Even more silliness.

Okay, am I the only one kinda weirded out by the whole geisha/Kabuki face paint thing?
And if I am getting that wrong (because I don't know which is which, just what TFW followed by some commenters said it was) I apologize.

Robots are silly discussion: WINDBLADE? Poor Arcee.

SDCC announcements! an update before I disappear for a little bit.

Eric & I recorded a long ROBOTS IN CAHOOTS podcast but due to some computer issues it will be a little while before I can edit and share it. I don't think there's anything that was discussed that isn't of timely importance, other than what was on his blog about Botcon. That's pretty much what we talked about, Botcon, but it's HIS trip to write about, so you can read his blog and get a better report; the podcast will be mostly about what it's like in general to go to one of these things, since I haven't gone.

Eric mentioned that there'd be a Generations Voyager-sized Whirl and recently at San Diego Comic Con (I am not there) (sad face) this very thing was showcased, along with a few other figures from the Generations line.

I think the most exciting of these is Legends-sized TAILGATE. Also note in that linked article, there's a Shrapnel with a tiny Reflector. But in keeping with the More Than Meets The Eye theme, robots based on the somewhat cartoonish and frantic looking designs of Alex Milne, Tailgate like the upcoming Swerve looks to be a home run.

Whirl, on the other hand? Meh.

Maybe I'll feel differently when I see him. After all, I was stoked about Blitzwing and pretty disappointed other than happy to have a poseable Blitzwing. Whirl is pretty close to a G1 tribute as one can get. His G1 figure was not produced by Takara/Tomy (one of the many reasons why he was never featured in the cartoon) and thus compared to his Diaclone pals his robot form was actually pretty poseable at the time, with moving arms AND legs. The only difference his Generations figure has is elbows and knees. Though the other MTMTE tribute figures (how I'll refer to them from now on, though maybe "IDW influenced" would be more accurate) have Earth vehicle modes instead of cybertronian, I was hoping that Whirl's copter mode from MTMTE would hold true here, like the Voyager Sandstorm figure.

I'm sure he's a solid figure but I'm actually pretty happy with my Headrobots upgrade for Tomahawk.

There's a few more Deluxe figures from the Generations line but I'm not going to get too excited about them, as Skywarp (and Thundercracker) are just repaints of FOC Starscream, and compared to the regular CHUG Seekers, the FOC modes aren't that interesting. Maybe I'll get the Targetmaster. I'm more excited about Tailgate than any of these. However, there's the created-by-fan-vote character, Windblade. Female Autobot 'geisha' paint job? ("Geisha" is the word TFW used, I don't know if that's correct...or even right, you know?) I don't recall the fan vote being THAT specific. Though more ladybots are always encouraged (Um, for the robot singles mingle we have here every other Friday, why do you ask?), eeeeyeah, I'll wait until I see the actual toy...BUT, there might be an ulterior motive to getting such a toy (drumroll):

This might be the figure needed for FOC Slipstream custom.

BOOM.

Okay, I'm going to be away from the computer this weekend, then next weekend I'm moving. So I don't know when I'll have ROBOTS IN CAHOOTS up nor the latest collection of ROBOTS WITH COFFEE. After I get settled. Sorry for the delay. Eric and I had a great talk about Botcon and I can't wait to share it.

Thanks for reading, hit me up on twitter.

Custom DEVCON and the paints I'm switching to...

I am finally getting around to this: I purchased the custom Devcon head from Shapeways along with that little chainsaw guy, but had a problem with the paints I was using at the time.

Before you start posting about my options or ask why I don't do this or that, please keep this in mind: I'm not just of limited talent when it comes to customizing, I'm also bound by a few rules within living in an apartment and by the sensitivity of my wife to certain smells and fumes the solid looking enamels produce. "You just get one of those sprayers-" No, no I don't.

This is, of course, for fun. I am not looking to impress anyone; I'd rather provide a few laughs with things like my Joker Bot and Paul Stanley Prime. I'm proud of my custom Downshift and Road Rage. Some bots look better than others. I have sold ONE custom, my Dark Of The Moon Sideswipe I painted into a G1 theme.

It's not that I've NOT gotten good advice from the customizin' pros, I just don't have the available space and resources to do the appropriate work. I bought a set of Testor's enamel and though the results were a lot smoother, I got a few complaints about the smells produced, and spent a lot of time airing out the apartment afterward, just to turn G1 Bumblebee into Herbie The Love Bug. The wife lives here too.

Using acrylic paints found at a Michael's or Joanne's Fabrics...I got results I liked, especially after putting on a solidifying gloss. But it was a LOT more painting work than when I used the Testor's. And though the other benefit was that I had more color choices when painting (different shades of red and blue) and it was way cheaper, some of the paints needed, like silver, wouldn't stick. My bottle of "silver" acrylic wouldn't even make my effort look remotely gray. Like there was a minor bit of silver rust in the water forming on the figure that I was hopelessly trying to add some chrome to.

Whatever was I to do? We were sensitive to the vapors of Testors, and yet I was spoiled by their results. WELL, hooray hooray. Golden Fluid Acrylics. Lots of options, great results. Drawback? Over $4 a bottle at Blick's.

That sums it up. Devcon here is a mixture of Testor's enamel and Golden Acrylics. The silver acrylic was what I was shooting for, and I like the results.

I was a bit lazy with Devcon (Generations Scourge body, custom head), but I wanted to try it out. I didn't want to paint the whole thing white, which is what I'd normally do. I painted a few parts white, like those shoulder/jet intake parts and his feet. The Shapeways Devcon head was just his face, and the gun on the top. REALLY, if I just removed Scourge's goatee somehow, that would've made the face. Even though the part was of a white material, I should have still painted it. My hands were a little shaky and so there's bleed on the helmet and the eyes. Sorry about that. I didn't paint his chest white with enamel and, still using enamel, you can see the Decepticon logo bleed through.

He's not crying. I just have shaky hands.

You can do a better paint job than me. Please. Devcon is an obscure character who made one G1 appearance (from an episode I still find bizarre: Smokescreen gambling away his friends?). I think you paint his legs completely blue and just leave his feet red, you've got an improved Devcon.

It was just a test and I really like the results. I have some major life changes coming up (moving from my place of 6 years) so I won't have time to do another dopey Paul custom for a month or so, but these will be the paints I'll be using from now on.

OTHER NEWS

It's the silver acrylic that did it for me. I will probably
revisit previous customs for any chrome bits.

Expect a two-parter ROBOTS IN CAHOOTS podcast from me & Eric of Til All Are Mine, where we talk about his trip to Botcon. I should stress that it's HIS trip, so whatever full report on Botcon as far as his haul, contests, costumes, and his detailed interactions and purchases will be on his blog. We found other stuff to talk about his trip hopefully without taking away from what were his scoop on the Transformers Robot World. I'll have the first part up in a couple days.

My friend Rick found the Wave 2 Kreons I was looking for: Hoist, Scourge, Arcee, Powerglide, Lugnut, Acid Storm, Perceptor, and Vehicon. More later on the Kreos.

Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye continues to be my favorite comic book. Not just a comic book based on my favorite action figure property, but just a wild comic book that was once free of devotion to the current toy line, to the point where, as seen in my last post, the upcoming figures owe a lot to these books. Maybe the marketing has fooled me into believing that, but I still say "good show."

OTHER STUFF

I have been watching Bored To Death, a show that ran for three seasons on HBO. It's about a writer who has a bit of writer's block and decides to pretend to be a private detective. I was hoping there'd be more mystery and less day to day Seinfeld-like neurosis, but I'm halfway through the series and am still very much enjoying it.

I'm moving next month. Sigh. I am going to miss this apartment.