Autobot Medic

I had the idea to add some character to the bases with battle damage. I cut up bits of card to act as torn up metal.

well, his new legs ended up looking okay. The extra length seemed to match his arms so balanced out well. It's a great way to make unique warriors in the line up.

I was really struggling not to put loads of red on him, but armed with good reference, I kept to a minimum.

 

These two pictures ended up being the most useful. This is Ratchet from the Bubblebee film. I love the scratched, battered appearance, something I want to try and replicate.

Other versions of Ratchet.

Believe it or not there are actually websites devoted to generating names. One of these is for Transformers. This proves very useful in coming up with suitable names.

 I then split them into what I thought were good for Autobot and Decepticon. I also created categories for these bots by their size and type, as some names would fit better with bigger bots etc. 

Autobot Re-enforcement

The mighty Sky fire joins the meger forces of the down trodden Autobots. The model is from action figure range and is a perfect fit with the scale.

To make the figures more individual, I've started to add Plasticard extras. These have been done with the old cartoon designs in mind.

Hopefully, these extra bits and pieces along with different colour schemes, will give the impression of a vast selection of warriors. 

Making more bases to keep up with recruitment. The big question is do I paint the Autobot bases gold or leave them Cybertron purple. The colour would make it easier to tell the two sides apart. I will do some tests to see what it looks like.

UPDATE: Lightbulb moment for new characters.
 

While messing around with making bases, I had the idea of changing the height of some of the bots.

I liked the idea of painting up the medical officer Ratchet, but also making him larger so he matches the cartoon. 

I had already started to beef this bot up, but the idea of a larger bot lead to him getting a new pair of platform shoes. I also made a special base with higher blocks on it to help with the illusion.

New plasticard legs and boots.

 This model is actually meant to be Ratchet from the live action film. However, all the toys are the same size so they need some altering to fit their cartoon heights.

Once the glue is dry, I will file the edges of the feet down to  tidy them up. This is a good way of adding some variety to the ranks of identical troops. I also want to make Brawn using a smaller bot as a frame. The thick plasticard arms will definitely come in handy for him.

New feet and base and the taller, beefed up Ratchet is ready to take the fight to the Decepticons. I also added thick chunks of plasticard to his arms to help him stand out. At a glance, he definitely looks like a new character, especially with his additional helmet shape. Once painted there will be no mistaking Ratchet in the game.

I think Xenos Rampant has rules for medics too which will be handy.

The classic G1 Ratchet. He has had many new versions since 1984, but I will use this one to influence his colour scheme.

War for Cybertron

Tonight I had time to sit down and paint some heavy metal. Thunder cracker joins Stars cream and Skywarp to complete the Seeker unit. These three will make a unit of 'heavy infantry' in Xenos Rampant.

It wasn't just the Decepticons who received some love tonight. Two Autobots found themselves under the brush too. I started on one of the smaller bits to see how they paint up. I used cartoon type colours rather the live action colours to make him match the others.

I think he looks quite good and is the perfect size compared to the other robots. He has the feel of Smokescreen to him, but this was by accident. It was fun just dabbing away and making up a new character.

The Autobot fire truck took shape as well. The weathering on the metal was done using a pencil and later with a silver Sharpie for the larger marks. These robots have been fighting for years and are showing the signs of it. Their lovely paint jobs are looking very worn and battered now.

The bots are perfectly in scale with that of the cartoon.

The collection so far. I found a nice cheat was to use the 0.5mm pen to draw extra detail on the bases. This helps as intricate patterns can be quickly drawn that would take ages to cut in plasticard. It also fits with the cartoon look to the bases.

I found a website online that generates Transformer names and have now got a book full. The next step is to go through them and start giving these new characters names.

 All of the tips used for weathering armoured vehicles now come in very handy. There's no mud though on Cybertron, mores the pity.