Transform your transformer!

Hello all, and welcome to my first Instructable. I'm here to show you how to take an awesome piece of kid history and adult collecting and make it into something more, something that says, "Hey, I'm no ordinary transformer, I'm one of a kind!" So, we are going to take about a day,  up to two full days (depending on the kind of paint, as far as how fast it dries), a transformer (I used my spare DIA Commander Trailer) a couple of paints, some masking tape, newspaper, and an open workspace with good ventilation. Why the last one you may ask? Some paints have harmful fumes, which can hurt or kill you, so always read the warning labels! Anyways, let's get to the fun stuff. Here's the transformer I started with, except it wasn't classics Optimus Prime, It was Kold Blue Convoy. But the trailer was still the same. The second picture is the end result.

Step 1

So, after we have gathered everything we need, we get the transformers ready to be painted. This includes: putting down newspaper or a dropcloth or whatever you have to keep the workspace from getting messy, unless keeping it clean doesn't matter. I used some old wrapping paper on my family's garage floor. Next, we put the masking tape on the places where we don't want to get paint. For instance, I put it over all the silver areas because I wanted to keep them in the final design. Then on to painting, obviously that will have to depend upon your independant artistic spirit, but I will include my original sketches and a trailer outline as well so that you might have some inspiration.