Project Rodimus : Second stab at customizing my Transformers.

So you probably already know if you follow my Chachipower channel that I have taken to dismantling a Hasbro Masterpiece Rodimus Prime.

Here is my 2 week old Rodimus that has never even been transformed. In fact I haven't even posed it. Just like that I decided to paint it...

So far I have taken apart the figure. It is not as easy as one would think. Because of it's design and engineering, a good amount of parts are held on with pins. Small pins. Trying to take those pins out would not only consume all my time but it would probably lead to breakage of things. So I had to mask about 70% of the figure. The problem with masking is that it isn't perfect. However I am pretty happy with the results.

Any good paint job requires good paint and good finishing labor. Well I chose automotive paint because it resists handling. The finishing part requires a good deal of wet sanding to get a glass finish. Normally when you wet sand something, you are wet-sanding smooth contours. Rodimus has a lot of detailing that gets in the way so I can only wet-sand so much.

 So far so good, all the paint is applied and all the misc pieces were clear-coated today. I remasked the rear section of Rodimus so I can apply some metallic yellow to his wings.

By far the most fun part was getting the LED function to work on his Matrix. I figured, hey if I'm crazy enough to take apart and paint an expensive toy, I can at least take the time to get an LED feature to work on it. So I did. I had to drill the Matrix carefully to accept the LED. Then I had clearance issues so I had to shave the back of the Matrix. In the end it looks good.

LED feature is cool but very limited space to figure out wiring and battery placement.

So why did I decide to do this? It seemed like a fun and crazy challenge. I am no customizer by a long shot, but I like painting cars and this is sort of one. I am not one to do crazy weathering on figures. I like to make them like they were just freshened up. Nice on the outside, slight wear on the insides. Just like the WFC Bumblebee I did.

There are obviously cons to this project.
A: Since 95% of the figure is painted, scraping of paint can happen (good thing it's car paint, just touch it up :)
B: Probably not a good Idea to transform him. It's possible, but you would have to have the patience of a saint to avoid scratches.
C: LED feature is not a full-time feature. It would have to be removed for transformation.

End result? It looks like it going to kick ass when I'm done. It's more of a display piece than toy. Which is why toys normally don't come painted. And the ones that do scratch up like crazy.

One more thing, I will probably put this up on eBay sometime. That way I can fund the next project :)