Here's a picture I took of a scene where Jazz was in his Cybertronian alt mode. It was this picture that I used as a reference model for all my work. At first I thought it would be a simple kitbash, but it wasn’t until I studied this picture that I realized just how huge a project this would be. Jazz’s Porsche mode really has nothing in common with his Cybertronian mode other than that both are white with a big spoiler in the rear. The trickiest thing about the project was that I wanted the toy to be fully transformable but still keep as much of his robot mode appearance as possible. I’d never attempted such a major modification to a toy before, and I thought maybe this project was way out of my league. But heck, the G2 Jazz I was going to use was a total junker so I had nothing to lose. Even if I totally screwed everything up I would at least get some valuable experience. |
THE FIRST WEEK: JULY 5-11
The historic first step. Along with the front wheels, I had to cut off a huge portion of G2 Jazz’s die cast front end and make a new one. Jazz’s front end is a defining characteristic of his robot mode appearance, but the existing front end looks nothing like the Cybertronian car mode’s front, so off it went. I decided that when it came to making my own custom front end I’d have to stay true to the Cybertronian alt mode, but still make it reminiscent of the Porsche front end in robot mode. This would end up being one of my biggest design challenges. (The cut was made with my Dremel. Mine’s a model 770 type 1 I bought especially for this project at Wal Mart, complete with all the cutting blades I needed for around $30.) |
I removed all the original parts that I felt would have to be reconstructed or that just got in the way. I removed the rear quarter panels, the doors, the rear tires, the front wheels and axles, and of course the majority of the front end. Not shown in this picture is how I ended up removing most of the original windshield as well, keeping only the little hook that attaches it to his head. |
There ended up being a lot of compromises during the project because I couldn’t figure out how to make certain ideas work, or because I had limited time and materials. One of my original ideas that ended up being scrapped is the super skinny Jazz tire. I wanted to keep all four wheels on the car so that it would roll along, but in order to get Jazz’s vehicle mode sleeker and more streamlined I had to give that idea up. I considered cutting them in half so they’d have a sleeker profile, but they were still too thick and large to fit the limited space I had for them. I ended up totally cutting off the front tires at the axle, but the rear wheels are still there serving as the anchor for the pivoting rear spoiler. |
Once I had Jazz stripped down to where I wanted him, I had to figure out what shape the new fenders and body panels would be. I did this by first making paper templates. Shown here are my first rough paper patterns. Everything looked so ugly that I actually considered giving up at this point, thinking I didn’t have the ability to make decent looking fenders. But the paper templates were just temporary rough ideas, and I kept going. |
Here's my first attempt at constructing body panels, and the initial idea I had for the front end grill area. I didn’t know what to make body panels out of, so I went to a craft store and bought some thin transparent plastic usually used for making sewing patterns. At first it worked good, but then the material started cracking and I needed something else. I was stuck at this point. Then I remembered a guy by the name of John Spangler, who constructed a DeLorean Transformer named Steelskin. He won 1st place in Botcon's 3d category last year, so I figured he’d be a great source of advice. He gave me all sorts of help, including what material to use for body panels and where to get it. Thankfully we both live in Tucson, Arizona, so I went to the exact same store he went to for materials in constructing Steelskin! |
 THE SECOND WEEK: JULY 12-18
Here's the new narrower front end I made that replaced the previous clear plastic one, which was too wide. Thanks to John, I started using styrene for the body parts. All of the body panels except the rear window area are composed of .030 inch thick styrene. The back panels on the window area are .010. Also shown are the cardboard templates I used to make the doors and spoiler. I used cardboard templates for all the body panels I made. After the initial paper templates, I copied the shape onto cardboard and cut that out. The cardboard templates were the last step before I copied the final shape onto styrene. Styrene was easy to work with, and it instantly fuses together when it comes in contact with super glue. |
This is the first time I tried transforming Jazz. I was surprised to find out that Jazz’s original die cast front end serves to balance the figure in robot mode. My new styrene front end wasn’t heavy enough, so Jazz had a slightly rear-arching back that’s not too noticeable in this picture. I countered that by propping up his back with a strategically placed small styrene square. I was talking to John about this at Botcon, and he recommended filling the hollow areas of Jazz’s inner chest cavity with Scupley. I’ll have to give it a shot. |
This is the point where I could really imagine how everything was going to look. It was really coming together by now, but there were still two major problems. The spoiler shape was really tricky to nail down. I wanted it to angle as it went up, but I also needed it to be squarish at the base. You see the square little boxes at the base of the spoiler in figure 1? That’s the shape I cut the rear wheels into. Then I constructed small styrene cubes to go over the wheels and server as the spoiler’s anchor. I had to experiment with different spoiler heights and angles. |
Here's a picture of Jazz with all of the main panels in their final shapes, with the exception of the wheel covers that were still made out of the clear plastic I first used for the project. I later replaced those with styrene. The windshield was also eventually replaced with a styrene one I made myself, and the last major step before painting was applying a layer of model putty to the front end so it smoothes out the seam where I cut off the original front end. Once I got this far, I posted this and another picture to Autocon, the Yahoogroups mailing list I’m a part of. The response was good, and I figured that if I hurried it up, I could get this thing done in time for Botcon. There was a complication, though. I was going on vacation to see my in-laws in Texas starting July 17. Between going to my mother-in-law's family reunion in Florida on the 18th and traveling back to Houston for the rest of the vacation, I wouldn't be working on Jazz again until 4 days before Botcon! |
