MONOLOG

LOG032: APOLOGIES FOR DELAY

2009-05-19T10:35:00.002+08:00

Man I've been busy busy busy and falling sick. My sincerest apologies to those people who have supported this project and been patient with the repeated delays. Updates as of now, I'm trying to clear the orders by Fri 22th May if possible.

And to those of you guys who have been patient with this project you'd be entitled to a 20% discount for any future kits or stuff that I'm gonna sell here or on ebay, just a token of appreciation and a form of apology for the wait.

Cybertronian Arcee and Bumblebee will be next on the list once I've got time to catch up on my personal projects.

Thanks and sorry again.
Eric

LOG031: HOS01 ORDERS TO CEASE

2009-04-02T10:10:00.004+08:00

It has come to my attention that there are rumors concerning other parties announcing their own mass production and pre-ordering of the HOS Prime figure. While I'm not against anyone who'd share a similar idea, design, prototype, tool, manufacture and sell his own toy, I got a shock when directed to this site. Basically someone with a high feedback rating is taking pre-orders for a similar product using pictures taken from my blog as well as from Sabrina. (she's hopping mad when I showed her that, check out the thread she started over tfw2005)

Coincidentally, Sabrina called me a couple of days ago mentioning that a potential client from Shanghai wished to purchase a number of kits as well as an assembled piece. I didn't give it much thought until I was informed by one my partners in this project of the news mentioned above and that this particular client was reluctant to deal with me directly. I could be wrong, but its a very scary thought that I might end up sabotaging the people who's putting money and effort to realize this project with me by making the design in resin available to just anyone who's willing to pay for it.

My partners in this project have been gracious enough to allow continue sales of the resin kit, but I'm sad to announce that I've decided that all orders for HOS01 will be ceased effective from April 01 to protect their interests. For you guys who have paid a deposit or in full, you will get yours but with this potential threat going on as well as some other problems I'm facing, there's a high possibility of further delaying though I'd wish to settle all orders on hand asap. And to be fair to the people who have contributed to this project directly, I will not be making resin versions of future HOS models if the mass manufacturing project is successful. This is a very hard decision for me as I have personally spent a lot of time and money on development on this project and regretfully, the costs cannot be covered at all at this point of time. I'll be working on other stuff at the moment.

Thanks to all of you who have supported this project and those who will continue to support it in its ABS plastic form. Please bear with me a little for those who have ordered and paid either partially or in full. I'll do my best to ship out soon but if you'd rather not wait and wish to retract your order I will do a full refund at the end of a month or in May.

Thanks again to all
Eric

LOG030: COMPLETION OF ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS

2009-03-25T19:43:00.008+08:00

Finally completed the instructions for the assembly for the HOS01 kit. I tried to keep it simple and not have too many pages. The instructions are included in the kit but its available for download as well.

LOG029: MINOR CHANGES IN ADMIN ISSUES

2009-03-23T11:35:00.002+08:00

Emails have been flooding and I was using my gmail account for everything so things are getting a little messy. So I'm directing all issues related to this blog and production to my new email address monolithdesigns@gmail.com

There have been changes to my Paypal account as well as my current ebay and paypal accounts are all registered under my ex-partner's name when we're still in the same company and failing to verify myself as the owner of those accounts, they'd be freezed until my ex-partner finds time to verify them for me. No worries for those who have made payments of any form. If there is a need for refunds I will do it through my new account under monolithdesigns@gmail.com as well.

For those who are waiting for their kits and figures, I'll have a proper update in 2-3 days' time. Thanks for being patient.

LOG028: FORMATION OF MASTERMIND CREATION

2009-03-15T10:42:00.003+08:00

Announcement: HOS01 is to be mass manufactured

I have recently been corresponding to a couple of like-minded investors and guys experienced in the processes of toy manufacturing and we've decided to form a team to put HOS01 into production and possibly other projects.

Master Mind Creation (MMC)'s goal is to create custom toys based on familiar TF characters that are never made into actual toys as well as original robot designs. And of course the first project announced is HOS01.

There will be a number of improvements and changes to be made to the original design especially in the joints. The actual price is unconfirmed at the moment. More details will be announced here as well as in the MMC blog.

A note to folks who ordered the resin version:
I have been advising potential buyers of the HOS01 kit since the group has been discussing on the project. The kits will continue to be available to those who are willing to support this version and I will still be continuing the series in resin as it there it cannot be confirmed that all my designs can be mass produced.

If you have any specific queries do email me at griffith76@gmail.com I will try to ship out all confirmed orders by the end of March. A big Thank You to those who have supported this project and those who will continue supporting.

*I will be away from 16-22th Mar and will not be able to reply to emails.

LOG027: HOS01 PAINTED

2009-03-12T12:06:00.003+08:00

Finally painted up a set on my own. This is be the paint-job I'm offering to folks who opted for the additional assembly plus painting. So far it doesn't seem that the paint will come off easily but I have to be honest, I use paint from aerosol spray cans.

Initially I painted the rivets silver but he looked kinda like a Christmas tree so I repainted them to match the color of the parts. Was going to only do a flat color on the figure but then it looked really cheap so I added tones to it.

Will do up a sample of the black when I have time. And btw I solved the loose joint issue for this more flexible new resin I'm using. :D

LOG026: HOS01 ASSEMBLED KIT

2009-03-11T02:50:00.002+08:00

Really very sorry to those who are still waiting for their kits. A lot of unforeseen issues came up and I had to delay on the work and the tests and instructions are taking a lot longer than expected. This is roughly how the assembled kit would look like without paint. Some issues I'm still trying to fix is that the joints are a lot looser than than the pure white ones that I've tested. I'll be reducing the paint and will be changing the joint materials and modify a little on the assembly instructions that I'm still writing.

Hoping to get everything done up and fulfill all the pending orders by the end of March. I'll be away for a week from 16-22th Mar for army reservist training so I won't be able to attend to any emails.

There will also be some announcements soon for future plans and concerning this project as well so stay tuned. Meanwhile here are some pics for those waiting for their kits...

LOG025: HOS01 TRANSFORMATION INSTRUCTION BOOKLET

2009-02-25T00:44:00.002+08:00

Finally drawn the instructions for the transformation... in G1 style

LOG024: HOS01 NUMBER PLATES

2009-02-13T00:51:00.005+08:00

Finally did up the number-plates for Sabrina's auction. The engraving software didn't work out with the images so I had to model the plates physically in Maya and mill them out.

I designed them slightly differently as a bonus for folks who're getting both sets. They are done on clear acrylic (approx 3" x 1.5"). Will try to enlarge the bar codes larger so the numbers can be more visible.

LOG023: JOLLYBEE

2009-02-10T11:26:00.004+08:00

Getting real sick of making silicone molds and took a little time off to work on the mini project in-between the HOS series. And yes, BB gets to keep his smile this time... :D

LOG022: PLANS AND SCHEDULES

2009-01-29T17:19:00.002+08:00

I've gotten a couple of emails asking about what I've planned for the CybBB and the release dates for the HOS01 kit.

Tentatively I'm still working on molds and i have to wait for that to be done before I can start working on the instructions and get the necessary stuff printed out. I'm targeting to start shipping out first orders in 2nd/3rd week of Feb and start taking actual orders and hopefully conclude this project in May or June.

As for BB. I'm hoping to start working on the redesigning in Mar and release him in the same month.

Keeping fingers crossed here.

LOG021: HOS01 IN COLOR

2009-01-21T13:43:00.002+08:00

Sabrina has painted the first two copies of the HOS Prime figure and the pics can be viewed at her blog

She has listed them on ebay as well so do check them out.

LOG020: "REISSUE" of JDP HTM01 KITS

2009-01-19T12:49:00.004+08:00

Due to a couple of requests to make the JD Productions HTM-01 (whatever that means) Cybertronian BB available again, I'm considering to make slight revisions to joints and make a small batch of kits if there is sufficient interest. Tentative price of the kit is $40 not including shipping. If I didn't recall wrongly the kit has about 40 parts.

Do write in if you're interested in this little figure

LOG019: REVISED SHIPPING OPTIONS

2009-01-19T12:21:00.004+08:00

Sorry guys I made a mistake on the available shipping options. Upon checking another location I realized that normal shipping was available. I'll update this list when I get more enquiries:

USA
Normal Air: US$28 (10-14 days)
Express : US$45 (2-4 days)

Japan
Normal Air: US$24 (5-7 days)
Express : US$32 (1-4 days)

For those who paid and wish to change their shipping options please let me know so I can do a refund of the difference.

And I missed out a small detail. I'm located in Singapore so do bear with the seemingly high shipping charges.

LOG018: WHAT IF......?

2009-01-19T09:27:00.004+08:00

While I wasn't ready to reveal the intentions I have when I first started this project, switching over from scratchbuilding by hand to designing on software and prototyping by machine, I received a couple of emails from a few guys who might not be getting the kit for whatsoever reasons, but still wrote in to express their interest and appreciation for the project.

I explained to them that the project might not end with resin. So I'd like to ask a couple of questions and hope to get feeback from the fandom:

How many of you guys will be interested in an ABS (injected toy plastic) version?
Would you still buy one in kit form like Gundam/Zoids? (in ABS of course)
How much would you pay for it in kit form, kit form with paint apps applied or complete like the City Commander? (same size at 6.5")

Yep I wanna get this and others into the factories one fine day and make real toys out of them. That's why I refused to give this up after the large one failed and revived this almost two years later. At this point of time I have no means at all to realize a mass manufactured project but I do hope that it can happen one day if the resin projects prove to be successful and able to fund it at least partially.

So do write in as the main intention of the preorder is to gather information and data for me to plan my projects more carefully. But of course, be honest about the prices that you intend to pay for the various options and feel free to express your opinions, views and suggestions.

my email address is griffith76@gmail.com

Thanks,
Eric

LOG017: HOS01 RESIN GARAGE KIT FAQ

2009-01-18T11:02:00.003+08:00

I've recieved some very good questions from an individual for the and I've replied accordingly the best that I can. I'm kinda busy to sort the questions and answers out so I'll just keep the Q&A as they are posted.

Q.

This is my first post, so hopefully I'm putting this in the right place. I'm a relatively new collector (less than a year), and I'm still learning things, so please forgive me if I ask something silly. I'm posting it here instead of as a PM in case someone besides Eric has some input and in the hopes that the answers to my questions benefit others as well.

Firstly, phenomenal work, Eric! This is just a beautiful piece. What's more amazing is that you are making it generally available to others. I am very seriously considering buying one of these, and possibly two depending on how convinced I become that I could put it together myself.

Eric discusses at length what it is he is offering in his blog site. He seems very upfront about the kit's limitations. I appreciate the honesty, but I also want to make sure I'm not overly alarmed by his disclaimers. So my major concerns are: (A) How hard is it to put together? and (B) How sturdy is the figure going to be?

In terms of (A), I am new to "garage kits" and am not sure what exactly that implies. Putting a kit together sounds kind of fun, but I'm also worried about it. If I am not experienced doing this sort of thing, do I run a significant risk of ruining my kit? That is to say, with merely enough time and patience (and the right tools and good instructions), am I likely to get it right eventually, or are there special tricks, honed skills, and/or extreme precision that are required to do this? If it sounds unlikely that I as a neophyte would be able to do it properly, I'd rather further invest in having someone who knows what they're doing put it together.

If this latter is the case, then I'd like to understand what the options are for assembly. There are two listed: "simple" at $80 and "complete" at $150. A little more description here would be useful. What will be lacking if I only get the "simple" option? Is the only difference the filling of bubbles and replacing of rods? Also, what is the expected likelihood of there being any bubbles? At almost double the cost, are these final steps especially hard to do or just time consuming? Are the acrylic rods only important if you plan on transforming the figure into train mode (this seems to be what the blog posting implies)? For the painting option, what exactly does that include? Since the figures already come in properly-colored material, what is left to color besides the detailing (which seems small)? Or will the body of the figure also be painted to compensate for the dullness of the material's coloring?

In terms of (B), I understand that this is meant to be a display piece, but exactly how fragile should I expect it to be? What is the effect of the figure being in resin rather than plastic? If I do decide to transform it (or maybe even just pose it), do I run a non-negligible risk of breaking it (assuming I'm actually trying to be careful)? If I were to transform it a small number of times (say half a dozen), should I expect noticeable degradation? If I accidentally bump the shelf he's on and he falls over onto his side, is he likely to break?

And finally (C) how do we make sure this project is a success? For me, at least, this is really exciting stuff. I'd love to see the line continue, and I hope that Eric's project is getting sufficient exposure to generate enough interest. I guess this has been around for a while, but I don't monitor the forums deeply enough to have noticed it until it got front-paged recently. Is it possible to front-page it again to let people know that they should start placing pre-orders now?

A.

the disclaimer is to warn folks like yourself and people who do not have first hand experiences with resin garage kits. For kits, there are good ones and there are bad ones. I've examined first hand 2 kits from Japan Wonderfest; the Lady Roses Coral kit and MetalHawk kits. I've not gotten a chance to assemble them but based on the quality of the molds and casting, I'd rate Lady Roses 9/10 (close to perfection and minimal cleaning) and MetalHawk 4/10 (bubbles in every part and some parts have flaws that affect details and large bubbles that are virtually impossible to putty up, this guy's practically selling rejected parts). I'd rate my own kit at a 7 for average quality and ease of assembly. But Prime is much more complex in design and much much heavier so I'm not factoring these in for the ratings.

I am making minor mods to the parts that I feel that are difficult to assemble and will only sell kits made from the 2nd mold onwards. If you'd follow my instructions carefully there shouldn't be any problem getting everything right.

I've designed most of not all the parts to be replaceable in the event that someone breaks something. Most of the important areas are held by screws and you wont need to pay a fortune to replace something small. The large parts are virtually impossible to break. And don't worry, you will not ruin your kit as all the holes you need to drill are marked, as long as you read the instructions carefully there shouldn't be any major problems with assembly. It's just terribly boring and tedious for me since I've been going through this thing for 2 years.

As for joints. The figure won't be a rag doll for sure. It will be able to stand on its own and hold simple poses but due to its weight, the joints do not feel strong enough. But I like mine better than Titanium War Within Prime.

I'm sure anyone with a little common sense and patience can do it without destroying the kit and someone with experience with garage kits and a dremel can do a good job. Resin garage kits are kinda common but not transformable ones and it's much harder to build one that is required to transform as the parts be assembled with greater care in order for them to fit properly in the alternate mode.

As for the 2 types of assembly services, I'd use an analogy; Say a MG Gundam kit. First option, I can cut out the parts, clean the excess materials, then put it together. In the second option, I have to do likewise, then putty up the seamlines, sand off excess putty. But in my case to fit and clean everything properly takes a much greater effort than merely trimming the parts and putting them together. This is a handmade product and not machine produced. There should not be any bubbles in the first place but I cannot guarantee 100% bubblefree. And replacing of rods is a more tedious process than what you think it is. If you drill a hole 0.5mm off your train parts will no longer align properly. The pegs I've included in the design to lock the limbs and parts together in train mode came out too loose after molding and casting. There are ways to tighten them (eg. add a little glue to the pegs or the hole to make things tighter) but only a prefabricated rod and a drilled hole can be perfect. Pegs and holes cast in resin tend to deform as the molds are soft in the first place and there's always a factor of human error. The steps are intermediate in level of difficulty but terribly tedious for me to do it. I've got better things to do with my time (like designing new stuff) than drilling holes and plugging rods in. ie. you want an engineer to sweep the floor for you, you gotta pay engineer rates and not sweeper rates.

The parts come colored but it wont look as good as real toy plastics. In short, adding colors weakens the resin so I have to do it sparingly.

It wont break toppling over. Some small parts or joints will break if dropped from a height of say, table top level. It's a heavy piece for its size coz its solid in all parts. Just compare a Bowen or Sideshow Marvel statue to a Hasbro figure. But mine's playable if you are careful with it. He's so blocky I doubt he can do real action poses, mostly museum or heroic poses. The joints MAY become loose. I won't know coz I do not have the chance to test the figure for a long period, but in theory they should hold, and like I mentioned, these are replaceable. You can even find the materials at local hobby or hardware stores probably.

For the project to be a success, there's no real way for any individual to make a difference. You like it, you get one and a few hundred others feel the same. Then they open up the package and like what they see and see value in what they've paid for, then will continue buying if new designs come out with consistent or better quality. That's how I see success and why I do not want to hype this up and claim that it's the most friggin amazing scratchbuilt garage kit ever designed when its not. I'd want people who'll truly appreciate what they've paid for and review the design and product honestly. Only then I can be certain that this thing actually has a future. I have seen and own some of the best transformable resin models in the world and even then, people do complain about them in comparison with real toys. So I'll let market forces decide whether this is a good product or not for its price.

LOG016: HOS01 PRE-ORDER

2009-01-15T09:33:00.010+08:00

Finally I'm ready to take a pre-order for this project after testing my first molds and parts from the very first set. And before anyone jumps straight into this getting all excited thinking you are ordering and getting a HOS Optimus Prime TOY, YOU ARE NOT. Read on.

DISCLAIMER

This is not a toy. What I'm offering to the Transformer fandom and the public is a resin garage kit with parts made from Polyurethane(PU) resin. It is meant to be closer to a display model and not a toy that can be handled roughly.

You'd expect to:

drill lots and lots of holes(3 different sizes) preferably with a battery powered drill

trim out excess material using a rotary tool(dremel or similar models) or a penknife(guaranteed cuts on the fingers)

smooth out certain parts using sandpaper

glue certain parts together using CA (superglue). While most parts are held by screws and replaceable if damaged, there are a couple of parts that have to be glued on.

touch up on lost details(I cannot guarantee 100% perfect parts when I may have literally tens of thousands of parts to cast and pack within a short period of time. But if the quality is bad enough I'll send a replacement)

find a couple of small bubbles here and there in a couple of the 80 parts. As much as I'll try to achieve perfection I cannot afford that level of QC for the price I've set.

potentially flimsy joints in robot mode. I've been exploring on making tght joints in resin figures and it is currently the best method I've come up with so far considering its size. I have no idea if the joints will stay tight over a long period of time as there's no opportunity to test it yet but the joints are removable and replaceable.

parts may not lock properly in train mode. I have included pegs in the design for locking of parts in the alternate mode but apparently there is still some form of shrinkage or deformation that is not visible to the eye that affects the fitting of plugs and holes. To have a perfectly tight fitting, the resin pegs have to be manually removed and replaced with styrene or acrylic rods for precision fitting. The resin pegs used for locking at for people who do not want to go through this extra tedious process. I'm still trying to work out other ways to improve on the current parts.

possible issues with transformation after building the kit. How well the parts fit together largely depends on the skill level of the person building the kit and how much time/effort he's spending on it. eg. if the holes are not drilled straight, it will affect may other parts that are supposed to fit nicely together.

At this point of time you should have a clear idea on what this actually is. Building a garage kit is not the same as building a gundam kit. And if you're still keen to get one (or two) after knowing the limitations of the material and the design of this figure, here's the deal.

I will continue to improve some minor parts and start production shortly, but this project has taken its toll on my time and finances so at this point of time when I am certain that I'd be able to deliver a decent kit to those who know what to expect from resin garage kits, I'm starting a pre-order to decide on the size of the production run as well as ease my financial issues a little.

PRE ORDER INFORMATION

There are three options available for this pre-order:

you're a die hard fan and a full supporter and insist on getting a kit irregardless of any reasons , you can opt to pay in full. I appreciate your trust and support and will make sure you'd get your kit delivered asap
you have decided to get one for sure, but wish to pay in full only when I'm ready to ship. You can pay a deposit of US$50 for each kit reserved. You will be placed on the waiting list right after the people who has paid in full and will get your kit in due time. In the event that you wish to cancel the order I will not be able to refund the money back. However for any reasons that I may not be able to fulfill your order I will make a full refund including additional paypal fees.
you think this looks interesting and you'd like to buy one if the reviews from those who have gotten it are good. Do write in. I will decide the size of the production run based on the number of people who might be willing to buy one and you will be in a list of names of potential orders. There is no obligation to order but I will keep the people updated on related information on this project and possible future projects in this series (if it can become a series that is). Priority goes to people who have paid full and partial. Once decided, I will not increase the number of kits to be produced as every kit will come with a numbered plaque.

PRODUCT INFORMATION

HOS Prime resin garage kit

Size of figure: 6.5" tall in robot mode; 8.5" in train mode (approx)
What's in the kit: 80 resin parts; Drill bits required; rods and tubes required; screws; additional rods required for optional modifications; and instructions of course, I have not written them yet though
Optional tools: I will prepare a list of recommended tools to build the kit but they are normally easily available in most hardware, DIY shops, or you may even have them at home so I'm not including them in the kit. But if you insist I can include them in with an additional charge
Colors: parts come in 3 colors (red/blue/light gray) for the "Original" version and 2 colors (dark gray/light gray) for the "Black" version. Do take note that colors may not appear as bright or rich as expected as excessive pigmentation/dye will cause weakening of material.
Weight: completed figure weighs about a little less than 1lb
Price: Unassembled kit (US$120)
Prices for additional services: Simple assembly ie. basic cleaning of parts (US$80); Complete assembly ie. filling of possible bubbles, replacing resin pegs with acylic rods (US$150); Basic paintjob ie. airbrushed solid colors for base parts and simple handpainted applications on various details (US$80)
Shipping: US$45 to USA for express (2-4 days and US$28 for normal air: (10-14 days) based on a protional offer by local post office till 31 Mar 09 (2-4 days). For other countries please refer to this brochure here. Shipping is a single flat rate for multiple orders. I will absorb additional shipping charges if any.
Replacement parts: In the event that parts get damaged beyond repair, I will offer up a list of the parts available for replacements. Prices may vary from $2 - $10 depending on size/weight. Additional shipping charges apply.
Project duration: Depending on the size of the production, I do not wish to stretch the project beyond end of March. I do not know how fast I can churn out sets while maintaining a certain level of quality yet and I cannot afford to purchase materials altogether in one order nor do I have the storage space so I will fulfill orders as I go along.
Size of production: To be decided. I will set a number to how many of each color are to be produced based on the level of interest I get. I may produce fewer than that actual number has the production costs are extremely high, but not more. And there won't be a second run. Each kit will come with a numbered plaque stating the kit number and number of kits produced for that color. People who would want to order a set of two can request for the identical numbers if they wish to do so.
Expected date for first orders to be fulfilled: End Jan - mid Feb.
End of pre-order: when the first kits are ready to be shipped out and the numbered plaques are to be prepared.
Whats the diff between 10" and 6.5" versions: Size, price, material used and skill level of the people making molds and castings. I do not know whether Hal is better or not as I'm located in Singapore, only someone who has both can compare.

CREDITS

I'm honored to have the chance to work together with a couple of very talented individuals as well as professionals to make this project better. So far these are the people involved and credit goes where credit's due:

Guido Guidi
What can I say more? There won't be no HOS Prime custom without the HOS comic and more importantly, Guido's concept design. 'Nuff said (Guido isn't involved in this project, I based my work on his concept and design)
www.guidoarts.deviantart.com/
http://xoomer.alice.it/guidi_guido/

Altitron
Hmm I don't remember what this guy does for a living but his artwork is cool as hell. He'll be the one doing the box/sticker art as well as other graphics goodies in this project and hopefully future ones as well.
www.ThePimpSled.com
http://altitron.deviantart.com/

Sabsabby85
Sabrina specializes in customized paintjobs from the TF movie toys. Really really impressive work. Normally I do not take notice in custom painted figures but I gotta say I was floored when I saw what she did to toys that I didn't really like. Check her blog out.
http://www.artsylovers.blogspot.com/

Frenzy Rumble
Professional kitbasher who commands the highest prices on ebay for kitbashing works. Michael the coolest gestalt custom pieces tower 18" tall.
www.frenzyrumble.com

PAYMENT INFORMATION

Please make all payments through Paypal (griffith76@gmail.com) and send me an email of your information as well through the same address. If you have any queries do feel free to contact me as well through email.

OTHER MISC NOTES

Future Projects: I'd wish to design and produce more custom figures from the series and hopefully make them available to everyone who wants one. There are lots of ways that I've thought of to improve on the current design after assembling the kit myself, but I have to move on as I've been working on this project for exactly 2 years since Jan 07. So the success of this production is crucial to developments of future projects. There are always ways to improve on designs and products and I will keep on trying harder.

For those who have supported and encouraged this project so far, you have my sincerest thanks. And if you have any supportive criticisms on how to improve on the design and product I will definitely taken them into consideration, but only for future projects. I've spent enough time, effort and money on this design.

A note to early orders. As much as I appreciate those who are willing to support this project fully and get the early kits, I have to be honest to inform you that for every production run, the kits from the earlier part of production MAY have problems and issues that can be solved in the later part of the production. If the issues are major, I will offer free replacement parts (shipping fees apply)

Think I've ranted long enough. If you have further questions do email me griffith76@gmail.com

Here are the pics of the very first kit made from the very first mold which will be painted by Sabrina aka sabsabby85. Her works can be viewed in the link section.

LOG015: EARLY CUSTOM FIGURE: GAOFIGHGAR

2008-10-14T22:03:00.005+08:00

Heck I've been too busy with other projects on hand I don't have time to work on Prime at the moment but I've just uploaded a bunch of photos of an old figure I made long long time back in uni days. Couldn't afford the toys I liked so I start making them outta wire. S$50 got me a lifetime supply of wire from the hardware store so it became a hobby making figures of characters I liked and later I started selling them through commission and it funded my early collection of robot toys.

This particular one was made when Studio Halfeye made and sold their resin Perfect Change GaoFighGar and I bloody well can't afford that so only choice I had was to made one for myself that transform and combine outta that cheap wire. This was one of my proudest piece besides the 24" tall Evangelion EVA01 figure (with full articulation down to the fingers) commissioned by someone else. It stands at 10" tall and GaoFar transforms into PhantomGao and combines with the Gao Machines to form GFG. It's a personal piece and I still own it today :)

It looks pretty ugly to me now by my current standards but still this piece has a very special place in my heart.

LOG014: HOS Prime WIP 05

2008-10-03T12:08:00.003+08:00

Made major modifications inside the leg for the sliding mechanism as well as a locking mechanism for the foot in train mode. Thank God things went smoothly. It's darn tedious and boring to make the same exact mods for the other leg though.

LOG013: PAST TF CUSTOMS: CYBERTRONIAN BUMBLEBEE

2008-09-30T09:26:00.003+08:00

Another commission job from JDP sold as garage kits back in 2005. This little guy was one of my favorites though he's full of kibble. Bumblebee's design was partially inspired by Crazysteve and you can get the details on his fabulous little project through that link. The figure was made to be in scale with the G1 toy so he's about 3" tall and has 14 poa and fully posable. He's made of 29 parts and the first transformable figure I made for JDP.

LOG012: HOS Prime WIP 04

2008-09-30T08:42:00.003+08:00

Finally an update on Prime after so many disruptions in between the last update till now... Managed to solve two out of the three most problematic areas that's been bugging me since the 10" version: the hip joints and the sliding mechanism in the leg and thigh. Pretty happy with the smooth assembly and results so far and hope that the rest of the parts won't give me too many problems to fix. I have to think of how to make the joints work because of the simplification of certain parts and reduction of number of parts used.

LOG011: PAST TF CUSTOMS: DEVASTATOR STATUE

2008-09-29T11:08:00.004+08:00

The Devastator statue was one of the many commissioned customs I did for JDP. It's made up of diecast vehicles and sculpted portions and based loosely on the artwork drawn by Dreamwave Productions in Transformers: Ultimate Guide published by DK.The whole statue is 15" tall and weighs about 5.5kg (12lbs).

LOG010: PAST TF CUSTOMS: QUINTESSONS STATUE

2008-09-29T10:50:00.006+08:00

The Quintessons statue is one of the earliest commissions from an old friend of mine David aka JD. The kits were sold online intially through JDP and later through Hal who owns Rabid Squirrel Productions (RSP). The statue is about 5.5" tall and sculpted fully with epoxy putty.

LOG009: PAST TF CUSTOMS: EPSILON ARCEE

2008-09-27T11:04:00.005+08:00

Arcee was the very first sculpture I tried making (inspired by Botcon Japan '98 Arcee), not the first that I completed though. She was 5" tall if I recall correctly and made up of epoxy putty and styrene. I didn't have a dremel back then or even know about it so she's basically shaped by a pen knife and loads of sandpaper.

This figure no longer exist as it was modified into version 1.1 based on comments received that she looked too young and anime styled. The modifications were made when no one in my small team Studio Epsilon (STEP) have any expereince in molding or casting so revisions were made on the original sculpt. Personally I do not like the revised version one bit and deeply regret making the changes without keeping the original figure. Limited copies of the revision were auctioned off on Ebay. The figures were extremely fragile due to the size and design.

LOG008: DREGG

2008-09-27T10:20:00.006+08:00

Dregg is a 7" tall statue based on one of the 10 playable characters in the upcoming Xbox 360 game Dark Sovereign by Redeye Studios. Dregg is modeled in Zbrush by my friend who is the owner of Redeye as well as the head of the development team for DS. Due to the bulk of figure and the high number of polygons in the model the prototype parts were milled out with a low level of finish and details added by hand.

LOG007: TWIZTID

2008-09-24T10:25:00.005+08:00

Long overdue sculpts of the two members of the hardcore rap group Twiztid. The figures of Madrox and Monoxide are 7" tall and supposed to be released as vinyl figures. Personally I think the look is still off and I didn't really capture the likenesses of the duo but they seemed to like them so... thank God.

LOG006: HOS Prime WIP 03

2008-09-19T02:54:00.003+08:00

Finally completed a project that's long overdue and started on the assembly of HOS Prime. The details on the head are hard to add in as it's pretty tiny. I regret not separating the face from the helmet like what I did for the larger version. But anyway it's coming along pretty nicely though I had to do quite a bit of cutting and sanding to get the parts to fit properly.

LOG005: HOS Prime WIP 02

2008-09-16T12:38:00.004+08:00

All the parts are finally machined out after two long weeks. Next step is to put clean up and put them together and modify parts that do not fit. I've not added the joints into this model to reduce the number of parts I have to machine so they gotta be done by hand.

106 parts so far. Not that much of an improvement from the 10" version that had 144 parts but there are many that I need to combine together before molding.

LOG004: LADY RAGNALL

2008-09-03T13:25:00.009+08:00

This is a 8" tall statue I modeled and prototyped for Chivalry Entertainment Studios based on the concept art provided. Ragnall's my very first attempt at anime styled figures and a pretty interesting experience.

LOG003: HOS Prime WIP 01

2008-09-01T23:34:00.003+08:00

Not much of an update, just a shot of how some of the parts look after milling one side of the block.

There was an error in Prime's head model that I overlooked so there's a hole on his faceplate that I'll need to repair by hand.

LOG002: Blast from the Past

2008-09-01T14:34:00.001+08:00

Managed to dig up a couple of old extra repaints I did for JDP some years back during my recent shift of office/workshop. I'm keeping a set of them and listing the rest on ebay with no reserve so feel free to have a look.

LOG001: Back in Action - Hearts of Steel Optimus Prime

2008-09-01T11:34:00.000+08:00

A brief history:

The HOS Prime project began in Jan 2008 as a test project for transiting from traditional sculpting/scratch-building to computer aided design and prototyping.

A 10" tall model was made through CNC milling and due to overwhelming responses from Transformers fans, the figure was to be offered as colored garage kits. After two failed molds it was decided that the costs of production was too high to sell the kits at the price promised to the fandom so the project was eventually shelved.

The project was picked up by my long time friend Hal Zucati and offered to the public once again, but at a more realistic price for a figure this size and complexity.

But HOS Prime is back in more than one ways, as promised to many who asked of a more affordable figure, the 6.5" version is in development. I'll keep progress updated here so stay tuned...