UPDATE 6/27/24 - ^^^Here's what is essentially the final render. While the differences may be subtle, there have been several changes since I originally modeled and printed it.

UPDATE 3/1/23 - I updated the design of the model to have separate pieces for the "glass" of his windshield, as well as a couple other changes.

Initial Prototype (sorry for the quality, that translucent red filament does NOT like being photographed)

Painted

(2022)

For every darkness, there's a light!

It's ironic that I found rendering Prime's face to be a tad more complicated than Megatron's; I thought the faceplate would make things more simple But for the most part, Prime's "boxy" anatomy made him slightly less complicated than Megatron's more angular shapes.

Unlike the initial proto for Megatron, I resorted to using another color for parts because I actually ran out of filament before I could complete it. I did try to be a little thematic, with him being "Autobot Red", opposed to Decepticon Purple...but bringing it into reality was more important. However using that blue did present an opportunity - I could make Optimus with as little painting as possible! (Here's a secret: the red paint I use can be really finicky, and I didn't want to do two or three coats.)

I got me some red filament and churned out the second one (and like Megatron, I had a decal to slap on him). Pretty much all that was painted are the face, grille "abs", and windows. I'm gonna tinker around with the model a bit more, (maybe have the windows be separate parts) to further reduce the amount of painting. Conversely, if I can get the right color filaments, I could do the same for Megatron.