Bus Transformer

[T-Prime]

Hi there,
this is the first time for me trying to start a new thread, so hopefully this works...

I have been designing transformers for some clients from time to time. One of them was the Nike shoe transformer in 2002, maybe you remember that one.
I wanted to show you my latest design, I did it for our local bus company: Meet Robobuz!



I also added an animation on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NBl3HmW8Oo

I know the design is a bit on the G1 side. Maybe I'll be doing another, movie-style redesign some day. But the best thing is: At the moment we are producing transformable toy models of the character (with rubber tires)! Having in mind that a toy model should be possible was one of the reason for giving him the rather boxy shape, but I really like that look anyway.
Note that he transforms into an articulated bus. It was quite a task transforming such a long train shape into a humanoid form. My solution to this was to integrate the moving center joint as the bots knee parts.

I also created a small Flash Game and some Wallpapers, you can check them out at http://www.robobuz.de .

I hope you like it.

Cheers
Thomas

[Elemento P]

I like it. Being a child of the 80's, G1 is still my favorite and I appreciate the style. YouTube vid is great too!

[T-Prime]

Thank you!
I also thought that a chunky body would fit such a boxy thing as a city bus the best.

[Monkey-Hands]

Awesome work man!!!!!!

[SDL]

Brilliant...... Love how you used the articulated part of the bus as his knees...... nice touch

[sora]

Cool, I like boxy mechs.

[TIMtationX]

Nice! Love the transformation.

[Bruticus_42]

Very old school, nice! They should have had him avenge his brotheren from the first film.

[UnclePetey]

Looks good, man!

[Sonya]

Very nice. I like the look and the colour worker well too.

[littleman794]

hahaha!!!

niiiice

[The Last Autobot]

Pretty good man.

[jdmwill]

i f'n love it

[Firefrost]

Nice work

[fallen_guy15]

Thats awesome

[Xsubs]

I Love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[calmontoya]

That's nice man! really good!..... liked the fact of him being a very big bot!

Even the Nike shoe was cool too, but only as a commercial! heheeh...

[T-Prime]

Even the Nike shoe was cool too, but only as a commercial! heheeh...

Thanks man, that's nice to hear... Because I only did the commercial - the shoeformer toys have been done by the Takara guys (whereas I still find them OK, nevertheless)

[T-Prime]

Here are some pics of the first real model. In order to reduce tooling costs, I try to do most of the engineering in advance. I'm using 3D printing technology for the first prototypes, therefore the rough surfaces and the rather thick walls.




The model is already fully transformable, but I still have to abrade some interior points.
In the next step, I will have to model all parts again to get them ready for the tooling process. Most parts will work, but many will have to consist of two separate plastic parts.
By the way, we will go for different plastic with the interior parts and separate plastic parts for the shell (that way we will also be able to incorporate different bus models with less effort).

[T-Prime]

And here are some pics from the 3D printer workshop:





As I said before, most parts will consist of two separate plastic molds in order to get different colors and to have an easier tooling process.

[MrX]

That's Awesome. How long did it take you to design it?

[T-Prime]

Thanks!
It's hard to tell how long it took, because I had to deal with so many other projects at the same time.
After the general design and video work was done, I guess the pure time for optimization and testing with the real model was about one or two weeks (especially because 3D printing always takes a lot of time).

[sora]

Really well designed, great job!

[Trailbreaker]

That is pure awesome.

[taybrian1]

I like it. A bus bot would make a lot of sense to fit in with so many humans around. Then they could protect tons of them!