Classics/Universe Dead End - my first custom figure!

[Terminal Hipster]

My first ever finished custom figure, that is... of course there have been a few false starts before this one. Starting from a Universe 2.0 Sunstreaker, as many others have done, I decided I wanted to go a slightly different route than the other Dead Ends I had seen and based my version of the Binaltech/Alternator figure rather than the red G1 deco. I used Squadron putty and a lot of sanding to fill in the grooves on Dead End's roof and trimmed down the shoulders just to differentiate a little between him and Sideswipe/Sunstreaker... a little tweak but I think it makes a big difference. The headlights are painted silver underneath, then painted with Tamiya clear red. The same clear red was used on the inside of the windshield.

I'm still waiting on some waterslide faction logos to finish this one off for good, and I'm not 100% happy with the finish I got using Krylon's Crystal Clear finishing spray, but overall I'm pretty happy with this as my first custom fig.

[Stapler]

I like it, the lines on the stripes are clean and add a lot to him. Are you planning to do the other stunticon cars to?

[Richter]

How did you get the windshield so clear?

He looks great man!

[Ultra Maverick]

Looks great!

[pulsedragon20]

looks very good!

[Terminal Hipster]

Thanks for the kind words, guys!

Originally Posted by Stapler

Are you planning to do the other stunticon cars to?

I haven't decided if I'll do all of 'em yet. When I started on Dead End, I was planning to do the whole team as a combiner set, but I kinda lost interest in that over the last little while seeing as everyone's doing combiners lately.

I'll definitely be doing Wildrider at some point, since I've got a really cool idea in mind for him, but I've got at least two other customs in the queue before I can get around to him.

Originally Posted by Richter

How did you get the windshield so clear?

Haha... a lot of time in a bath of Tamiya acrylic thinner, lots of scrubbing with an old toothbrush, and finally lots of wet sanding with Testor's 600-grit sanding film. Getting the windshield clear enough to paint the clear red on was probably the toughest part of this custom.

[GMfan]

I take it as an homage to Alternators Dead End? Good choice using Sideswipe's body with a Sunstreaker head. Turned out well

[Terminal Hipster]

It's actually a Sunstreaker body... I just reversed the arms to allow for the Sideswipe-style transform with the hood as chest. If you look closely in pic #2 you can see a spot right under the shoulder joint where I missed some yellow on the underside that I didn't realize would show in bot mode.

I'll post a few pics of the reverse transform (aka Sunstreaker style) in the morning.

And yeah, it's definitely an Alternator/Binaltech homage. I always liked that deco much more than the original G1 design.

[Tekkamanraiden]

Very nicely done, love the translucent red.

[Sureshot22]

that looks fantastic!