#plus referencing off the colors of other dudes since they seem to have some visual similarities and all

[qwuilty]

Brain gave me productivity but blood curse made me not want to do anything so fuck it, finally made a transparent version of that one scan and applied some color to it as well!

Free use for whatever you wanna do like icons or whatever, preferably credit the original artist Randy Briley if you can though for actually drawing the concept art. I just cleaned up the scan and did some coloring |D

[iky92791]

So FINALLY I get to show these two pieces off. 

The originals can be found on my DeviantART here and here:

http://fav.me/dau0alj

http://fav.me/dau0fpy

After doing a lot of the art for Renegade Rhetoric and Echoes and Fragments, I was on a GoBots high…probably mostly because before all this I knew little to nothing about GoBots, so it was fun breaking into something new and being a part of breathing new life into this underdog franchise. I had expressed to Jim Sorenson my overly ambitious goal to eventually draw and redesign every GoBots character, if for no other reason, just for fun. Eventually Jim approached me with just the opportunity, except for something actually canon…so that was a huge plus. He told me that Andrew Hall was interested in a huge poster of literally everybody from GoBots…so I was down.

While it still wasn’t exactly clear WHAT the poster would be used for, the project evolved into a set of two posters: one for all the Guardians and one for all the Renegades. And more specifically, they were to homage the “Goodbye Convoy” and “Goodbye Megatron” posters that came with the respective gift sets.

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/attachments/10-jpg.27332166/

So my mission was to complete both of these posters, include every GoBots character, and makes them all recolors/retools of existing Transformers designs so as to avoid any copyright/trademark fiascos. (Actually, any Hasbro-owned design was at my disposal, though I was able to manage sufficiently within the realm of Transformers.) Oh, and the amount of time I originally had to complete the posters decreased significantly, offering me only two months to complete them both. (And having a family, full-time job, and not being an amazingly quick/efficient artist made this quite the challenge.) But I sold my soul, and got to work…and HOO BOY did I work, but - dear fragging Primus - I actually did it! Finished each one in exactly a month…and I must say that these posters have been my most grandiose artistic undertakings, and I was quite astounded and impressed with myself for actually completing something so damn huge AND doing it on time (OK, well…each one went like a day over my deadline, but whatevs :P) Drained as I was at the end of it all, I was also at the same time super invigorated to start doing some more art to help out with Beast Wars: Uprising, and my confidence in myself as an artist had increased drastically. Also, with the enormity of these projects, everything after that seemed thoroughly achievable. (Oh, and I later found out these posters would actually be used in the Spatiotemporal Challengers finale…so that was really exciting…and then literally 10 minutes before the story went live, they were apparently cut from the story. But Jim was still so kind to use them for Renegade Rhetoric. So either way, I’m still quite enthused!)

But I won’t get into everything else regarding my adventures doing Fun Pub art right now. The focus of this post is on the GoBots posters and some things I’d like to share about them.

So I did a ton of research and did my best to include every (or nearly every) GoBots character in these two posters. I made sure to include every Guardian and Renegade from the Challenge of the GoBots cartoon (including show-exclusive characters) as well as every toy-exclusive character as well - and not just the ones from the “main” toy line, but the obscure, miscellaneous ones as well. I specifically begged Jim to include Scooter Bot (which he fortunately supported), so I threw in the other weirdos like “AM Radio”, “Laser Gun”, “Trans AM”, and the other non-RoGun Arco GoBots. Considering these guys were factionless, Jim and I had to group them accordingly…so they’ve now been sorted onto their appropriate for these posters. We also agreed that the model kit character “Turbo Teen” was TOO weird to justifiably include, so he’s been left out.

Jim said I didn’t HAVE to include Rock Lords, Jewel Lords, and Fossil Lords, but I was feeling REALLY ambitious (and I’m a self-destructive completionist at heart), so I did my best to include them. In the end though, due to time restraints and the fact that it would visually be very difficult to include THAT many additional characters that weren’t even GoBots proper, only the major ones made the cut. Boulder, Nuggit, and Magmar were the most significant Rock Lords, so they got to squeeze their way into this cacophony, and Solitaire was the representative Jewel Lord. Sadly, none of the Fossil Lords or Narlies made it.

Regrettably, its been several months since I’ve finished these posters, and I’ve very recently discovered some more super obscure characters from play sets and other merchandise that I would’ve included had I known about them previously. There’s A-Tak from the HO Train Set, the little dude from the Mystery Tunnel Roller Coaster, the four different colored Bubble Blowers, the 3-in-1 Communication System, and some little guy that literally turns into the GoBots logo. (OK, so that one would probably have been too weird to use too…but still.) I’m sure one day I’ll draw them, though.

Now more specifically regarding everyone I did draw, I’ve compiled a guide to who’s who and what bodies they’re modeled after. Also to note, in order to resemble the original GoBots characters as much as I could beyond just a paint job, I chose different heads from OTHER Transformers characters that most resembled the original heads of the GoBots characters…or at least the ones that most readily came to mind when I referenced the GoBots characters’ original designs.

So here’s a list of everybody (with numbers matching the above images):

Guardians

1. Command Center - CW Sky Lynx (with the legs out) 2. Flip Top - CW Alpha Bravo 3. Guide Star - Generations Payload with G1 Beachcomber’s head 4. Bent Wing - CW Powerglide 5. Ace - DotM Powerglide 6. Bolt - TF 2010 Highbrow with Armada Oval’s head 7. Bullseye - G1 Windsweeper with G2 Hooligan’s head 8. Sky Fly - Armada Ramjet 9. Steamer - Go-Bots Randy with G1 Bumper’s head 10. Blaster - Armada Wreckage 11. Baron/Professor Von Joy - Alternators Camshaft (modified so the top of the car becomes his head) 12. Solitaire - Armada Thunderwing with Animated Red Alert’s head 13. Bullet - G1 Shouki 14. Night Ranger - Cybertron Lugnutz 15. Boulder - BW Under-3 with Infiltration Ratchet’s head (specifically Guido Guidi’s cover for issue #2) 16. Nuggit - BW Eggbot with MTMTE Fulcrum’s head 17. Good Knight - TF 2010 Hubcap with Armada Incinerator’s head 18. Small Foot - G1 Gears 19. Dive-Dive - Cybertron Deepdive 20. Shotgun - WFC/FoC Shockwave with MTMTE Rung’s head 21. Rifle - TR Galvatron (modified to have G1 Sentinel “guard” head) 22. Scope - Universe 08 Nightstick 23. Squirt - CW Shockwave with Armada Stormcloud’s head 24. Pistol - AM O.P. 25. Tic Toc - Movie Meantime 26. Scooter Bot - Generations Metroplex (with a modified face) 27. Spay-C - OC Raker with TF 2010 Sea Spray’s head 28. Path Finder - G1 Cosmos 29. Royal-T - CW Quickslinger with Prime Vehicon head 30. Treds - G1 Warpath 31. Man-O-War - G1 Seaspray 32. Beamer - G1 Windcharger 33. Dart - RotF Knock Out 34. Raizor - G1 Rotorstorm with Armada Gunbarrel’s head 35. Road Ranger - G1 Huffer 36. Motosan/Mr. Moto - Armada Sureshock 37. Defendor - Movie Brawl with Classics Jetfire’s battle mask head 38. Dumper - CW Long Haul 39. Dozer - CW Bonecrusher with CW Scrapper’s head 40. Tri-Trak - DotM Backfire with Cybertron Ransack’s head (with an added mouthplate) 41. Jack Attack - Classics Bumblebee with Armada Iceberg’s head 42. Rest-Q - G1 Hubcap 43. Leader-1 - CW Air Raid with CW Quickslinger’s head 44. Twister - Energon Bulkhead with CW Onslaught’s head 45. Hitch Hiker - G1 Omega Spreem 46. Courageous - OC Sky Sweeper 47. Mach-3 - CW Fireflight 48. Wrong Way - G1 Spinister 49. Space Hawk - Prime Star Hammer 50. Major Mo - Universe 08 Prowl with his head from Echoes and Fragments 51. Super Couper - TF 2010 Hubcap 52. Rumble - BM Blastcharge 53. Tail Pipe - Masterpiece Sideswipe with Cybertron Red Alert’s head (with an added mouthplate) 54. Zeemon - G1 Firecracker (modified so the top of the car becomes his head) 55. Turbo - CW Breakdown 56. Scratch - G1 Trailbreaker with G1 Arcee’s head 57. Throttle - Cybertron Offshoot with CW Counterpunch’s head 58. Hi-Way - modified TF vs. G.I. Joe “Bus Decepticon” 59. Scooter - CW Groove 60. Hans-Cuff - CW Streetwise 61. Van Guard - G1 Skids 62. Sparky - G1 Runamuck with Universe Roulette/Universe Shadow Striker’s head 63. Street Heat - Universe 08 Sunstreaker with MP Ironhide’s head 64. Trans AM - G1 Roadhandler with RID01 Hot Shot’s head 65. Wrecks - Armada Scavenger with Timelines Strika’s head 66. Ridge Runner - Spittor’s Cybertronian form from BW: The Gathering 67. Heat Seeker - G1 Dreadwind 68. Spy-Eye - Classics Jetfire with G1 Whirl’s head 69. Apollo - Armada Sky Blast 70. Pumper - CW Hot Spot with CW Hook’s head 71. Staks - CW Optimus Prime with his head tucked in 72. AM Radio (who I’m calling Radio-Head) - Spychanger Prowl 2 (modified so the top of the car becomes his head) 73. Tork - Cybertron Dirt Boss with Armada Spiral’s head

Renegades:

1. Thruster - Victory Thunder Arrow 2. Twin Spin - PCC Searchlight 3. Quick-Step - Hero Mashers Grimlock 4. Traitor - Animated Waspinator with G1 Ransack’s head 5. Geeper-Creeper - Energon Strongarm 6. Grungy - OC Sky Sweeper 7. Bad Boy - G1 Powerglide 8. Bug Bite - Classics Bumblebee 9. Nemesis - Prime Bumblebee Battle Suit 10. Chaos - G1 Flywheels with Armada Jetstorm’s head 11. Decker Decker - Bendy-Bus Prime 12. Scales BM Thrust (modified so the cycle-mode’s head becomes the robot mode’s head too…except it’s G1 Rippersnapper’s head) 13. Slicks - G2 Double Clutch with Cybertron Hardtop’s head 14. Pow Wow - G1 Crankcase with Armada Blurr’s head (with the “side wings” removed) 15. Psycho - TR Blurr (modified so his cockpit becomes his head) 16. Magmar - Protoform Optimus Prime with LSotW Impactor’s head 17. Stinger - Masterpiece Tracks with G1 Searchlight’s head 18. Destroyer - Classics Broadside (with his turret turned around so he has a cannon for a face) 19. Fly Trap - RB Salvage 20. Herr Feind/Doctor Go - G2 Blowout (modified so the top of the car becomes his head…and added a monocle) 21. Fitor - Classics Ramjet 22. BuggyMan - G1 Beachcomber 23. R-Navi (BM Technorganic Waspinator) 24. Laser Gun - Masterpiece Shockwave with G1 Onslaught’s head 25. Crasher - Classics Mirage 26. Cy-Kill - Generations Wreck-Gar with CW Dragstrip’s head 27. Monsterous - IDW Monstructor with BW Tripredacus’ head (specifically based on Don Figueroa’s design): — Fright Face - Slog — South Claw - Wildfly — Weird Wing - Bristleback — Heart Attack - Birdbrain — Gore Jaw - Scowl — Fangs - Icepick (They’d probably all have different heads, but obviously I didn’t need to figure them out for this project.) 28. Sky-Jack - G1 Talon with Armada Jolt’s head (with no mouthplate…as per his appearance in the PS2 game and pack-in comic) 29. Zero - RotF Ransack with SotW Ostaros’ head 30. Breez - PCC Searchlight with G1 Pipes’ head 31. Puzzler - modified CW-styled Combiner with RB Chase’s head: — Tic Tac - TF 2010 Tracks (modified to transform into a Combiner body) — Pocket - CW Breakdown — Crossword - CW Dead End — Zig Zag - CW Streetwise — Rube - CW Wheeljack — Jigsaw - CW Blackjack (They, also, would probably have been given different heads had it been necessary.) 32. Water Walk - CW Powerglide (with modified “sunglasses-styled” eyes/visor) 33. Stallion - G1 Trip-Up with BW Manta Ray’s head 34. Gunnyr - Armada Jetstorm 35. Evil One - RotF The Fallen 36. Tank - BM Tankor with MTMTE Trailbreaker’s head 37. Destroyer (the other one) - RotF Depthcharge 38. Clutch - Movie Dropkick 39. Cop-Tur - Energon Bulkhead with Universe 08 Jolt’s head 40. Vain Train - G1 Yukikaze 41. Crane Brain - CW Hook 42. Screw Head - UW Nosecone (modified so his drill becomes his head but with G1 Soundwave’s face 43. Binoc - Movie Longview 44. Odd Ball - RB High Tide with Armada Thrust’s head 45. Tux/Stretch - Animated Stretch (without the mustache) 46. Spoons - RoTF Dirt Boss with G1 Hook’s head (with an added mouthplate) 47. Gong - Movie Meantime 48. Re-Volt - G1 Doubledealer with Action Master Treadshot’s head 49. Blast - BM Blastcharge 50. Night Fright/Blades - TF 2010 Tomahawk with Armada Dune Runner’s head 51. Snoop - Armada Terradive with MTMTE Nautica’s head (without the antenna) 52. Zod - G1 Trypticon 53. Warpath - Classics Divebomb 54. Rogue Star - Prime Sky Claw 55. Spoiler - G1 Freewheeler 56. Dactyl - Armada Laserbeak 57. Loco - RoC D-Go 58. Block Head - CW Mixmaster 59. Bladez - Cybertron Unicron (slightly modified so his claws extend on the side of his hands and not over them) with BM Thrust’s head 60. Hornet - Animated Slapper (with added wings) 61. Scorp - Energon Scorponok (with a slightly modified head design) 62. Pincher - Energon Slugslinger with BW Manterror’s head (specifically based on his design from The Gathering) 63. Klaws - Energon Sharkticon with G1 Venom’s head 64. Vamp - Cybertron Megatron with G1 Chop Shop’s head 65. Bugsie - BM Scavenger with BW Retrax’s head 66. Creepy - Cybertron Scrapmetal with BW Tarantulas’ head

Additional notes:

Anyone who had already been given a design in Spatiotemporal Challengers kept it.

With Courageous, Grungy, and Nemesis…due to the fact that they’re really just combining battle suits rather than the characters themselves actually combining, it wouldn’t have really carried over properly to represent them as recolored Transformers Combiners. But instead, since they all have vehicles modes as well, we found some TF molds that fit the bill decently enough. And since the Sky Sweeper is made up of Combiner kibble, the design still hints at the notion of combining. And using the Bumblebee Battle Suit for Nemesis carried the whole…well, battle suit theme. So I think those worked out pretty well.

While it it’s PRETTY difficult to tell in the poster, Scales in actually in Thrust’s “3-wheeled robot mode”…since that would be more fitting for Scales than having legs. In a similar vein, Rumble and Blast are in Blastcharge’s “wheels-for-legs” robot mode.

Tic Toc and Gong display a little Easter egg. Tic Toc diplays 10:29 1984, which (after Jim and I did some digging to make sure it was actually accurate despite other reported information) is the original air date of the first episode of the Challenge of the GoBots cartoon. Also his pose is lifted from the 12th Doctor’s iconic stock pose. Gong’s display date of 10:27 1986 is (according to Vector Prime) the air date of “season 2” of Challenge of the GoBots, as recounted by Cy-Kill himself in Renegade Rhetoric. To parallel Tic Toc’s pose, I wanted to give Gong an iconic pose of The Master…but there doesn’t really seem to be one. But I did kind of use this as reference:

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/themasterthumbsup_8908.jpg

Oh, also I’m an idiot and just noticed a couple days ago that I didn’t color Geeper-Creeper’s right arm all the way. I’ll fix that eventually.

But I guess that’s about everything I can think of currently that worth mentioning about this project. It was quite a momentous undertaking, but it was a blast to do, and I’m super grateful to Jim, Andrew, and Fun Pub for giving me the opportunity to do it!

- IKY