Green is the new black or something...

I have always loved G2 Sideswipe. This is really MY Sideswipe as it took me a whole lotta years to accept him as a red car. I had the original toy forever ago and I loved his spiked shoulder tires in the G2 comics. So much so that I drove small nails the the tires of the figure when I was a kid.

So this figure was entirely a labor of love. As such it took well over a year to get around to completing it and selling it off to my bud, Axaday of the Allspark. It is of course meant to emulate the Botcon Custom Class figure which sent many a fan boy into foaming fits of rage when it was revealed because damn nar everyone wanted it more than most other figures. The next year Botcon tried to make it up to us with an Animated version. I for one forgave them.

The part of this figure I was the most happy with was the windshield. To get it to look like the transparent light green of the Botcon figure I did something VERY simple. I painted a thin layer of transparent blue on the inside and a thin layer of transparent yellow on the outside. Viola! Instant green windows!

Now I just hope and pray the recently announced Masterpiece Sideswipe comes out in these colors. I need it bad, man.... so bad...

Fodder

Woohoo! Nameless dudes!
Thie guys was fun only in that I enjoyed mixing the weirdo purple color for the car body. Ya see on the show these guys have this bright opalescent purple that I'm not to much of a fan of as these guys look cooler when super dark. I took some old acrylic black I found in a tiny dish and mixed in a healthy dose of Grape Pearl so it's now a slightly metallic super dark purple. I dig it.

The body was done a bit differently. The top layer is a thin layer of Grape Pearl but under that is a foundation of Gun Metal. The wheels and face are Chrome Silver with a clear lacquer over them to keep them shiny but not overly so.

Overall I just love this mold. It's super fun and has an amazing transformation. Highly recommended if you can find it. Bastard only comes one per case... frustrating.

The circle is complete... or just begining.

I had another project going for someone but it just wasn't working out. I hated how I had messed up the windows. Since that thing is probably dead and gone I decided to throw this together. It's not my best but it sure is a favorite already. I'm among the few that always liked Hot Shot.

IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE... oh.

Pointy Screams!

Well look who's lookin' pretty (that was for the fan girls, enjoy it as I don't do it often). It's Starscream in all his treacherous glory in a whole new mold.
And what a mold it is! Quite a few people aren't very pleased with this and have even said they are leaving it behind when walking out of the store. I've seen several on shelves but no Bulkheads. Well you guys are missing out if you let this one go. Not only is it fun to play with but it has far more accurate details than the FE version. yeah, it's way too large and not in scale with the rest of the line but I don't care. IT'S FUN!!!

Usually I start breaking down which colors I used but man, I had to mix a lot to get these grays going just right. Even my old Gun metal standby got a bit of white to lighten it up. One of the most fun parts was his chest. I went over it in chrome so with was SUPER reflective. Then I covered that in a semi-gloss coat and the end result is that uniform silver you see.

Of course I had to cover up those clear forearms and get the missiles looking just right. That includes two different reds to imitate the show.

Did I mention how much I love this mold? Even the non-accurate kibble is awesome as it actually fits with the aesthetic of the overall figure! He remains lithe and pointy and rather evil.

Don't let this slide buy. Grab one! You'll love it!

The new hotness... just don't say that to her face.

It's easy to claim Arcee as my favorite character in Prime as she's one of the few where they've shown real depth of character. I hope this show is in for the long haul as I really want to see others explored as much as they've done with her.

Anywho,I sold off both of my First Edition Arcee figures once we saw pics of this one. Improved articulation and scale was all I needed. The only downside is the face sculpt isn't as detailed and the gun is enormoushuge. Also the paint job was severely lacking. Behind Voyager Megatron this is probably the most repainted Prime figure.. Mostly due to being fairly easy to handle. Her parts don't struggle to share the same space which leads to no scraping.

For this one I used mostly True Blue Pearl and Gun Metal with accents made possible by a mix consisting of Steel and Guards Red. I lopped off the end of her gun, added a C-Clip from another figure and used the ball jointed end to fit into her wrist socket.

This girl is my super modded version. The wheel on her ankle broke off so I cut them up and made her legs less bulky, added half a wheel to her back and removed the front half of the bike. For the wings I simply removed the ones found on the Cyberverse version and glued them in place.

As you can see she's incomplete. maybe one day I'll get her looking 100%.

Head Shot

I feel bad. It's tomorrow already (East Coast time, or as I call it ACTUAL time) and I haven't blogged. Sorry, super long day. Mostly hunting around for supplies of sorts. So, until I have real words after the sun does it's risin' thing I'll just pop up this pic I was holding onto. The Voyager has SUCH a better head sculpt.

Knockin' it Out

I put a few Knock Outs up for preorder at the current rate.

I'll have a for real blog update later tonight.

THE EYES HAVE IT!

That figure was the one that got me into getting all nutty over show accuracy with the Prime toys. The big baddy himself, Megatron, voiced by the original Megs, Frank Welker. I'm not one to get stupid excited just because he's the original when in fact I was dreading it as his G1 Megs voice had taken a huge downturn over the years. But he came up with something slightly different and it sounds pure evil and I LOVE IT!!! But I digress.

AHEM... So when I got this guy I liked the mold but the paint was very lacking. I went out of my way to make it as accurate to the images on the box as possible. I still didn't have access to the show in HD so it was the best I could do. Using all flat paints I dry brushed my way into a pretty awesome figure that I was extremely happy with.

Cliffjumper? Not so happy.

That was the guy that really got everyone's attention. I made him for myself but decided to finish it up since I didn't bother to work with the vehicle mode and put it on ebay.
That left me with no Megs so I made another one!

Pew pew!

This one used more silvers in the dry brushing process but the base was still a flat gray. Last time I had painted the outside of the cannon for a swirly energy effect. This time I simply painted the inside white so light bounced right back out and through the purple plastic. It almost looks lit in a few pictures.

Pew pew!

This time not only did I work on the vehicle mode more but I ended up making a buddy for him!

Soundwave here was also inspired by the box art when it comes to that "face" of his. The purple bits are all purple lines with thinner pink lines on top. I'd also started getting everything glossier instead of doing crazy false highlights with flat paints. Although do that stuff is tons of fun and I highly recommend trying to do it if you can.

Right now I have a couple more Megatrons in the works. One is a commission and was actually in that photo with Knockout from before. The other is for another project that won't be ready for a while.

Gettin' it done and shippin' it out!!!

For those unaware I also do commissions. Lots and lots of commissions. Seriously, you guys keep me busy as I continue to whore myself out to the fan base.
My latest complete commission? Super cartoony Protector Armor.

I didn't paint the Rodimus figure, that was sent to me like that. I was simply asked to make the armor/trailer match. While it's not something I would have done for myself it's certainly something I kinda enjoy looking at. Now I'm considering doing something with my City Commander...
Anywho, there's not a lot to discuss on painting techniques here. Lots of red, orane and yellow. White pipes and black panel lines. Covered the whole thing in a dull coat and we're good to go. Layering the red was the only huge pain in the butt.

I also wanted to talk about this piece which was already bought by the Allspark's own Razorsaw.
Banzai-tron!

This guy was a LOOOONG work in progress. It started out with a regular Drift figure that I managed to ruin while dying it as I had the heat up too high. The plastic warped and it was untransforamable after that. So yeah, I made an Action Master. Ha ha ha meh. It looked like poop but I tossed some colors on it to see how it would look.

Paint was thrown. Seriously, there was no effort put into this. That sat like that for... I dunno, how long ago did Drift come out? At least two years. Well about six months ago I decided to revisit this idea and turned this thing out.

Solid idea but I didn't like the way it was coming together. One night a thought hit me and I whipped out the dremel, gave my junker SG Cyclonus custom some surgery and one new head later...

Instead of black I used Model Master's Gun Metal which comes out as this very slightly metallic dark gray. I tend to use it a lot as it creates a better balance than regular black where black would seem applicable. I dry brushed the edges  with white I believe but don't quote me on that. I really don't remember if it was white or gray, I wasn't taking notes when I did this guy. I also made sure to paint the Target master in teh same scheme as his AM partner, Razor-Sharp, even though he has no beast mode. Ah well.
Grape Pearl, another of my favorite colors, was used for the hands, feet and thighs. The orange and green were from Citadel but they've since changed their names and formulas. They also give you less paint but I digress.

This guy here is one of my favorite customs. I'm glad to know he has a good home now.

So I guess it's just me.

Shattered Glass Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus I heart the hell outta these toys.
Most people I've seen either actively dislike these two Botcon exclusives or are very apathetic. Not I, my friends. I love this mold, diminutiveness notwithstanding.
I mean yeah, they look all puny next to any other Deluxe figure but alone they look totally badass. I liked this mold before but I swear it was made to be evil! All the intricate greebles and sharp lines are less heroic and more menacing.

Especially Optimus. Those dark colors and that AWESOME looking sword just make me freakin' swoon over how pretty it all is.

I want him to kill everything or die trying.

I'm not about to churn out a custom every day so I may as well start talking about my past work.
Today let's look at this big old Bulkead!

The much sought after Hasbro First Edition Bulkhead is of course the base for this figure. I wanted this toy SO damn much... mostly because I didn't have him. But once I did get ahold of the guy I have to admit that it is one FABULOUS action figure. This thing really does morph from a thick SUV...

Too this wide gutted robo bruiser...

But of course I had to paint him up for that show accurate feel. I had planned in advance and started mixing my own blends of metallic greens. Once I had him I removed the windows so it would be more accurate in robot mode. I especially had to spice up his wrecking ball fist for a bit of glowy fun.

He was super expensive to get and not easy to paint but I think it was all worth it! 

And here's this guy. I wanted to make a version of the Botcon Custom Class exclusive but I also didn't want it to look exactly like it. My one regret with this guy is that his paint is metallic and it doesn't come across well in photos. Weak sauce...
The head was custom cast by my bud Nightwiper using the Action Master Shockwave head.

So many purples...

Anywho, here are some pictures for ya!

Well the sucker was INSANELY popular so I'm prepping a second one which will be ready by the end of this NEW auction! WOOO!!!






Also here is a sneak peak at my next project. While not as good as the real thing it comes close enough to be a substitute and not remotely as expensive!!!

I'm new to this blog scene but I'll try to keep it up anyway.
Anywho, welcome to Cheets' Tweaks! If you have a better name hit me! I may give you something if I dig it. However the point of this is to have a central place to show my work, organize my sales and most importantly I want to have dialogue with anyone that wants to talk.

So, what's up right now? The latest is my take on a more accurate Knock Out.

The figure as it comes in the box is beyond disappointing. Just, take a look at the comparison pictures.

I just handle that and, with the help of Deceptigtar of the TFW boards I got this guy in my hands and swanked him up.
I used mostly Model Masters Paints with some help from Citadel paints (even though they pissed me off but more on that some other time).
Chrome yellow for the wheels, door handles and hood vents.
Red Foundation for the dark red then covered that and the regular red with a Clear Red.
Flat black on the tires of course.
The grill was done with Gun Metal and Mithril Silver.
Those headlights... UGH. Had to drill them out with my dremel before adding chrome behind them to make them look more realistic. Added some Signal Amber to the corners.
Gloss White on the front end as well as the inside of the wheels between the yellow.
Robot mode had some Boltgun Metal, Mithril Silver and Shining Gold.
His eyes are painted with red foundation and a custom blend of pink that I made forever ago.