Side-Tracked: Recent Haul of TFs (187) - Titans Return Twinferno, Titans Return Hot Rod, Jinbao Oversized KO Feral Rex Add-On Claws

Happy!!!!! Collected my Transformers haul from Taobao last night... Gotten 2 loose Titan Master deluxes, and a set of add-on claws for my Jinbao Oversized KO Feral Rex...

Titans Return Twinferno a.k.a. Doublecross
... and I shall call him Doublecross, cos that's who he is!!! Hahahaha.... Cost approximately SGD 18.25, and does not come with instruction sheet nor card, but will not need them anyway... The Doublecross character has a special place in my heart, as my very first authentic Transformer is the G1 Doublecross, which I got as a present from an aunt when I was very very young. So when this Titan Master figure was announced, I immediately thought of buying it... and very glad that I got it, as this TF is very very well designed in terms of aesthetics (really resemble the G1's body build, retaining the organic dragon arms and organic dragon lower legs, little circular saw) and transformation methods (e.g. forming the feet, cavity for storing dragon arms)... A bit of nitpick will be the robot mode's elbow joints are not metal pinned but little plastic nubs only... Luckily, the elbow joints are still tight enough to hold the weight of the *hand* and 1x gun... Oh wait, something I don;t really like... The crotch piece is 1 single molded piece and hence the whole piece has to be flipped up in when moving any 1 leg up... Bad design... 






Close up look on the face of Doublecross... Closely resembling the G1 version... nice...


And the Titan Master is called Daburu, which I guess is referenced from the Japanese pronunciation of the word "double", and his name in Japan is called ダブルクロス Daburukurosu... However, the figure looks like a homage to the Beastformer leader called White Leo... Thumbs up to Hasbro! As usual, Daburu can be stored inside the bigger TF, this time, in the stomach of Doublecross... what???!!!!... hahahaha....



... and the double-headed dragon mode... To nitpick again, the front of the dragon torso seemed too flat, making the dragon mode not as good-looking as the G1 counterpart... but overall the articulation is better than the G1 version... Should I paint the horns grey? Hmmm....




The black guns can be combined and stored on the dragon back, either barrel up or barrel down, though I personally prefer the barrel down configuration...


Oh, special mention to the translucent wings, very nice...


Here's a comparison of the 2 molds of Doublecrosses in both robot mode and dragon mode...



Edit: Quick clip to show the transformation...

Titans Return Hot Rod
And why did I buy this figure???!! I don't know!!! Hahahahahaha.... Maybe I felt this incarnation of Hot Rod (deluxe scale) is the closest to the G1 design, hence bought this figure... maybe... Cost approximately SGD 18.25, gotten it as loose too, same as Doublecross... anyway, it looks quite good too!! Here's the robot mode...




... and a closer look at Hot Rod's face... quite G1-esque ...


... and the Titan Master Firedrive, which could be reference from the G1 counterpart's Targetmaster Firebolt... I don't know... Not very outstanding as he is in one singular colour only... Will I paint him? ... Hmmm... Maybe not... And Firedrive can sit inside to drive Hot Rod in the vehicle mode...



Hot Rod's car mode... and other than the smaller windscreen and not-so-V-shaped spoiler, the car mode shows many of the G1 car's features, e.g. long exhaust pipes, "pop-up" engine, etc... Very nice car mode...




As far as I know, the loose version of TR Hot Rods are likely to have this issue: Wrong pins (pins with caps) are used for the kneecap-to-lower-legs joints, causing the legs not able to close the gap completely in car mode and the engine exhaust seemingly break into 2 halves... Or if the pin is inserted from on the opposite side (i.e. cap at the other side), this could also have been avoided... I tried to knock out the pin but failed... I tried to sand down the cap, and also failed (the plastic will be inevitably also be sanded when the file goes slightly slanted) ... So I have to let it be.. let it be... let it be... let it be...


Edit: If the front part of the car is not folded in, the robot mode looks closer to the G1 counterpart...



Edit: Quick clip to show the transformation...

Jinbao Oversized KO Feral Rex Add-On Claws
And the last item is the set of Jinbao Oversized KO Feral Rex add-on claws, which look very much like a set of fingernails for the Jinbao Oversized KO Feral Rex... hahahahaha....


Not sure if I am going to keep the nails on him, as they seem to look a teeeeeeeeny weeny bit too long for aesthetics...

Side-Tracked: Recent Haul of TFs (186) - Titans Return Legends Class - Gnaw

Gotten this cute little fella from Taobao because I cannot wait for it to come to Singapore (TRU) shore!!!! Hahahaha.... Costs approximately SGD19.75 ...


Very very very nice shark/beast mode!!!!! So cute!!!! Hahahaha.... The fists do look very obvious, but for a size this small, it can be forgiven... Most likely will be displaying him in this mode...



Both top and bottom of the jaws can be opened for a big bite!!!! Hahahaha...


Robot mode... Stubby little robot... hahahahaha.... Oh, the tail weapon is very loose if you plug it all the way in, so if you don't want it to be moving, you can just plug it halfway in...




Hahahahahahahahahaha....



And a quick video clip to show the articulation and transformation of Gnaw...

Side-Tracked: Recent Haul of TFs (185) - Ttians Return Apeface

Its free, bought with a TRU voucher, hahaha.... and so tempted to get a loose TR Hardhead to modify it into a good TR Apeface body...


Here's a closeup look of the contents...

Update : KO Oversized CW Rodimus - "G1 Resemblance" Customization

Spend the whole weekend (and 1 Friday evening) to do this customize... All because of my stubbornness to want to turn this KO more G1-like, hahahaha... First, started off by making the exhaust pipes. There are 2 parts, one for the arms that will act as laser guns, the other to attach to the legs... I used toothpicks to form the arm ones, and the plastic tubes of cotton swab to make the leg ones... The leg pipes will obstruct the lower hands from swinging out when transforming from car to robot mode, so I make them "swivell-able"... not easy, as the plastic tubes don't take superglue, nor the UV-light glue well... finally have to use hot glue for holding them together...


Also used an old KO Kabaya Brainmaster for Road Caesar to form up the exposed engine... Again, the reliable hot glue is used for joining... Silver paint pen is used, however, the plastic tubes and engine are not taking the paint well due to the nature of the "oily" plastic... Looks pretty good, but I think more can be done...


So, I used some images of the G1 toy on the internet to print out stickers for the robot chest and the car bonnet, since they are different pieces unlike the G1 toy... I stretch the height and width separately, hence you may find the Autobot insignia weird if you look closely, hahahaha... Unnecessary silver parts are covered with car-touch-up-paint and other details painted with silver paint pen, on the head and shoulders of the robot mode... Yeah, the exhaust pipes on the legs look a bit too long... anyway, not intending to trim them anymore, enough of the work...



Now my KO CW Hot Rod has weapons (arm-laser guns) !!! Hahahahaha....


No parts-forming when transforming. Car mode looks quite good too...


The "gun" from the yellow spoiler does not look good, but because of my obsession to have zero parts-forming, it has to be there... sigh... anyway....


Again, the exhaust pipes look a bit too long (sorry for the nagging)...


Loving this!!!!! (ok, no more "hahahahaha".... =) )




And finally a clip to show the transformation...

Can't wait for next weekend to come so that I can do the "face mask" for the KO Oversized Generations Starscream to hide his face in jet mode...

Update : Titans Return Galvatron - Face Mask Lowered , Cockpit Space for Titan Master

Tore out the mask of Titans Return Galvatron and re-position the face mask lower... looks better than previous...


Just now discovered this chest cavity can actually serve as a cockpit for the Titan Master 'Megatron' to sit (actually is stand) in the cannon mode!!!


Cover can be closed down completely if want to... Nice...

Side-Tracked: Recent Haul of TFs (184) - Ttians Return Highbrow and Chromedome

Collected my haul of the loose Titan Return Highbrow and Chromedome last night, which I bought from Taobao.com... Costs about SGD 38.30 for these 2 TFs... nice...

Initially I did not plan to buy Highbrow, as I already have the (KO Kabaya) G1 mold, but in the end decided to collect all 4 original Autobot Headmasters, all 4 on the same scale... But the Titan Master Xort / Gort comes with 2 left arms... sigh... I only did a minimum of making the back of the right arm round (to raise arm) and the front look better... anyway, head mode is not affected much...


A common problem of TR Highbrow is the wobbly-head-syndrome. I cut 2 pieces of thin ABS (can be any other material) pieces and glue them to the front and end positions of the socket. Note that if you are trying to do this fix, do try to glue the add-on pieces to the body (blue plastic) and not the white socket part. Works well now, without head wobbling.


Helicopter mode... Don't really like the shape of this helicopter which seemed to have a fat butt when you look from the top, and also each side has only 2 blades for rotor (G1 has 3 blades)... But overall still acceptable...



The cockpit can open to put the Titan Master inside! Cool...


Robot mode is much better for TR Highbrow... Though TR Highbrow borrows the basic structure from TR Scourge, he gives a quite different look from Scourge without much similarities (yah, thighs are same...) Because the feet are fixed, any wide stance posing will not be easy to make it stand stable, though can be done. When transforming TR Highbrow, remember to flip the chest out...





Next, TR Chromedome... Ah, Chromedome... This is the only (G1) Autobot Headmaster that I cannot find, KO or Kabaya (No, don't ask me to buy an over-priced 2nd hand toy... )... So this is on my top of list of the TR figures to buy... Happy... I saw from some forums that this is also borrowed from a Combiner Wars TF structure... Anyway, I don't quite like the red guns mounted on the top of the car, but no other place to store them in car mode...



And yeap, car has a "cockpit" that can open to let Titan Master Stylor to sit in... Cool...


And TR Chromedome in robot mode!!! Nice nice...




3 out of 4 of the original Autobot Headmasters collected... Waiting for the last one... hopefully Taobao will have the loose stock and soon... Hahahaha...



And here's the videos to show their transformation...

More Minor Painting : Titans Return Galvatron and Scourge

Final paint touch-up on TR Galvatron and TR Scourge... For Galvatron, silver and red paint is added to replicate the "belt" thing seen in G1... However, the silver "belt-strap" is not very visible, while the red "buckle" is of a brighter red than the abdomen's red... Still, this will more or less complete almost the G1 style colour patterns...


A comparison of Galvatron before (left) and after touch-up painting/customizing... Not very visible paint in robot mode but will be more Am seriously considering to make the G1-style vertical shoulder pads... maybe next time...


(Ignore the different purple colours due to camera capture) The cannon mode before (left) and after... I will still prefer a thicker cannon support at the bottom of cannon (like the G1 version) which the now-dismantled jet canopy strongly resembles... But this (after customizing) is good enough...


I proceeded to paint Scourge's thighs (nope, still using the old paint pen)... looks good, hahaha...


And a comparison of Scourge before (left) and after touch-up paint... Yeap, both Scourge's face are the touch-up painted version as I had forgotten to take a picture of the face before touch-up paint...




Looking forward to the arrival of TR Chromedome and Highbrow (both loose a.k.a. box-less version) to complete the Headless... I mean Headmasters 4...