Bumble Bee Build Upgrades! 22th June

Hey Hunters,

Here's a brief look at the work both my buddy Edwin and myself, over at MM, have been doing since we received word on the Bumble Bee build. This was done, in conjunction with/for Hasbro Singapore, to be seen and used in time for the Hasbro Midnight Madness launch here at one of the local Toys 'R' Us stores.

Please keep in mind that we were/are working under tight restrictions, as we would be using a spare damaged Optimus [Our very own sculpt as well ] suit for the basic framework, [the spare suit was a mess, with way too thin areas that had to be refiberglassed and rebuilt], and an even tighter timeline.

I decided to build over the existing frame with the Camaro front design [which we had to scratch-build with PVC hard foamcard] to break the old Optimus shape. As planned, we had the lower bit trimmed off to recreate the V shape torso, the older spats would be refilled, reworked and modified to look more like Bumble Bee's camel toe like boots.

Seeing's as the old suit was a mess, we would be going for a battle weary Bumble Bee. And since we had only 5.5 days to get it done, we took some artistic liberties on the overall look. So be kind.

The initial Optimus frame to be converted:
Mainbody:-

Shin armor and Boot spats:-

Groin piece:-


The initial sketches and measurements I did before we started work, seen here with our little help buddy, mini bee:-


Measurements and framework layout on the PVC hard foamcard just prior to cutting:-




Here we have our scratch-built Camaro angular front, after cutting and joined [I hot glued the parts together before reinforcing the entire setup with resin and fiberglass strips]:-



New reshaped Boot Spats, thanks to Edwin's hard work:-


Dismantling Bumble Bee's Helm before repaint:-


The Camaro angular front cut in half and retrimmed.

Here it is, cut in half and with racing stripes on:-


Cod piece, after clean up and cut Gauntlet tops with new paint...viola! Mini Bee is takin a breather and enjoying the smell of fresh paint.


New mainbody frame with suspension greeblies and 'camaro body kit' parts affixed:-


Mainbody, minus the headlights, on Bob [our test mannequin], with the back armor and doors on [and yes, that's my hand, holding up the frame]:


And finally the 96% [we didn't use the Bicep armor as we weren't too happy with it] finished Bumble Bee at Toys'R'Us...


The crowd...


And the entire gang [L-R: Bumble Bee, Hasbro's Official Optimus Prime, Our Sexy Prime and StarScream, transformable].


Was a real rush job but both Edwin and myself are pretty happy with what we managed to do in that time...Hope you like it.

Stay safe,

Tim.

Thanks Hunters, coming from you armor gurus, the kudos mean alot.

As we have time before the Revenge of the Fallen Gala Premiere on the 22nd, I decided to made some improvents/upgrades to the Hasbro toy helmets to make it more accurate. What do you think?

Bumble Bee:




Optimus Prime:




I had to drill through the plastic lenses to allow the LEDs to be inserted. BB's eyes were glued on and then the LEDs inserted with the battery pack placed in the inside top of the helm. I might wanna cover his lenses abit more if I can find the right parts. As for Optimus, the same drilling was done cept that due to the bits used, the hole had to accommodate both the LEDs and the bits. Once that was done, once again, using my fav material, I scratch built the eyebrows/lids to recreate the 'correct' look. After some heat gun work, pime and paint...viola!

Anyhow, let's hear it for broken down power tools and spares.

And the upgraded Optimus back plate:


And yes, that black thingy on the back is a car filter.

Edwin's still working on the Thigh armor and should have it done by end of business today. Pics to follow.

Stay safe,

Tim.

Thanks Hunters.

Andy, the items used to build around the LEDs were broken down dremel power tool internals. Hope that helps.

And a little late but here are the pics from the Gala Premiere. I'm in Multicams with the 203 and googles strapped to my Chassis shoulder. .

The final suit as it stands...


And the pics from the Gala premiere.




And just in case the 'mechanical' stars didn't hyped the crowd, we had Amy & Janice as the female versions of Prime and Bee.


Enjoy...

Stay safe,

Tim.