Combiner Wars Optimus Prime has received some of the most criticism for being really a overall terrible voyager figure. This year we received a Leader Class Megatron and Galvatron (Same mold.) But yet we only received a (ish) Voyager Optimus Prime that combines. This upgrade set from Beezleboss Studios brings the figure to a closer size of a Leader Class (no conformation yet…) However even still it looks incredible!

This is so far the second group / person I have seen to work on moding him. And let me say this one is the ONE!

Source: Weibo (Beezleboss Studios)

So as it has become abundantly clear and I think Hasbro has taken notice to how many 3P, 3D printed, and so forth add-ons have been thrown at their Combiner Wars figures… Hasbro’s hands and feet straight up are ugly! Combating this for the first time… They have given us a new set of feet and hands for Victorian.

TFW2005 shows a few nice detailing pictures of “Ankle Tilts!”

While the up and coming Combiner Wars Devastator has had a lot of good and bad publicity. Even more so in the customization realm has been the idea of “enhancing” its parts for the better… Perfect Effect has done just this! It is also know that Dr. Wu is also working on some, however Perfect Effect seems to be beating them to the punch!

It appears there may be “two” upgrade kits here. One for the hands of each individual combiner. And then another for the main devastator form. Which will include a Prowl head for those who follow the IDW universe.

DX9 posted last night that they now have in the upgrades! Which means more than likely within the next week or so most 3rd Party retailers should start receiving and shipping! *Crosses Fingers*

This is one upgrade I know I preordered on sight…!

So I took on this project about a couple months ago. And finally feel like its at a place where I can show some of the results so far. Now I have not dirtied him up yet, as I am going for a slightly clean look for the moment. So its definitely a lot different from Darkcave Customs version.

Take a look!

Basically I used several things here…

• Rust Oleum (Ultra Cover Paint+Primer) Colonial Red, Metallic, and gloss black
• Americana Acrylic paint (Might be looking into some other brands…)
• Darkcave 3D Printed Ironhide head

I tried using another black paint I think it was Krylon and it did not do well on the rubber parts of Hound. It was sticky and did not seem to dry very well. I ended up spraying over it with the Rust Oleum, and then finished with some acrylic to ruff it up.

The Acrylic paint I used here is very cheap… Some of the paint went on very smooth while other colors I had to fight. Which may be I need to shake it up and blend a bit more with water to soften it. Otherwise I am fairly happy with some of the results. I am going to smooth out the yellow a bit more as I had to go thicker than I wanted to due to the paint not working with me…

So if you have ever researched or tried 3D printing you know the process pretty much is slow as heck! Really 3D printing is not even 3D… It simply reduces 3D down into a 2D plane and prints layer by layer. This process can take hours if not days to complete and thus not efficient and even has so many imperfections its not a solid method for future productions.

Carbon3D has developed a method that uses light, oxygen, and liquid resin that can print within minutes. Not only this, but they are able to produce quality objects of different materials and types that could compete with injection mold processes.

Watch the video and go to their site for more info! 

Reddit Member DrannorR posted his custom painted Galvatronus.

Taking 4 copies of Skydive and using “Folk-Art MultiSurface Purple/Metallic from Michaels.”

He did mention that the final out come is a bit sticky and not as smooth as normal Transformers.

In these situations I do recommend starting with a nice base coat of plastic/all purpose spray paint & primer. Taping off areas that will be painted later or even re-using sections that are within the color range you want. “Grays/Blacks etc…” In some situations even starting with a base coat of spray paint will even help the other paints not be as tacky after drying.

Another Weibo User has created yet another masterpiece with MP’s and Photoshop Skills. Pic c/o 吖春晖_5do on weibo.

So some really good news! Today I finally was able to work a little bit more on my upcoming project CW-Feet. PerfectEffect has released theres and people are now receiving them… Which still brings my intrigue to push a slightly different set of feet giving a different option. Not only an different option but the option to only get the feet or the hands.

More good news… Today I have been able to reduce the feet cost by over $11.00! If you know anything about 3D Printing it is expensive! This basically means that you will be able to purchase both the hands and feet for about the same cost of PerfectEffect’s! And if you can find a coupon (which they happen to come around from time to time) it might even be cheaper!

To be even more competitive my plan is to create three different sets of feet. Giving you options! Extending this goal a bit more, the plan is to even provide 3 different scales for each. Which will provide a larger, middle, and smaller set. So if you like the bulky look then go larger. If you want slightly larger than CW Hasbro feet then middle will work nicely! OR if you want a set that is smaller (about the same size of CW Hasbro feet…) Then the smallest will do.

These feet will also have a henge on them so they can angle and keep the feet flat on the ground. Total parts right now is about 4. However this number will increase as I need to separate the feet so they can hook in the henge. So gluing will be required!

Anyways I am behind on this project greatly. Unfortunately I will not be printing my first test round this week, so this leaves me in mid June to end of June release on the v1.

I feel these are ready for general use. While they still have minor things they far outweigh the results. Being this is a 3D print and not a injection mold these are not for kids or for hardcore playing. Fingers are double ball joints.

These MUST be painted/spray painted even with a primer of the color you are wanting them to be in. If you do not paint them / primed the fingers will be extremely lose! After primed fingers may still be on the lose end so use clear nail polish or Pledge Floor Cleaner (SC Johnson Pledge Floor Care Multi-Surface Finish 27 OZ).

There will be more versions of these hands in the future so keep on the look out!

As you can see these hands do have a 5mm Port – however the Menasor sword is to long to handle it. No worries! The hands can still hold it using its regular fists. Mine need to be tightened just a bit more, but work just fine.