Opti-Beast Prime
 

I made a deal with my son going into 3rd grade that if he brought up his grades that i would give him money towards his half of new rig. Since its going to be his truck also I let him decide on what its going to look like. He wanted a 6x6 so we went with a rv4wd beast and he said he wantes optimus prime. So i ordered up the kit Friday and its on the way. Ill be doing the body he is doing all the chassis work.
Here is the inspiration, old school Prime.

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Re: Opti-Beast Prime
 

This is going to be awesome!

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Re: Opti-Beast Prime
 

Dont get too excited I'm not a styrene master.
However expect to see spike, energon cubes and some how i am going to work out making the bed the weapons lab thats in the trailer. The lab will either have a turret or a restrained megatron.

The one neat thing we already have is that when you press the front grill emblem it will say i am optimus prime and transformers roll out.

Re: Opti-Beast Prime
 

Step it up!

Could be awesome. Don't let us down. :mrgreen:

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I refuse to custom build with styrene so whatever you do will be better than what I could do! "thumbsup"

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Always fun doing a theme. This morning we did the blue ridge flea market for some exercise and entertainment but just happen to find something for the project.
Best thing about it is that it is from the same 1980 era as the og optimus inspiration.

I found this 1982 gi joe turret that swivels and elevates. The gunners seat is the exact right size for the spike witwiky action figure of the time or I can get a minicon to man it. Although minicons are not g1. Either way it is a start. Next will be finding the right optimus purple and find a way to mount it to a servo to rotate. Might even use a servo to elevate it. The reality of it is hacking a gt3c is cheap and looks to be easy. So it might be possible to have a couple other actions on the remote.

Next project to think about is figuring out how to make "roller". Might have to see a man about 3d printing it[emoji6]

I think the best part of this project it that it is going to take a ton of time, which for me means lots of dad and son time and chances to teach him how to be creative.

Eepee-going to do our best.
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Re: Opti-Beast Prime
 

Thr kit arrived two days ago. The first night I went through all the parts, separated out the body and put the mechanicals a side. The kiddo is spending his last couple days before school with the grandparents, I'm sure when he gets back tomorrow night he will start his build.

Last night i spent some time on the body, tonight i start sanding an filling.

We all have seen kit builds so nothing new here. I'll put up some pictures periodically as we move forward. Once i get the making it Optimus Prime I will detail the build a little more.

I have a few ideas brewing to make this build more then a theme paint job. Nothing over the top.

Heading down to the hobby shop this weekend for materials. I am imagining a steering console in a 1970s-1980s style. Brightly colored flashing buttons. I cant find a piture of the inside of the crashed autobot space ship so i may draw off star trek OG computers.

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Re: Opti-Beast Prime
 

If you're talking about Teletraan 1 here's a couple of pics I found. Hope they help. Can't wait to see this build finish.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...6b1255689a.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...af0b092863.jpg

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Re: Opti-Beast Prime
 

That is exactly what I am looking for. Couldn't remember the name, thank you. Not sure how it is going to work out, but that's going to be the style and color palate I'm using.

Opinions-Should Optimus have a steering wheel?

Re: Opti-Beast Prime
 

Optimus should have a steering wheel. They're robots in disguise. What's more suspicious than a 18 wheeler being driven with no steering wheel.lol

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Re: Opti-Beast Prime
 

Duh, point taken.

Re: Opti-Beast Prime
 

Did a little work on the turret last night and tested out this morning.

A good proof of concept, now to make it work with the rig.
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https://youtu.be/U0nVQxjhsow

Re: Opti-Beast Prime
 

ooo that's nice!!

Re: Opti-Beast Prime
 

Very cool, you could modify the servo so that it will rotate continously. If you've never done it look up some YouTube videos on making a servo winch.

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Re: Opti-Beast Prime
 

Optimus has a steering wheel for sure. :) Can see it spinning in the '86 movie as he is running down Decepticons.

Great build! Reminds me of Beast Hunters Optimus

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Re: Opti-Beast Prime
 

I was considering that however. Ever winch I have always inadvertently gets turned on. If I continuously rotate it the barrel would hit the side of the bed or cab. I am going to elevate the base somewhat, but I want the turret, when the barrels are lowered to not be the first thing that touches the ground when a roll over occurs.

Basically I am concerned about my kid snapping off something if the stops are not still in.

Maybe a cheap servo with a really low stall weight. I appreciate the suggestion.

Re: Opti-Beast Prime
 

I used a little $5 esc from ebay to solve the servo creep problem, works pretty good.

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Re: Opti-Beast Prime
 

The boy is starting on his assembly responsibilities, mechanical and chassis.

Slow and steady. Greasing and thread locker for the win.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...bfb22cfd76.jpg

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Re: Opti-Beast Prime
 

Moving ahead a little at a time. The boy has the chassis frame just about completed. He stripped and rebuilt the axles, too. So they are ready to go.
Transmission and transfer case have been stripped down and recieved a coat of paint to match the under carriage of the bed.

Did some work on the turret, mechanicals are complete and I built a base to mount it on. Now i have the tedious task of sticker glue removal. I have to find a solvent that won't trash the plastic.
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Re: Opti-Beast Prime
 

Nice progress. I like that color scheme. Can't wait to see how Prime's cab turns out

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Re: Opti-Beast Prime
 

Still moving ahead. We got the turret painted, base made and shortly will be wiring up the servo.

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Its a roller now. Interior work still moving ahead.

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Re: Opti-Beast Prime
 

Try rubbing alcohol or WD-40. Squirt it on a cloth first, not right on the plastic. Try on a test spot first on the plastic, maybe on the undercarriage, to make sure it won't discolor.

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Thanks alcohol didn't work, ended up using vegetable oil which i read aboit in a women's bkog.

Suprizingly it worked like a charm.

Re: Opti-Beast Prime
 

Got a little more work done. So optimus is well a robot, so i think we are skipping a driver. Normally a scale rig without a driver sends me over the edge[emoji24]. I still cant deal with it, but i did give optimus a steering wheel that moves as it turns. Thats something i guess.

"Im a man, but i can change, if i have to, i guess"

Got some red on and im pleased that it does give the optimus impression. Still have to detail it with some silver stripes amd trim.

Did a little work with styrene in the cab. Not much but it was a start. Did my best to get the teletron one look.
Broke down and bought seats. Screw you styrene[emoji13] https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...9aacff7927.jpg

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Re: Opti-Beast Prime
 

I dig it!!

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Looks great! Now you need to find one of these sets for the driver figures! :D

https://www.amazon.com/Transformers-.../dp/B00E1I1QPU

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Little more work. Got the cab almost there. The silver stripe fought me even though all was done correct. Apparently the red amd silve just dont play nice.

Now its a waiting game. Stickers, energon cubes servos well you get the picture.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...27bd91d1ec.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...85f3ca2b6c.jpg

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Re: Opti-Beast Prime
 

Opti-beast needed a smoke stack. I tried a little styrene work, and made something passable. I think ill see how this holds up then make another one that is a little more detailed and cleaner.

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Re: Opti-Beast Prime
 

Awesome work


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Re: Opti-Beast Prime
 

Well i did it. I took the plunge and scratch built a body. I have it glued up and ready for copious amounts of sanding and filling.

Ive seen some amazing bodies built here, so i am under no illusions that it is on par. But needless to say im stoked that i was able to make something.

So here is my attempt at a 1/14 scale roller.

My inspiration https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...711353ef1e.jpg

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Re: Opti-Beast Prime
 

It's a little rough, but like you said, with a little filler and sanding, it'll get to a finished product"thumbsup"

Re: Opti-Beast Prime
 

I got a first sanding, filling and coat of paint in last night. This morning I went back to sanding to see where i was at. I still have a good amount of sanding to do but am happy with the progress this far.
However i am starting to see the potential for a clean smooth finish.
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Re: Opti-Beast Prime
 

Definitely looking better. I don't know if it's my desktop, but those pics look abnormally large. Not me, lol, checked on my iphone and they're huge:lmao:

Re: Opti-Beast Prime
 

Sometimes tapatalk does that to me. I think I will delete them and post new ones.

Re: Opti-Beast Prime
 

Roller is all finished up. For my first attempt at scratch building im pretty happy. Also hooked on styrene work. It's so time consuming that it will be a great winter project watching tv before bed.

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Re: Opti-Beast Prime
 

Next thing i have been going is some detail work. The trailer seemed empty and i did like it. I started with printing copies of telatran 1 on overhead sheets the adhering them to styrene. It just felt flat. I decide to cut some deyails out and glue them in top. It's a much better look. The plan is do each on the 8 side panels then do front and rear. Which brings me to the turret base which now seems like it doesnt fit. I think a repaint in sll silver then some type of mechanical back ground with raised details.

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Re: Opti-Beast Prime
 

The man himself said he's enjoying this build and wishes his vehicle mode looked like this. He give it two thumbs up.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...e74dfc4e4f.jpg

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Re: Opti-Beast Prime
 

That little Roller turned out real nice, you should be proud, excellent job! "thumbsup""thumbsup"

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That was just awesome, both me and the boy enjoyed it. Thank you

Thanks, it was a very encouraging experience. I am current thinking about my next project which will include a scratch built body. Should take months."thumbsup"

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Optimus wanted to tell you there's one little thing missing from this great build. It's called the Matrix of Leadership. Optimus wouldn't be a Prime without it.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...73f172b797.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...8fbc63f723.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...27b0483656.jpg

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