ProtoTuesday - Nothin'!

Now, I'm sure you're expecting from the title that I've given up this week, lost my motivation and drawn a total blank on the Prototytan Project.  It's happened enough, right?

Well, you'd be wrong!  My scanner's just dead, so I can't post any new sketches.  

I've been working a lot on Megatron though and have about half of the robot mode done now.  Still working on the torso and arms, but the legs are totally built and transformable.  I should have a new render up of the legs by Thursday.  I haven't done any sketches lately, but I've got plenty of stuff to post once my scanner's back up and running.

3D Thursday - These Boots were Made for Transforming

Megatron's transformation begins here.  He transforms similarly to the 2-Pack Classics Megatron with the tank turret becoming the arms and hiding the head, but his legs are a different matter.

Bulky boots with tiny toes.

The bumpers split and fold along the canopy, the tires fold behind the foot and the top of the cockpit area folds out to become his toes.  I'm still working on the way for the upper legs and knees to work, but I should have that complete next week.

3D Thursday - Megatron 2

Since finishing the Moore Automotive logo, I took my time getting back to the Prototytan Project.  My wife and I are doing a lot of personal stuff now, so I've had a lot of distractions, but last night I got back into the groove - enough to finish Megatron's vehicle mode.  

Big roller.

It's not designed exactly like the G6 Rhino, most evident in the end of the barrel.  Instead of using the flat plate that the vehicle used, I just replicated Megatron's cannon.  The whole thing will contract into itself, but it's still going to be a lot bigger than Megatron's original cannon.

I just realized I forgot to add an aiming piece to the top of the barrel pivot.  Poop.

3D Thursday - Megatron 2

I've spent the majority of this week working on my friend's logo (Which is awaiting final approval today), but I found some time this weekend to work on Megatron some more.  

I really need to work on my lighting.

I built up the turret and added a few panels to the top of the chassis.  I need to get rid of some extra polygons on the turret face though and then I'll start work on the barrel.  I'll be ready to start tearing it apart for the robot mode after that.  I'm trying to focus on a good detail vs time ratio, so instead of taking a ton of time and making it super-detailed, I just want to pump out a decent model as soon as I can.  We'll see how well that turns out once I get a better grip on Blender.

3D Thursday - Megatron 2

Starting work on a full Transformer and I decided to go with Megatron again because of the familiarity working with this vehicle mode.  I've got to say that it's so much easier working with Blender now.

Looks like a Bic Razor.

I'm taking a break from modeling for a little while, however.  I was recently hired by a friend to design a logo for them.  I'll post a picture when it's finished, but I'm having a good time with it and hope to finish it by the middle of September to allow some changes before their new shop opens the beginning of October.

Distractions

I'm sure it's obvious, but I haven't done anything on here in a while.  I just finished my finals and I'm done with school.  I did create a website for the Prototytan Project, but before I can post it, I need to make some changes, like getting rid of things the teacher required for the website and replacing them with stuff I actually want.  And I have to find some money somewhere to pay for it.

But now that school's over, i've been thinking a lot about the Prototytan Project and where I want to go with it.  I'm looking forward to going back in Megatrons Anonymous also.  In the mean time, I ordered the RtS Legends from TFSource (and got my account info stolen, but that's getting taken care of now) and I love them!  Those things are awesome.  They've got me interested in making my own Legends figures even more and an idea struck me.  I want those little Legends to have weapons and accessories!  If I could make a rifle for Prime and a scope for Megs's alt mode, that would be great, but why stop there?  There are a ton of opportunities for the G1 Legends.

So that'll be my first step to the Prototytan Project, putting the comic, the models, and original characters on hold.  I'll be designing them soon and modeling them after that and posting pictures of all of them when I can.

Megatron Monday - Special Delivery

Okay it's a week late, but here we go.  I've been collecting Megatron's for a long time, but not since the beginning so there's been quite a bit I've missed.  And there aren't a lot that have come out in the states either.  So I've looked online and picked up a few that have before now slipped through my fingers - Alternity Megatron (Black Edition), Legends Cybertron Megatron, and World's Smallest Transformers Megatron.

I'm not going to be doing full reviews of these, but I've had them all just under a week (Legends only arrived today).  I've got Transmetal Megatron coming too, but since I've had him before (lost him to GPS - Got eaten by a Puppy Syndrome) so there's no need to wait for him.

I am so happy to get these guys.  I've been looking online for Legends for a long time, but I've been afraid to get anything off the internet, especially eBay.  I had bought G1 reissue Megatron a long time ago, but he was someone I needed to have.  Anyway let's get started here.

Alternity Megatron here is pretty damn sweet.  I knew he was a bit smaller than Alternator scale, but I was shocked by exactly how small he is.  Even though he's smaller, he still packs a ton of detail and articulation.  He's certainly got the samurai look going for him with both swords, the loin cloth-looking thing, and the shoulder pads.  He's even got those blades on his wrists that give him some extra weapons, but where the hell is his cannon?  Prime kept his gun, but Megatron loses it?  Bullshit.

I do have to admit that he can pull off some epic poses with or without his swords.  He's got plenty of articulation in his feet giving him lots of possibilities for wide-legged poses.  I'm happy with the guy, even though I would have preferred to get the silver version (but I wasn't about to pay the extra $20 for him).  As cool as this figure is, he still doesn't make up for the fact that Megatron was totally left out of the Alternator line.

Legends Cybertron Megatron, like i said before, is one of my most wanted Megatrons.  Okay I goofed here, he's Galvatron, but I always hated the Megatron color scheme in Cybertron.  It's crazy that he gets a Galvatron upgrade, but instead of purple, he gets an original Megatron color scheme.  Anyway, he's a pretty good representation of Leader class Galvatron.  I'm pretty surprised by all the articulation he's got.  The only thing he's really missing is the elbow joints.  

I was really surprised here that Cybertron is so big.  Look at how much bigger he is than the other Megatrons!  I thought he was almost Scout class sized!  When I was first collecting Legends figures, all of the Cybertron figures had been repainted to the Classics line.  All of them except out guy Megalvatron!  What the hell?  They couldn't have repainted him and called him Dragstrip?  Dead End?  Any of the Stunticons?

Anyway, after transforming them all, he stands just a little taller than the rest of them.  He fits in nicely and is still one of the most articulated Legends figures.  I do have the same problem with Leader class Megalvatron - it's hard to balance the guy.  There's so many joints in his legs, but his lower leg and feet are so damn big that it's hard to get the feet flat.  Half the time he's just on the cusp of falling on his butt.

Last but not least, we've got WST Megatron.  Here he is against Mp Prime's Megatron pistol.  Can you tell the difference?  Yeah of course you can, but they're pretty damn close in size, which is astounding.  Besides a few colors, they're practically the same.  I said earlier that I have reissue Megatron, but he's still int he box, so there's no way to compare them.

 Here he is in robot mode with MP Megatron.  I'd show them both in gun mode to see how close they are, but there's no way I was about to try to transform MP Megatron.  Fuck that!  I can't believe they got that robot mode in such a tiny package.  I've never played with the original Megatron so I can't compare the two, but I wish the little guy had some tabs to peg the arms in the side of his torso.  Did the original have them, or did everything just kinda sit together and fall apart when he touch him?

Anyway, yeah these guys are the newest additions to my collection, which is getting way too big.  Honestly, once Transmetal gets here, I think I've got all the ones I need until Reveal the Shield shows up.  I guess I could get some Voyager movie figures.... and Activator... nah screw that, those movie toys can kiss my ass.

Megatron Monday - The Way of the Gun

Special Delivery will be a week late, so instead, I'm going to be focusing on all the Megatrons.  Or the essense of Megatron, more specifically.  I've always been a big fan of Megatron just because of his power and intimidation.  While Starscream may be more popular because of his treachery or Soundwave because of his minions, Megatron's my favorite because of his sheer ruthlessness.  There's a reason he's the leader of the Decepticons, no doubt about it. 

Of course, since there's been so many of them, some stand out more than others.  Surely Beast Wars Megatron is a fan favorite due to his unrivaled cunning.  I don't think any Megatron has had the brilliance to formulate such plans or the guts to pull them off.  Hell, he even took over Cybertron (though I guess G1 Megatron did before the movie came out, I always seem to forget that).  Animated Megatron is another of my favorites for finally putting down Starscream, even if it didn't keep.

With the good, there's always the bad, and there's definitely a few lackluster Megatron's as well.  Robots in Disguise Megatron was supposed to be a powerhouse, yet left everything up to his flunkies, including the planning.  And all the Megatrons of the Unicron Trilogy are disappointing.

But overall, Megatron still is a high point in the Decepticon ranks and only limited by his troops and the required losses in children's shows and Hollywood movies.  In almost ever incarnation, I find myself hoping someone would write a darker storyline where Megatron actually wins (unless Shane McCarthy writes it, yuck).  Do I wish the general Megatron persona was different?  Yeah a bit, like treating his troops as more than just cannon fodder, though that only seems to show up in the comics.  But overall, he's still the best villain to come out of Saturday morning cartoons.  What other villain from the 80's could compare to Megatron?  Cobra Commander?  Too much of a wimp.  Miles Mayhem?  Too much like Wilfred Brimley.  Mumm-ra?  Too much like a Mexican wrestler.

So that's why I like Megatron; because I do.  Seriously, does any of this make sense?  Of course not.  It's a 33 year old guy talking about a kids' cartoon character.  Anyway, more modeling will be posted on Wednesday so come back then - at least most of that stuff can make sense.

Megatron Monday

I'm sticking with Beast Wars today, going from my very first Megatron to the first Megatron I still own - Transmetal 2 Megatron. I had infact owned the first Transmetal Megatron, but he suffered from GPS (Got eaten by a dog Plastic Syndrome). So this guy is the senior member of my collection.

I love this guy! I cannot believe the amount of detail they were able to put into him. I think that after all these years and the various Megatrons that have come out since him, he's still the best looking one. None look like they've gotten nearly this amount of work put into them. There's not a spot on this guy that isn't covered with some kind of technical or biological detail. Even better, nothing on this guy is symmetrical - if one side is bioligical looking, the other side is mechanical. Makes for one crazy looking robot. A simply amazing design.

BEAST MODE

I think it's best we start here. Megatron's a bright shiny red with hints of orange on the wings, tail and underbelly and purple on the wings. In addition to flat plastic colors, we've got translucent plastic on his wings and vacuumized metal on his head, neck, wing tips, and belly. His head and neck look absolutely stunning with the shine on them, with the overlapping plates.

Those plates aren't just for the looks either! The neck has a pretty awesome feature to them that lets it bend to the side and back and forth by moving a switch on its base. The soft plastic will wobble around if not locked into place. It allows for some great posing but it is pretty limited. Another feature in his head has you pressing the back of the head down to open his mouth and fires a missile.

His back legs are short and squat and end in some of the biggest feet I've ever seen. Even though his feet are that big, with another claw sticking off the back, I still have trouble getting him to stand in a position that isn't standing straight up. I mean, that's fine, but not very menacing since he can't look down from there.

The wings on the back can rotate towards his back or his sides and there's a switch that can be

lowered and locked into place to spread them open. The tail is made of the same soft plastic of the neck but doesn't have any posibility to it.

The only drawback to this mode is the base of the tail. Megatron's face is easily visible here, with only a small translucent orange visor that covers have his face. If they had made something that fully covers his head, whether it's translucent or not, it would have made a huge difference. As it is, The tail doesn't look like it fully attaches to the body and has a damned face on it. The thing looks like a Megatron Comet has mounted the dragon's ass.

Before we check out the robot mode, there's a third vehicle mode that most Transmetals have. Once the second Transmetal wave came out, they dumped the vehicle mode, but Megs kept his. It's kinda ridiculous though so I wish they just dumped it. Fold all his legs up exposing a few wheels and he becomes some kinda drag-ster. Get it? Dragon? Dragster? Yeah, I hate

myself too.

ROBOT MODE

Man this guy looks menacing. I mean look at that scowl of his! Evil, I tell you. He keeps a similar mechanic as the Ultra Beast Wars Megatron with a mouth for a hand, but it's swapped now and its his hole neck. The movement feature works the same in this mode, same as the wings. His other arm is normal, but has a big shield on it. It looks like it could block a lot of munitions. The missiles (Megatron comes with three of them and his second launcher above his head, along with two holding slots in his wings) could work as clubs in his one regular hand.

In the middle of Megatron's chest is a soul chamber, an aborted feature that both Megatron and Tigerhawk had. Inside that little plastic orb is an empty chair. That's it. It rolls around all over the place in there. Once they decided not to have someone sitting there, I really wish they did something else with it. They could have just stuck a cat's eye marble in there and it would have looked better. Really, make it purple and you could call it an energon crystal.



The posibility in this guy is great. The legs are extended from his dragon mode and have two knees (the lower one swivels) and keeps his huge feet, allowing for a lot of different poses. Megatron's right arm (the dragon head) can still get pretty decent poses and the mouth can still hold some smaller stuff (like a little Sam Witwicky figure), though the springs keeping it closed aren't that strong.

Overall, this is a fantastic figure and one of my favorite. Megatro's never looked more powerful or menacing. He's a damned dragon, and not a lame one like RiD Megs had, two-headed or not. I highly recommend this guy to any Transformers fan.

Alt Mode Blues

Further Proof

I got the the end of the strip before even realizing I forgot to add Larry into the photos, so I hope his one line makes it up to him.

Megatron Monday



Seeing as how I'm a rabid Megatron collector and already have a Megatron comic strip going, I thought I'd start a new feature on here where I do a weekly review of someone from my collection.  I'll try to stick mainly to the toy, since I haven't followed every series and some toys have no specific story anyway, but I'll throw in some cartoon or comic personality stuff whenever it pops up.  I'm missing quite a bit of Megatrons though, so these won't be totally conclusive, and I'm hardly an expert on engineering, though I'm trying to learn.  I just like Megatron and enjoy when he's well represented.  And when he's not... well, we'll get to that.

For the first review, I'm going to focus on War for Cybertron Megatron.  Kinda fitting, you know?  It's taken me ages to find (okay a month, but that's a long itme for toy collectors) and there's no way I'm not showing that sucker off.  Well, not mine specifically, my camera's not working at the moment, but later reviews should have my own crappy photography.

ROBOT MODE



It's hard to believe how beautiful this toy is.  I've never played the game myself - all I have is the Wii and the game looks pretty disappointing - so I can't compare it to the game model, but I don't care.  I love how sharp and powerful this guy looks.  His headsculpt is spot-on for Megatron, and I especially like how pointed his chin is - I mean, it practically juts out of the helmet.  The only problem I have, which I've seen on a bunch of other guys, is his eyes being painted over.  Why the hell would you make his head light-piping just to paint over it?  And not even that well, since I can see a tiny slit of purple eyeliner on his right eye. 

Hi articulation is great, and probably has the best I've see in the leg.  Sure some of it is the transformation letting the lower leg fold into the thigh, but it lets him kneel down (Megatrons do not kneel, we conquer!).  And I do appreciate the added tilt to his feet.  Those things are huge and it would be a let down if they had to sit at an agle when his legs are spread.  The same thing goes for his elbows which can bend up against his shoulders.  I wish I could rotate the forearms toward the chest - how can Megatron look introspective if he can't touch his chin?  Speaking of his farearms though, I've got to mention the hands.  I gotta say, I like them like this.  I don't think we saw them before Animated, but since then, I've really taken to them.  They're so much more emotive than molded fists - imagine him touching his chin with those hands, it would make Prime shit his pants!  Or something!  I have one other probalem with his articulation though - his waist.  They've got a ton of room there to though is a rotation, but they missed it.  Oh well. 

I'm also glad to see the return of his arm cannon.  I know RotF had a big cannon on his right arm, but it WAS his right arm.  He can't even scratch his ass with that.  But this Megatron can... okay, that's a bad anology.  Anyway, I'm glad it's back to a regular arm with a plug-in cannon.  The detail on it is great too, with the back end looking either like a launching mechanism or a gun barrel.  And the button to launch isn't obviously a tiny little button.  It's details like that I'm in love with here.

TANK MODE

Megatron's back to his almost classic roots as a tank.  It's obvious the robot mode was the priority here and the alt mode just fell in behind, but at least it's not as bad as Animated Cybertron mode.  Everything still looks like it fits together well though.  I read a lot of reviews that give credit to this guy for having tank treads instead of just leaving him as a hover tank, but I'm not buying it.  Yeah it's great they put the thought into it, but the implimentation is a little weak.  The tread sections are too small for the rest of the tank and his hands are right out there in the open.  I wouldn't have as much of a problem with them if they'd at least snap into place, but as it is, they move around way too much.  I'm more comfortable just folding them under and keeping him a hover tank.

Still there's a couple great features on here.  I like the claws in the front - reminds me a lot of Armada.  Glad they don't move though.  I wish that panel under them folded back instead of staying flat and leaving an open spot behind it.  The two extra lasers on the cannon and the left front give Megatron a little extra firepower (like he needs it).  I do wish the cannon here had some kind of rotation or tilt.  But if you're a hover tank, it's not hard to move everything.

Overall, this guy is a great figure.  He gets a lot more points for robot mode than his alt mode, but I don't hold that against him.  He's definitely a threatening-looking guy.  Wish I could see him in action, maybe I'll go get the game.  And a PS3 to play it on, I'm not getting that Cybertron Adventures crap.

Sari for the Confusion

Stupid Kids

Critics

Introductions

Soundwave, Megatron and... Shadowcaster?

I picked up a new sketch pad last weekend since I can't seem to find my old one anyway in the house (it's probably way down my storage hallway), and I've been taking it to work with me and actually putting it to use! I'm astounded. It's not easy to do it when you're working in a hospital surrounded by nurses and buzzers and sick people, but I got a few sketches done and online.


First up is Soundwave. I worked on his the most because I've been trying real hard to give him a new alt mode. I had planned on making him a C-130, but that idea didn't fit well, so now he's a mobile communications truck that controls unmanned aerial vehicles (which will be his minions still). I think I ironed out a realistic transformation for him.

Next is Megatron, who's been redesigned as a G6 (or G8) Howitzer.  Definitely a powerful vehicle, but not his usual tank form.  I haven't been able to draw up a real sketch of the guy yet though, my first attempt turned out super crappy.

Finally, I've got Shadowcaster, an original character of mine based off a Corsair Citation III, I believe.  I've had her planned out for years now so I didn't think a design sketch was necessary.  Yeah, she's a female, it fits the slender body of the plane better than some bulky male body.

Now none of these sketches are made for critiquing anything but the design.  I know proportions stink and the perspective is off, so please don't post that stuff.  just let me know if these designs look realistic enough to be a... transforming robot.  Yeah, just tell me if they suck.