Ironhide and Sunstreaker

Waking up today I decided to have another look at the Ironhide model. I managed to do some really intricate stuff with his head and the plasticard. I beefed up his shoulders and gave him some more leg panels. Impressed by the detail work on his head, I thought I would have a stab at Sunstreaker.

Sunstreaker has large side panels on his head and this was the challenge. It was tricky working with the super glue but we got there.

The new updated Ironhide with his head crest and beefed up armour. As the hero of the heavy unit, I had to spend a little more time on him to make him special.

He looks much more chunky now with his extra shoulder armour, but the best thing is his head crest. I was impressed with the amount of detail you can create using the plasticard.

He's not looking to far off, anyone who knows their bots would have no trouble identifying him.

For Sunstreaker I had to do some research to get his character. Sunstreaker is vain and very protective of his beautiful body work. I gave him large panels to reflect a nice shine off when varnished.

Ironhide now with extra shoulder panels. His name reflects the fact that his armour is almost impervious to laser fire.

I couldn't resist getting some paint on Sunstreaker as he is one of my favourites.

A nice coat of Kleer floor varnish gives him a turtle Wax sheen. I felt bad but I had to score his pristine shell with battle damage. The war has been going on too long and the Autobots are running short of just about everything. So Sunstreaker's selenium sheen guards are pretty low on the repair list.

I gave his metal work a wash of blue ink to give it a chrome look. This ties in nicely with his character.

The two twins are now together to dish out some dents.
 

UPDATE:

I started work on another heavy, this one is based on Grapple. It's another Optimus Prime kitbash. I created the crane using plasticard shapes. I found two that interlocked with eachother and firmed a nice crane.

It's just what the Autobots need for a bit of heavy backup. I imagine this Robot to heavily used in construction, so be very strong.

This crane would retract down so doorways were not a problem.

For extra detail I stuck on bits from Grognards sprue to act as intricate machinery.

 A nice tip in making different robots is to try and give each one a distinct silhouette. This heavy labour Autobot has nice hook shaped shoulder mounts, making him visually very different from the others at a glance.

I will paint him based on Grapple, so a dirty yellow paint scheme. 

He is a tough old veteran and has seen his fair share of action. He carries the dents and scars of many battles.

After leaving him for a few hours, I went back and tweaked him. I added extra head details and two barrels to his legs. Hopefully, this extra love will pay off at the painting stage.

After shot of Ironhide.

Best of buddies.

More detail on the head, taking it well away from the Optimus silhouette.

I coat of Yellow contrast paint is a good starting point for this heavy lifter.