The new Transformers toys are really spectacularly made. I might not actually enjoy the movies, but there’s no denying that the films had a hugely positive influence on the toys and the line in general. The biggest problem with the current movie toys is that Hasbro is pretty cheap about paint, so the figures always look pretty flat compared to their on-screen counterparts. Compare the above and after the jump photos to this shot of the figure out of the package:
Yuck. This guy is a Wal*Mart exclusive repaint of Sidearm Sideswipe, a concept Corvette in a pretty slick homage-filled rally car deco. It makes a pretty serviceable movie Bluestreak. I up-detailed this guy while preserving the scheme and details that made this version cool. Tons and tons of pics after the fold.
The thing that I knew right off the bat was that the car mode deco was awesomely designed, but looked pretty dead in mostly unpainted blue plastic. I applied a liberal coat of Monster Kolor gold pearl and MK gloss over the whole thing, giving it a slick automotive finish while not requiring me to paint the car mode from scratch.
Still needs a license plate decal.
The Sidearm mold features deployable weapons:
Transformers: Dark of the Moon is a really stupid movie, but there’s a scene towards the beginning where the Autobots are running covert-ops with their human allies in the desert. Bluestreak here features deployable weapons in car mode and has a rally car deco, so I thought it’d be fun to weather him up with some sand effects.
Under the hood… there’s a robot!
Robot mode is, obviously, where most of the work came in. The movies make a point of showing the robots as dinged up and ‘realistic’, even if that’s at odds with their shiny and pristine car-commercial alternate modes. I figured I’d strike a balance where the car mode could be dirty but undamaged, while the robot mode looks used. Everything was painted with a combination of airbrushed Monster Kolor and brush-painted acrylics, and a couple decals added.
Sidearm Bluestreak features dual pistols, and is pretty dynamic!
Even with those tiny wheel feet, you can juuuuuust managed to get Bluestreak into a one-foot skating pose.
Prometheus Rising Studios 
Old one, I know, but you have his feet backwards in the pics…