Re: Movie Optimus Prime build
 

Yeah, I just need to keep calm, and avoid throwing the body at a wall! lol
I'm trying to do as much of it myself as possible, so i will get there!

I'm much more used to painting military models, its so much simpler to paint a dirty, faded, chipped, old paint job, than a smooth glossy one!

By comparison, this was easy!
http://members.iinet.net.au/~canison/t34/9.JPG
http://members.iinet.net.au/~canison/t34/15.JPG
http://members.iinet.net.au/~canison/t34/14.JPG

Re: Movie Optimus Prime build
 

Right, lets try this again...

http://members.iinet.net.au/~canison/prime/117.JPG

Re: Movie Optimus Prime build
 

True bob but imperfections is easy to do .i do them all the time :o:D

Re: Movie Optimus Prime build
 

Bummer you have to go through this:(. The rest of the truck is turning out great! I'm sure you'll be able to get her back on track;).

Re: Movie Optimus Prime build
 

Bob, at least you can do multi-colored paint schemes. I can barely lay down a nice single colored scheme. Even when they turn out perfect, something stupid happens. Like a fly lands in it, or it tips over, while drying, and lands in some dirt!

That military model looks great. Your perseverance will prevail.

Re: Movie Optimus Prime build
 

Hey Bob, quick question, how do you sand/putty/primer, and what do you use to do it? (start/finish grits, different grits for layers, type of putty, type of primer, average amount of repeats).

Re: Movie Optimus Prime build
 

Putty i mostly use Tamiyas polyester putty. Has a hardener so hardens in no time at all, and easily sandable. Very smooth with no grain, applies like cream.

Primer i mostly use a grey acrylic primer filler from an auto parts store. Though i do use a Tamiya superfine white primer sometimes. It can be good to have colour contrasts so you can see where you've sanded too much.

Sanding is a mix. That sanded hood was with a 240 grit painters sandpaper since i had to cut through all the bad paint. Now that its primed, i'll go over it with 400, and probably 600 as well. I use wet and dry for 400 and up, but only use it dry. If i'm polishing aluminium i'll go to 1000, 1200, 1600, and 2000 grit, done wet.

I do go to 800 on putty/primer, but usually only before i'm about to paint, so it gives the smoother finish.

Number of times, basically just until its smooth. With the extended hood, to get the join smooth and invisible, i probably puttied/primed/sanded at least 4 layers. Probably way overkill, but i just do it till it looks right to me.

But dont take me as a guru or anything, i'm just making it up as i go along! lol

Re: Movie Optimus Prime build
 

Third times a charm!
I probably should have made the yellow/gold band a bit thicker, but oh well, too late now.

http://members.iinet.net.au/~canison/prime/118.JPG

Re: Movie Optimus Prime build
 

Paint looks great, and so does that window!:D MOAR!!!!

Re: Movie Optimus Prime build
 

I'll give it a protective clearcoat tonight, then make the masks for spraying the blue. The one for the roof of the cab is going to be a pain.

Re: Movie Optimus Prime build
 

I'm letting the clearcoat cure properly for a week or so before i do any masking over it. So in the meantime i decided to get some work on the trailer done since the styrene for the side panels came in.

Armed with drill press, grinder and shears, i got a fair chunk of it made. The top is a sheet of stainless steel, still has protective plastic on it, and will until its all painted/prepped/lit/etc. The real trailer has rounded front corners, so i cut and bent a sheet of aluminium to fit. I still need to cut and grind the front top corners to get a curve to match before I can attach it fully though.

The real trailer is a 53", so in scale its 1150mm long. (or about 46" for the metrically challenged).
I've now realised I dont have a shelf in my house anywhere thats long enough to display the truck with trailer hitched! lol

(flat bed trailer box for scale)
http://members.iinet.net.au/~canison/prime/119.JPG
http://members.iinet.net.au/~canison/prime/120.JPG
http://members.iinet.net.au/~canison/prime/121.JPG

Re: Movie Optimus Prime build
 

That trailer is really looking sweet, how tall should it be to be a scaled 13'6" and how tall are those plastic sheets you used for the side panels? Im thinking of converting my 53' flatbed to a reefer trailer.

Re: Movie Optimus Prime build
 

From what I worked out, in scale it should be about 294mm tall ground to top of the roof. But the actual box should be about 200mm tall, which is how i've tried to size it.

I redrilled the mounts for the axles/suspension to lower the trailer, ended up with about 10-15mm between the tyres and floor of the box i think. Probably some variation due to construction thicknesses, but its within a few mm i think. In scale it should look "about right" lol.

The styrene sheets are by Evergreen, 12" x 24", so theres 2 on each side, glued together in the middle so the pattern matches, and trimmed to size. Cost about $18US each i think. I did find some local stainless steel with a pretty similar pattern, but was going to cost me too much, like multiple hundreds. Wasnt worth it. I have some chrome adhesive vinyl on the way to cover the styrene.

Re: Movie Optimus Prime build
 

Made the rear bumper/lights for the trailer today. Its a llittle uneven, but it'll do the job. Still need to paint the styrene, and polish the ali though.

Thanks to Russ for the centre light plate.

http://members.iinet.net.au/~canison/prime/122.JPG
http://members.iinet.net.au/~canison/prime/123.JPG

Re: Movie Optimus Prime build
 

The trailers looking awesome bob, nice Jon ....keep up this build.

Re: Movie Optimus Prime build
 

Got the rear of the trailer mounted up. Had to re-make the rear side uprights of the trailer frame too, turned out they werent even.

Have some of Lynns bezels for the lights, and waiting on some chrome vinyl wrap to cover the styrene side panels. I've worked out what i'm doing for the back doors, but am having trouble working out how to mount the trailer running lights along the frame to get the right look.

http://members.iinet.net.au/~canison/prime/124.JPG

Re: Movie Optimus Prime build
 

Lookin' good Bob.

- RCT

Re: Movie Optimus Prime build
 

I had to remake the front panel of the trailer, the previous one was 5mm too short.

I think my method of construction is: measure once, cut, test fit, swear, measure again, trim a bit, test again, swear some more, throw it out, cut a new piece, test yet again, swear profoundly, measure again, hack it a bit, whack it on, yell good enough!

I also ground down the front corners of the frame to round it for the front panel to fit. God bless the Dremel!

http://members.iinet.net.au/~canison/prime/125.JPG

Not done up completely yet, have to dismantle the whole trailer for painting and chrome adhesive on the styrene. Also going to add a painted strip of styrene (or maybe ali) along the top and bottom of the front panel. Have a reefer unit on the way, so will mount when it arrives.

http://members.iinet.net.au/~canison/prime/126.JPG

Re: Movie Optimus Prime build
 

So i'm working on how to do the back doors, they have a quilted pattern which is difficult to replicate.

http://members.iinet.net.au/~canison/prime/128.JPG

I had a spare bit of thin aluminium, so i tried putting a cross set of bends in it for the quilted pattern. Not really sure if it works or not. I could probably do a better bending job, but getting the crossed folds tends to flatten it a bit.

Thoughts?

http://members.iinet.net.au/~canison/prime/127.JPG

Re: Movie Optimus Prime build
 

Bob, that actually looks really good, despite loosing some of the pleats. Hmmm, I wonder how an aluminum sheet would look if you started with a little thicker piece and actually scribed the pleat folds into it. It may not look as 3D and soft, but it would hold the lines better and be more durable.

The other idea I have, though extremely labor intensive, is to find some wire mesh screen the right size and with the right pattern. Then burnish a piece of aluminum foil over the top of it, getting it snuggled down in between the mesh on a solid flat surface. Then, if you separated the mesh from the foil, and flipped the foil over, you could glue it to the door, but it would be very fragile. Just an idea.