Transformers: Legacy Blaster Is Something That Exists

The 1985/86 Blaster toy

If there was but one Decepticon whom was inexorably part of the original 1984 toy line, it was Soundwave. The Decepticon badge is based on his face, he was always there, quietly competent, and overseeing a team of specialised minions. Or pets. That lived in his chest. It was a thing. Soundwave transformed into a cassette player, ask your mum, and his minions were the tapes, ask your dad. The character and play pattern proved to be enduringly popular, running for a good four years, and there was soon an Autobot counterpart, today's subject. Blaster by comparison is much less well-known. He's had his moments, sure, but if Soundwave was top 5, Blaster was a top 40. I suppose what did it was the simple fact that Soundwave was there first, and had become an integral part of the Decepticon faction, whereas Blaster just appeared one day, and he fit right in, but he wasn't Optimus' right-hand. That said, could they have given him and his band of cassettes a similar role? It had already done, and its kinda hard to imagine an 80's cartoon doing a heroic take on a spymaster. So, the cartoon coded him as an African-American music aficionado, and Marvel made him a brooding loner whose best mate turned into a wheel, before pivoting closer to the cartoon. Anyways. Given that tape players were long since obsolete, this wouldn't be great for Blaster's future toy prospects, so, like Soundwave he went through a bit of a wilderness period. His slow return to prominence and the mass-market began in 2012 with the Fall of Cybertron tie-in toys, where Hasbro made its first real attempt to modernise the cassette thing. Thus Blaster got a Soundwave retool, which does not happen as often as you might think, and possibly the most metal box bio in Transformers history. It's pretty good actually, as such things go. The same happened again for Titans Return a few years later, just with Blaster being the mould originator. This was also pretty good, if big. and then we got this Kingdom/Legacy version which was a totally new mould, and one independent of Soundwave. 

 

The 2012 Fall of Cybertron Autobot Blaster toy

 

So, Blaster's alt mode is a cassette boombox. Not a car. Or a space car. Or a space jet. Or a USB hub decorated like a laptop. Or a boombox that can unfold into a base mode. This prompts the question "what does it do?". Not a huge amount. We've basically got a roleplay thing here, and there's nowt wrong with that, but we have what amounts to a box with a spring-loaded compartment. It's a perfectly fine looking box, provided you don't purposefully go looking for robot bits on the back, and it does have a dedicated tab for weapon storage. There's no shortage of paint and coloured plastic to complete the effect, and the volume goes up to eleven, but I dunno. I think a certain argument can be made for a lights & sound gimmick. So, with not a huge amount to talk about, let’s chat about Eject a bit before moving on to Blaster's robot mode.

So, about Eject then. Blaster has more cassette minions than you might think, but historically it's not been a given he is packaged with one. Given that comparable Soundwave toys often place the tapes in smaller price points, it's to Blaster's general benefit that one is here. That said, Eject was probably the safest and least interesting option, while still being clearly Blaster's mate and in budget. We could have had a rhino. We could have had a lion. We could have had, theoretically but probably not, two tapes that combined. We could have had a bird with a seriously dodgy background. Or we could have had Rewind, a character whom, along with his husband Chromedome, is beloved by the fanbase, and arguably outshines Blaster. The Rewind name ended up being used for a Shattered Glass release, a rather different character, so maybe the IDW version is being saved for later? Eject by comparison is near enough a blank slate, although he is noted fan of American Football. So, little guy likes manly violent sport? Gotcha.

What's probably most interesting about Eject here is that he represented an early preview of the Legacy play pattern, but the set as a whole was released in the preceding Kingdom line. Remember folks, Generations is a melange with a lot of overlap. What's probably most interesting about Eject here is that he represented an early preview of the Legacy play pattern, but the set as a whole was released in the preceding Kingdom line. Remember folks, Generations is a melange with a lot of overlap. While I do feel that sometimes people make too big of a thing about it, it is a long term concern with respects to breakages. This blue also washing out a lot of moulded detail here. That having been said, the basic design here is absolutely fine. He's maybe less involved than the Siege era tapes, but he does end up with functioning elbows and 5mm ports on his forearms. That's actually a big improvement. I need to get this dude some little guns from somewhere.

 

Hmm, I notice I'm referring to other toys a lot when this article is meant to be about Blaster, so let's get back to him. Switching between modes is relatively straightforward, as it's got the same beats as the original toy, but with a certain degree of panelforming. Where it can catch you out is with its hands. Blaster has visibly hollow forearms, so you'd think the hands fold in, but they actually fold out. It's a slightly finicky process, actually. The resulting robot mode is pretty good. It's perfectly acceptable as voyagers go. It's very close to the animation model, but throws in a few slight tweaks to modernise it. Paintwork is basically flawless, and there's a legitimately clever thing done with the boombox handle, so it does not interfere with the feet. Articulation meanwhile is solid; he's not exceptional, but he's got plenty. His right hand also has an extended finger to press his own buttons. It's ticking all the right boxes then, so why do I find myself lukewarm on this toy? 

 

Here’s the thing. Its too serious a design for the character. So, this is presumably the Sunbow animation Blaster, right? Its been very G1 in Generations of late, and the head design doesn’t follow the original toy. But he doesn’t look like a dude ready to rap-battle anyone or win a breakdancing contest does he? This is a toy in permanent serious business mode, and then you get Eject being see-though. Its a very safe take on the character, that’s why the boombox mode does basically nothing, whereas, say, the Titans Return and Fall of Cybertron iterations took things in different directions, and were more fun. There was a missed opportunity here, and maybe Blaster would have benefited from a more jovial face sculpt and some Cliffjumper/Masterpiece style accessories. You know the sort of thing, handspeakers, DJ gear, that sorta stuff. Given my previous writings, I feel this is maybe hypocritical of me, but you might as well commit to what you are doing fully. Or, put another way, if you’ve got a dude whom changes into a box, maybe you should put more effort into adding value?

Legacy Blaster isn’t bad. Legacy Blaster isn’t actually great either. Legacy Blaster is merely something that exists. And Eject? He’s just kinda, there.

Scatchbuild Experiment: Robotrike

Some projects don't really turn out as you wanted. It happens. You try something and it doesn't click, as evidenced by a long-stalled Morkanaut project and my recent 30MM experience. That said, sometimes it's possible to change direction and still get something pleasing out of what did actually work. Like today's subject.

 

Having spent a lot of time on Orks, I had decided to start moving into something less in my comfort zone, and more free-form. My initial idea was to create the archetypal chicken-walker robot, but then it grew into something closer to Dreampod 9's Gear Krieg setting. For the unfamiliar, that's a super science take on World War 2, which featured diesel punk mecha, the eponymous "Gears". These were an interesting non-humanoid take on the whole robot thing, sitting somewhere between an armoured car, and a tank that stood up to cross broken terrain. Between gunpla bits and fidget toys, I was pretty sure I could create something along those lines. Something that couldn't transform, due to me gluing the joints for stability, but looked like it could. Unfortunately it became evident early in the build that the legs weren't working out, so I decided for a hybrid trike instead. I imagine this being a Drone with a lot of off-road performance, steering and adjusting it's height with its two front legs. The larger back wheel provides the forwards motion, so it's not a 3 by 3, but it does dirt bike stuff as well as crawl. Imagine such a thing left out in the field, or on patrol for months on end, only for it to suddenly chase some luckless chap. 

 

Now, the build was broadly similar to my previous ones, more a convergence of trends than anything radical. The legs & pelvis are mainly gunpla, their wheels being older GW plastics, with the main body being a lid. It's weapons are a mix of spray bottle parts and gubbins I'd been collecting for a while. While cable ties and little tokens make another appearance, something that was new was the use of toy car motors. These have interesting shapes, making for good weapon mounts and such. I also tried to evoke certain makes of scooter by having the rear wheel attached by a single fork. At least I think that's the term. The generator also invokes another DP9 setting, looking like a very crude V Engine.

Painting was my usual mix of dry rushing, stippling, and washing, but I did try a few new things. The first thing I did, and regret, was attempt to basecoat the model before final assembly. I forgot to mask the connection points with blu tack, which caused a few unforced errors. Hopefully, nothing too noticeable. I used Citadel Waaagh Flesh for the green, to see if my style would suit more conventional military aesthetics as well as my usual Deathskull blues. It worked pretty well, even before I went to town on weathering. There, I did all my usual, but also tried out AK Dark Rust Deposits, an enamel paint. I don't have much prior experience with enamels, so I don't know if I can recommend it, but it worked well enough here.

All in all, this was a pleasing distraction to have around Christmas, although given some of the basic mistakes made, I should have paced myself better. I think I'll take another swing at this chicken walker thing at a later date.

 

Work in Progress Pics

 

 

Transformers: Legacy Evolution Armada Hot Shot is Something That Exists

I remember saying a while back that I wouldn't do recent toys too often. Obviously, this wasn't something I could keep to. I mean, I'm not gonna try to be topical or "first", but Legacy and its various sublines has been demanding my attention. Like today's subject: Hot Shot.

The 2002/2003 Armada Hot Shot toy

The best way to describe Hot Shot character is probably "Bumblebee by way of Cheetor and legal issues". I don't doubt for a second that if the Bumblebee name had been available, he would have bore it, but Hot Shot's character role was decidedly more action-oriented than previous depictions of the 'bee. He was, as the name implied, an impetuous youth for actual kids to identify with, and for the writers to grow over the course of a TV show.. He could also have been called Hot Rod, which explains at least two remoulds/repaints. In many ways, Hot Shot was the prototype for what would happen with Bumblebee in the Bay films, and by extension Transformers: Prime. He's still basically nice, but an edgier take than the ol' yellow lovebug. And he suffers a bit from a lack of meaningful character growth as sequels hit the reset button and generally weren't especially good. Regardless, Hot Shot was huge for a period of 2002 to 2006, getting too many toys to mention here, and then he dropped out of prominence once the Bumblebee trademark was secured. He didn't quite disappear though, being the first Armada toy to get the Generations treatment, and inspiring characters in both Transformers: Animated & Rescue Bots. Most recently, Hot Shot got a retool based on his Cybertron Defence iteration, using the pretty cool Siege Hound mould. At the risk of spoiling the ending, that version is probably a better toy than this one when it comes to all-round quality, although today's subject is obviously a good deal closer to the source.

Let's start with the plus that is the vehicle mode. Hot Shot is an attractive yellow car legally distinct from, but similar to, the Audi TT series of two seaters. That's a storied brand of sports cars, but the sort of thing you might associate with a boy racer, which Hot Shot definitely qualified as. Look at it, and then tell me with a straight face that this altmode didn't influence future Bumblebee toys. I dare ya. It looks fast, but more in the performative "look at me, I'm driving my custom car too fast" sense, than the "fastest thing on four wheels" sense. Quick, brash, but with curving lines rather than harsh angles, suggesting he's not actually a bad 'un. Now, as to what it does? Well, it evokes one of the Armada toys gimmicks, and suggests another. He features the "engine block gun", which plugs tightly into the bonnet, which adds to the modded car look, but there's no mechanism to trigger. You can flip his feet out suggesting the claw that popped out, but in a missed opportunity, there's no moulding for the grips. There's also a dummy mini-con post near the back, where I am told that you can plug the original Jolt toy into. Like Starscream, this toy does not include a mini-con partner, so having that there kinda highlights that absence, but given how Targetmasters have regressed of late, maybe that's for the best. 

 

When we come to transform the toy, encounter another design compromise. The original toy had a distinct, if not hugely good, transformation that had to be revised late in the design process. This new mould is trying create a robot mode that looks like the animation model based on that toy, while not converting like that toy. To make another Starscream comparison, that toy is modernised, yes, but the engineering follows the broad strokes of its inspiration. I. E the limbs go into the same places. Hot Shot isn't like that, and opts for more of a shellformer approach. This has a marked effect on the lower legs, which, not to put too fine a point on it, look rather naff. Hot Shot is for the most entirely satisfactory as a legacy era robot, but the shellformer does few favours, and the right shoulder tab seems misaligned on my example. He looks like Hot Shot, especially with his face and his racing harness chest, and he's got his share of joints and ports. You just have to look at him from the front.

Now, is this the same as me saying tht its bad toy? No. I was prepared to be harsher than that, don't get me wrong, but then something happened. I actually had the opportunity to do the old "Pepsi Challenge" with this toy while at a mates house. (Hello Mr & Mrs C. You are lovely hosts.) I. E we had the old one, and compared it with the new one. The consensus we came to was that Legacy Hot Shot was a better toy overall, having such improvements as being able to hold his own gun, but the Armada original was much more trustworthy in the hands of an actual child. And that's this toy in a nutshell, really. It's an earnest attempt to make a collector's version of a toy that wasn't that good in the first place, and it hasn't turned out quite as well as Starscream. It was a big ask, and while this  arguably came out better than the 2008 Universe version, I don't blame anybody put off by the legs. This having been said: this toy absolutely nails the axelzooka gimmick, and I have a lot of time for that if the rest is mostly okay. And it is. 

 

My point? Only that Hot Shot is something that exists, and is mostly okay. He's probably not good enough convert people to Armada, but he's got his charm.

 

Plamo: The 30 Minutes Missions Rabiot “Navy”, plus extras

So here’s the thing. I recently picked up the Option Part Set 8 (Multi Backpack) in a shop. There's a fair few of these in 30MM, but this is the first I've picked up. It's a grabbag of bits mainly, but the theme is one of stowage, with two different backpacks, but also a folding gun that can store inside one of the backpacks. This tied into a couple of things I like, mainly Gundam 08th MS Team, and from the Transformers comics, Brainstorm's Briefcase. I tried these with the Forestieri, but as great as that lad is, the proportions didn’t work. So, I started looking at another Rabiot as an artillery type dude. Happily, online retailer Gundammad had a few in, and was doing their “free random kit” promotion, so I rolled the dice. As you may have gathered from the pictures, things did not go according to plan.

 

Now, as it turns out, the whole munitions backpack thing doesn't play nice with the Rabiot and indeed several different 30mm kit types. This isn't just a matter of size, although it is big, the added weight is is too much for the chest joint. I've had a similar problem with a shelved project, and this style of chest design with the polycap just struggles to cope with additional weight on the back. If you’ve got a good polycap in there, you’re fine, but otherwise its doubtful, and I have no patience for a kit that dissembles itself when I try to pose it. The daft thing is that the Forestieri can cope with it, even though you're doubling the bulk of the robot, because it's designed differently, and the tooling is newer so things are a bit tighter. So, that was a bit of a bugger, and I ended up merely using the flip-out booster pack and stowage pouches instead. An option armour set was also applied, with the shield being spread-out over the left arm, and the Roy Roy staying in the box along with a few other bits.

 

As a side note, going back to the Rabiot after so long really does highlight how much the line as evolved since. Its better organised kit than some I’ve done lately, and still fine apart from the chest issue. More recent kits however are more self-contained, and refined.

 

The freebie kit however came to the rescue here, as it featured a compatible bustersword and stylised rifle. This came from the series SD Gundam World Heroes, and I must confess a certain level of polite bafflement. Cutesy versions of mobile suits are quite well established, but I didn’t realise they were doing Romance of The Three Kingdoms with ‘em. As these parts were translucent, I experimented with spray-painting and masking, in an attempt to to leave sections in their original colour. That didn’t quite work, so I ended up just using Soulstone technical instead. The Bustersword, like the main kit, was then weathered within an inch of its life.

So, like most of my recent 30MM projects, this was a palette cleanser, if one marred by technical difficulties. I was aiming for “serious real robot in blue”. Instead, I got “vaguely samurai techno-barbarian”. Now, that’s absolutely fine, as those are words I like, but I will be taking another swing at “serious real robot” when budget allows.

Meanwhile, my RPG group has dubbed it "Carnegie".

Transformers: Legacy Evolution Scraphook is Something That Exists

 While not Siege's only innovation, the concept of the "Weaponizer" is probably its main focus of creativity in what would otherwise prove to be a very Sunbow G1 period of Generations. The idea was a simple one, have a transformer not as such convert, as break apart, to be reassembled into a vehicle or a set of accessories for another figure. This concept was first applied to characters that where basically accessories budgeted out of Titan class releases, chaps like Sixgun, but it was subsequently applied to Micromaster playsets, Quintessons, and finally Kingdom's highly memorable dinosaur skeletons. Of course, one idea that occurred to the fandom almost immediately was "Hang on, you could do the Junkions like this, and it would be both in character, and it would be amazing.". So, after Legacy seemingly retired such things, Legacy: Evolution did exactly that. And they much pushing harder towards actual vehicle modes this time, with the mixing and matching parts to create your own alt modes. Scraphook is the first such toy, and he has potential.

 

Scraphook in box, stock image

As Scraphook has a lot going on as a toy, but is totally new as a character, I'm gonna break from my usual format, and talk about how he works first. Scraphook is designed to be more of a self-contained toy than previous attempts, with a transformation scheme that is not merely reassembly. The engineering on this toy is such that it could have been applied to a regular transformer, and in the absence of documentation, I could totally see someone not realising that it was meant to come apart. And then being baffled when it does. In that respect, its a success. Where it falters is in plastic tolerances and general kind of wave 1 vibe, like later toys will take this idea and execute it better. Time will tell on that point, but Scraphook has one thing about him that is slightly disappointing: a chunk of stuff that gets leftover if you use him for parts. The truck cab gets left behind, which includes the main body and upper legs, and there's nothing obvious to do with it just now. The only thing that comes to mind is to transform it back to robot mode, and use it for a Monty Python reference. At least its compact…

 

Now then, the truck mode. As you might imagine this is rather up my street, resembling the sort of vehicle I've been scratchbuilding. It is only a couple of icons away from being an Ork vehicle, and rest assured, I've been thinking about a little customising. It has a ramshackle but ultimately real world vibe than previous Weaponizers have not attempted, and generally succeeds. You have to love that reinforced bumper and the crude repairs. The only visual weak-points are the exposed hands in the flatbed, but I've seen a lot worse. It's wheels are bit of an odd one too, as like the Earthrise Grapple mould, the hubs don't spin, the tires do, thus making the 5mm ports on each actually useful. The matter of ports and accessory stowage is also an interesting one, not least because Scraphook is technically an accessory himself. He technically has 7, some more integrated than others, some having their own 5mm ports, with the vehicle having 11 ports when plain and 8 typically. I wonder what a future retool might do there. All things considered, a great vehicle form. 

 

When putting Scraphook into robot mode, we get a similarly pleasing experience, although getting there is where those minor issues with tolerances make themselves felt. The arms just love to come apart, especially at the elbows, which I can't tell if they are an oversight or intentional. Also in the realms of the downside is the back of the head, which has that regrettable common trend of being hollow. Junkions can be a bit dumb, but they are not literally empty headed. They just watch too much telly. Those complaints aside, Scraphook is undeniably a Junkion, but he's putting a fresh angle on things. First off, the familiar. Scraphook is colour matched to the recent Studio Series Wreck-Gar, the leader of the Junkions and noted madlad. Scraphook has a handlebar moustache, goatee, and the suggestion of a mohawk. He's also got a few spikes about the place, including a battered shield like a Junkion wheel. So he fits right in, but you know what else he is? A ONE-EYED GUNFIGHTER! Articulation meanwhile is quite satisfying, as while there is the aforementioned elbow issue, it's all usefully placed, with possibly the largest heel spurs by proportion of any transformer. So, another thumbs up. 

 

 

What about the armour mode, sorry, Evo Fusion mode? Well, it's pretty standard as these things go. There is a chunk leftover, but there is an awful lot anyway. Here we see Scraphook applied to his wave mate Hot Shot, whom I'm getting to, but for now, let's content ourselves by saying he's okay. Scraphook adds wide & tall to the shorter lad, while the road warrior motifs go well with Hot Shot's rally look and axelzooka. So, yeah, this is pretty good. Not earth-shattering, and I regret that I don't have suitable Junkions to hand to test further, but its a long way from a downside. 

 

My point? Only that Scraphook is something that exists. He almost has too much going on, and recency bias is a thing. But it really does my heart good to see Generations try innovating again.

Plamo: Inner Sphere Support Lance (BattleTech, Catalyst Game Labs)

 

After my somewhat mixed success with the Command Lance, I resolved that I would back go to a green paint scheme. Its always good to try something new, I just wasn’t happy with how they turned out. So, I went back, checked the article where I wrote down the paints I used, and decided to practice on a lance box I would not feel too bad about messing up: the Support Lance. Consisting of three Star League era designs of increasing rarity and one flagship product, the theme of this set is a little harder than usual to tease out. It's support in the sense that here's 3 heavy dudes with a little guy for spotting, although beyond that it's a touch generalised. So, to start in order of increasing chonkitude.

The Spider is a notably agile scout, known for its jump jets. These take up most of its back, with eight visible thrusters, bulking out what is otherwise a stick-thin machine. Otherwise, I find it a bit strange. Occasionally, you get some quite oddball designs in Battletech, and the Spider puts its armaments in the chest. That makes some sense from a game mechanics standpoint, but I would have put something in the arms, if only to increase the fire arcs. My regular readers, somewhat hypothetical as they may be, might notice I’ve based these like the UrbanMechs. That is so say, Citadel Technical Astrogranite over plastic scraps. I opted for this as I do an awful lot of mud with my Orks, and since it works quite well, why not? I also used Liquitex Acrylic Ink “Transparent Raw Sienna” as the wash for these models, something which seems to have been a boon to the lance as a whole. It looks to have helped their finish.

 

Up next there is the posterboy of the Draconis Combine, the Dragon. A solid performer in its class, this is a good all-rounder with some good quirks. I can see a Lance doing well with a pair of these. My only concern is with, well, the entire concept of the Draconis Combine. Not a nice place on the surface, and the ethnic coding in play needs a proper unpacking. Anyways, this was quite good to work on, minimal fuss.

With the Thug we're back to relatively rare Star League vintage stuff. This was designed to rival the venerable Warhammer, and in the process popularised the idea of a "zombie mech". The Thug can absorb a frankly unreasonable amount of damage, but much of the technology that enabled this became lost. Comstar is the only organisation to really hang on to them, and that was a bit of a surprise to folks. I regrettably didn’t notice a mould imperfection on the head until it was too late, but the Citadel Technical Soulstone gave the PPCs a real nice glow.

 

Finally, we have the Cyclops, a 90 ton assault mech whose job description implies it probably shouldn't be getting its hands dirty. It's a dedicated command vehicle, and good in that role, but as with the Thug, the technology enabling this was lost during the Succession Wars. People only tend to want one if its got a working battle computer. Personally, I'm less than jazzed about this one as a concept; you generally don't want your enemies to know where your command centre is, and this appears to be a flashing neon "shoot me" sign. Mind you, the eye came out really nice. My usual method of Citadel Contrast Iyanden Yellow over Wraithbone is admittedly a touch random, but it worked very well here.

So, here’s the thing, I really like how these turned out, and this was basically a light warm-up for me. I’ve produced nice, table-worthy, results with simple techniques. But I don’t wish sound like I’m dismissing my own work by saying it simple. I put the effort in by finding/perfecting those techniques, and while I’m not entering a Golden Demon or nothing, I’ve got my confidence back with respects to BattleTech.

Transformers: Legacy Road Hauler is Something That Exists

 

Hauler’s brief G1 cartoon appearance

Like most people in England, I took a chance on a Black Friday sale in 2022. I was fully aware, and in support of, the Royal Mail strikes, and striking in general. So, I accepted a lengthy delay out of solidarity. What I did not account for was the habits of the online retailer Zavvi, which based on the experiences of myself and others, seems to only want to dispatch items after you ask what’s going on. If at all. Eventually, I received today's subject: The Velocitron Speedia 500 Collection Road Hauler. Brace yourselves, this is gonna be a bit of a trip.

The 2003 eHobby RoadHauler toy

Road Hauler is something that could only really exist when you have the combination of diehard fans and a shoddy production. An orange Autobot crane, he appeared for one brief scene in episode 1, getting name-dropped, but no lines. That sentence took about as long to write as it does to watch that scene. Now, if you have any familiarity with the Sunbow cartoon, you might be going "Orange Crane, do you mean Grapple? AKA the Inferno retool?“. And the answer is no, he came out the year after, and there is some speculation that" Hauler' was a victim of a last minute case change and eventually became Grapple. Much later on, eHobby decided to revisit the name for one of their exclusives, as it is/was common for the various crowd fillers and generics of the cartoon to be given names and profiles after the fact. See my article on Hotlink for another example. Hauler, of course, used the Grapple mould, but as the orange crane slot was now filled, a colour change was needed. So they did him in green, and tied him to the Constructicons. Doing a construction vehicle in green is up there with seeker repaints in the easy money category, and the only real limit on this is the availability of suitable alt modes. Hauler goes for a different shade of green than the Constructicons usually have, and more black instead of purple, but the influence is there. When it comes to the bigger picture, Hauler is very much akin to Burn Out, having very few fictional appearances and even fewer toys. So, having him turn up in the Speedia 500 sub-line was probably a good call, even if it was kinda weird to have a crane truck in a race. He's never had anything approximating a mass market toy before, and it's not like he's a Ramjet situation, where a popular character largely vanishes in distribution. 

 

So, here's the thing: I did not expect to like this toy as much as I actually do. I ordered this half because I hadn't tried the mould, and half as a goof. But it is also an unexpected fave. We'll come to the "goof" aspect shortly, but let's start with the crane mode. This is the first Transformer I've had in a while that makes a compelling case for its own alternative form. What do I mean by that? Well, it's about there being a legitimately different experience in both modes, and thus a compelling reason to keep in a mode other than robot. Robot modes since Siege have been pretty damn good, but often there is not the same level of rigour being applied to the other modes. With cars and jets, it's often a matter of compressing the toy down, pegging the guns on, and making your own sound effects. So, Hauler here has a moving and collapsing crane arm, and that opens up a few possibilities. He's also got a claw attachment for it, which has an airlock clip in the centre, so he can lift bits of modulator. This is a lot of uncomplicated fun, and it's the kind of thing simply omitted from recent toys, at least in the Generations sphere. There's no shortage of 5mm ports or weapon storage either so functionally, this is very complete. Visually, its certainly not bad either. The green and hazard stripes work well, and touches like painted hubcaps and transparent windows are nice. There"s a couple of oddities though, like the big bar on the cab that's painted, and the way the front tires spin, but the hubcaps are fixed. It's also fair to say the fidelity to the original Diaclone mould produces some flaws. It's pretty obviously a set of robot arms on the back, and maybe something could have filled that gap between, but the overall effect works. 

 

The transformation is similarly based on the Diaclone mould but with more modern touches. It's also fixed. The original version of this toy, Earth Grapple, had a major problem with the foot pegs breaking, something that put me off, although subsequent releases fixed that. Now, we have much to talk about here, but let me cut to the chase, and share with you the reason that I rolled the dice on this guy. Yes, that head sculpt. 

 

I don't know what possessed them to do this, but it's not often you get a Transformer that seems to shouting the word "fuck" at the top of his lungs. I know it's juvenile, but I find this to be hysterical. More generally, we might imagine this as roaring or screaming-as-you-fire-on-automatic sorta face, and there is a 3rd party kit that gives him a cigar, so there's that. Moving on, we come to a slightly less successful, but still rather fun robot form. With respects to the visuals, the flaw of this mould is quite apparent, he is very hollow. Whereas Legacy Bulkhead had an unflattering hollow chest which served his transformation, every extremity on Hauler here has exposed cavities that really don't need to be there. It's not great, and I can't deny that is a probable deal-breaker for some, but it doesn't bother me that much in person. Possibly because its everywhere, rather than a singularly obvious cut corner. Otherwise, Hauler is a fairly blocky dude, that doesn't really bring new out new colours for robot mode, and who seems rather upset about something.

 

While not as unexpectedly compelling as crane mode, the robot mode does bring something to the table rather nice to go with Siege Standard joints and ports. It offers a simulacrum, read a book, of the Diaclone fist-launching, where the hands or missiles could be fired from the wrists. This was the inspiration for Inferno and such having a tool/gun arm in the cartoon, and possibly several others now that I think of it. Hauler doesn't fire his fist off, spring-loaded missiles don't seem to be a thing in Transformers any more, but he does retain the option to fold his hands away and plug something into the 5mm port that results. So you can plug in that grabber bit in one arm, and the pointy thing in the other. Or, indeed Combiner Wars era hand/foot guns. It's joyful, it really is. 

 

My point? Only that Legacy Road Hauler is something that exists. And he's fun.

Scratchbuild Experiment: Ork Gunwagon

 

December is a tiring time for me. I work in a supermarket. Which had carols on non-stop. If you're not exhausted from the customers, your brain is being minced by hearing one of the three or so versions of "Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer" for the dozenth time. That day. So, having built up a sufficient buffer on blog articles, I decided to something a bit more long form. Something I could take my time with, and hopefully be able to photograph when there was some half-decent light. So, with the terrain special done, it was the time to apply those lessons to something I'd previously attempted. Another Gunwagon.  And, because I'm pleased with it, I've bumped it schedule :)

 

The purpose of this exercise was to A) perfect my tank tread technique, and to B) further explore medium weight chipboard as a modelling material. As you may recall, I'd had some pleasing success with casting tank treads during my Battlewagon project. These were however limited by the fact that the segments did not interlink, so I wanted to attempt that this time. On a lazy Sunday, some painstaking trial & error produced three interlocking prototypes, which were then cast in a two part mould. I opted to make these with Milliput due to its durability and cost metrics, as while Das Clay would be cheaper, I wasn't convinced that it would be durable enough for the size I wanted. Its more of a terrain material. The results are pleasing, if unavoidably imprecise due to technical limitations. There is only so much you can do with a two part Ori Maru mould, and so a lot of filling and filing was needed. The aforementioned prototypes were based off nanoblocks for overall size, with zip ties and plastic rod for the links, and chipboard for the main body. As I can't reliably cut straight, using things like that as templates is vital. One word of warning though, chipboard tends to absorb water from a hot mould.

With the tracks under mass production, I then started thing about the chassis. My main inspiration was old school self-propelled guns, like the Stug, although the Leman Russ Battletank also came through. The centre was based on a cardboard box, but then built up with flat packers and a bit of a construction toy for the front. Flatpackers are slightly angled on the edges, so I leant into that to prevent it being too blocky. The track mounts were a little more involved. I decided to skip making wheels and bogies for a more imperial style, making four roughly trapezoidal panels spaced with off-brand lego, and then stuffed with EVA foam as a filler. There was more trial and error than I would have liked, with the addition of cogwheels demanding a rethink of the back end. Once this was finalised, I then started layering panels on the body in a haphazard fashion. These were of various materials, from chipboard, to foam sheeting, to Das Clay and intended to suggest both a ramshackle construction and ramshackle repairs. The amount of rivets required proved to be excessive.

The weapons were similarly scratch built, mainly from scrap plastic like old lids and such. The main event, aka the big gun, was largely made from spray bottle parts attached in sequence. I was a bit rough in "salvaging" these, which is why the plastic is marked, but it adds to the theme. The big shootas with similarly sourced from things like pumps, pens and water pistols. All are different, suggesting a variety of calibres, and helped break up the profile. This is where the Leman Russ influence comes in, as I was able to create crude sponsons with ease. Painting followed a prolonged period of riveting, spraypainting, and correcting bits that had come off or otherwise become evident during the spraypainting. I stuck with my usual “rust bucket with bright blue” style, although I find it basically impossible to be consistent in my method, I always tweak it. Here I built up the blue with three different shades via stippling, washed it brown, and then sponged on the lightest blue again. The metals where my usual mix of store brought and cheap craft supplies, over a brown undercoat. To cover a few sins, and the limitations of the moulding process, I made some homebrew texture paint for mud, and drybrushed it a bit for the dry spots. I probably over did it.

 

Overall, I’m quite happy with how this turned out. Tank tracks were for a long time the most difficult thing for me to kitbash or make from scratch, and I’ve now got a functional means of doing that. Its not necessarily ideal, mind you, but its good enough for Orks. The chipboard meanwhile has been thoroughly tested, and I can see myself using it in no-end of future scratchbuilds. The only question is, what next?

Work-in-progress Pics