Ravage
In the process of trying to make Soundwave (coming later, currently working on it), I ended up making Ravage. That's okay because Ravage is my favourite G1 Transfomer anyway.
So, a little background first from the The Temple of Ravage:
Ravage was one of the first Transformers characters. Not a Seeker, or a gun-Transformer, or a camera-Transformer, Ravage was one of Soundwave's cassettes. He had two forms--a cassette tape, and a black panther.
Image courtesy of Brendan Reilly's Transformers Archive
Instead of trying to make Ravage transform, I worked on his articulation. One of the cool things about the original toy, is the type of articulation it has. I'm going for more the sleek look like the picture to your left--rather than the blocky look of the toy.
This was the first time I've prototyped something. Translation: I don't necessarily have all the bricks in black, so I'll start with gray. It was an interesting experience, and it's great with smaller models like Ravage, but not with anything else.
For the body, I used the SNOT (Studs Not on Top) method. Not intentionally-- it just worked out that way. After I got a general idea of what I wanted, I started to replace the gray with black and order some more parts from Bricklink.
The technic holes worked well not only for appearance of being transformed from a cassette, but also as a great pivot point for the head. And, like the toy, it provided a place to mount the heat-seeking missiles on the hindquarters.
Even though Ravage can't transfom, he holds very similar poses that you can with the toy. For example, he can sit, lift a paw (looks like he's sneaking around), and crouch.
I was going to try to make Ravage transform, but I think I would lose too much with my first mecha attempt to try that.