Transform and Roll Out

Team Decepticon

Team Decepticon

What you’re looking at is the result of a year of collaboration. The original request was for some Transformers-inspired gauges based on the OEM+ design. I, as many of you may know, am a Transformer nut. I’ve been a huge fan since I first saw Optimus Prime take the screen in 1984. It was a lot of work, but this was maybe the most fun order I’ve ever had.

More than 30 revisions. A couple months of work spread over a year. So worth it.

BLAST!

BLAST!

There’s a ghosted Decepticon logo in purple on each gauge. It’s the modern logo based off the current, live-action movies. It really looks at home on these gauges.

The main gauges got some extra touches like ANTI-GRAV for the anti-lock light and BLAST for the high beam.

Energon!

Energon!

If you have a bright monitor, you can see the faint purple grid on each gauge. This is inspired by the G1 toy box artwork. While working on this design, I happened to look up at one of my bot shelves (yes, my office has bot shelves) and notice the artwork on my G1 Shockwave’s box. I immediately added that feature to the gauges.

Blood!

Blood!

The car these gauges belong to is a Mazdaspeed. The owner wanted the logo somewhere. The oil gauge seemed most logical and it really works well above the scale.

The G1 logo was a last minute idea from the owner. I wasn’t completely sure about it, but when the gauges came out of my plotter, my mind was made up. BRILLIANT idea! It quickly became my favorite feature of the whole set.

Sweat!

Sweat!

Blood, Sweat, Energon. Collaboration generated these ideas. I can’t claim all the credit, nor can I give all the credit to the customer. It’s really awesome when there’s a lot of commuication and ideas. Some really cool stuff can evolve that wouldn’t have come about without both parties working together.

Blackout.

Blackout.

The CEL text was replaced by the words STASIS LOCK. This is actually road legal. You just need *something* to indicate that your car has a Check Engine Light and it can turn on and off.

That tach.

That tach.

Ready to roll out.

Ready to roll out.

This just turned out so awesome. This is, by far, the best set of gauges I’ve ever made. Maybe that’s the Transformer fan in me talking, but they just came out so perfectly. Sharp and vivid.

And then there’s night mode.

The Nighttime glow.

The Nighttime glow.

G1 goodness

G1 goodness

I lit them with white LEDs, which is all I have in my shop. If possible, they look even MORE crisp at night. And the white lighting in the gauges allows for any color of bulb to be used. The owner is planning to use purple LEDs for lighting once they’re installed in his car.

I’ll admit, it was very hard to pack up these gauges and send them out. I got attached to them over the year of work. And seeing them move off the screen and into the world… yeah, hard to let go.

I might have to make a set for Bucky.

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  • Stoly says:

    Look great! Amazing amount of detail!

  • TheScaryOne says:

    Now all you need is a red-based Autobot version, for the non-traitors among us.

  • Giuseppe says:

    Hi Adam, I love your dials!

    I was looking for a template file for the NA cluster, but I found a broken link on a Mazda6 site.

    By the way, Sharka is beautiful, I’ have her pic as desktop background!

  • Matt says:

    Adam,

    I was wondering if you could do clusters for other cars as well. I’d love a custom cluster (outside of what is avail from the traditional aftermarket) for my current car.

    • revlimiter says:

      Unfortunately, my current order volume really makes that sort of thing impossible. Not any time for custom projects. Trying to find time for new products is nearly impossible as it is.

      Sorry about that.

      • Matt says:

        It’s ok, I figured as much since that’s the answer I’ve gotten from a few other people. Thanks for the response though. As always, your work is amazing!

  • Leave a Reply to Giuseppe