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Magmatron: Revisited + Alpha

It had been 6 months since my last blog, and just after some anonymous stranger sent me a scan of the last Magmabot I've been missing fo...

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Special Review: Sanctuaries

First of all, this special review is not about Foldabots, but about another book from the creator of Foldabots, this time, in a form of a coloring book, not for children, but for adults.

The title of the book is simply called "Sanctuaries" an adult coloring book made by Jomike Tejido, the same guy who brought us the phenomenal Foldabots, vivid illustrations for a selection of nice children's storybooks, and the adorable Robotars.

The cover has nothing much special, no flashy illustrations, no edginess, but the nice thing about it, is the abstract yet relaxing colors of the cover itself.

Inside, you'll see the contents of the book with 32 pages in it (30 out of them are the main coloring panels), and also included are some of the creator's nice 'Banig Paintings' which are the inspiration of the coloring outlines. I haven't colored one of the pages of the book yet as if I'm reviewing this before I can work on it. Results of the colored panels may vary depending on the coloring tool and person who colored it.

Interesting enough, I strongly recommend picking up this book for those veteran Folda-Fans or not, who want to pass time by relieving stress through art, which is available at most bookstores in the Philippines. For almost the same price as any of the Foldabots Toy Books created by Jomike Tejido, Sanctuaries is a good addition to your collection, or if you want a new coloring book to work on, or simply give it as a gift to your loved ones or to yourself.

Apart from today is the 30th EDSA People Power Anniversary, this review is dedicated to all my avid readers for the past few years of this blog. I will be back again mid-March, with another #foldabots10 special which you'll definitely love. Until then, this have been The Foldabots Blog, we'll see you next time.

Saturday, February 13, 2016

#foldabots10: Valentine Special

#foldabots #foldabots10 #TheFoldabotsBlog

It has been almost a month have passed after the last blog post, and I apologize if I don't have this month's issue up to now.

Recently, an old friend of mine made me crossover designs using Showa Era Kamen Riders. I'm also surprised of how well he does customs on adding extra parts especially these mostly used one of my base parts (Which are free to use, by the way).

Now, I've promised to feature the other ones I've tested lately, right? I will be covering that on this blog.

TITANUS 2015 TOY

Titanus (Not to confuse with the Carrier Zord from MMPR) is a non-canon, fan-made gestalt created by Neilsama at DeviantArt. With that crazy idea, I decided to make an actual combining toy using the Foldabots System several years ago.

The original design was inferior back then despite of the combination procedure was not as good as the official Foldabot designs where most of the latter designs require paperclips rather than a simple connector. I've always wanted to remake the design until last year, where I worked this renewal. It's far more simpler than the former, and the combination process is much more easy. Here we begin with the components itself, which are based from the 1984 Autobot mini-cars.


Individual Autobots

To begin the review on these 'Paper-Formers', let's look at the first two: Bumblebee and Cliffjumper. Big changes in the design include the simplifying of their transformation concept, which involved integrating the combiner hands on the front parts of the cars, whereas the former design had them separate and the canopies were more boxy than latter.


In robot modes, the two seemed to be a little weird especially in this picture, I had their combiner hands showing, just to make them stand properly. I tried to fold them hidden but it had bad outcome. There is another configuration I came up, which almost reminiscent of their older design but sleeker, which I'll be featuring shortly.


Gears and Brawn, the second batch of the Minibots, taking a different tack of the former two, where they are built in the same way, except for the canopy and other parts. Like the others, they underwent a lot of alterations including a new more simpler pattern, where I also scrapped some of the unnecessary parts, in favor of ease.


Their robot modes are almost the same as the old designs, except the new ones had bigger squat wheels like everybody else in the set and the heads are now easy to store inside in vehicle mode.


Windcharger, the easiest to build of the six, underwent in a major overhaul in the pattern by merging both the canopy and the main unit into one larger yet simpler piece. While Huffer retains his two-part assembly but with major changes as well. The only problem with Huffer is on how I make his vehicle mode.


Robot modes for the are pretty nice, especially Windchanger isn't as complicated as before. Huffer in the other hand, looks quite as G1 as possible even with the gimmick of Partsforming.


Here, we see all six Autobots in their robot modes. Apologies for the natural lighting glare. And if you were paying attention, I mentioned I did another configuration for Bumblebee and Cliffjumper which I did here.


Combination Part 1

Now, on with the combination process. On this picture, I formed out the hands from Bumblebee and Cliffjumper. Bee forms the right arm, while Jumper forms the left arm.


Next are Gears and Brawn, where they form legs. Now there is an extra step where I folded the heads a bit, just enough to fit inside. You could also tuck them in if you want. (Apologies for my cameo)


Finally, we take a look at Windcharger and Huffer. Charger's lower torso form is almost identical to the old design. However, Huffer's formation is changed, where I now utilized the arms as hooks to the cab part forming the chest. We'll get to how it looks on the other side later as we move on.


Combination Part 2

Now, let's look at how these guys combine, starting with the lower body. Almost the same as the old one but with major changes including a more packed-in design, also take note of the tabs and apologies for the cameo again.


Next is the upper body, where I also made it stand on its hands. Again, I'm not showing the front part yet until we get to the full combination.


Combination Part 3

And now, we look at the finished combiner--Titanus. Like I said, this design is probably more superior to its older version. Even with those alterations, the combiner looks very refined and the combiner head gimmick is a new thing I also included. Proportion wise, he has really big hands, which almost normal to any Foldabot gestalt. I prefered to make it as compact as it can so it stands out more. And if you can remember, I also made compact configurations for official Foldabot combiners except to some who are not capable of such. 


Size wise, he is shorter than MiniPla Shurikenjin on the right, and a Transformers Masterpiece (specifically MP-12) on the left.


Conclusion


Titanus 2015 is one of the best renditions beside Celtron and Bahaghari. And if you recall, on this very date last year, I posted the blog where you can get the patterns. And if you want to make one of your own, here's the link: http://ejsotto.blogspot.com/2015/02/valentines-day-blog-operation-titanus.html

And since I haven't got the current month's issue, I will be covering that along with the March issue's Lutabot next month. Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, so to those of you lovebirds, have a safe and happy celebration. Until then, this has been The Foldabots Blog, we'll see you next time!