W.I.P. Custom Kamen Rider BIO-RIDER

Finally found some time today after a long couple of weeks to get back into customizing a figure. The workstation is a mess with dismantled bits and pieces of Transformers, Marvel Legends, etc from before.

The Batmobile that I was working on halfway is currently placed on hold as I'm lacking ideas and I need to hunt for more parts.

So what have we got here instead? A Series 1 Marvel Legends figure done by Hasbro after Toybiz lost the license to produce further ML figures.

It's a character I've absolutely never heard of... Banshee.

It's one heck of an ugly sculpt with its mouth wide open, horrid colour scheme and is a generally dismal product under the "Legends" banner (which had much better toys when under Toybiz... did I not mentioned that before? Heh. Thankfully Hasbro's now churning out better sculpts!)

Anyway, this ugly boy has heaps of potential... potential for what you may ask?

Potential to become a Kamen Rider figure that is! Yeah!

First we get rid of that horrid hairdo.

Argh! I'm bald! (Don't complain too much Banshee as your eyes are next! LOL!)

Re-sculpted the head completely and sculpted some accesories for a more KR feel.

So that's that for today... more work to be done for this guy so do stick around!

Ned's Batman

Check out this cool drawing of Batman! It's excellently done by Ned... Ned's 7 years of age and obviously going to be a great artist judging by the many drawings he's done as shown to me by his Dad, Simon.

Ned's Batman has inspired me to get the custom Batman, Batmobile and Robin project done asap. I'll be converting Speed racer, Racer-X and the Mach-5 car into team Bats!

Soon to be team Bats!

Rider-X always knew he was called for greater things

Stay tuned for the customization process in the next couple of weeks!

Marvel Mighty Muggs!!! Argh!!!

So why "Argh!!!" when I look at the Mighty Muggs that Hasbro's been churning out recently?Well, I said to myself that I won't be getting any of these deformed cutesy little abominations... told that to Edmund and I do believe that I mentioned that to Derek as well.

I didn't like the fact that these pieces of plastic were basically of the same mold (with the occasional tweaking to add claws or flames or whatever).

These guys are made of 100% recycled plastic and to me were a rip-off for the prices they were going for (20-25 bucks!)... I just couldn't find any justification in paying anything for them!

Well, that was then...

Then came a day (a couple of weeks back?) when I received a call from Edmund telling me that they were going for 50% off their retail price... then my wife wanted a couple as she thought that they were really "cute"... then I said "why not?"... then it went downhill from there... Sigh.

Might Muggs Ironman wannabe hanging out with the real Ironmen

Sooooo... now we've got a few... I'm hoping to keep it at that... just "a few". I've seen pictures of the new Transformers Mighty Muggs that's going to be released soon (or is it out already??).

I'm not gonna get any...... argh.

TakaraTomy Music Label SOUNDWAVE "Blaster Black" Version

Box front

I'd recently received the Music Label Soundwave after much hesitation in purchasing as it was previously retailing for over a hundred bucks... I wasn't comfortable with that price as it's a rather smallish bot and the initial release came only in white which didn't appeal to me.

Anyway thanks to Derek, I got this bot now at a lower price and in Decepticon Soundblaster colours! Soundwave always looked awesome in good ole Takara black.

Box back

Spark Blue & Sonic White variants (initial releases)

Soundwave is a fully functional MP3 player that runs on a single AAA battery and it requires a mini SD card (sold separately) which you'd slot into the front compartment of the bot... just like the original Soundwave toy of the 80's (it was mini-tapes during that time).

Opening up for the mini SD card

The original toy of the 80's had 2 pseudo-batteries that transformed into a missile launcher and a gun respectively. In this version, these weapons are non-transformable but look really great.

Really amused me to see the "Wave Bluster" printed on the gun... classic Takara! Heh.

"Ravage, Laserbeak, Rumble, Frenzy... prepare for eject... EJECT!"

You're going down Autobots!

Is Soundwave poseable? You betcha! The level of poseability for this figure is quite remarkable and a significant improvement on the original Soundwave (the original had good poseability for its time tho).

This bot came with 3 pairs of different hands (closed fists, gun wielding hands and hands that allow SW to "press" his eject button on his shoulder).

TakaraTomy could've saved a little on plastic by reducing the number of hands as besides the closed fists, the remaining 2 types of hands could still hold onto the gun anyway... and we don't really need a right hand to mimic the "eject" pose when there's only one button on the left.

Comparison shot of the new SW and the original 80's toy

So would I recommend others to get this bot? Definitely! Overall, I'd rate this Music Label bot a sweet 9 out of 10. It looks awesome (I really lurve the black to the blue or white); has great poseability; actually plays music; and it fits nicely in scale to the Universe Classics series of bots.

You can pop it in your pocket on your way to work or school and nobody would think twice about your MP3 player being a "Transformer"! Truly a robot in disguise! A++

Special thanks to buddies Edmund and Jamie as well! Thanks guys!

Precious Melody 2008

In loving memory of our very precious one... may your beautiful melody play on forever in the arms of the Lord. Daddy & Mommy will always love you and remember you... every minute has been engraved onto our hearts.

Custom Transformers Unicron

Managed to squeeze some time in tonight after everyone's gone to bed to take a couple of better pictures of Unicron before I store it away in the glass display. The horns have been redone to a (hopefully!) better looking finish. Pictures as promised... enjoy!

The next project I've got brewing in me head is either another Transformer or something Batman related... haven't really decided. This has been a long eventful week (and month) and I'm rather exhausted... will see when the urge kicks in for the next custom to be done. Till then... thanks for dropping by :)

Custom Transformers Unicron COMPLETED!

Phew! It is done! Spent the last 6-7 hours after dinner fine-tuning the sculpt and did the paints by hand. Did a fair amount of dry brushing and adding in the tiny details. Will seal the paints in the next couple of days to ensure that it doesn't chip. I'm stoked at how this has turned out! Will post proper pictures when I get the time... enjoy!

Back view of Unicron. This ole Chaos Bringer is fully transformable to a nasty planet-eating eerrrmm... Planet! I'm not going to transform him just yet... gotta be patient with the paints.

UNICRON!!!!!

Custom Transformers Unicron - W.I.P. (Part 2)

Finally, found some time yesterday to finish up on Unicron's body and panels. Been unwell the last couple of weeks.

Managed to squeeze in time to prime the bot as well as spray it a flat black . His horns are still a W.I.P. and I should be able to get some of it done this evening (hopefully!)

A little slow but I'm satisfied with the progress done so far... till then, when all parts are one! Stay tuned!

Care Bears Collector's Edition

As requested by my dear wife, I'm posting this picture up of her Collectors' Edition Care Bears. It took me a while to hunt these down for her after seeing some of them sold at premium prices in a store during our Singapore trip last year.

She's been very patient... if it was me, I would have snapped them up there or on Ebay or something. But yeah, we saved quite a bit getting these guys from Big-W, Target, Myer, etc instead of overseas (after waiting for about a year tho).

Well, that's what a wife is for... to knock you hard on the head if you get overzealous in wanting to make purchases quickly without first thinking straight and considering other options/venues that can save you quite a bit of dough :)

Custom Transformers Unicron - W.I.P.

Ok, I'm supposed to be sick this weekend... been unwell since Friday. However, that didn't stop me from doing something really silly tonight. I know I'm going to regret it in the morning (thank God I've got a day-off tomorrow!). I spent the last 8-9 hours since after dinner to work on a custom that has been on my mind since my dearest wife got me a Darth Vader/Death Star from Big-W 3 weeks back.I really loved the Darth Vader/Death Star Transformer even though I'm normally rather against these "crossover" toys. This piece attracted me due to it's size and owing to the fact that it could transform into a perfect sphere. It also came with tiny minicon ships and little storm troopers plus a little Vader as well. Really cool!

Unfortunately, it stood out too much in my collection as I don't normally collect Star Wars... so it's time to make this guy a full-fledged TRANSFORMER!

First, had it transformed to planet mode to label all panels prior to dismantling them.

Holes drilled into panels for spikes.

Off with Vader's face as this is going to be Unicron's!

Slice!

Smack on the putty (KneadIt)

Fine tuning the nose and mouth bits.

Covered up the gaps on the side of the helmet with more putty.

Undignified Unicron with a toilet-roll cardboard over his head to protect his face as I work on filing and sanding his chest bits.

View of head at 80% completion... still requiring more touch-ups later.

Sculpting in the rock-hard abs.

Viola! Custom Unicron at 75% completion at 2.05am and I'm totally exhausted! Will resume more work on this bot in a week's time as other minor additions need to be done before I can look to priming and painting. Still looking for alternatives to make his horns with... stay tuned! Time now to catch some ZZZzzzzzzzzzz.........

Custom Agent Ravage (Evolution) - More Pics

Not here to bore you but there's been some request for more pics of Agent Ravage (Evolution). I'm trying my best to take photos that would appear a little better... I'm no photographer but I've been told to go easy on the flash (apologies if I was blinding you guys. Heh).

Anyway, photos as requested, this time from a proper camera and not my phone's cam... hope it's better. I know I should have chosen a lighter background but I couldn't find anything that was decent enough... so yeah...

Oh, forgot to mention... found a Decepticon insignia from some old takara Transformers book reissue leftover sticker-sheet (was a pain to cut out). Really like the silver and black colour sticker as it fits the stealthy looks of ole Ravage's colour scheme.

Side profile with cannons.

Ravage without weapons.

Weapons as jet boosters.

Better view of back.

Beast mode.

Pouncing on unsuspecting Autobot prey!