According to the Angry Birds Wiki, Minion Pigs are mischievous and don’t think very well. They are hard workers and work well as a team but are of the lowest importance in Pig City.
This Minion Pig however, doesn’t give a rat’s ass what the Angry Birds Wiki thinks – he even says the term ‘wiki’ is stupid and someone should slingshot a bird at it when they next get a chance. Alright then this is awkward… Moving on!
My Craziest Custom Hot Wheels to Date.
A while back I made this crazy awesome C3P0 Kool Kombi using the head off the Star Wars series C3P0 Drag Bus. As a result I was left with a good 80% of a drag bus and decided then and there that it was not going to waste. At the time I was considering using the fender flares from the Minion Pig character car for a JDM build I was doing and as a result the Pig in question was in pieces on my desk.
The idea for this Angry Birds Minion Pig Drag Bus came about literally by accident because as I turned in my chair I knocked the pig and it rolled over and rested against the drag bus.
*After sharing this on Instagram I was provided with some great ideas for a name. The winner was Joel aka @Diecast_dxb for his awesome suggestion of C3-Pig-O. Think it works well, and reminds us of its roots in Star Wars land 🙂 I was personally leaning towards ‘Bacon Bus’ but I think it’s too generic.
Making C3-Pig-O
Here are the basic steps I went through to create this Minion Pig Drag Bus Custom. Note that I will be writing a more detailed guide to using and working with Putty in an upcoming post so don’t worry if I skip over details 😉
- After realising that the width of the pig’s head was almost identical to the width of the drag bus I took to them both with a bench grinder – slowly and carefully grinding away tiny bits at a time until I had both pieces sitting flush against each other. A dremel [rotary tool] is also sufficient.
- Then I simply superglued the two bits:
- Now that I had the two pieces aligned perfectly – I made sure that the rivet was pointing straight down first and foremost – and then also aligned the top point of the head with the roof of the remains of the C3PO Drag Bus. This was when I added the putty it would appear as if the join between head and body was seamless.
- The Putty I use is Tamiya Brand Polyester Putty. I prefer and recommend Epoxy as it is easier to work with but again I will cover this stuff in more detail in another post.
- I mixed the putty to the required ratio and then started applying it to the join using a toothpick. (best thing to use by a long mile!)
- Once the putty had set I started working on removing the excess putty. The putty sets in about 30 minutes to an hour but I recommend waiting around 2 hours before working on it as this is the optimum time where it is hard and compact enough to shape but not too hard as to crack and chip.
- To remove the excess I use a blade/exacto knife and run the blade across the surface, allowing it cut out the bits in its way (see image below)
You can see how I have already removed the majority of excess putty with the knife.
- Once you are happy with the lines and don’t think you can do any more ‘damage’ with the blade it is time to hit it with some sandpaper. I start with a medium to light grit and gently use it to remove the bumps and smooth out the pot marks. I only use this sandpaper briefly and very gently mind you!
- This is my first attempt at using Putty and I was not able to remove those pot marks you see sadly. I even applied a second coat of putty but it didn’t seem to work. I need to investigate and find a suitable putty/substance to use as an ‘after filler’ – a ‘Selleys No-More-Gaps’ for Hot Wheels basically 😉
- Now it’s time for the final sanding – this time we hit it with a super fine wet n’ dry sandpaper ( I use a P400 grit – whatever that means) but have seen 1200 grit used in this instance as well – so basically what do I know?! LOL
Time for Painting and Detailing!
Again, like the putty process above, I will be covering the processes, tips and tricks to painting and detailing in an upcoming How To Guide and as such will only briefly discuss the detailing side of things.
- I had already painted all interior pieces in undercoat and now it was a case of painting the exhaust/rocket part of the drag bus, and of course adding highlights and other details to the body to match.
- The only thing I will point out is that when I detail my Hot Wheels I nearly always use paint pens. I use Posca brand pens with tiny tips on them that allow me to paint headlights and taillights and other painfully small areas with relatively little trouble. I highly recommend getting yourself some as it is easier to use and is a damn sight cleaner too!
And now without further ado, it gives me great pleasure to introduce the Baconest Bus in Town, the Angriest Pig in Birdland – C3-Pig-O
And because you know I love a bit of Photoshop Filter Fun…