by: Austin Welch
A logical Lego creation.
Most people who know me also know I’ve been a Lego enthusiast just about all of my life. And most people also know I’m a huge Transformers fan. I started combining these two interests by building working Transformers out of Legos when I was a kid, and have created quite a few over the years. Occasionally, I’ll break into my collection and whip up something new.
I found some time over the last week to create what you see here: my own Lego version of the Decepticon Shockwave. This is a concept I’ve had as far back as twenty years, and I’ve finally realized it in glorious plastic. Ever since Optimus Prime was reborn as a Powermaster, I always though his brother in arms, Ultra Magnus, should get the same treatment, as well as their two Decepticon counterparts, Megatron and Shockwave.
Since both Decepticons originally had hand-held guns as alternate modes, and I always liked to invoke a little realism into my Transformers fiction, I re-imagined them both as tanks, which are basically rolling guns. Hasbro has followed suit; in fact, toy-wise, Megatron has been a tank more often than not. I further conceived these two villains to have a base body that transforms from the turret of each tank mode, and combine with the bulk of their vehicle to form the Super Powermaster version, much in the way Optimus Prime combines with his full trailer. To give them further mobility, I decided their base bodies should also each have a jet mode of some sort. But while I envisioned Megatron as a typical “treaded” tank, I felt Shockwave should have a more rounded-off feel, including big wheels instead of treads. I took a little bit of inspiration here from the MTA Titan, from Robotech: The Sentinels.
I had intended on creating Powermaster Megatron first, but the acquisition of a couple of interesting Mega Bloks sets (yeah, I said it), as well as certain Transformers sets from Hasbro’s short-lived Built To Rule series, led me to jump on Shockwave first. The Lego purists who cry foul at my intermixing of brands should know that this model would never have been possible on Lego pieces alone.
The model was created from scratch by me over the course of several days, but I’d estimate the total aggregate time spent on Shockwave at between four and five hours. I’m pretty happy with the way he turned out, although his Powermaster mode is a bit tall and gangly for my liking. But hey, you can only manipulate these plastic pieces so much, and besides, as often happens during these creations, I was actually pleased with how often something actually worked out.
Please feel free to peruse this gallery, which includes shots of the model in his various modes, as well as shots of the main tank and turret separated, and even a couple of in-progress shots of the main body. They’re not perfect, as I’m not trying to impress anybody with my photography, just my Lego skills.
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