Project Motormaster
“These wheels are made for crushing…”
When I first started reading Stunticon fics, I found only one - Warlord Fil’s Fire in the Wires - which showed Motormaster’s point of view. In most such stories, Motormaster is either in the background or is a simplistic bad guy who terrorizes his own subordinates, making him vicious even by ‘con standards.
What’s interesting is that I’ve yet to come across a fic which shows just how cool Motormaster can be. I mean, this is a ‘con who dreams of taking down Optimus Prime (and should have been able to do it in “Masquerade”, so thanks to Dragoness Eclectic for explaining what happened to the Stunticons’ forcefields in that episode). In alt-mode, he’s big and powerful and utterly unstoppable. His appearance in a fic should be like the surfacing of the great white shark in Jaws, or the first time you see the Death Star.
He even has an attractive color scheme - black and purple and silver. And yet he gets so little attention in fics. I can understand his being nasty and violent; I’d probably be mad too, under those circumstances.
That’s why I was very pleased to find Travis Lyon’s recreation of Motormaster. Mr Lyon is responsible for a years-long project that began when he found an old Kenworth truck missing its engine and transmission. He organized a team that retrieved the truck, fitted it with “the most aggressive and loudest engine on the road”, upgraded all the interior controls, replaced the seats and floorboards with materials of the appropriate quality for a Decepticon commander, and painted it in the right colors.
The result is perfection.
Even with the audio disabled, Motormaster’s sheer presence makes itself felt, and I love the moment where his headlights suddenly come on in the darkened garage.
Check out the slideshow that shows a real-life transformation. Everything down to the vanity plate is well-chosen. This is a wonderful accomplishment, and learning about it spurred me on at a time when I most needed it - as I was working on my Motormaster fic, A House Divided. The sense of power and dark glory that I felt as I watched the video is what I hope to show in that story.
Now, back to writing.
When I first started reading Stunticon fics, I found only one - Warlord Fil’s Fire in the Wires - which showed Motormaster’s point of view. In most such stories, Motormaster is either in the background or is a simplistic bad guy who terrorizes his own subordinates, making him vicious even by ‘con standards.
What’s interesting is that I’ve yet to come across a fic which shows just how cool Motormaster can be. I mean, this is a ‘con who dreams of taking down Optimus Prime (and should have been able to do it in “Masquerade”, so thanks to Dragoness Eclectic for explaining what happened to the Stunticons’ forcefields in that episode). In alt-mode, he’s big and powerful and utterly unstoppable. His appearance in a fic should be like the surfacing of the great white shark in Jaws, or the first time you see the Death Star.
He even has an attractive color scheme - black and purple and silver. And yet he gets so little attention in fics. I can understand his being nasty and violent; I’d probably be mad too, under those circumstances.
That’s why I was very pleased to find Travis Lyon’s recreation of Motormaster. Mr Lyon is responsible for a years-long project that began when he found an old Kenworth truck missing its engine and transmission. He organized a team that retrieved the truck, fitted it with “the most aggressive and loudest engine on the road”, upgraded all the interior controls, replaced the seats and floorboards with materials of the appropriate quality for a Decepticon commander, and painted it in the right colors.
The result is perfection.
Even with the audio disabled, Motormaster’s sheer presence makes itself felt, and I love the moment where his headlights suddenly come on in the darkened garage.
Check out the slideshow that shows a real-life transformation. Everything down to the vanity plate is well-chosen. This is a wonderful accomplishment, and learning about it spurred me on at a time when I most needed it - as I was working on my Motormaster fic, A House Divided. The sense of power and dark glory that I felt as I watched the video is what I hope to show in that story.
Now, back to writing.