TURKOCK, the Folw Drill Sergeant! (Xmass gift for my mom)

[Kanrabat]

For this Xmass, my mother asked me to give her something I made with my own hands. She grew up on a farm and she is pretty fond of poultry things. Some years ago, my sister gave her a chicked made out of seashells. So, why not give my mom a homemade chicken as well?

Obviously, it's me who's making the thing so of course it will be one of my infamous homemade Frankenformers.

So here it is, the "Beast Wars" Fowl Drill Seargeant,

TURKOCK!







Sure, he have weird proportions, but it remind me of those classic Looney Tunes strongmen characters that have tiny legs and a huge torso. Turkock is also somewhat posable.



Obviously, the main mode is his FOWL mode. Something as a cross between a turkey and a rooster, hence his TURKOCK name. I love that name!   









He's also a bit posable in this mode.





And finally, here's a comparison between the newest deluxe Kingdom Blackarachnia and the voyager Earthrise Grapple.





So Turkock can be considered voyager sized.

And finally, compared to my previous original character, TLK Skywarp.



I had a lot of fun building him and I hope my mom will like him! I'll give Turkock to my mom this New Year.

[davidd]

  Probably not exactly what your mom will be ex-pecting, but it should be a surprise! And if she is familiar with your fondness for transforming robots, she will appreciate what you have done.

And I must say, FOWL MODE is EPIC!    A Giant robot chicken belongs in any farmyard collection!

This creation brings to mind my favorite line from one of my favorite movies, the AIP Studios English language dub of the 1960s Japanese film, The X From Outer Space:
"Looks like a giant chicken!"

This is quite a clever kitbash, and must have taken quite a bit of thought and effort to figure out and assemble.

[Kanrabat]

This is quite a clever kitbash, and must have taken quite a bit of thought and effort to figure out and assemble.

Thanks!
At first, I wanted to just make a chicken using transformers parts. A non-transforming one. But quickly enough, I told myself that it would be quite a waste to make him non-transformable.

Next challenge was to not make him too big. The first parts I selected would have made quite the monster. 
By digging a bit more in my pile-o-scraps, I found the best parts to use and then, figuring out how to make the thing work.

For the paint, the base coat is some metalic water based acrylic. An eensive can, but it made an amazing result. Finally, I used my airbrush kit for the silver, copper, and teal colors. A dash of red with a paint brush. And finally, a special copped paint pen.

I'm really happy with the result. It make for a pretty silly and fun Transformers.
Before gift-wrapping him, I'll wait until the last minute so that the paint can "breathe", thus avoiding a nasty smell.
I'm sure my mom will like it and will be impressed. 

[Lejays17]

I'm super-impressed with this - I hope your mum appreciates it, and the work you've put into it.

Love the FOWL-mode version of it. And you're right, what is the point of a Transformer-style figure if it doesn't Transform in some way??

(we got my 6-year-old nephew a few Transformers this year, one oe which was a Bumblebee that Transformed into a jeep. It took my sister & i almost an hour to work out how to change him from the Robot to the Car. I do not envy my sister having to do the Transforming for the nephew with this one - it was too finicky for his motor skills & patience level at the moment).

[Kanrabat]

I'm super-impressed with this - I hope your mum appreciates it, and the work you've put into it.

Love the FOWL-mode version of it.  And you're right, what is the point of a Transformer-style figure if it doesn't Transform in some way??

(we got my 6-year-old nephew a few Transformers this year, one oe which was a Bumblebee that Transformed into a jeep.  It took my sister & i almost an hour to work out how to change him from the Robot to the Car.  I do not envy my sister having to do the Transforming for the nephew with this one - it was too finicky for his motor skills & patience level at the moment).

Thanks! I had so much fun doing this chicken that I want to make one for myself. But this time, it will be WAY bigger.

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I often come accross parents or grandparents who are shopping for Transformers in my hunts. Each times, I asked them the question "what is the age of the child?" Too often, its for a very young child that is 4 or 5 years old.
For that age group, I always recommend the RESCUE BOT line or the CYBERVERSE line. Both lines have the younger audience in mind. Generations and Studio Series are for the older child, teen or adults. As for anything labelled "Masterpiece", it's for late teens or adults only.

Shop smart! 

[Alliecat]

I often come accross parents or grandparents who are shopping for Transformers in my hunts. Each times, I asked them the question "what is the age of the child?" Too often, its for a very young child that is 4 or 5 years old.

And I had an image of Big-Bang-Theory Sheldon in the electronics store....
Quite impressive to put that together from scrap parts. I trust mum will appreciate the effort.

[Loona]

Oh boy, Turkock turned out awesome! His fowl mode is especially impressive (dat neck! Those colours! ). Great job on him - I'm sure your mother will also be impressed and happy with him ^^

Reading how you help out parents shopping for Transformers has melted my heart! Shopping for stuff you have no clue about is hard, and not everyone has the time or nerve to dive into the bottomless depths of the internet to find out what'd be the best choice, so getting ex-pert advice while shopping must be relieving to them - both on the spot, and also when the toy will actually be given to the kid, who will this way receive something better-suited.

[Kanrabat]

Oh boy, Turkock turned out awesome! His fowl mode is especially impressive (dat neck! Those colours! ). Great job on him - I'm sure your mother will also be impressed and happy with him ^^

Reading how you help out parents shopping for Transformers has melted my heart! Shopping for stuff you have no clue about is hard, and not everyone has the time or nerve to dive into the bottomless depths of the internet to find out what'd be the best choice, so getting ex-pert advice while shopping must be relieving to them - both on the spot, and also when the toy will actually be given to the kid, who will this way receive something better-suited.

Thanks! I'm a complete beginner with the air-brush, but I think I'm learning.
And you know those sculptors who can see what will come out of a piece of driftwood? I'm the same but with miss-matching transformers parts! Turkock was made with 3 main parts coming from 4 completely different robots. The torso, the heads-n-wings, the robot legs, and the chicken legs. Add some bits and pieces that come from many other bots as well! It's a lot of work, but a lot of fun.

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As to why I tend to help "confused" parents and grand-parents who are shopping for transformers is simple. The goal of a toy is to make memories and to have fun.  A robot that is too advanced for a kid will just give a sour taste. And if I want to keed collecting Transformers for the next 35 years, the fanbase must have fresh blood every year! 

[Loona]

As to why I tend to help "confused" parents and grand-parents who are shopping for transformers is simple. The goal of a toy is to make memories and to have fun.  A robot that is too advanced for a kid will just give a sour taste. And if I want to keed collecting Transformers for the next 35 years, the fanbase must have fresh blood every year! 

I really like that approach! And the "fresh blood"-part is very reasonable. In many areas* I can sometimes see that their groups seem to want to keep those areas all to themselves, and don't, or only grumpily allow others in, not realising that if there isn't fresh blood, the group will also soon be nonexistent, because in a collector fanbase's case, the less profit coming in from the limited amount of people will result in less stuff coming out and less things to collect, and in general cases, people knowledgeable/interested in that area will simply die out, with noone to pass their knowledge and interest on to.

*a weird example of this is a small university major I attended in the early-mid 2000s. Teachers (mostly in their 60s, even!) were all acting as if it wasn't in their interest to teach us the stuff, those who were already studying there weren't respected, and those who wanted to attend weren't welcome - it was hell to get in and stay in, so no wonder many just gave up. If it wasn't for one single angel of a teacher, I would have quit too. And I didn't stay to do research or anything related to the area, no, thank you, it's bad enough to think back to them. The major does not exist anymore, it was discontinued sometime shortly after I left. They kinda deserved it, and I cannot feel sorry for them... (I would have been if it affected Mr. Angel teacher, but he was only giving lectures there, and had another important/main job, so he didn't lose his job and get into a risky situation as a result)

[Kanrabat]

I can understand gate-keeping. Usually, you don't want want "noobs" to enter and ruin it for everyone. But what too many don't understand it it work only when in moderation. Because without a steady flow of fresh "noobs" to enter the thing and becoming pro, the thing is just bound to disappear. It can also be a power game. No "noob" may enter in fear of losing a position. It's a very short sighted mentality.

We get those a lot in the Transformers community. The Anti-Bayverse, the Anti-Cyberverse, the Anti-Beast Wars, ect. It's all about negativity. Thank god those people are the very minority because Transformers would have been gone 25 years ago.

[Kanrabat]

Here's Turkock, next to the seashells-chicken that my sister made at mom's.



Mom really loved what I made and she love the FOWL mode obviously. Surprisignly, she preffer the fowl with his wings up.

Glad this little project of mine was a success!

[davidd]

Quite an amusing pair! Glad your mom appreciated your efforts!

[Alliecat]

Quite a lot of work in both of those, I'd say. She certainly has two one-of-a-kind collectibles there.

[Loona]

I'm happy to hear your mother likes Turkock - and together with your sister's shell-chicken (which also looks awesome! Great job, both of you!), her collection has just got an eclectic twist! ^^

[Kanrabat]

Thanks guys!
These two look so well together.

BTW, I'm amazed that I have more responses here than on my Transformers forum. (づ´• ヘ •`)づ