New Galleries: BotCon 2014 Knights Alpha Trizer, Flareup, Apelinq and Custom Class Primal Prime

I love Alpha Trizer's colors, but it's not as good as Leo Prime's.

Ok, now that I've got Primal Prime posted ... it's driving me crazy that painting Transformers has been such a challenge for me. Maybe it's time for an airbrush, which is required to do Primal Prime's chest properly.

I know very little about painting. I add clear coat to Beast Wars figures that have chrome paint worth saving and I do small little touch ups here and there. I did the custom class Longarm figure at BotCon 2012 with mixed degrees of success. I felt like the clear coat in the class went on really rough with the airbrush so I've been too chicken to do much more than what I've done.

However, it's driving me crazy that I've got a BotCon Blastcharge and a BotCon Primal Prime. What do you guys recommend for an Airbrush and what other tools or equipment do I need? I was doing some research yesterday and found the following on Amazon but I have no idea what the difference is between all of the different airbrushes that this company offers:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?tag=seibertron07-20&url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=iwata%20medea%20airbrush&sprefix=iwata+medea+%2Caps&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Aiwata%20medea%20airbrush



Does anyone have any websites that show tips and such on equipment that I need to purchase?

I don't mind spending up to $500 if I can get a quality airbrush and compressor. But I don't want to spend much more than that unless you guys say I really need to.

Hopefully some of you guys can help me out!!!

Personally Seibertron, I'd commission a guy to do it. I tried painting several figures, all of which turned out miserably.

Between the Cheetor photos in the gallery and cheetah comment in his bio, I take it Alpha Tizer is post Beast Machines Cheetor? Or some version of Cheetor?

OptimalOptimus2 wrote:I love Alpha Trizer's colors, but it's not as good as Leo Prime's.

I can't help but wonder if the grey swords that came with Alpha Trizer were colored that way to provide more color accurate swords for Go Prime and Alpha Trizer if you do a swap. The "red" swords that came with Go Prime look like an identical match for the red color used on Alpha Trizer.

With the swords each figure came with ...




With the swords swapped ...



What's odd about this to me is that the red swords came with Go Prime in the first place since the red wasn't used on Go Prime at all. Might it be possible that both figures came out of the factory at the same time and the swords were swapped at some point or am I putting way too much thought into this?

Seibertron wrote:However, it's driving me crazy that I've got a BotCon Blastcharge and a BotCon Primal Prime. What do you guys recommend for an Airbrush and what other tools or equipment do I need?

When it comes to painting plastic, I would recommend Krylon Fusion paint, which are in spray cans. I haven't used it myself, but I've heard that it's good for painting plastic even though they are spray paints. You can buy them in different sizes at your local Walmart, Amazon, their official website, and other websites online. The official website has a how-to video for using the paint. You can click it here. Or you can go to other how-to websites and videos, your choice. I hope this helps.

Yweggo wrote:Between the Cheetor photos in the gallery and cheetah comment in his bio, I take it Alpha Tizer is post Beast Machines Cheetor? Or some version of Cheetor?

That's correct. Alpha Trizer is a post-BM Cheetor who somehow merged sparks with Alpha Trion.

OptimalOptimus2 wrote:

Seibertron wrote:However, it's driving me crazy that I've got a BotCon Blastcharge and a BotCon Primal Prime. What do you guys recommend for an Airbrush and what other tools or equipment do I need?

When it comes to painting plastic, I would recommend Krylon Fusion paint, which are in spray cans. I haven't used it myself, but I've heard that it's good for painting plastic even though they are spray paints. You can buy them in different sizes at your local Walmart, Amazon, their official website, and other websites online. The official website has a how-to video for using the paint. You can click it here. Or you can go to other how-to websites and videos, your choice. I hope this helps.

I definitely want to go the air brush route. Just need to know what equipment to buy that others suggest. Thanks for the suggestions though.

I searched for airbrush paint for plastic and I found this: Creative Airbrush Colors. It's legit and highly reviewed on Amazon. From 3 to 5 stars. You can see their list of items here and you can search for their color sets on Amazon here. Do not get Wicked Colors, Createx Illustration Colors, Auto Air Colors (unless the plastic is hard), or Auto Borne. This was the only result that I could find. It's a tough search for airbrush paints for plastic. Well, I hope that this helps you.

I simply went the route of having my Primal Prime painted for me at BotCon, by this awesome guy. His works are very professional-grade, and I highly recommend him for anyone considering commissioning someone to paint their figures for them.

Last year, he painted people's Blastcharge figures and this year he did the same for the Primal Prime figures. Hopefully he'll continue to paint people's custom class figures at future BotCons.

OptimalOptimus2 wrote:I searched for airbrush paint for plastic and I found this: Creative Airbrush Colors. It's legit and highly reviewed on Amazon. From 3 to 5 stars. You can see their list of items here and you can search for their color sets on Amazon here. Do not get Wicked Colors, Createx Illustration Colors, Auto Air Colors (unless the plastic is hard), or Auto Borne. This was the only result that I could find. It's a tough search for airbrush paints for plastic. Well, I hope that this helps you.

You can dilute any acrylic on the market and make it an "airbrush paint".

Midnight_Fox wrote:

OptimalOptimus2 wrote:I searched for airbrush paint for plastic and I found this: Creative Airbrush Colors. It's legit and highly reviewed on Amazon. From 3 to 5 stars. You can see their list of items here and you can search for their color sets on Amazon here. Do not get Wicked Colors, Createx Illustration Colors, Auto Air Colors (unless the plastic is hard), or Auto Borne. This was the only result that I could find. It's a tough search for airbrush paints for plastic. Well, I hope that this helps you.

You can dilute any acrylic on the market and make it an "airbrush paint".

Well, sometimes acrylic paint doesn't work. I'm just putting down some suggestions. That's all.

OptimalOptimus2 wrote:

Midnight_Fox wrote:

OptimalOptimus2 wrote:I searched for airbrush paint for plastic and I found this: Creative Airbrush Colors. It's legit and highly reviewed on Amazon. From 3 to 5 stars. You can see their list of items here and you can search for their color sets on Amazon here. Do not get Wicked Colors, Createx Illustration Colors, Auto Air Colors (unless the plastic is hard), or Auto Borne. This was the only result that I could find. It's a tough search for airbrush paints for plastic. Well, I hope that this helps you.

You can dilute any acrylic on the market and make it an "airbrush paint".

Well, sometimes acrylic paint doesn't work. I'm just putting down some suggestions. That's all.

Just looking for tips on airbrush. $60 for a commissioned work is a lot of money when I could be spending 200 to 300 to get the equipment and figure it out myself which would also be helpful for repairing figures for seibertron store.

OptimalOptimus2 wrote:Well, sometimes acrylic paint doesn't work.

My brain can't process this sentence. I've never seen that happen in 20+ years of painting plastic things. Not saying you're wrong, I've just never seen it.

So I'm late to the Flamewar and Brimstone/Hunter gallery updates party...

I like the way Brimstone looks. So based on his bio, I understand he's basically an over-sized Targetmaster buddy for Scorponok? If that's the case, I was disappointed to learn that there were no images of Brimstone being "wielded" by Scorponok in "weapon mode".

Hunter/Shokaract is neato. Not a character I'm attached to, but it does look nice.

Primal Prime is okay, but not quite the right mold for that certain character, IMO.

Ape Linq is awesome, and have been waiting for this redeco for a while. Just wish it wasn't a BotCon exclusive. Though I kinda wish the bio card's colors and the deco matched up a little bit better. Him having a lighter-colored face on the bio card compared to the actual figure is bothering the crap out of me.

Alpha Trizer... eh. Cool for fans of 3H potential exclusives, but, like Hunter/Shokaract, just doesn't appeal to me enough to warrant the amounts of monies they're asking for. Same goes for Flareup.

Flamewar is epic. Beast Hunters Arcee was practically destined to become Flamewar. And it works really good. Might have to hunt her down one day. Maybe one day.

That's all I can say about the BotCon galleries for right now. Can't wait to see the box set and the Decepticon Clones/Dread Pirate Crew. The Clones especially, since those are the ones I'm legitimately tempted about. Gotta build up that Classics shelf!

Seibertron wrote:

OptimalOptimus2 wrote:

Midnight_Fox wrote:

OptimalOptimus2 wrote:I searched for airbrush paint for plastic and I found this: Creative Airbrush Colors. It's legit and highly reviewed on Amazon. From 3 to 5 stars. You can see their list of items here and you can search for their color sets on Amazon here. Do not get Wicked Colors, Createx Illustration Colors, Auto Air Colors (unless the plastic is hard), or Auto Borne. This was the only result that I could find. It's a tough search for airbrush paints for plastic. Well, I hope that this helps you.

You can dilute any acrylic on the market and make it an "airbrush paint".

Well, sometimes acrylic paint doesn't work. I'm just putting down some suggestions. That's all.

Just looking for tips on airbrush. $60 for a commissioned work is a lot of money when I could be spending 200 to 300 to get the equipment and figure it out myself which would also be helpful for repairing figures for seibertron store.

Well, there's somewhat of a learning curve to airbrushing, and the cleanup and maintenance can also be frustrating if you're not very disciplined or patient. Depending on the person, sometimes it's just too much trouble, especially if you're not particularly interested in customizing figures.

Also, besides the obvious airbrush and compressor set, you'll also need a spray booth and/or respirator, as well as a cleaning pot. Some cheap lacquer thinner or IPA just for flushing the AB will also help keep costs down. I usually recommend a 0.3mm airbrush, as it's versatile enough for detailing as well as base coating.

Don Wheeler of donsairbrushtips.com, on the other hand, is more fond of 0.5mm airbrushes, and is even able to do detailing work with them.

As for brands, Iwata's Eclipse HP-CS is one of the most popular AB's among hobbyists. You can also try Tamiya's HG line of airbrushes, which are also made by Iwata.

Badger and Paasche AB's are also quite popular, but just be aware that American-made AB's use a 1/4" diameter hose connection (Type L) whereas air hoses that come with Sparmax or Iwata compressors are 1/8" (Type S), which the AB's from their own brand are obviously compatible with. You'll need an adapter joint in order to use a Badger or Paasche AB with the hoses from the brands I just mentioned.

In the long run, getting an AB and compressor set is indeed the most cost-effective route. If you tough it out through the beginner phase and start getting the hang of airbrushing, the equipment will start paying for themselves.

Midnight_Fox wrote:

OptimalOptimus2 wrote:Well, sometimes acrylic paint doesn't work.

My brain can't process this sentence. I've never seen that happen in 20+ years of painting plastic things. Not saying you're wrong, I've just never seen it.

Maybe he simply means acrylics aren't durable enough for articulated figs like TF's, where so many different parts tend to rub against each other.

Some sanding and clear coating should take care of that, though.

Sabrblade wrote:I simply went the route of having my Primal Prime painted for me at BotCon, by this awesome guy. His works are very professional-grade, and I highly recommend him for anyone considering commissioning someone to paint their figures for them.

Last year, he painted people's Blastcharge figures and this year he did the same for the Primal Prime figures. Hopefully he'll continue to paint people's custom class figures at future BotCons.

Cheetimus makes beautiful customs, I gotta agree.

Mindmaster wrote:If that's the case, I was disappointed to learn that there were no images of Brimstone being "wielded" by Scorponok in "weapon mode".

Ah, yee of little faith! It will be in Scorponok's gallery. Maybe I'll add the pics to the end of Brimstone's gallery as well.

Mindmaster wrote:Flamewar is epic. Beast Hunters Arcee was practically destined to become Flamewar. And it works really good. Might have to hunt her down one day. Maybe one day.

I think Flamewar is my favorite figure of the BotCon 2014 exclusives. Very well executed. Perfection in my book. I love that they used the different molds for the girls too. Very nice touch.

Mindmaster wrote:That's all I can say about the BotCon galleries for right now. Can't wait to see the box set and the Decepticon Clones/Dread Pirate Crew. The Clones especially, since those are the ones I'm legitimately tempted about. Gotta build up that Classics shelf!

Clones will be posted in the next 12 hours!

Seibertron wrote:Clones will be posted in the next 12 hours!

For the Wingspan-type clone, might we possibly see pics of its vehicle mode with Tornado in gun mode attached to the underside of one of its wings, with the Arms Minicon it came with attached to the underside of its other wing, as a nod to a part in the pre-comic story where Tornado hitched a ride down onto a planet with Skyduster?

Mkall wrote:

Yweggo wrote:Between the Cheetor photos in the gallery and cheetah comment in his bio, I take it Alpha Tizer is post Beast Machines Cheetor? Or some version of Cheetor?

That's correct. Alpha Trizer is a post-BM Cheetor who somehow merged sparks with Alpha Trion.

Like Tigatron and Airrazor did when they became Tigerhawk?

Continuing the exclusive streak of Seibertron.com exclusive galleries of exclusive BotCon 2014 figures, we are proud to present a double feature with Targetmaster sidedish in Dread Pirate Crew Wingspan with Pillage and Pounce with Plunder, respectively repainted from Transformers Arms Micron Jet Vehicon and Steve Vehicon! Click on any image below to view the full galleries.


Convention & Club Exclusives Dread Pirate Crew: Wingspan Clone










Convention & Club Exclusives Dread Pirate Crew: Pounce Clone










Convention & Club Exclusives Dread Pirate Crew: Arms Minicon Pillage








Convention & Club Exclusives Dread Pirate Crew: Arms Minicon Plunder

This is probably, the best BotCon 2014 set of them all. Wingspan and Pounce look so rad in robot mode. Sorry Thrustinator.

Yeah, totes going to set some aside to see about getting my mitts on these. Slap some Decepticon faction symbol stickers on there, and BAM, Classics Pounce and Wingspan.

Should note for this new news that the names "Pillage" and "Plunder" belong only to the Arms Minicons specifically belonging to Thunderclap and Rolling Thunder, respectively. Skyduster and others have their own as well, but theirs either don't have names or don't have known names.

I am disappointed that the "minimal intelligence" referenced in the bio for the clones' clones is a 7. That matches G1 Highbrow's score.

Cool looking figures. I'm admittedly a little jealous of the people who got their hands on these two. I like the idea of slapping a couple Decepticon stickers on them.

I cannot see those moulds as anything other than Vehicons. A real Pounce and Wingspan is coming from a 3rd party company, so these are just a waste of money.

MINDVVIPE wrote:I cannot see those moulds as anything other than Vehicons. A real Pounce and Wingspan is coming from a 3rd party company, so these are just a waste of money.

I guess "real" is in the eye of the beholder.

MINDVVIPE wrote:I cannot see those moulds as anything other than Vehicons. A real Pounce and Wingspan is coming from a 3rd party company, so these are just a waste of money.

Yeah they are pretty lame. The least funpub could have done is give them a new G1 head sculpt so they wouldnt have to have such a ridiculous bio to play it off. Ill be getting the 3rd party pounce and wingspan when they come out. For now im happy with my mech ideas pounce and wingspan.

megatronus wrote:

MINDVVIPE wrote:I cannot see those moulds as anything other than Vehicons. A real Pounce and Wingspan is coming from a 3rd party company, so these are just a waste of money.

I guess "real" is in the eye of the beholder.

I'd say 'winners of the look-alike contest'.

The Botcon set looks great.

Can I point out something that could technically be claimed as a mistake in the news post? Wingspan isn't a direct repaint of the Jet Vehicons, he actually has the wrong rear fender(he uses the AM car Vehicon version) which causes a gap in vehicle mode.

Midnight_Fox wrote:Can I point out something that could technically be claimed as a mistake in the news post? Wingspan isn't a direct repaint of the Jet Vehicons, he actually has the wrong rear fender(he uses the AM car Vehicon version) which causes a gap in vehicle mode.

You question my news post?!



I did not know that, I could go fix it. I might, later. I will.

Convoy wrote:Cool looking figures. I'm admittedly a little jealous of the people who got their hands on these two. I like the idea of slapping a couple Decepticon stickers on them.

As of last weekend FunPub still had some listed online.I wanted to get them, but my collection space is limited right now, and TFCC Runabout/amuck are doing my winged car honors... but man, Arms microns.... mmmn

Seibertron wrote:

Mindmaster wrote:If that's the case, I was disappointed to learn that there were no images of Brimstone being "wielded" by Scorponok in "weapon mode".

Ah, yee of little faith! It will be in Scorponok's gallery. Maybe I'll add the pics to the end of Brimstone's gallery as well.

Scorponok's gallery has been added which has these pics of Brimstone in "Targetmaster" mode and I also added the images to the end of Brimstone's gallery which you can view below ...

Hey Ryan, when Brimstone's in "Targetmaster" mode, is there anyplace for his sword to go since the tab it usually attaches to is used as a handle wielded by Scorponok in this mode, or does it just go off to the side?

The galleries of Seibertron has updated with the BotCon 2014 Pirates Vs. Knights box set. Pirate Scorponok is a repaint of Energon Scorponok with a newly added headmaster feature. That headmaster is Olin Zarak who is a retool of Spike who is the headmaster unit for Cerebros who is the headmaster unit for Fortress Maximus. Got that? Good. Next up is Pirate Cannonball who is a repaint of Transformers Prime Ratchet with a new head. Knight Devcon is a repaint of Generations Scourge with a new head. Knight Ginrai is a repaint of Classics Optimus Prime. Last but not least is Pirate Ferak who is a repaint of Universe Cyclonus while his target master Pirate Tornado is a repaint of Nightstick. Click on any of the images to see the full galleries.

Convention & Club Exclusives Pirate Scorponok


















Convention & Club Exclusives Olin Zarak












Convention & Club Exclusives Pirate Cannonball










Convention & Club Exclusives Knight Devcon














Convention & Club Exclusives Knight Ginrai














Convention & Club Exclusives Pirate Ferak












Convention & Club Exclusives Pirate Tornado

No joke, no lie, Tornado right here is the biggest reason I wanted this set, being the character/figure I was looking forward to the most.

Is there a toy gallery for the Ginrai on the right?

I really need to stop looking at this picture. It makes me want to drink orange Sunkist and eat Starbursts.

OptimalOptimus2 wrote:Is there a toy gallery for the Ginrai on the right?

I really need to stop looking at this picture. It makes me want to drink orange Sunkist and eat Starbursts.

I've almost completed the gallery! Hopefully I'll have the photography done this weekend. It's what I'm planning on working on this weekend.

Scorponok is beautiful.

Nice galleries as always.

Has anyone recieved their non attendee set in the mail yet from funpub ? Im still waiting. I called them almost 2 weeks ago and they said they had not "unloaded the truck" yet. Why were "non attendee" sets loaded in the truck in the first place ?

Rated X wrote:Nice galleries as always.

Has anyone recieved their non attendee set in the mail yet from funpub ? Im still waiting. I called them almost 2 weeks ago and they said they had not "unloaded the truck" yet. Why were "non attendee" sets loaded in the truck in the first place ?

i have a trip to make to the post office today for a couple parcels, unless its one of those then i havent received mine yet. i seem to recall when i ordered mine that it said it would be shipped out in august. seemed excessive, but waddya gonna do eh?

as always, galleries rock! even turned me around on cannonball and devcon. only figure i was "meh" about was cannonball but he looks pretty kickass. and while i liked devcon, i heard some negativity about the head sculpt. i dont see anything wrong with it! cant wait to get my set!

Rated X wrote:Nice galleries as always.

Has anyone recieved their non attendee set in the mail yet from funpub ? Im still waiting. I called them almost 2 weeks ago and they said they had not "unloaded the truck" yet. Why were "non attendee" sets loaded in the truck in the first place ?

I emailed them last week and the answer

They should ship in the next couple of weeks. Thank you.

New Gallery Tool is amazing Ryan!! Makes me want to go back any look at all the galleries.

Va'al wrote:

Midnight_Fox wrote:Can I point out something that could technically be claimed as a mistake in the news post? Wingspan isn't a direct repaint of the Jet Vehicons, he actually has the wrong rear fender(he uses the AM car Vehicon version) which causes a gap in vehicle mode.

You question my news post?!



I did not know that, I could go fix it. I might, later. I will.

they're repaints. No need to change the news story. All you have to do is swap the rear fenders for the Dread Pirate Crew Clones.

mooncake623 wrote:New Gallery Tool is amazing Ryan!! Makes me want to go back any look at all the galleries.

This is the first non-staff feedback that I've received about this change. Thanks for letting me know that it is working well for you!

Seibertron wrote:they're repaints. No need to change the news story. All you have to do is swap the rear fenders for the Dread Pirate Crew Clones.

Is that doable? I considered trying it myself, but I wouldn't know where to start or even if it can be done.

And is the Hasbro Car Vehicon rear fender compatible with the Takara Jet Vehicon mold?

Sabrblade wrote:

Seibertron wrote:they're repaints. No need to change the news story. All you have to do is swap the rear fenders for the Dread Pirate Crew Clones.

Is that doable? I considered trying it myself, but I wouldn't know where to start or even if it can be done.

And is the Hasbro Car Vehicon rear fender compatible with the Takara Jet Vehicon mold?

They're swapped in the Seibertron.com galleries. All you have to do is pop them off and put it on the other one.

Seibertron wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Seibertron wrote:they're repaints. No need to change the news story. All you have to do is swap the rear fenders for the Dread Pirate Crew Clones.

Is that doable? I considered trying it myself, but I wouldn't know where to start or even if it can be done.

And is the Hasbro Car Vehicon rear fender compatible with the Takara Jet Vehicon mold?

They're swapped in the Seibertron.com galleries. All you have to do is pop them off and put it on the other one.

I may try that, thanks.

The first instance I noticed something was wrong with the Jet's fender was when I noticed how it wouldn't fold all the way down behind its back as far as the Car's fender would. There were little plastic notches behind the Jet's shoulder that kept it from folding all the way back, and which were not present on the Car's shoulders. I hope swapping them will make some better difference.

Sabrblade wrote:

Seibertron wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Seibertron wrote:they're repaints. No need to change the news story. All you have to do is swap the rear fenders for the Dread Pirate Crew Clones.

Is that doable? I considered trying it myself, but I wouldn't know where to start or even if it can be done.

And is the Hasbro Car Vehicon rear fender compatible with the Takara Jet Vehicon mold?

They're swapped in the Seibertron.com galleries. All you have to do is pop them off and put it on the other one.

I may try that, thanks.

The first instance I noticed something was wrong with the Jet's fender was when I noticed how it wouldn't fold all the way down behind its back as far as the Car's fender would. There were little plastic notches behind the Jet's shoulder that kept it from folding all the way back, and which were not present on the Car's shoulders. I hope swapping them will make some better difference.

I was reading somewhere else that something else is wrong with that part to make it compatible with the Jet Vehicon mold but I didn't really figure out what needed to be fixed or modified. If someone wants to point us in the right direction, I'm all ears!

In the meantime, I took care of the simple swap to get them close enough to how they're supposed to be.

Is it just me, or has there been an abnormal count of QC issues this year? Switched parts on Cannonball and the Vehicons, weak plastic on some figures (like two Cannonballs and a Flareup in Japan)...

Nah, it's just me.