D/L here with another sporadic-blog post.   Things are starting to normalize behind the scenes at Kidbash, and in my own life, so hopefully regular posts will become a part of your week again in the near future!   Sharp-eyed Kidbash-fans may have noticed that I tweeted a few times about starting “Project Command Center.”   This is a HUGE, but relatively not-labor intensive side-project I’m working on.

I think it’s a safe bet that the majority of readers either knows a little bit about Sci-Fi epic Star Wars, or they may be familiar with robot-runner-ups the Gobots, many of you may even know a bit about both.  Well the Command Center is the beast that bridges the two:

The AT-AT Imperial Walker (most notable from “The Empire Strikes Back”) came first, and in the early 80’s Tonka (back then not part of Hasbro, good at trucks, and soullessly lazy at everything else) blatantly ripped off the basic design of the AT-AT for their “Command Center” base for the heroic Guardian Gobots.

I’m betting it was 1-part “Hey this looks cool, let’s borrow from here” and 1-part “Kids LOVE the AT-AT, and not many got one, even if they don’t like Go-Bots, they might buy a Commander Center as a cheap alternative.”  The scale of the thing is actually almost better suited to 80’s Kenner Star Wars figures than it is actual Gobots, for that matter.

Well, recently Hasbro (Who in the kind of corporate licensing synergy that just gets me all giddy now owns Tonka, the Go-Bots, and hence the design to the Command Center, also has the Star Wars action figure license from Lucas) recently released a OMG-It’s-2-feet-tall lights-and-sounds crazy as all hell $100 AT-AT (Which follows last years similar scale-and-price Falcon….can we get a new FortMax already??).  I took one look at this thing, and KNEW I had to get one and make it a Command Center (I DROOOLED over the Falcon, but could not justify it, couldn’t figure out what Cobra –the one 1:18 line of characters I collect- would do with it ;)).  I’m a playset-nut, so I HAD to do this, I had no choice…

The toy is whomping good fun, and satisfies all the dreams I had as a kid of what an AT-AT toy would be like (The early Kenner one ain’t up to snuff on that front, even as a kid, I spied one in person once, and was a little underwhelmed…).  I’ll quickly re-present the phone shots from the twitter feed which will give you a sense of scale:

Dry-fit Monogram-Model Spay-C in the cockpit…she’s about 3” tall.

Hubcap, playing the part of Super Couper, chilling in the crew-compartment.

Marvel Cross Overs Iron Man-Car, destined to become Turbo, sitting comfortably in the launch bay that was designed to launch speeder-bikes.

Yeah…this thing is amazing!

Now, it would be very tempting to leave well enough alone, the two vehicles’ designs are close enough that I could just man the AT-AT with Gobots and call it a day…but where would be the fun in that?

Which brings us to the kitbashing principle of the day.   To my eye, the elements that make the Command Center the Command Center and NOT the AT-AT are the red-dome cockpit up front, and the bright-red stripes and raised-window-things along its flanks.

So I took some measurements and headed out into the world to find some parts that would work.  Because the AT-AT is huge, I had to think VERY creatively, that Cockpit cover would have to be especially massive.   I was hoping to find a giant-clear-red-shampoo bottle in the right shape or something of the sort, but no luck for a few days.

Today on my lunch break, I went where I knew I would end up:  The Container Store.  This is another one of those, making-killer-robots-from-girly stuff moments.   Home Depot and Sears Hardware are great for little mechanical greebles, but if you want beautiful and elegant plastic forms, The Container Store (or it’s like) is the place to go!

I had to browse a few aisles to find what I needed, but naturally I did:

First up (currently just scotch-taped on to test it out), the Container Store’s greatest gift to kitbashers: their clear-plastic “gift box” range.  Recently the purple variety has become popular among Transformer fans as quick-and-dirty Energon Cubes.   You can even mix-and-match the clear and the purple to create those “filling the cubes” dioramas.  Going from .39 to 3.29 or something for the big ones, these are a very economical resource for anything you might need that’s clear, colored and square’ish.   They’re doing a great job as Commander Center-hatches already, in my opinion.

The coup-de-gras though, was finding my cockpit.   Not available in red, I’ll have to tint it, but it’s jest about as perfect as I could have hoped for:

Big ol’ measuring scoop.  Right shape, perfect size, once I whack off the handle and do some detail and paint work, this is going to really complete the “transformation” from AT-AT into Command Center.

So next time you’re out shopping with your lady (or if you are a lady, next time you drag your man along for a house-wares run) don’t forget to keep your eyes open for the shapes, colors, and sizes you need for whatever project you’re working on.   You may even be inspired to start a new project!

Speaking of Star Wars….I HAVE to write a post about how the early X-Wing ‘bashers birthed our hobby…

Got any massive-scale plans of your own?    Tell us about it in the comments below!

Still getting settled into the new house, but I FINALLY have my computer set up again, so here's another quick ad hoc blog post tide ya'll over until I can get back on the horse!

One of the interesting things that happened in the custom show was that we got 3 very good, very different, Power Master Optimus Prime (Or Super God Ginrai, if you're a JTF snob like me) customs.

Each was sort of unique, one being Kidbash-supporter Tgping's 'Classics' styled armor set for the Mega-Scale Prime, one being a G1-Articulation-and-Build-Up type project, and one being a mostly-scratch-built anime-style figure based on the much-maligned 2-Pack Classics Prime.

I simply cannot pick a favorite, they are each FABULOUSLY cool in their own way, and so distinct from one another.   It really shows that there is always MUCH more than one approach to any custom, character, project, or build.  An open-mind and a willingness to take risks is your only limitation!

Internet connection is less than ideal here, but I wanted to post SOMETHING.

Here's a few shots from the Custom show, more to come on this :)