Bug Spray

Sometimes the accessories included with the figures lend themselves to fun ideas.

Direct link - https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bwxl1QbH6hwVZkJ3Vms0QlFmU28

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Moo!

Figured I should join in the fun of putting my spin on the UFO-abducting-cows pictures people are doing with the third-party Cosmos figures. I used X-Transbots Klaatu for Cosmos and Mastermind Creations Bovis for Tantrum.

The background is a Hawaiian sunset, with Color Lookup, Curves, and Photo Filter layers applied to adjust the tone of the picture. I added the moon from a photo and the stars from noise layers. I also added several layers of fluffy clouds, which had an accidental effect of creating the moonlight reflecting in the water. The glare of the moon in the clouds, the exhaust trail, and the tractor beam were created from polygons, distorted and Field Blurred.

Direct link - https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bwxl1QbH6hwVSjdpdzk2NmhaUDQ

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And One Shall Fall!

I knew I should have used something besides my usual white background when first taking this shot of Spark Toys Spartacus and Alpha Pack. I simply could not reproduce the angles to my satisfaction while trying out different felt backgrounds. Thank goodness for the Multiply mode in Photoshop.

To add some mood to the picture, I used a foreground layer of clouds I had taken with a magenta filter. Without having to do any cutouts, which is very difficult when the edges are not sharp and distinct, Multiply mode pretty much replaced the white background and imparted some natural looking colors to the highlights on the figures. Several layers in Color dodge mode were added to alter the color some more. It was all a random, happy accident, and I probably wouldn't be able to reproduce the exact same image from scratch.

I added the sparks from a picture I downloaded to make more dynamic where Alpha Pack's axe is striking Spartacus' shield.

Direct link - https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bwxl1QbH6hwVUkl6S0MyTEdJODA

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Thunder Run

I took TF Dream Factory Tank Warrior to a local park and took shots of it on a large boulder. The sunlight and tree cover provided natural shadows across the figure and ground, something that would have been difficult for me to reproduce in a light tent and with Photoshop. I replaced the background of parked cars with a photo of clouds. The debris chunks and some of the foreground clouds and are drawn in with custom brushes. The explosions on the left and right are blended in from some photos I found online. I used Color Dodge layers to color grade the figure and the clouds.

One thing I took away from this excursion to the park - take a lot of shots. Half my photos were ruined by an unnoticed fly that had decided to rest on the turret.

Direct link - https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bwxl1QbH6hwVNUhhU1UybENuakE

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War Stories

Sometimes, I just want to keep it simple and quick. The veterans showing how to get it done.

Direct link - https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bwxl1QbH6hwVY1hpZzVNZ1cxV2M

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Independence Day

Happy Independence Day! This is going up early since I'm going to be too busy or too lazy to work on stuff the next couple of days.

I'm not a huge fan of of the Michael Bay movies, but find them to be mostly a fun if sometimes nonsensical romp. If nothing else, these movies have put Transformers back into the public mainstream. They didn't spur me back into collecting (that was the High Moon games), but made me remember my favorite childhood toys.

Movie Masterpiece Bumblebee is a pretty aesthetically pleasing figure, despite some design flaws. I put some color overlays on him and the Memorial to reflect the colors of the fireworks.

The fireworks are photos I took from last year's Independence Day show. The Lincoln Memorial picture was taken on a recent trip to Washington DC.

Direct link - https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bwxl1QbH6hwVaEJ6QkcxN2xaeGM

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Soundwave

Soundwave was definitely my favorite Decepticon. As a child, I found his monotone and synthetic voice to be unforgettable. Future iterations of the character have not managed to recapture that magic for me though. Forget the voice of Siri and Alexa, if NASA were to let me anywhere near the voice of their future shuttle AI, this is what I would program it to sound like. This was the Decepticon that instilled fear in me. Cold, unfeeling, calculating, and seemingly dispassionate - he was the one Cybertronian that ticks off that fear of the rise of the machines. His small army of extremely loyal minibots made him a force onto himself. It was fortunate for Megatron that Soundwave was unfailingly loyal.

This is also my favorite of the official Masterpiece Decepticons. The figure captures everything iconic about the character and is better engineered than any of the Seekers. The minions are smaller than I would have liked, but I can understand the need to make them fit into his chest. I can't wait to replace them with the oversized ones from Ocular Max though. Since I have the Hasbro version, I had to replace his yellow eye visor with a third party add-on. I suppose I could have painted it myself, but I didn't have the confidence to paint back then.

I shot Masterpiece Soundwave, Laserbeak and Ocular Max Jaguar in a light tent, propping KFC Mandy on a USB adapter. I used a purple filter on the lamps to impart some magenta highlights. In Photoshop, I added eye glows and cleaned up screw holes, especially on Mandy. I probably should have made Soundwave bigger, but I couldn't have without his legs and Jaguar disappearing off the bottom of the picture. Plus, I didn't want to obscure the background too much.

The reflection in the water is actually their real reflection. When the bottom edge of your subject is uneven, it is not a trivial exercise of copying and flipping the picture. Fortunately, my plexiglass surface is very reflective. I did apply a Gaussian blur to give the reflection a more watery effect. I also added water lines because I've been watching Bob Ross.

The background is of the Washington Monument during a recent trip to Washington DC. I woke up at 2:30 am PST and faced the 40 degree weather (still can't comprehend that number) to take pictures. I wished the sky had been more dramatic with clouds.

Direct link - https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bwxl1QbH6hwVcXVjcTg0S3E1ekU

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