with 3D Graphic Artist Sergio Rocco, they've done just that. Instead of the usual fleshed out robotic Grimlock that we're used to seeing, Simone thought it would be better if Movieverse Grimlock was based off a skeleton. Now together, they're here to show us their results. When the staff of Seibertron.com first saw the images, we were so mind blown that we just had to share this with everyone. Let's just say that this version of Grimlock would look mighty fine in Transformers 3. See Grimlock in all of it's glory below.




Sergio Rocco's website can be found here. If you have any Transformers related work, whether it be customized toys, pictures, or the occasional fan-fiction, feel free to post it in the Transtopia Forums!

The best place for the Transformers fanbase -Seibertron.com

Transtopia Newsletter - April

Date: Thursday, April 16th 2009 11:43am CDT
Categories: Site News, Toy News, Site Articles, People News, Transtopia
Posted by: First Gen | Credit(s): Dead Metal

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Views: 257,640

Hello and welcome to the April edition of the Transtopia Newsletter. Sadly Stormrider who's usually in charge of the Newsletter is not with us for this issue, he is currently moving home from one country to another and has left it in my hands to take over till he comes back.

Remember, to check out the Transtopia forum for the latest action.


How to Showcase Your Work
The newsletter is your opportunity to show off your work and talent. We rely on your articles, artwork, and customs to make it interesting. Entries will be reviewed on a monthly basis. You can submit your work here:
Repaints, Kitbashes, Scratchbuilds
Fan Art
Fan Fiction
Guides


Make a Difference, Join the Newsletter Team!
Want to contribute to help out with the Transtopia newsletter? Join our team. We have a couple roles to fill. Duties require a few hours each month. PM Dead Metal if interested: Dead Metal


Newsletter Credits:
Design - Flix
Formatting - Stormrider
Fan Art/ Guide - Mykltron
Interview - Burn
Editing - Stormrider, Dead Metal, hellkitty



They're the curse of every TF collector's life. I often keep things, just in case I can find a use for them one day, and boy am I glad I do this! Here are three uses I've found so far for these troublesome little blighters:


1) DRY LAUNDRY

My washing line was sagging under the weight of bed linen and trailing on the grass so I took a garden rake that has a hole at the end of the handle. Using a twisty-tie I secured the middle of the washing line to the handle so the line could be held high enough to keep the laundry clean without danger of the line slipping off.


2) HOLD TF PARTS WHILE APPLYING PAINT

If the part has a convenient hole it helps keeps fingers clean and paint finish smooth.


And now the one I'm particularly chuffed with:


3) FULLY ARTICULATED HANDS FOR DELUXE FIGURES





Using a 1/100 gundam hand and twisty-ties I have made a new hand for Universe Sunstreaker. This size is also suitable for Prowl, Cliffjumper, Voyager Megatron and Ultra Powerglide, maybe others too! This is my first attempt and I have an idea that will make it look slightly better and easier to pose.





As can be seen, this hand can make a pretty good fist:







It still fits inside his car mode:





Of course, it can still hold a gun but I forgot to take a photo of that.


So, anyone got any other ideas of how to use those horrible twisty-ties?

Do you have modeling or art tips to share with other members? Why not write a guide? Feature tips from - repainting, kitbashing, drawing, sculpting, and even computer graphics: Send an email to Transtopia.Guide@gmx.de for details.



This months repaints section brings us some more great work from resident Transtopian omega666. Here he treats us with his versions of Classics 2.0 Shockwave and Soundwave:



omega666's version of Soundwave holds a very sweet third alt mode G1 enthusiasts will definately get a kick out of:



Our next Transtopian repainter flix brings us a custom Movie Soundwave:









Flix also gives us a good look at his take on Movie Swindle too:













What would custom work be without Kitbashes?! This month features some amazing work by Transtopian L_K, the same kitbasher that brought us the custom Unicron of Lightfigure. Here he gives us his take on Arcee of the Transformer Movie, both of them that is:









Newsletter contributor Mykltron also added to the mix with a more movie accurate version of Barricade:











Even Frenzy got the treatment:







Sitting down with us and breaking his interview virginity is zero-kaiser, who, for the record, volunteered willingly for this and I didn't have to stalk or harass him for it. (In fact he was so enthusiastic he was bordering on harassing me!)

Burn - So tell us a bit about yourself.

zero-kaiser - Well, as of the 15th of February I'm 24 years old. Originally I'm from the south of England but I've lived in the northwest since I was about 4... yet I've somehow managed to keep the 'posh' southern accent--make of that what you will.

When I'm not wandering around Seibertron.com or looking for a job, I can usually be found playing either my Wii or DS lite; reading; painting either Warhammer 40K models or Transformers; shooting TF video reviews for my YouTube channel; or spending time with my wonderful fiancee

...good to keep yourself busy right?

B - I'm finding myself too busy to work on my own kitbashes, unfortunately! Now tell us how you got into Transformers and a little about your own collection.

z-k - Like most fans I had some of the older toys when I was a child and foolishly gave them away.

Back when I was in college I stumbled across BWTF.com and saw photos for some of the Robots In Disguise toys. The designs and detail on the Autobot Brothers alone are probably the main reason I got (back) into Transformers. That summer I picked up the Super (blue) repaint of Prowl and I was hooked. It took some time for my collecting to really take off though, mostly due to only working part time whilst I was at college.

As it stands my collection stands at just over 100 TF's ranging from RiD right through to the current Universe and Animated lines.

(Photos of my collection are here if you're interested)

I can honestly say there isnt really one single character I go for above all others…it depends on the mold and the line. Classics 2.0/Universe/Henkei is really impressing me at the moment; there’s very few characters from that line that I wouldn’t pick up. That said there’s a couple of TF's from past lines that I wouldn’t mind hunting down someday...mostly from the Cybertron range and a handful from RiD.

B - So give me at least five toys and characters you like the most.

z-k - In no particular order what so ever....

Toys:

1• TF Cybertron Leader Class Optimus Prime
2• Primus
3• Henkei Convoy
4• Movie Leader Class Optimus Prime
5• Masterpiece Optimus Prime

Characters

1• If it wasn’t obvious from the above list: Optimus/Convoy. Which continuity? Probably Cybertron, I'd say.
2• Galaxy Force Starscream: his Japanese voice is brilliant and he goes toe-to-toe with Primus—if that isn’t cool I don’t know what is!!
3• Kup: I had a newfound love for that character after reading his IDW Spotlight.
4• Grimlock: him king, got it?
5• IDW Galvatron: it’s as if that’s the way he should have been all along—a brooding badass .

B - What would you consider to be "holy grail" for you to obtain for your collection? Aside from Fortress Maximus, because everybody wants a Fortress Maximus.

z-k - Ha! Besides Fort Max? If I had to pick just one...RiD Omega Prime. That thing is awesome beyond words.

Besides him? RiD Rail Racer and the Classics Devastator Giftset. I'd be pretty chuffed if I could find any of those without killing my wallet

B - Moving onto your creative side, when did you first start churning out your creations and where did you learn to do what you do?

z-k - I suppose it was about 12 years ago now. When I started high school I made friends with someone who got me into the Games Workshop Warhammer 40,000 range. It took me a long time to get any good at painting but one thing I did a lot were conversions—think of them as kitbashes for 40K. Twelve years later and I still have a lot of the miniatures I have made from various bits and pieces I had lying around.

As for where I learnt to do the things I do? Trial, error, practise and patience. Even if I did something 'wrong' or it didn’t come out the way I wanted it to, I learnt from the experience. I like to think that something is only a mistake if you don’t learn from it.

Band-Aids/Plasters have proven invaluable over the years, too, but that’s just me occasionally being a bit ham-fisted.

B - You mention band-aids/plasters: tell me more about your injuries you've sustained kitbashing over the years! I have a lovely bump on one of my fingers where I kinda missed the plastic and found finger instead….

z-k - Well…there’s a nice deep scar on the tip of my left index finger. I got that from trying to cut a Space Marine arm in half. The blade snapped and plunged straight into the side of my finger. I didn’t realise how deep it was until I ran it under a tap to wash it and saw the bone…yeah, that needed stitches. Still don’t have all the feeling back in it either.

On another occasion I managed to saw the skin on the knuckle of my thumb off…which was pretty stupid of me.

Most of my other injuries are minor cuts or burns where I've tried to pull freshly dremeled plastic off, forgetting that it’s red hot.

I guess you could say I suffer for my art.

B - With the amount of TF-related artists there are out there, who has influenced/inspired you the most?

z-k - I guess my inspirations come from a lot of places really. E.J Su is amazing. I picked up Infiltration issue 0 a while back and was fascinated by the interview in the back, especially the technical drawings he had done.

I was equally blown away after reading Stormbringer and seeing Don Figueroa's amazing artwork. Same goes for Alex Milne and Nick Roche; I love their styles and can spend hours looking over their work.

Yoji Shinkawa is name that definitely springs to mind, too. He did the concept artwork and designs for the Metal Gear Solid series of games, as well as Zone of the Enders. With the exception of Metal Gear Rex, his blending of organic and mechanical is really quite awesome.

One other thing I will mention when it comes to inspirations, is my fellow Seibertronians who submit their work to the Transtopia section. If I named names I would be here all day, but suffice to say there are some extremely talented people out there and the caliber of their work is something I kind of aspire to.

B - When looking at the creations of others, do you prefer to see their takes on a canon character or a fan-made character?

z-k - I'd honestly say it’s half and half. Seeing people’s takes on a well-established character is always fun and can sometimes take more planning and thought than some might think! On the other hand I have a lot of respect for people who create their own characters. With such a diverse and rich roster of existing characters, it’s hard not to come up with something that’s not similar to an existing TF.

B - You draw, but you seem more inclined to kitbash a figure. If you could do this sort of thing for a job, what genre (kitbashing, drawing, scratch-building) would you prefer?

z-k - Man, that’s a tough one to answer, Burn. To be honest I love creating things in many mediums, but given the choice of the three I would probably say scratch-building. Over the years I've had so many ideas that so far I've only been able to commit to paper. Some day I'll hopefully have the skills, funds, and parts to give them form.

A job where I spent all day in a workshop building things? That would be awesome! (More so if it was building TF's!!)

B - And what would be your dream design if you could pull it off?

z-k - Thats easy: a scratchbuilt combiner. I love combiner teams and I don’t so much as have a problem with Hasbro's efforts, but I have always wanted to try my hand at it. Truth be told I've been wanting to get my hands on the ROTF Constructicons that have individual robot modes so I can see if there’s a way of getting them to combine.

Failing that I wouldn’t mind trying my hand at making a Headmaster from scratch. I drew up some designs a couple of years ago that I might revise and have a go at.

B - So the one question that everyone is dying to have you answer: how did you stumble across Seibertron.com?

z-k - Believe it or not, kitbashes and repaints. Doing a Google image search for them one afternoon kept leading me back here. After that, I came to the site to look at what is now the Transtopia section on a regular basis. Eventually I registered and started posting. Almost two years have fallen off the calender and here we are.

B - So out of all your creations, which one would you consider your favourite?

z-k - I would have to say one of my recent pieces, a Rodimus Major custom...

He's been a headache to work on in places -coughlegscough- but as soon as the whole thing was together and working I felt very very proud of myself

His rifle looks wicked, too. lol..

B - So let's wrap this up with a couple of games, first up: Word Association!

B - Machine Men/GoBots - z-k - That annoying scooter thing.
B - Starscream Fangirls - z-k - caution.
B - Unicron - z-k - "Hunger" - Spectre General
B - Machine Wars - z-k - Tiny Megatron..
B - Action Masters - z-k - 'They're alive ALIVE ALIVE!!'
B - Michael Bay - z-k - Lolsplosions!!!
B - Simon Furman - z-k - ..likes ending things with -tion.
B - Stalker - z-k - Loud.

B - And now for something a little different: VERSUS!

B - Megatron -vs- Optimus Prime - z-k - Optimus.
B - Starscream Fangirls -vs- Jazz Fangirls - z-k - Ack!! Damnit, Burn. Er,…Jazz Fangirls? (Hell my mum’s one after the first movie.)
B - Mini-Cons -vs- Micromasters - z-k - Mini-Cons.
B - Animated -vs- Generation 1 -vs- Beast Wars - z-k - Man, that’s a tough one.. I'd probably have to say Beast Wars..

B - Well, I just have to say a big thank you to zero-kaiser for a great interview. I hope you all enjoyed it. For those of you who haven't seen z-k's work, here's a sampling!

Animated Galvatron
Classics Nightbeat (WIP)
War Within Ironhide (WIP)
Scourge/Nemesis Prime Fan Art
Un-named Female Cyborg (WIP - non-tf)

And if YOU are interested in being interviewed, just drop me a pm, otherwise, I'll just have to start stalking people!

Transtopia Newsletter - February Edition

Date: Saturday, February 14th 2009 8:06am CST
Categories: Reviews, Site Articles, Transtopia
Posted by: Stormrider | Credit(s): Seibertron

Discuss This Topic · Permanent Link
Views: 144,815

The excitement continues to build in Transtopia. Lots and lots of repaints, kitbashes, and scratchbuilds. New members and veterans have posted many awe inspiring figures. If you are interested in doing customs but don’t know where to begin, then check out the Transtopia forums for tips from the experts: Transtopia

The newsletter has undergone a face lift, thanks to Seibertron member, Flix for his creative design work. We also have a winner to announce from our banner contest featured last month: Technically Weird gets the bragging rights to show off his artwork as one of our subheaders.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/Angelic_Prince/seibcontest.jpg

We thank everyone for their participation. You can check out the other entries here

And remember, to check out the Transtopia forum for the latest action.

-Stormrider


How to Showcase Your Work...
The newsletter is your opportunity to show off your work and talent. We rely on your articles, artwork, and customs to make it interesting. Entries will be reviewed on a monthly basis. You can submit your work here:
Repaints, Kitbashes, Scratchbuilds
Fan Art
Fan Fiction
Guides


Newsletter Credits:
Design - Flix
Formatting – Mattyc1007
Fan Art - Mykltron
Fan Fiction – Sledge
Editing – Stormrider





Shattered Glass Aerialbots – Trikeboy




Cyndicate/GESTAULT OPPRESSOR - sentinal supreme



Alternator Dinobots (with special guest) - Broadblasts short shorts



Shattered Glass Cyclonus - Trikeboy



BW Animated Blackarachnia – Psyke



Animated MotorMaster - sentinal supreme



G1 Unicron – Trikeboy



WST G1 Waspinator - grimlockprime108



Rain Makers - sentinal supreme



Premium Barricade – flix



Shattered Glass Prowl – Trikeboy



Hoodswipe – Grimpoo


MovieRepaints - Hakka



Hearts Of Steel Optimus Prime - Sabsabby85



Starscream – Mykltron



WIP Ironhide - Zero-Kaiser



Revoltech Skywarp & Thundercracker - Chris-morada



Abominus Prime/ Medic Prime - Sentinal supreme



Legends G2 Beachcomber - grimlockprime108



Legends Electrum Beachcomber - grimlockprime108



Mercenary Driveshaft – Grimpoo


WIP Shattered Glass Wheeljack - Trikeboy



Universe Dinobot - Softimus Prime



WIP Cybertron Classics Sideswipe – Shadowstream



TFA G1 Prowl- grimlockprime108



Arcee WIP - ServO






WST Shattered Glass Sideswipe - grimlockprime108



Universe Runabout - grimlockprime108



Classics Hydrostorm - Spurt Reynolds



Animated Starscream – Spurt Reynolds



Animated Snarl - Spurt Reynolds



Animated Slag - Spurt Reynolds



Animated Sludge - Spurt Reynolds



Animated Swoop - Spurt Reynolds



Reflector - wan_de_real



Movie Optimus Prime – Sabsabby85



BT Bumblebee - wan_de_real



Custom alternator Perceptor - Customtoysandmore



Jetfire - Transtopias Rodimus Prime


Classics Special Ops Shockwave - Asepticon



Movie Custom Starscream – Crefigz



Alternator Ratbat and Overkill - Broadblasts short shorts






Plush Trailer - mattyc1007





- by Mykltron

This month’s featured artist is Kyrie with his computer design Valkyrie, a female quadrochanger.


(click the link to see larger pictures)

Not only has Kyrie designed a fully transforming character, but he also has presented it beautifully as if it were a photo gallery of an actual figure. The transformation process between modes gives us an indication of how much thought and planning must have gone into it, while touches of realism are included - such as light glinting off the corners, shadows and reflections.

Using the extremely sleek car mode as the starting point, Kyrie used engineering drawing techniques to design the robot, followed by the other two modes. Once those stages were complete, Maya 8.0 was used to create the 3D work of art presented here.

The first thing that struck me about this figure was the amount of blue that was used. Beautiful as this colour is, a little more variety of colour may make it easier to understand, although gold and dark grey have been used for some internal parts.

What I particularly like about the robot’s design is how femininity is suggested through slenderness of build rather than actually giving her breasts like Blackarachnia. Another noteworthy feature is what appear to be gun holsters on her hips in robot mode, although we can’t see any guns. If that’s what they truly are then it’s very cool and this should be used on some real TF toys. Perhaps the only thing missing would be fold-out claws for the front feet to match the rear in tiger mode making her more ferocious.

I’m sure Kyrie would appreciate your feedback on this stunning creation, so please leave your comments on the Valkyrie thread here.

Honorable mentions this month go to Nench for his eye appealing Unicron creation. Click here.


Send us your artwork!
Art entries are reviewed on a monthly basis for the newsletter. Send your entries here by February 28th for the March newsletter.





Do you have modeling or art tips to share with other members? Why not write a guide? Feature tips from - repainting, kitbashing, drawing, sculpting, and even computer graphics. Send an email to Transtopia.Guide@gmx.de for details.




- by Sledge

Hello, fellow Seibertronians, and welcome to the Fan Fiction section. First things first, last month's winner. Sabrblade takes it with the first installment in his "Machine Wars: Transformers – The Fanfic Series." In his own words, it's "within both the U.S. and Japanese G1 animated continuities without interfering with each other." I don't know about you, but I think that's pretty ambitious, and I'll be interested to see how it pans out. Chapter 1 can be read here, with chapter 2 here. If you enjoy those, start pestering Saberblade to write more. Well done, Saberblade, and I hope to see more writing from you soon.

This month is going to be slightly different, as we're setting two contests:

The first is for the end of February. As that's only two weeks away, and that doesn't leave much time to come up with an idea AND get the final version written, February's competion is open to any TF fiction you've got ready for judging at the end of the month. So if you've got something already written, or have a great idea ready to go, this is for you.

The second is for March. For this one, I've decided to mix things up a little by setting a theme. What I'd like to see is something on the topic of "Transformers Go To The Movies." What does that mean? Whatever you want. Transformers starring in films, TFs watching films, TFs covered in a pile of DVDs, whatever that topic suggests to you is what I want to see. Funny, serious, romantic, tragic, anything. If that topic immediately makes you think "Oh, that would be a story about..." start writing it down.

A quick recap of the rules (don't worry, there's not many):
1) 10,000 word limit. Rough guideline to start with, I won't be automatically disqualifying anything that comes in over.
2) Decent spelling, grammar and punctuation. Run a spell check over your story, and maybe get a friend to read it before submitting.
3) Be specific as to where/when the story is set. So what continuity is it in (G1 comic, G1 cartoon, Armada comic, etc) and where is it set? Before the events of the show/comic, after, during? If during, where does it fit?
4) Fan characters are fine, but please avoid making them those annoying "I am more powerful than any other Transformer!!!" types. Also, consider if there's an under-used existing TF who'd fit the needs of the story just as well as someone new. Existing characters are almost always more interesting to everyone else.

And that's all there is to it. Now you have the easy bit of writing it, which involves (if I may paraphrase Douglas Adams) staring at a blank screen until blood appears on your forehead. Please don't bleed on your keyboards, just have fun.

Send your entries here.





Hey Transtopia folks - Burn wants to interview you. How did you get into Transformers? Why are you addicted to kitbashing? What was your first repaint like? What do you do with your spare time?

Don’t keep Burn waiting any longer – he’s getting bored at work. Send him a PM here.

Transtopia Newsletter - January Edition

Date: Sunday, January 11th 2009 2:19am CST
Categories: Site Articles, People News, Interviews, Transtopia
Posted by: Stormrider | Credit(s): Stormrider

Discuss This Topic · Permanent Link
Views: 130,069

It might be cold outside but the activity at Transtopia has been hot. This edition features the creative work from December. Check out the latest customs, artwork, painting guide, and contest. We also have exciting news in the wings - two new sections will roll out next month: Fan Fiction & Artist Interviews. Make sure to read about the details below so you can part take in the action and possibly get featured. And in March, get your cameras ready for another creative section. Remember, to visit Transtopia periodically for the latest work.

-Stormrider



How to Showcase Your Work
The newsletter is your opportunity to show off your work and talent. We rely on your articles, artwork, and customs to make it interesting. Entries will be reviewed on a monthly basis. You can submit your work here:
Repaints, Kitbashes, Scratchbuilds
Fan Art, Fan Fiction, Guides


Make a Difference, Join the Newsletter Team!
Want to contribute to the Seibertron community? Why not join the newsletter team? We need a few more volunteers for our crew. Duties require a few hours each month, consistently. Roles include layout & design, overseeing sections, and formatting. If you are interested send me a PM: Stormrider.


Newsletter Credits:
Newsletter Editor - Stormrider
Guides Editor - Dead Metal
Interviewer & Columnist - Burn
Fan Fiction Editor - Sledge
Customs Formatter - Mattyc1007





(Click on the links to see more)

Prowl by Sentinal Supreme

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Movie Starscream by Omega666

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Thredbolt by Sentinal Supreme

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Classics Armada Wheeljack by Grimlockprime108


TF Legends Wasp by Grimlockprime108


Movie Accurate Ratchet by Sabsabby85


Movie Beachcomber by Leobreaker1977


Movie Trailbreaker by Leobreaker1977


Movie Sunstorm by Downshift7


Longarm by Flix


Stockade by Flix


Movie Megatron by Mykltron


Movie Breakdown by Sentinal Prime


Breach & Tick by Sentinal Prime





(Click on the links to see more)

Sliver & Headmaster Matey by Technically Weird






Chuck Close is a famous and very talented painter from Monroe, Washington, United States of America. He was part of the Photorealism art-movement from the US in the 1960's in which the artists based their paintings on photographs. He was one of the greatest of this art-style; but after he was paralyzed from the neck down he really rose to fame. He managed to still paint but being unable to move his arms properly he created a completely new technique of painting to achieve photorealism. He achieved this by painting in grids similar to pixels so when looked at from afar it is indistinguishable from a real photograph.
He paints to this day in this art-style.

As the first Transtopia "How to .." painting guide fellow Transtopian, The Freezer, shows us how you can paint your favorite Transformer in the style of Chuck Close.

Painting Guide (Chuck Close Style)

I had a spare day at college a while back and did this.

1. Find a picture of your desired Transformer and then grid it.



2. Get a canvas or a peice of paper masking taped to some board.

3. Grid said paper or canvas. There MUST be the same amount of squares as on the original gridded picture.

4. Paint the squares in block colour using a mix of the colours in the square on the original picture. For example- original pic- red and black your painting- very dark red.
The end result should be like a pixelated image.



5. Now we add the detail, this is done by painting small shapes in the coloured squares to look like the corresponding square on the original pic. Close up its jibberish but back away and you should see it.





6. Fill in the back ground squares with more funny shapes.

7. Stand back and appriciate your work.




High resolution.

Do you want to contribute to the Transtopian guides? Then send us an e-mail: Transtopia.Guide@gmx.de You can find the guidelines by clicking here.



Featured Artwork
Cyber-Kun is this month's featured artist. Cyber-Kun gives us his rendition of Animated Jhiaxus. It is interesting to see how the color scheme, vehicle mode, and transformation were carefully considered during the execution of this piece. You can post your comments about this featured artwork here.


High Resolution

Honorable mentions goes to Zero-Kaiser for his Scourge/Nemesis Prime. To all of you modest artists out there, make sure to submit your artwork for the next newsletter here by January 31st. Submissions are open for all Transformers artwork (new & old pieces).



Fan Fiction
Okay Transformers Mythos Writers here's your chance to be featured in the next newsletter! Starting in February, the Transtopia Newsletter will feature a Fan Fiction story written by one of you. Seibertron member, Sledge, will be directing this new ongoing column and select one story each month.

Entries will be reviewed monthly. Make sure to conform to the guidelines below. Submissions are open for new and old stories. There is no limit to the number of stories that you can submit, but please do not resubmit the same story twice. Post your entries here.

Guidelines:
1) 10,000 word limit. Rough guideline to start with, I won't be automatically disqualifying anything that comes in over.
2) Decent spelling, grammar and punctuation. People need to at least run a spell-check over the thing before submitting it. This isn't me being a grammar Nazi, it's just difficult to get absorbed in a story if you're constantly being jolted out of it by bad spelling.
3) Be specific as to where/when the story is set. So what continuity is it in (G1 comic, G1 cartoon, Armada comic, etc) and where is it set? Before the events of the show or comic, after, during? If during, where does it fit?
4) Fan characters are fine, but I'd prefer people avoid making them those annoying "I am more powerful than any other Transformer!!!" types. Also, consider if there's an under-used existing TF who'd fit the needs of the story just as well as someone new. Existing characters are almost always more interesting to everyone else.
-Sledge



Artist Interiews with Burn
G'day folks, Stormrider's asked me to throw a blurb together to introduce myself and to also introduce another new part to the monthly Transtopia Newsletter.

My name, obviously, is Burn, and I've been handed the duties of having a chat with one (or more, depending on interest and time) of our many artists that frequent Seibertron.com and Transtopia.

The aim of the monthly chat is to get to know a little more about our creative geniuses, more than just their finished pieces of art. I'm sure many of you have looked at a kitbash or a repaint, or a photoshop piece or even read a fanfic and wondered who the person is behind that.

So that's where this little feature intends to come in. We'll get to know the people behind the art.

Some of you may be wondering, "Why you Burn?" Well Stormrider and First Gen were busy doing other stuff, plus I have done my fair share of creating things.

Some of you may remember a few of my characters from Seibertron.com's Heavy Metal War game. I'm the guy responsible for creating such characters as Gore, CATalyst, Slice, Dice, Dead Reckoning, Cannon Fodder Lemming, and the midget clone every body loved to hate, Mini-Maximus Prime, together they were better known as "The Freaks". I've written a number of back stories for some of these characters, and kitbashed nearly all of them (along with a number of other characters, including Autobots, plus a couple of characters created by Whisper and War Hammer).

So where did it all begin for me? Looking back it really began a bit over two decades ago around the age of 10. Al Gore had yet to really invent the internet, porn was still predominantly distributed on VHS, and Optimus Prime was a truck and Megatron was a gun.

I had never even heard of the term "kitbashing" and my skills up to that point in my life had been basically assembling model aeroplanes, which also often resulted in my fingers being glued together more than the planes themselves.

I also, it seems, had a fascination with the colour "black".

I'd take junker toys, including some busted TF's, and just cobble parts together. If anything these "creations" were the original "Freaks", because that's what they were, freaky looking things, I was a young Dr Frankenstein to plastic toys.

Who liked to paint things black?

I should also point out that at that age too, kids really shouldn't play with sharp knives.


High Resolution

Over the years though I drifted away from Transformers, blame High School. It was only a few years ago that I got back into TF's and in my quest to acquire many missing figures for my collection, I gathered up a nice pile of junker TF's.

This was the early days for kitbashing I might add, Transtopia didn't exist, and many of the major TF forums dedicated very little space to kitbashing. But I had all these junkers and influenced by the few artists that were around, I decided to try my hand.

In no way do I consider myself to be a great kitbasher, (and even less of a writer) but I do have a number of figures I am proud of, and then there are those I just don't even want to talk about!

If I was to say the one thing that is important to me when it comes to kitbashing and even writing, it's to create an original character. Canon characters just aren't my thing, I like creating a character from scratch, defining its personality, and making that personality match the figure.

I also rarely do a straight repaint. I always feel the need to modify a figure in some way to set it apart from the original mould. Whether it's something minor like a weapon change to something extensive like articulating a brick, anything to make it just that little bit different and unique.

So that's me, I'm sure Stormrider was hoping for some shorter, but I had to do SOMETHING while Dexter downloaded!

So this is where I turn it over to you guys, if you've showcased any form of artistic piece here on Seibertron.com recently, be it a repaint, a kitbash, a piece of fanfic, a photoshopped pic, or anything else that you've posted, and you're interested in being interviewed just drop me a pm and we'll get the ball rolling: ucp.php?i=pm&mode=compose&u=4677

-Burn



Banner Contest:
Hey all you savvy digital artist. Do you enjoy whipping up signatures and showing them off on the Internet? Well, here's your chance to put your skills to the test. Create a banner for the Transtopia Newsletter and become the ultimate show off.

Additional banners are needed for the newsletter. Create one or several banners and enter for your chance at fame and glory. The deadline is January 31st. There is no limit to the number of entries you may submit. The winner(s) will have their banners proudly displayed in the newsletters and receive credits and bragging rights.

Create one or all four: (Banner titles)
"Artist Interview"
"Featured Artwork"
"Fan Fiction"
"Photo Blitz"


Requirements:
1. The banner should be 500 pixels wide x 165 pixels high.
2. You can only use pictures or artwork that you have received permission for. You are welcome to use the images from the Seibertron galleries for this contest.
3. Each banner should have the title in the bottom center.
4. Submit your entries in jpeg format.


Example:



Submit your entries here.

Custom Monthly Update - Sept. & Oct.

Date: Sunday, November 9th 2008 3:25am CST
Categories: Toy News, Site Articles, Transtopia
Posted by: Stormrider | Credit(s): Seibertron

Discuss This Topic · Permanent Link
Views: 97,594

Welcome to Seibertron's Custom Monthly Update. Our Seibertron members have been working hard to produce many interesting customs and we are proud to share their work with you on a monthly basis. This first update is being kicked off with customs from the past two months - September and October. You can check out previous customs here.

The customs have been divided into three categories: Repaints, Kitbashes, and Extensive Mods & Scratchbuilds. Click on the links to see additional gallery pictures and to learn more about each custom. At the end, find out how you can submit your custom for the next update.


Repaints


G1 Ironhide
Sabsabby85



Classics Jetfire
Omega666



Movie Devilbee
Omega666



Universe Ironhide
Omega666



Animated Devilbee
Omega666



Animated Grimlock
Crefigz



Universe Shattered Glass Sideswipe
grimlockprime108



TFA Cykill
grimlockprime108



TFA Beast Wars Neo Killer Punch
grimlockprime108



Movie Accurate Bumblebee 1974 Camaro
Crefigz



Cybertron
Omega666


Kitbashes


G1 Mirage
wan_de_real



Animated G1 Shockwave
Psyke



Universe Shockwave
Jin Saotome



True Classic Cliffjumper
tentagil



Master Blaster Upgrade
Asepticon




Universe Tigertracks & Diaclone Sunstreaker
RodimusConvoy13



Revoltech Nemesis
chris-morada



Animated Sunstorm & Acid Storm
Spurt Reynolds



Animated Skywarp
Spurt Reynolds



Cobra Rattler
Jin Saotome


Extensive Mods & Scratchbuilds


Transmute
Asepticon



Participate In The Next Update
Do you have a new custom that you are dying to show off? Would like you to feature an article or custom guide in an upcoming newsletter? Participate in an upcoming newsletter. Submit your customs here.