It all started from a rumor....
2024/07/05; VIDEO IS UP!
PROLOGUE
Few months ago (April 2024), rumors circulated online about LEGO's upcoming official Transformer Bumblebee. Two years earlier, LEGO officially released Optimus Prime, so I guess a LEGO Bumblebee shouldn't be improbable at all, I thought back then.
Anyway, as soon as I heard this rumor, I immediately announced that I might build a LEGO G1 Bumblebess myself , just to see how my design fared against the official version .
There are many variants of Bumblebee in Transformers universe, and I'm pretty sure LEGO will release the G1 version , that turns into an approximation of a "classic VW Beetle" from G1 Transformers cartoon.
DID YOU KNOW...
This is not the first G1 Bumblebee I made using LEGO. Many years ago, I made Cybertronian mode G1 Bumblebee , that appeared only in the first episode of the series depicting him in his home planet , Cybertron.
ABOUT THIS PROJECT
This G1 Bee project was started about 4 weeks ago. I actually made great progress within a week of effort and posted updates in my instagram channel (below), Do follow my IG ..!! Thanks!
I hoped to complete it before the official LEGO Bumblebee came out before July. Let's just say LEGO beat me to this.
With Takara Masterpiece Bumblebee v1 above (inset)
Compared with photos of real life yellow Beetles. I love to seek out more than one source of reference , instead of just relying on a few Bumblebee toys.
Initially the whole hood would be colored differently (light-orange) compared to the rest of the yellow vehicle, as I don't have certain parts in yellow.
After some consideration, I decided to modify the hood design, making use of yellow parts in hand. The light-orange parts can still helps to form stripes at the center of the hood in this final design.
Rear hatch opens to reveal Bee's head facing inwards. note that there are exposed studs at the back of his head. I cannot tile it up without causing the hatch to buckle. It's that snug!
Sculpting the curvy vehicle front hood was pretty challenging, especially when there's a folding mechanism underneath to collapse the wheels in bot mode.
As always.. the gun was last to be made. Luckily I am able to clip it onto the hood where the vehicle rear hatch hinges is located. Initially the gun was designed to be pegged onto the spare tire but it kept swaying to one side due to the freely rotating spare tire.
With a Duplo car driven by Minnie.
With 3rd party TLK Optimus Prime aka "Challenger"
TRANSFORM!
I deliberately apply red as a color coded connectors to be unlatched from the vehicle rear, so both robot arms can be extended out. The panels (now raised) near the front wheels are dampers to prevent the wheels from sagging inwards especially when the vehicle is rolled back and forth.
Both halves of the rear cabin opens to reveal robot head. They will recombine later to the back of the robot. Note the black stripe on the cabin roof. It was meant to be yellow to tally with its other half. (I hate you, Murphy's Law!). This is rectified in robot mode photos .
Front cabin/windshield raised
Stretch the legs out!
Fold the rear wheels to form the feet. The red connectors mentioned at the very beginning of the transformation can act as heels to further stabilize the robot mode.
ROBOT MODE
"I have no mouth, but I must smile". Yeah the face are made using non-printed parts, so you gotta use your imagination when reading his expression. He does look stern from certain angles, a very un-Bee-like character.
One of my most satisfying design is able to get the vehicle cabin halves to tab onto the shoulder joints, leaving little gaps.
Looking ahead to the distant future where he will be a prominent character in live-action Transformers movies.
MORE ACTION POSES
I've chosen dark gray for his limbs instead of black (desirable) because LEGO doesn't have needed ball joints in black variant. At least light gray ball joints used alongside dark gray parts won't be as glaring.
WITH GUN
The gun was hastily designed and it shows! I'm not a good weapons builder!
OTHERS
With team Masterpieces: MP01 Optimus Prime, Dinobot Grimlock and Prowl.
If you're a G1 TF fan, you should know this half-assed joke.
With G1 Cybertronian Bumblebee. I actually swapped and pinched a bunch of parts from his Cybertronian counterpart to complete this project. That's why the latter has a new chest-sculpt.
And intimate look at his sole to those curious to find out how I managed to conceal all 4 vehicle wheels in his feet. The front wheels must collapse or else he will (imagine guy on rollerskates).
Kicking the wall!
THANKS FOR REACHING THIS FAR!
In the past 4 years, I focused more on building Transformers using official LEGO sets , and very less on making Transformers like Bumblebee above (not from sets). This means set-based TF creations overruns this blog, diluting my posts with more epic creations of mine.
To view my Transformers not made from official LEGO sets, click here please.
If you're a G1 fans, I've published many of my G1 inspired LEGO Transformers in my youtube channel, click here click here for the playlist.
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