YOLOPARK 12cm Optimus Prime — An Unexpected Tribute

A model left unfinished

This Optimus Prime had been sitting at roughly 70% completion for several months.

It is the YOLOPARK 12cm Optimus Prime model kit, officially licensed by Hasbro. Unlike the conventional plastic model kits I normally work with, the parts did not come attached to runners. Instead, they came in moulded positive-negative trays.

When I first started the project, I put on gloves, removed the parts from the mould trays and prepared them individually for painting.

The painting

The model was airbrushed using Mr. Hobby Mr. Color paints.

As this project had been shelved for several months, I no longer remember the exact Mr. Color paint numbers I used. What I do remember is the approach: I first gave the parts a dark base coat, then built up the colours using blue, red or grey depending on the individual part.

The darker base was allowed to contribute to the final appearance, creating a weathered effect rather than a completely clean finish.

Once the airbrushing and weathering were completed, I left the parts to dry.

And then the project was shelved.

At roughly 70% completion.

For months.

An unexpected reason to finish

Peter Cullen passed away on 26 August 2026.

In the hours after work, while catching up with the news, I came across reports of his passing.

The news hit differently.

Peter Cullen was the voice of Optimus Prime, one of the most important roles in the Transformers franchise.

Almost immediately, I found myself thinking about the unfinished Optimus sitting among my modelling projects.

So I dug him out.

This time, I decided to finish him.

Completing Optimus

The first step was to assemble the painted parts.

After months of being left separately, the weathered pieces finally came together as a complete Optimus Prime.

I then used gold and silver markers to highlight the remaining details on the model, particularly the mechanical and armour sections.

There was no major repainting.

I simply continued from where I had stopped months earlier.

And with that, the Optimus Prime was finally completed.

An unplanned tribute

This was never intended to be a Peter Cullen memorial build.

The model had already been started months before his passing.

It was simply an unfinished project that happened to be sitting there when the news arrived.

I did not buy the kit because of the news.

I did not begin the painting because of the news.

I already had an Optimus Prime waiting to be completed.

But after learning that Peter Cullen had passed away, I decided that this particular Optimus should not remain unfinished.

Remembering Peter Cullen

For generations of Transformers fans, Peter Cullen’s name is inseparable from Optimus Prime.

He voiced the character from the original Transformers era, including The Transformers: The Movie, and later returned as Optimus for the live-action Transformers films and other Transformers productions.

His voice became an enduring part of Optimus Prime’s identity and the character’s legacy across generations.

The completed Optimus

This model had been waiting on the shelf for months.

I had no idea that I would eventually finish it under these circumstances.

Sometimes a model project acquires meaning that you never intended when you first opened the box.

This one did.

The YOLOPARK Optimus Prime is now complete.

And it will remain, for me, as a small tribute to the man whose voice helped define Optimus Prime for generations.