I AM MEGATROOOOOOOON!

If you know me, then you know that I LOVE Transformers. I've liked them ever since I was a wee little lad, but once Beast Wars came out in the late 90's, I got hooked. But after that TV series ended, I basically outgrew them.

Or so I thought.

Enter the 2007 Transformers live-action movie. That summer, I randomly ended up in a Wal-mart with my cousin and I saw the new toys on the shelves.

"Holy crap," I said. "THESE LOOK AWESOME!" I instantly fell in love with the controversial "Bayformer" aesthetic of the new toys. Once again, I was hooked and now I have most of the main characters from both the last one and the newest one.

I could gush for hours about my love for those crazy transforming robots, but on to the main topic of the blog post.

A few weeks ago, I picked up the new Rise of the Fallen Voyager-class Megatron figure. If you don't speak nerd, that means "mid-sized transforming action figure of the villain." Anyway, for some silly reason, Hasbro decided to make this Megatron figure in green plastic with silver and gold highlights. I mean, I would probably be a little green if I were stuck under the ocean for 2 years too, but Megatron isn't green at any point in the movie. This irked me to no end, so I decided I would repaint the figure into his original Silver and Gold color scheme.

Despite having played with Transformers for over 10 years, I never got into "kitbashing" or repainting/modifying my toys. But for some reason, I just couldn't deal with the green. So here's me first repaint, EVAR!

Megatron's Flying Tank Sandvich mode!

For some silly reason, his head is exposed in vehicle mode. The movie guidebook says this allows him to react faster to threats because visual info doesn't have to go through all the sensors other robots have- it just goes straight to his robo-brain. I think it's an excuse thought up by the toy design department so they don't have to think of some complex way to hide his crazy face.

The repainting process started with a base coat of acrylic flat black.

After that, I drybrushed a lot of silver on and touched up with gold later.

NOW FOR THE EXCITING PART!

"I AM MEGATROOOON! GRAAAAWR!"

My favorite part is his torso. I took it apart and painted the moving gears in his chest gold! When he rotates at the hip, the gears in his chest spin. This is a rare case of an awesomely implemented gimmick (in my opinion). Moving gears are cool, but I'm not a fan of projectiles or electronics in general. They get in the way of posability!

His crazy backpack/cape-esque attachment.

I don't see why they felt the need to give him toes. They provide pretty much no support.

"HUMANS SUCK!"

Aaaand the obligatory full-body shot.

It was a pretty cool experience and gave me something to do for the last week and a half. I should probably spray a clear coat on him, but I dunno if I'll get around to it. If I don't, paint will probably rub off over time, but I'm okay with that. It adds to his worn, "I've been under the sea for two years" look. That's also why he isn't painted completely silver/gold. Megs looks kinda like a Warhammer miniature in that respect.

Anyway, that's probably one of the more exciting things I've been up to recently. Hope you guys enjoyed a look at one of my obsessions!

Operation: Nursery = SUCCESS! And more!

After 2.5 weeks of planning and painting, the nursery is finally complete! I can now resume my normal summer life of sitting around and trying to be productive (and failing)

The entrance

Right corner

Left Corner

The hillside/crib wall

Complimentary Color Tractor. Coincidentally, those were my high school colors. Not done on purpose...I wanted something else purple (other than Grumpydactyl) and I had some extra yellow sitting out.

Becker Dam and Lake feat. Grupydactyl, Elie the Corgi, and the Duck Duck Family.

Barn of Boxes with solar panels and Mudpigs

Zoomed-out picture of main wall

Sky!

The last day was spent primarily painting the sky and clouds. I didn't buy enough of the light blueish white to cover the whole ceiling, so I had to mix another light blue, which is why there's a huge white cloud and a lot of blue. I think it worked out well. The edges of the ceiling clouds and all of the wall clouds were painted using a sponge.

I had a lot of fun painting the room and look forward to Baby Becker crawling around...then walking around....then wondering why his/her uncle is so awesome...then wanting to paint the room black. Crazy kids!

Anyway, it was nice to get out of the house for a while and do something where I had a lot of creative freedom.

*****

Summer is almost over! I have less than a month before I get to move back into the dorms at FIT. August 20th can't come sooner. I'm starting to run out of things to do here!

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With the last month or so of summer, I finally actually have stuff that I want to get done.

First up is this Bayonetta art contest. Basically, you have to draw your own version of the crazy femme fatale with lady with guns and e-mail it to Wizard for fan voting. I've never been good at drawing smexy females, so I kinda wanna dive this a try, as poorly as it might turn out.

Second, I opened up an Etsy account. I don't have anything on my store, but I did see some cool Ukulele Straps and decided to invest in one. If I ever put something up on the shop, I'll post it here! I'd like to make a few Ganpens to put up on the site. I can't believe I didn't think about Ganpen on Etsy before...

*****

If ya have a Twitter, check me out!

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In the past, I've tried to keep my nerdiness under covers, but...
This is out right now. I want it SO badly. I LOVE Gundam models and Exia is one of my favorites. The Ignition Mode comes with extra parts! IN CHROME! SOAWESOME!

*ahem*

That about does it, folks! Expect another update whenever I decide to get of my lazy arse and do some artwork. I haven't been painting at all this summer (oil painting, anyway) so I expect I'll be really rusty when I get back to school. I haven't been drawing anywhere near the amount I should, but I'm working on that by starting up an art boot camp to get myself ready for the coming school year.

Looking forward to the end!
Of summer, that is.

-J

Ellie the Corgi and Grumpydactyl

Mountain Aminals!

No, the cow will not have eyes.

Oink Oink!

Do pigs actually go "oink oink?" I've never heard a pig make such a noise....granted, I haven't been around many pigs before.

Fox y Sky

The sky is two different colors...I didn't buy enough of the lighter color, so I had to mix a light blue of my own...unfortunately, I didn't have much white paint so I had to hold back on the lightness.

Hopefully I'll be finished (or close to it) by Sunday. Just a few more days!

Slow Progress!

With all of the larger areas pretty much covered, things have been going pretty slowly. This is mostly because I have to mix almost all of the colors for animals.



Hopefully, I'll be done by the end of the weekend. I still have the ceiling to do...

60TH POST!

A NEW MILESTONE.......kinda.

Okay, not really. A new centered format to commemorate the non-occasion.

Here are more pics!


Question mark goes where?

Hi Mr. Goat!

"Flip a switch! I dare ya!"

Beaks and feet!

More More More!

This is the wall the crib is supposed to be against, which is why there isn't much going on. The more exciting one has yet to be worked on. I need to experiment more with texture techniques...if anyone's got any tips or websites, don't hesitate to post a comment!





Even with all the time I take to paint, it still seems to move at a snail's pace =_=.

Nursery Progress

BEHOLD!


Chalk drawings on the wall! You might want to click on the pics to see them in a bigger size.

I'm about ready to slap on some paint.

Which will hopefully happen today!

This is one of my favorite parts

More updates soon!