Transformable Movie Accurate Custom Power Up Optimus Prime

Finally, after a solid month of working on this and several more designing the figure, I have completed a “Transformable Power Up Optimus Prime”.

What makes this “Power Up Prime” unique is that it is probably the most movie/ concept art accurate “Power Up Prime” that has detachable Jet Fire armour so that Optimus Prime can transform into truck mode.

Plus, the way the attachments are designed are so that different parts of the armour moves with body parts to maintain high articulation in “Power Up” mode.

The original toys from Hasbro allow a Leader Class Prime to combine with a Leader Class Jetfire but it is not really movie accurate.

There are several excellent customizers who have created beautiful “Power Up Primes” but the combined figure cannot transformed as the parts have been permantly glued together.

All my attachments are through magnets hidden/ embedded in Prime as well the individual armoured parts.

I did the standard ROTF Prime modifications including a ball-jointed articulated head, and TFTM hands.

Paint job is fairly standard with a slight weathered look. The shade of black for Jet Fire parts was created with a flat black base, a dusting of gun metal and dry brushing of semi-gloss black.

I used a Buster Prime and repainted it along with giving a black wash over the entire exo-skeleton.

Here is a picture of the original Leader Class Optimus Prime from Hasbro:

Here is my custom version of the figure. Besides the paint job, the major difference is that there are tiny earth magnets embedded throughout the figure so that it can “power up”.

More on this later, here are the pics of my “Revenge of the Fallen” Optimus Prime:

In the “Revenge of the Fallen” Transformers (2) movie, Jet Fire sacrifices himself so that Optimus Prime can take his parts and armour to form “Power Up Prime”.

Here is the concept art for Jet Fire as well as the original toy from Hasbro:

Here is the concept art for the “Power Up Prime” as well as the “Power Up Prime” combined toys from Hasbro:

Here is my “Power Up Prime” that is created from the individual Optimus Prime from above.

Thanks to Larry for helping me with the electrical work for the custom LED “Power Up Prime” Big Fat Gun.

Incidentally, all the above pictures of my customs can be seen in larger versions on my Flickr account at http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcsum/

Jan 2011: Check out the complete custom battle damaged Power Up Prime here.

Here is the detailed breakdown of the custom scratch work:

All of Jet Fire Armour parts were built from scratch with Jet Fire and Gundam parts including a whole lot of “kit-bashing”. From head down:

Jetpack

• The thrusters are completely custom made from a bunch of different parts.
• The main extensions are secured to a base that has large magnets attached to the underside. The magnets attach through to the batteries inside Prime.
• There are four arms that extend to the outer half shell of each thruster unit.

Shoulder Pads

• Custom-made shoulder pads attach to magnets embedded under Prime’s shoulder pads. The magnet positions allow the shoulder pads to move as the figure articulates

Shoulder Guards

• Custom-made shoulder guards attach to the steel pin on Prime’s shoulder with cylinder magnets. This allows the shoulder guards to swivel out of the way when arms are articulated

Back Wings

• The entire wing assembly detaches as one unit and both wings can swivel to different angles.

Chest Plate

• Chest plate with rib armour was made from different parts and fabricated as one assembled unit. They attach to cylinder magnets embedded into the sides of Prime’s body
• The chest plate also pushes up Prime’s chest window armour to give him a more buffed look in “Power Up” mode

Front Thigh Guards

Inner Thigh Guards

• Sculpted to fit around thighs from Gundum parts

Knee Guards

• Custom made from different sculpted parts attached via magnets

Shin Guards

Leg Wheel Guards

• Cut from Gundum and Jet Fire parts and each attach via two magnets to keep it in place without rotating with the wheel

Feet

• This is my only ‘cheat’ in the custom. In designing the extended feet/ leg and creating a movie/ concept art accurate look as well as maintaining stability of the “Power Up” figure, I figured the best way to to just switch feet for the “Power Up” mode. The “Power Up “feet are custom made from many different parts including the feet from a ROTF Leader Class Prime

Forearm Guards

• Cut from Jet Fire parts

Weapons

• Custom BFG with blue LED with ammo belt
• Custom Double Gatlin Gun mounted on forearm with ammo belt
• Buster Prime Canon

This has been the most challenging custom to date, although, I was working on a custom Voyager Class Prime before this, which was also very tough. I stopped the Voyager Class Prime halfway to start on this “Power Up Prime”. So, that custom is probably coming up next.

7 Jun 2010 Update: I’ve done a tutorial on How to make the Power Up Prime leg here.

Jan 2011 Update: To learn how I create custom battle damage and paintwork, read my two tutorials:

Part 1: How to Apply “Battle Damage” to Figures, Toys, Collectibles and Models

Part 2: How to Paint a custom “Battle Damaged & Weathered” Optimus Prime or Any Other Toy, Model or Collectible

Jul 2011 Update: Check out my new WIP “Ultimate Jet Wing Optimus Prime” Dark of the Moon.

WIP Customized Ultimate Jet Wing Optimus Prime

15 Mar 2012 Update: You can now bid on the custom Dual Model Kit Optimus Prime on Ebay HERE.