"Actionmaster Elite" Cutter Kitbash
Based on the STAR Force action figures Sapper and Reactor

Cutter robot mode Cutter boat mode

   Also, click for additional views of the Robot Mode and Boat Mode. The alternate boat mode pic is marred by the fact that GIJoe-style figures often twist at the hips and you can't keep them from doing it.


    The idea behind the Actionmasters was that these were highly-poseable Transformers that didn't transform. In Europe, they released a small number of Actionmaster Elites, which were highly-poseable Transformers that sorta transformed. None of the transformations was convincing, and most involved clipping vehicle bits onto the toy. I figure I can do at least as well.

    The base figure I used was a S.T.A.R. Corps action figure, a knockoff (well, licensed) GIJoe space figure sold in blister packs at places like Wal-Mart and K-Mart. This time it was the half-and-half figure formed from the parts of Reactor and Sapper that I didn't use in making Alabaster.

    I was inspired by some cheap boats at a dollar store to make a boat Actionmaster Elite. However, finding the appropriate parts involved a search of a half dozen dollar stores. I settled on the rear points of a zodiac-style inflatable boat for the arm pontoons and hacked up a measuring scoop for the legs. I used a lot of putty to attach the hydrodynamic shapes to the figure, and added BBs (the kind that come out of an air rifle, not the kind that says "Roger!" in BWII) to the feet to give the figure more stability. Then followed a lot of shaping, and I discovered two things: one, some of the BBs were too close to the surface, and two, a Dremel sander can sand down stainless steel BBs. Heh. Once the floats had been properly shaped, I made the rear thrusters from Lego pieces and glued them to the boots, the idea being that the thrusters would keep the legs linked together in boat mode. For guns, I cut the grips and clips off a couple of submachineguns that came with Mortal Kombat figures. Finally, I added a cockpit to the back with putty (it started as a big lump, then got cut down to shape and the inner part hollowed out) and glued another googly eye to the chest to act as a spark crystal. As a last bit of fiddling, I flattened some areas on the rounded faceplate to be eyes, and filed a slit for a mouth.

    For painting, I wanted to go with a cool color set (blues and so forth), and I cracked open the new Testor's Car/Truck acrylic set. I mainly used the purple (which turns out to be a very good Decepticon Purple!), blue and teal paints from that set, with a little help from white and gold from the main acrylic set, some old gunmetal and a light blue I mixed. The red for the eyes comes from the Car/Truck set. I drew in most of the "gundamlines" with a black pen, but some I did with a blue pen, including the spark crystal detail. Overall, it kinda has a G1 Seacons look, but without the hot pink. Oh, and those teal dots on the arms are his retracted fingers. I thought about adding fingers with putty or bits of plastic, but the plastic used for the pontoons didn't take glue or putty well.


VEHICON: Cutter
Alternate Mode: Speedboat
Function: Vehicon Visionary
Motto: "You fought for freedom, now let us have ours!"

After the Great Reformatting, most of the sparks were placed in techno-organic bodies. But just as some found themselves in mostly organic forms (i.e. Thrust/Waspinator), some found they retained largely mechanical forms. Cutter was one such inorganic Cybertronian, and he quickly found a sort of quiet oppression faced those who did not embrace the techno-organic "norm." He began to gather others like him into a new Vehicon faction, and seeks rights for his people. His main weapon is his voice, and his ability to convince people of the rightness of his cause. But in a fight, he's well-equipped in either mode, with twin autocannons that spit a mix of armor-piercing and explosive rounds at a rate of two hundred rounds per minute. The rounds are magnetically fired, and are formed from whatever techno-organic matter Cutter currently touches, giving him virtually unlimited ammunition. In speedboat mode, he can travel across Cybertron's new oceans at about 200 kph, with active radar and sonar seeking out obstacles. In robot mode, the thrusters mounted on his legs give him limited and slow flight at about 60 kph.

STR 6  INT 8  SPD 7  END 8   RNK 9  COUR 9  FRP 8  SKL 7   Avg 7.75

    Tales of the Intermezzo: Freedom stars Cutter and features Alabaster, Recoil and Zigzag in supporting roles.


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