Update: KO Oversized Feral Rex Upgrade Kit

And now finally Razorclaw and Rampage (and also Catilla/Felisaber) can pose properly!!!!!! Hahahahaha.... Realised that (while taking pictures) only the 3 above-mentioned out of the six Predacons desperately needs the rotating fists to look "normal" in robot mode... But still ,I install for all... and with the retractable manes, Razorclaw's robot mode can have a distinct difference in lion head's aesthetic compared to the beast mode...


... and Rampage... did not take pictures of Catilla as the effects look similar...


... and finally, Predaking/Feral Rex!!!! Proper hands proved to be much better when looking the figure at certain angles... hahaha... The top part of the manes can now be adjusted to prevent arms from knocking into it (which happen in the older manes) ... Did not change to the smaller head as I prefer this size...

Side-Tracked: Recent Haul of KOs (181) - KO Diecast Evasion Optimus Prime, KO Simplified Downsized MMC Hexatron

Till now I also have no idea as to why I bought these 2 KOs... First is the KO diecast Evasion OP, which costs approx. SGD13.25... Looks nice but the truck mode has a "battle-damaged" grill, probably due to pegs pushed in are not cut cleanly and forced the other side (grill side)... sigh, got to remedy... worst will be swapping the piece form my older KO (if can)... at least the arms are not same mold (which my older KO version has, hahaha) ... 


Next is the KO simplified downsized MMC Hexatron... Very simplified with some missing parts (robot chest wings, gun trigger etc), and can barely transformed into the 6 modes except for tank mode... so some work will need to be done... Cost approx. SGD 5.35...

Update - KO G1 Weirdwolf : Making the Tail / Thermal Sword

Was very disappointed and a little frustrated initially when I discovered that the tail=sword is missing in my newly purchased KO G1 Weirdwolf... But after a search on the internet, even the cheapest 2nd-hand will cost me SGD10+++ ... so very quickly I decided to make my own tail-sword... First, I searched and printed out the original tail-sword with many copies, as templates... For the handle, I found an old part that has a nice peg that fits in the KO Weirdwolf's peg-holes... Will be using some spare polystyrene sheets (not sure of the thickness) and a thicker ABS as the main material...


The sword is split into layers and using the ref pictures double-sided-taped onto the polystyrene sheet, I cut out the layers. The guard of the sword is cut from the ABS sheet to about 1.1cm by 0.9cm...


All parts are then filed nicely with needle files and penknife, and then glued together with superglue... Also filled up the gap of the blade-holder part (at the bottom-middle of the blade)...


Done !!!! Compare with the original version... not too bad... about 90% close... Good enough...


Testing the tail-sword to hold in the hand... a bit loose...


... testing on the tail's peg-hole... barely manage to stay plugged but not secure... will have to apply a layer of superglue to the handle to thicken it up (which did work in the end)...


Nice... now my KO G1 Weirdwolf is complete with his tail/sword.... hahahahaha....



And here's a video to show the KO G1 Weirdwolf and also his new tail-sword...

Side-Tracked: Recent Haul of KOs (180) - Bootleg G1 Weirdwolf, KO Oversized G1 Hardhead, WST Hot Rod, KO Oversized Legends - CW Rodimus, Generations Starscream, Jin Bao KO Oversized Feral Rex Upgrade Kit

Collected my haul from Taobao earlier this week... Considered for a long long long time before finally decided to purchase these TFs... Sigh... Space constraint.... First up is the bootleg G1 Weirdwolf, which costs approx. SGD41.95 in total... Finally the 3 Decepticon G1 Headmasters are reunited... but my disappointment comes once I de-tombed it, as it was missing its tail-sword... arrggghh... but have since remedied... See next post...


Next is the KO Oversized G1 Hardhead, which costs approx. SGD20.40 in total... Yes, I have the all-green camouflage version but this is closer to the original colour... This KO is the older version, unlike the newer Cattoys version which has more accurately-coloured headmaster limbs and also comes with stickers... The chest tech spec feature is there, but all messed up, need to work on it... Also headmaster not able to stay tabbed into the neck-hole... Hard work but finally done!!! Yeah!!!


And gotten this mold again for its colour... the WST Hot Rod... and yes, I do have the all-red version but this really stands out much better in the display... will be displaying both side-by-side though... Cost approx. SGD4.50...



And also bought these 2 to go along with the 蒙巴迪 / Machine Boys / Meng Ba Di oversized KO CW Powerglide... first is KO Oversized Legends - CW Rodimus !!!! Costs approx.SGD3.80 in total... very very very nice quality... Tight joints that will make official Hasbro transformers feel ashamed of themselves... good quality plastic for a KO, and paint application is quite good! Will be modding it to look more G1 Hot Rod... hopefully soon...


... and not forgetting the Oversized Legends - Generations Starscream too!!! In Takara-Tomy colour scheme!!! Also costs approx. SGD 3.80... And it is also very good too!!! Except the cockpit does not sit in well enough, but can be easily solved by shaving off a tiny bit of the cockpit (see video below)...


And lastly, which is not a TF, is the Jin Bao KO Oversized Feral Rex Upgrade Kit... Costs approx. SGD15.95... Finally... Though I don't think I will be using the smaller gestalt head though... the current oversized gestalt head seem much better in proportion to the whole body...




And here's a video to show the 3 KO Oversized Legends TFs from 蒙巴迪 / Machine Boys / Meng Ba Di... Do keep the annotations 'ON' for some explanation of the touching up to do...

Side-Tracked: Recent Haul of KOs (179) - KO Oversized Combiner Wars Legends Powerglide

Collected this cute little figure from my Taobao agent just now, quite happy... Bought this at a very low cost of SGD4.55 in total... This KO is from the company 蒙巴迪 (a.k.a. Machine Boy / Meng Ba Di / MBD ) which is causing quite a storm in their release of the low-budget version of KO Warbotrons (limbs, so far)... Oversized to 12cm tall (from feet to top of head), it is reputed to be of a good scale to Masterpiece line especially compared to MP Bumblebee. I don't have MP Bumblebee so cannot compare but I think the internet now have lots of such pictures...


Back of box... I AM SO TEMPTED TO BUY THE RODIMUS (already out in Taobao) AND STARSCREAM !!!!!!... But very tight display space already... sigh...


Comes with 2 guns!!!! I quite like the thick and firm plastic used, feels very solid, like a Hasbro TF... Some joints are tight enough, but some joints (e.g. head neck, knees, thighs) are ... just just slightly touching the "okay" tightness for transformation, but I personally will be tightening up this joints for a better posing rigidity.... Oh, the wings do peg in but not tight enough to feel comfortable when posing him... Personally I feel this could be 1 of the best representation of (G1) Powerglide... He just screams Powerglide to me... hahahaha....


Plane mode (A10 plane ???)... Still quite nice, but a few places should be better... e.g. sudden appearance of grey parts (thighs) from a smooth flow of red tail... and that THERE ARE "VISIBLE HAND SYNDROME!!!! FISTS ARE SO FREAKING VISIBLE!!!!! Arrgghhh.... so tempted to do something to cover up these hands in plane mode... maybe...


And finally, size comparison with whatever I have on the table... Very very very nice little figure...

Side-Tracked: Recent Haul of KOs (178) - KO MP-25 Tracks ( Takasa Tony ), KO Oversized RID 2015 Optimus Prime ( Wei Jiang )

Long time did not buy KO transformers already, so I finally gave in when I saw the KO version of MP-25 Tracks...

... Takasa Tony... Hahahaha.... Good thing the Autobot cars are packaged in small boxes, definitely saves in shipping... pretty decent conditioned box received, hope the contents are complete... Cost about SGD 33.20...


Back of the box...


And here are the contents... Very glad all items are inside, including the collectors' card and 2 sets of side mirror attachments......


Here's a closer look at the main contents... The detailed quality is quite good, for example the super-duper small Autobot logo is crisply printed on the super mini Blaster...


KO MP=25 Tracks in his car mode... Very very sleek looking car... In fact, this is 1 of my favourite Autobot cars when I was young... And also, instead of plastic wheels, this KO comes with rubber wheels! Nice... Just hope I won't get rubber degradation issues... hahahaha...


Transformed it into the flying car mode... So nostalgic... and weird... hahahaha.... Very glad the KO also includes in the display stand... It is also here when transforming into this mode that I first realized the joints are generally tight enough but some are tighter than others...


Opps, forget to see the front engine... cool...


While transforming into robot mode, minor QC issues surfaced, e.g. 1 of the ankle structure's rivet is not pushed in properly... speaking of ankle structure, I think it is a common issue that the ankle structure cannot be tabbed into a slot that it is supposed to (for both legs), which after some trial and errors, the issue can be fixed by shaving off a little bit (see picture) about 1 mm at the slot entrance...


Robot mode!!!! Very cartoon accurate... in fact, so much has gone to the cartoon look that perhaps the designer(s) has(ve) forgotten the aesthetic aspect... Just look at the big piece of crotch-plate. While it may look nice in cartoon, this looks quite like a diaper in the toy... maybe it is the overly-white colour... Also the WHOLE crotch-piece has to be flipped up when moving the leg upwards to the front... just some minor nitpicks and grant... hahaha... The back does not look hollow when looking at the actual toy in person...


Finally my KO MP Sideswipe has a friend to accompany him.... Overall, this KO is slightly better than my KO MP Sideswipe, just a few minor fixes and it is all well... Loving it...


Edit: Found this place to be quite a good place to store the front laser (gun) in car mode...


Also a picture of the 2 KOs in car mode... nice...


And also bought a KO Oversized RID 2015 Optimus Prime for my little nephew's birthday present... this is made by the now-famous Wei Jiang company, and it blew up the warrior class Optimus Prime to about voyager size, AND with die-cast... wow... Cost about SGD 13.85...

Side-Tracked: Recent Haul of Fan-Made (177) - Articulated Devastator Hands

Bought these hands from a Taobao seller, to replace my KO TFC Hercules's bad-articulated hands... The seller claim that he designs these hands for the Combiner Wars Devastator but don't want to wast the design so made a few more to sell, and he successfully modded the connector to fit for KO TFC Hercules... Need to trim and perhaps sand the surfaces smooth...  also need to paint them metallic purple... Hope my paint still has enough... Costs about SGD 9.25...