Holy Epic Crossover! I’ve had this mod in my queue for a while now but I’m happy that I finally broke it out and was able to finish it up.
Yep, Optimus Prime has invaded the Dropzone Commander universe. I’ve been trying to cook this up for a while, first kitbashing two separate Dropzone Commander Gun Wagons together to make the truck form then picking up the civilian lorries set to get his signature trailer.
One form was now complete but the robot form still eluded me. I still had parts to kitbash the main sections but my green stuff sculpting skills are stuck back in second grade so making the signature head was beyond my grasp. Luckily, Thingiverse had a head and my friend shrunk it down and loaded it to Shapeways. After some minor adjustments, the head arrived in scale and then sat on my desks for months. This week had me really focusing on Dropzone so I decided to take the plunge and make a go of it.
Months ago, I’d already started the planning by cutting up the main pieces and so now it was time to reassemble and really put it all together.
Using green stuff as a malleable binder, I superglued each piece to either a small piece of green stuff or the appropriate resin bit. The green stuff allowed me tweak the positioning just right while still keeping the overall shape alive.
Sometimes, like with the elbow joints and crotchal region (technical term), I needed to form actual parts so those critical points served as more than just flexible binding.
Later I had to use some additional green stuff to make a real part, like Optimus’ Energon Axe. I got lucky with this addition as the axe replaces his hand and I knew I’d struggle getting something as detailed as a hand sculpted correctly, not to mention how hard it would be at this scale.
Since the kitbashing required shortening up the main cab, it left the back of the model very exposed and unfinished looking. I took the excess front cab wheels and placed them across the back to add depth and detail to the whole figure. I also cheated on his other hand by making it a simple ball to “grip” his “Ion Blaster.”
Optimus’ Ion Blaster is from a Gun Technical that I had extras of. I cut off the gunner and mount and it left me with a nice “blaster-sized” gun for Optimus to wield. Aside from the custom head and scratch-built axe and green stuff joints, this is the only other piece not from a Gun wagon set. Also finished up the feet detail and it really stabilized the figure’s stance.
After I let the assembly dry overnight, I primed Prime to get him ready to paint. That crotchal region is a hot mess but overall I was pretty pleased.
After the primer dried, there was nothing left but to paint him up in his iconic colors and try to match the painting of the truck form I did.
I didn’t really do anything special to paint him up. Simple block painting and a wash did the rest. I did a half-assed attempt at blending on the Axe and it sort of worked. To finish it all off, I mounted him on my standard clear troop base.
So what is next? Well, now that I have him, he needs proper stats so I can throw him into my games like a Famous Commander. I’ll work up stats this weekend and post what shakes out on Monday. I also have a few more little details to work up on him so hopefully I can burn through that this weekend as well and fully finish him off. Roll out!