Seibertron.com Energon Pub Forums

There are many Transformers, especially among the neo-G1 toys (Classics et al) that are minus some accessories they could really do with having. So, I've decided to make some of said accessories myself. I figured it would work best organizationally to concentrate them into one thread.

First up is the custom Master Sword I made for my Titans Return Fortress Maximus.

Here it is, separated into 3 sections. I designed it to work like the modern version from the Botcon/Hasbro Asia/Legends releases, with Cerebros' small Master Sword forming the tip, the middle section combining with that to form a bigger sword, and the hilt section combining with both of them to form the complete big Master Sword. However, I hewed closer to the Master Swords from the Takara release of G1 Fort Max as far as the details went. I think it turned out well, although the detail on the hilt section is a bit asymmetrical. The blades are made of cardboard, while the actual hilt of each piece is made from plastic (and wood in the case of the bottom part; the tabs are wooden blocks, for example).


Cerebros wielding the small Master Sword. Note that much as per the separate small sword from the G1 version, mine has a crossguard.


And finally, Fortress Maximus wielding the fully-assembled large Master Sword.

Next up, the sword I made for my Power of the Primes Grimlock. It's an upsized version of the original toy's sword.



The blade was whittled out of wood. It came out a bit uneven, so it ends up looking like a used G1 Grimlock sword, but so it goes. The block below it is also wooden, with the detailing made from carefully cut cardboard. The crossguard is layers of plasticard with the joins concealed by a strip of cardstock wrapped around the edge. The hilt is the handle peg from Nightbeat's Titan Master vehicle - as can be clearly seen, there's a bit of an issue with paint rubbing. Should I ever return to further work on this sword, I'll make sure to file it a bit thinner to deal with that. I painted it silver because I go by the cartoon. There, the Dinobots' swords (of which only Snarl's and Grimlock's appeared) were silver, reflecting how they were in Diaclone and how they were originally intended to be in Transformers (just look at the original ads for the Dinobots). The swords were only red in the final release versions because they wound up having to be cast in soft plastic - which is incompatible with the metalizing process used to chrome the parts on G1s.


In the meantime, have a photo of Grimlock with the sword in hand.

Priority items on the upcoming list: Fort Max's big gun, Fort Max's smaller handheld gun, and a custom sword for Volcanicus designed to match the aesthetic of the G1 Dinobot swords.

Work has begun on Volcanicus' sword!


The overall design of the sword is going to be an amalgamation of elements from the individual Dinobots' own swords. It's going to have a purely-ornamental hilt that goes between the fingers and thumb of Volcanicus' hands, and an offset 5mm peg that will plug into the actual peghole on the thumbs.

Progress update:


EDIT:
Further update!

The detailing is almost complete, with elements from the other Dinobots' swords more solidly present - the pipe from Swoop's sword, the hose from Sludge's sword, the hilt switch and blade cylinder things from Grimlock's sword...
It's almost ready to paint.

Volcanicus' sword is complete and painted! I wound up having to cut one of the curves off of the crossguard for clearance reasons, but oh well.


And here's Volcanicus with the sword in hand!

I'm back at it. Currently working on a Matrix Blade for my Omega Prime:




And the previously-mentioned Fortress Maximus rifle:

Progress update on the Matrix Blade:

The blade portion is coming along quite nicely

Nice work!

Thanks! Do you have a favorite among the items thus far?

Definitely Cerebros’s mini Master Sword. Not only is it cool, but it fits in with my head canon better. How did you make it? ‘Cause now I want a Fort Max.

Tigerhawk7109 wrote:Definitely Cerebros’s mini Master Sword. Not only is it cool, but it fits in with my head canon better. How did you make it? ‘Cause now I want a Fort Max.

Layered cardboard with a 5mm-wide bit of plastic sprue as the handle. The blade was painted metallic red, the hilt and bracing were painted satin black.

Need to provide more progress on the Matrix Blade, it's getting close to done.

In the meantime, behold a gun I'm making for SIEGE Sideswipe:

It's almost done. I just need to let the clay dry, and finish the handle. Then I can paint it.

Further progress on Sideswipe's gun:

Handle brought to the proper thickness by superglue-reinforced masking tape


In Sideswipe's hand as proof


Painting underway

Now the Matrix Blade/Super God Sword:

Getting closer to completion. Construction-wise, the base section of the blade is completely done, the upper section of the blade is nearly done, and the hilt is nearly done as well (although not as close).

The trickiest thing remaining to do will be the drill pommel, but I am confident I can handle it.

First, a months-overdue update on the Matrix Blade. This is how it's sat for several months now: Painting complete except for the hilt, and still awaiting construction of that blasted drill pommel.


I've also begun a new project: the gun for Earthrise Scorponok. Here is the carefully measured mockup. I started with a measurement of how long the back half would need to be for it to work right in Scorponok's city mode, and carefully upsized from there. It's not a straightforward conversion of every measurement - I increased some by 2cm, doubled or semi-doubled others, and others still I eyeball adjusted to look "right" proportionally.


Robot mode test. I think it works out perfectly proportionally, what do you all think?


And base/city mode test. I didn't have Scorponok's calves in this lowered position when I took the measurement for the back half, so that portion ends up poking up a bit more compared to G1, but it doesn't look bad so I'm leaving it as-is.

So, about Fortress Maximus' rifle. I've reached a bit of an impasse with it and need feedback before I move forward.

The WIP rifle previously pictured is actually one of two, with an elongated barrel compared to the G1 version's proportions. The other one has a shorter barrel more in line with G1.


Which length looks better?

Thought some more about the gun for Fort Max... if you plan on having it integrate into his spaceship mode (that is, attach to the side of his tower), the g1 length is probably the way to go. I voted for the longer one on the poll thinking it would work better for robot mode.

The Scorponok gun looks like a really good size in city mode. Is that orange plastic gun a detailed G1 accessory or something else entirely?

Latebrus-K wrote:Thought some more about the gun for Fort Max... if you plan on having it integrate into his spaceship mode (that is, attach to the side of his tower), the g1 length is probably the way to go. I voted for the longer one on the poll thinking it would work better for robot mode.

The Scorponok gun looks like a really good size in city mode. Is that orange plastic gun a detailed G1 accessory or something else entirely?

Painted G1 accessory. Paint's a bit crude, could stand a do-over.

And yeah, battleship mode pretty much clinched it for the G1-proportions gun for Fort Max. I discovered that the longer one actually overhung the left leg cannon when given a trial mounting.

I think it worked out for the best, because I can now convert the longer version to be a base for Scorponok's gun. That project has already begun, in fact.

And here's the progress on that:

To convert it, I cut down the back section to the right length to serve as the back for Scorpy's rifle, then used a cardboard disk (hand cut by trial-and-error), some cardboard strip spacers, and an index card wrapped around it to bring what was now the full barrel to a more uniform diameter.
After the conversion, I glued a ring that acts as a 5mm port to the butt of a Krazy Glue storage tube, and then glued that tube inside the barrel. The result is the gun now has a 5mm port for blast effects inside the barrel, recessed slightly for a better look.


Ta-da. Now if only I had a purple copy of that blast effect...