TFARCHIVE FORUMS

I'm sure most of you are wondering one thing: who the heck is 'Rage'? Well, I can't blame you. He's a nobody -- a character who was released in the European market in the uncomfortable period where the G1 line was petering out, but G2 hadn't quite been launched yet. His primary claim to fame is that he showed up for a few panels as part of Bludgeon's army in the UK G2 comics. I ended up using him as a character in fanfic and in the Archive's RPG, where -- for lack of any official personality -- he became a self-destructive, angry character who buries his self-loathing deep under a cruel, vicious persona and tries to smother it entirely with substance abuse.

Rage was made mainly from a Generations Red Alert -- in retrospect, probably not the best instance of the mold to use. The figure that I got had some serious QC issues, with paint all over the place (not a big deal considering his fate) and tolerance problems that left him with some severely over-tight joints and some that were extremely floppy. The toy barely held together in vehicle mode to start with, and sadly that only got worse after I was done with him. The pictures I took of him in alt-mode probably represent the only time he'll be transformed ever -- especially since some of the joints are so tight that I have to disassemble much of the upper body and put it back together as a car to avoid severe paint damage.

Robot mode (click the thumbnails for full-sized pics):
[ATTACH]8348[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]8349[/ATTACH]

Rage's head came from Energon Downshift, with the 'ears' shaved off. It doesn't really look anything like G1 Rage's head, but considering how similar their colour schemes are, I thought it was important to give him a different head so that the custom didn't just wind up becoming G2 Sideswipe with some purple. I had to modify Red Alert so that the head could mount at all, which was probably the most time-consuming part of the entire process. I like the way it looks, though. Red Alert and Sideswipe have pretty small heads, so Rage's big, blocky one helps him stand out. I'm also brightly his eyes stand out, since I disabled the light piping by painting them red.

The Sideswipe mold's parts layout actually works really well for Rage. Not only does it give him the same general silhouette in robot mode as the original toy, but I managed to emulate most of the old toy's deco in both modes without any compromises. I especially like how the red rear bumper emulates the red kneecaps on the original.

Rage's big weapon is DOTM Sideswipe's Mechtech gun. I took the spring out (and, er, accidentally sent it flying off into the abyss never to be seen again, so it's a good thing I liked it better without) and painted the blade, but didn't modify it otherwise.

The big 'tanks' on his back are the fuel tanks/missile launchers from a ROTF Voyager Optimus. They do still fire, although I actually intended them more as 'water tanks' since the original toy had a water-squirting gimmick (a more ambitious man would have run a rubber hose from the tanks to his small gun). The launchers are attached via the twin peg holes that held Red Alert's light bar in place, and they're actually the perfect size. I screw them in so that they don't flop around, but there's enough friction that that probably wouldn't be a problem anyway. I was worried that they'd make the figure terribly back-heavy, but so far so good.

Vehicle mode:
[ATTACH]8346[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]8347[/ATTACH]

You can tell that the vehicle mode doesn't hold together very well. A more experienced kitbasher could probably have mitigated the base toy's problems, but I only wound up making them worse. It's a shame, because I think a black Lamborghini with a big white Decepticon symbol outline on the hood looks pretty slick. Oh, well...live and learn. I'll know better for next time.

Red Alert finds Rage's body suspiciously familar:
[ATTACH]8345[/ATTACH]

Since this is the first time I've done anything like this, comments, criticism and advice are more than welcome.

Very nice he actually looks better in some way than the original where I think the chest is alittle too wide.

The mould is a good choice and fits him well love the colour scheme match as well and how well its worked.

Not a criticism but a tip if you want to do more kitbashing Humbrol do tranluscent orange , red and green paints which works well for tinting clear plastic don't know whether you can get it your side of the pond.

he's brilliant.

I'm glad you like him.

optimusskids wrote:Not a criticism but a tip if you want to do more kitbashing Humbrol do tranluscent orange , red and green paints which works well for tinting clear plastic don't know whether you can get it your side of the pond.

Thanks! I was wondering about that, actually. Rage was painted with Testors' enamels because that's what I had on-hand from the model kits I built over the summer, and I kind of wish I hadn't painted his windows a solid colour. I don't know if we have Humbrol stuff over here...most of the paints I see are Testors or Tamiya. But I'd probably be able to find a clear paint from one of them.

I'm also thinking about working with acrylics next time...the faster drying time is attractive, and so is the fact that the fumes are much less toxic. Winter'll be here soon, and I don't fancy freezing my ass off to get the ventilation I need to work with enamel sprays safely.

I have a few other projects in mind, l so I'll probably do this again eventually. But it'll be a while until I get to it, since some of the toys I'd need aren't available here yet, and for the one that is I know what it's going to be but not who. The deciding factor there might just be whether I see a Straxus or a Skullgrin first...

Everyone suggests that but I don't think it's ever been done. I've never seen one, if it has. It's definately a natural fit considering the alt-mode.

My idea would involve modding the turret so that he had two high-calibre machine gun barrels, though, so what I'm thinking of would be closer to Sidetrack than Big Shot.

Warcry wrote:I'm glad you like him.


Thanks! I was wondering about that, actually. Rage was painted with Testors' enamels because that's what I had on-hand from the model kits I built over the summer, and I kind of wish I hadn't painted his windows a solid colour. I don't know if we have Humbrol stuff over here...most of the paints I see are Testors or Tamiya. But I'd probably be able to find a clear paint from one of them.

I'm also thinking about working with acrylics next time...the faster drying time is attractive, and so is the fact that the fumes are much less toxic. Winter'll be here soon, and I don't fancy freezing my ass off to get the ventilation I need to work with enamel sprays safely.

Testors makes a Modelmaster sub-brand that includes various clear colors as well.

That's a big reasons why I favor acrylics, too - if I decide later on to change something, it's a relatively simple process to dip a part in rubbing alcohol to strip the paint and do it over. I'm not sure that can even be done with enamels really, as anything that would soften the paint would probably eat the plastic, too. And, honestly, if I use a glossy clear coat sprayed over a finished piece, I don't have any problems with paint durability. I'm not exactly bashing them into one another either, though.

Can we get some more pictures?

Clay wrote:Testors makes a Modelmaster sub-brand that includes various clear colors as well.

I'll have to keep an eye out the next time I go paint shopping. It won't be for a while though, since all the Straxuses and Skullgrins I saw in the previous few weeks at my Walmart are all conveniently gone now that I'm wanting one instead of ruing their existance.

Clay wrote:That's a big reasons why I favor acrylics, too - if I decide later on to change something, it's a relatively simple process to dip a part in rubbing alcohol to strip the paint and do it over. I'm not sure that can even be done with enamels really, as anything that would soften the paint would probably eat the plastic, too.

Since enamels are oil based, as far as I know you'd need to use an oil-based thinner like Varsol to take them off. And, yeah...even though it'll do a neat job of cleaning up an accidental paint smear off of plastic, I have a feeling there wouldn't be much plastic left if you soaked something in it long enough to strip off the paint.

Clay wrote:And, honestly, if I use a glossy clear coat sprayed over a finished piece, I don't have any problems with paint durability. I'm not exactly bashing them into one another either, though.

I have a feeling that acrylics would survive rough play better, actually. Enamels are harder, but on a lot of the models I made as a kid all that meant was the paint would chip off when I inevitably banged it into something.

Clay wrote:Can we get some more pictures?

Sure thing.

Red Alert may have bitten off more than he can chew...
[attach]8355[/attach]


Close-up on the sword. I like how the little rust flecks are visible without really jumping out at you. Considering they're only there completely by accident (initially I'd wanted the sword to be bronze, but I decided against it and didn't quite paint over it enough with the grey)...
[attach]8357[/attach]


Headshot. Considering how utterly hopeless I am at hand-painting details I think it turned out pretty good.
[attach]8356[/attach]


Rage: "What do you mean, the Lamborghini Club isn't accepting new members? It's because I'm a black repaint, isn't it?"

Sunstreaker: "I'm sorry, but you have to realize we have standards. No evil doppelgangers allowed."

Sideswipe: "Don't feel bad. We turned away IDW Breakdown too."
[attach]8358[/attach] [attach]8359[/attach]

Nice work! Our favourite self-destructive drunkard now has a toy!

Those big tanks on his back give him a very distinct appearance from the other Lamborghinis, and I like how the head turned out. Pity about not being able to transform him, though.

Thanks!

I like how the tanks look too. Even though the original had nothing like them, I think they change his silhouette a lot and make him seem 'bigger' and more powerful than the other Lamborghinis.

It is too bad that he won't transform properly. In retrospect it probably would have been a better idea to track down a junked Sunstreaker and use his black shoulder joints, elbows, knees and hip ball joints instead of painting the ones from a Red Alert. Considering what a QC fail Red Alert was that probably would have smoothed out a lot of issues. But I never thought of that until just now.

Good job, man! That's a nice work.

Only one suggestion, though. You may need to thin down the paint a little more to create more smooth surface . That will be easier too if you want to paint the larger and flat area.

Tamiya has some basic clear colors, too.

Yeah, I too think acrylics work better on TFs. And when you are done, spray a thin coat of clear lacquer (I use Testors model master lacquer spray bottle) can protect the paint even more. Or some parts, you can put a very thin layer of super glue over and it works very well.

That's a very good start. Hope to see more from you soon.

Paul053 wrote:Only one suggestion, though. You may need to thin down the paint a little more to create more smooth surface . That will be easier too if you want to paint the larger and flat area.

You're talking about the chest, I bet. The funny thing is that I used a spray can for the black parts. I don't know if I've ever managed to do such an uneven spray job on anything, ever.

Paul053 wrote:Or some parts, you can put a very thin layer of super glue over and it works very well.

I'm not sure if I'd be willing to try that on enamels, though. The solvents in some glues will damage the paint job.

Paul053 wrote:That's a very good start. Hope to see more from you soon.

'Soon' might be pushing it if work doesn't let up a bit, but I enjoyed it this time around so I'm sure I'll get around to another one whenever I can.

Good Idea + Execution. I thought the limit of this mold had been tapped, but you pulled out a winner here. Very nice.