Wreckers: Guzzle

borrowed JangoThaKing's idea for using hailstorm as a base. here's my take on Wreckers Guzzle:

woo-hoo

more pics and a write-up on him soon.

So i bit the bullet with him.

first day with my cast removed and my hand feeling better i work on this:

my spin on Sorlac333's deluxe prime. but i extended the forearms on mine a little bit.

Highbrow review

it's been a while since I properly reviewed something for this blog. to be honest, it was mostly because I was lazy, but in my personal say, I find very few things I really like that would be worth writing more than just "it's cool" or "totally awesome", hardly anything makes me want to expound on the reason I like something nowadays. but this figure I recently got myself (thanks to some side money), and have been eyeing for a while now is really something that impresses me both on the theme of it and the overall look. so here's my review of the Transformers: Hunt for the Decepticons Voyager class Highbrow-

I love planes. not as much as tanks but I have a soft spot for old school propeller types. that said, seeing more of prop planes getting made in transformers is something I really appreciate. 

of course, Highbrow's model is a fictional fighter but it looks plausible enough, despite being armed with rather contemporary looking payload under each wing, and twin engine planes back then really had a better appeal personally. this is close to a P-38 Lightning and can be considered as a homage, due to the designation as a P+10. detailed sculpt with rivets and panel lines, well detailed cockpit interior and transparent canopy really solid mode for me.

it also has spinning rotors at the front so the playability is pretty neat!

here's a front shot, and let me tell you, he's pretty damn sexy looking from this view and the landing gear placement and orientation tips the entire body up while stationary so it's always elevated slightly which works well for it.

Obligatory gerwalk mode!

here he is in robot mode, i like about 90% of him, and that remaining 10% of disliking comes from the weird positioning of the hands. its understandable for being located where the rotor spinning motor is and not having enough space for proper deployment, but I prefer to set it at an angle so it's roughly in-line with the forearm. i really love the torso design and the legs, mostly because they have a solid, classic feel to them unlike the greeble-addled chicken-footed fare of the other recent plane types. i'm glad the movie influence on him is balanced out. partly due to the fact that the planes of the time were cigar shaped and smooth-ish, it transitioned well for the robot mode. and as noted by people before me he lacks a faction symbol. but i like him that way and i have no plans of adding one myself. he's a real robot in disguise.

of course the spin-rotor gimmick is present in both modes.

and here's the other thing that is generally like about the figure, his "aviator cap" flips down over his eyes and sits over them with transparent "goggles" absolutely genius work on the designer's part! 

  i was just wowed by how much he looks like a robotic, WW-II air jockey. like a dude wearing a green pilot's jacket over a sky-blue uniform with a silver/gray scarf, and wearing an aviator cap + goggles. and two guns holstered by his waist.

his articulation is fairly decent too, but i think he really would have benefited from a ball-jointed neck. but the poseability of the legs alone is impressive.

so yeah, Voyager Highbrow gets a 9/10 from me, and i am glad to have written a bit on him. he's just a very cool and unique looking robot that i'd highly recommend to plane buffs.

changes everyday

thinned the arm bandages, started legs.

update

she's slowly coming together now. i'll leave it at that and not mention the disaster that occurred after i snapped pics.

i'll just say her hair might turn out different within the next few updates.

okay this is one of the most minor modding projects i remember doing since i flipped around ravage's hind legs into a vague wing-like configuration and called it laserbeak. but here's a mod i did of generations red alert to make him look different from sideswipe's head. wrong shade of red i know but i'll fix it as soon as i find a brighter red alternative. for now though this will do. i also switched out some parts from universe sideswipe as well adding some red here and white there. altmode pics once the red is corrected.

practicing

okay, my hand has been feeling better as of late, and to get it into top kitbash condition for when it's fully healed i decided to try something a bit new to me. some months back i posted about snaggging a blank microman material force micro lady figure well i decided to see if i can do a custom from it. so this past week, every night i've been working on sculpting over the blank body and i'm close to finishing the headsculpt. fuck. i am a total noob when it comes to scratch sculpting faces (especially on a surface only 1.2cm big) and half-managed to make the face, well... decent.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

there will be just a bit more to smooth out and retouch but this is as far as my current skill set can muster for now. currently building up the chest, and i plan to do the hair and more detailing next week.


 this custom will be based on a character from an old cartoon, but i'm thinking of withholding the identity until i make it more recognizable.  overall i'm enjoying the process, despite how slow it is, because it allows me time to think through and plan the rest of the figure.

not breaking progress but just filled in gaps in the feet, cut at the shoulder parts to bring the arms lower, and adjusted the tightness in the ankles so he can do poses like this with no external support:

now a swivel joint is what you need in the waist. but i'm still weeks off from doing any heavy work on anything,

new haul for november, got a lot of doubles as well as replacement stuff like deluxe tank megatron and new bot like mindwipe:

enjoyed figuring out the combined robot mode (CHESTMASTERS, CHEST-ON!)

also tried to make a decent attempt at a combined mode for their jet forms and ended up having a stealth fighter with a back-mounted super-charger deal. :|

eh, it'll do for now.

i like the fact that now i have an actual mindwipe to check if it's possible to do a custom based on this previous post and it's possible! just need to slice off and re-place stuff, but the most challenging thing might be the wings. well i look forward to buying at least 2 more of this mold to start experimenting. he's just too cool looking on his own!

ukelele time!

my semestral break is almost up, and i can wholeheartedly say i am not looking forward to going back to classes, not when i'm still hungover from my 2-day vacation in the province. but this week, what's in store is hopefully me finishing my enrollment on time, getting my hand X-rayed (if i can use that as a verb) and spend a saturday paying for stuff. what i'm really looking forward to is getting my laptop fixed again--i can't quite seem to be nice to technology--and  the weekly doctor's visit, to see how soon i can get the cast off my right hand--yes, the kabuto reference is intentional, and the top image is there to help establish that.

pretty soon my life will be back to normal, with continual stress, caffeine, and the only part of my routine i look forward to in a few weeks, customization. it's a hobby i miss, and really there are some things i want to finish or begin.either way, it can only get better from here.