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Post by Philip Ayres on Mar 17, 2010 10:55:42 GMT
All the Air Strike patrol & their repaints reviewed ! Read along with the Micromaster Bases & Battlestations review
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Post by Philip Ayres on Mar 17, 2010 10:57:02 GMT
StormcloudStormcloud is a member of the Decepticon Micromaster Air Strike Patrol. He's co-moulded with Whisper - the two share the same colours of plastic. The patrol also contains Nightflight & Tailwind. The same four toys were available in Japan as the Micro Transformer Jet Patrol Team numbered C-336 where Stormcloud is named Starcloud. Whisper & Nightflight are named the same but Tailwind becomes Windrim. All Four are recast as Cybertron (Autobot) Transformers for the Japanese release but are identical to the Western versions. Stormcloud's vehicle mode is (apparently) a Dassault Rafale fighter jet (whatever one of those is !) The body & tail of the jet are moulded in black plastic (the same as all of the upper side of Whisper's jet mode) while the wings and nose are purple (as is Whisper's robot body). There's a wheel under each wing and a moulded front landing gear. TF: Pull the nose forward and down a tiny bit. Fold the front of the nose up and back 180 degrees. Fold the wings up. Stand. Raise the arms. The robot mode shows more of the black on the body, with the limbs being done in purple. Standard Micromaster articulation rules here: turning shoulders and joined bending hips & knees. He includes a gap between his feet to accommodate a Micromaster peg for standing attached to a vehicle or playset. Overall: Decent Micromaster Jet. You want your jets to be Decepticons and it's a win at first time of asking for the Micromaster Range. SkyhopperStormcloud & Whisper are recoloured and used as the pilots for the Western version of the Micromaster Bases - Nightflight & Tailwind are repainted and packed with two of the Micromaster Battlestations becoming Airwave and Hot House. Stormcloud becomes Skyhopper, the pilot for the identically named Helicopter base. For this release black becomes green and purple becomes grey resulting in a more Military themed figure. The Skyhopper base when released in Japan was recoloured, renamed Skyhyper and came with a different figure: Deadwheeler who is a repaint of Freewheeler.
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Post by legios on Mar 17, 2010 21:00:53 GMT
Stormcloud's vehicle mode is (apparently) a Dassault Rafale fighter jet (whatever one of those is !) French Air Force and Naval multi-role aircraft. Basically the EF-2000 Typhoon only more useful and ready a good many years earlier. Stormcloud is one of the few Micromasters I actually own, and I have to agree that he is a lovely little toy. He's fun to fiddle with, and he looks decent in both modes considering his size. Not much more you could ask of him really. Karl |
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Post by grahamthomson on Mar 17, 2010 21:10:03 GMT
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Post by legios on Mar 17, 2010 22:23:09 GMT
Indeed, there remains some doubt about his Altmode. But at that size being certain of the designers intent between two aircraft which are pretty much cousins (given that the Rafale is the result of the French being convinced that the Typhoon wasn't ever going to get built and deciding that they could build a better 'plane quicker and faster by themselves) is going to be ever a matter of interpretation I suspect.
Fortunately there will be no such difficulties with the rest of the Air Strike Patrol - two very distinctive aircraft and a complete figment of someones imagination.
Looking forward to the reviews of the rest of the Patrol, as they are amongst the few Micromasters I own - and the closest I have to a complete patrol I am looking forward to seeing what you think of them.
Karl
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Post by Philip Ayres on Mar 17, 2010 22:31:01 GMT
The others are coming ! Air Strike is the only team to be completely repainted, but the repaints are spread all round the base toys. As you all know, I know nothing about planes ! My source was tfwiki.net/wiki/Storm_Cloud |
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Post by legios on Mar 17, 2010 22:39:01 GMT
The others are coming ! Air Strike is the only team to be completely repainted, but the repaints are spread all round the base toys. I didn't realise that. I probably should have given that I own Generations but we do know that I have a certain amount of trouble distinguishing one Micromaster from another sometimes.... I am amused by their note that Storm Cloud is "sometimes" a Micromaster. I know what they mean, but I can't help imagining him switching back and forth in size as the mood takes him. Karl |
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Post by Philip Ayres on Mar 18, 2010 10:12:05 GMT
I should have said "completely repainted in the west" - there's a team or two who are recoloured for their Japanese release.
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Post by grahamthomson on Mar 18, 2010 11:02:26 GMT
I have the recoloured Battle Patrol lying around here somewhere, probably down the back of the sofa.
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Post by Philip Ayres on Mar 18, 2010 12:53:41 GMT
Which version ? normal or miscoloured ?
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Post by Philip Ayres on Mar 18, 2010 12:54:24 GMT
WhisperWhisper is a member of the Decepticon Micromaster Air Strike Patrol. He's co-moulded with Stormcloud - the two share the same colours of plastic. The patrol also contains Nightflight & Tailwind. The same four toys were available in Japan as the Micro Transformer Jet Patrol Team numbered C-336 where Stormcloud is named Starcloud. Whisper & Nightflight are named the same but Tailwind becomes Windrim. All Four are recast as Cybertron (Autobot) Transformers for the Japanese release - numbered C-336 - but are identical to the Western versions. The upper side of Whisper's Stealth Jet mode is moulded in black plastic (the same as body & tail of Stormcloud's jet mode) while the underside (his robot mode body) is purple (as are the wings and nose on Stormcloud's jet mode). A moulded front landing gear with two wheels towards the rear. TF: Identical to Stormcloud: Pull the nose forward and down a tiny bit. Fold the front of the nose up and back 180 degrees. Fold the wings up. Stand. Raise the arms. (That's right - a C&P from the Stormcloud review) Whisper's robot mode is a game of two halves. The legs are very poor. For a start there's open panels at the front of the lower legs which taper away to form the underside of the jet mode. To make matters worse he doesn't stand that well either being rather too top heavy for the legs to support him even with the aid of the front landing gear serving as a heal spur. He needs some support to the sides too. A good job then that he has a Micromaster foot peg hole. The upper body looks great, especially the dual cannons moulded either side of the robot's head. Standard Micromaster articulation here: turning shoulders and joined bending hips & knees. Let down by the legs & the balancing. GroundshakerStormcloud & Whisper are recoloured and used as the pilots for the Western version of the Micromaster Bases - Nightflight & Tailwind are repainted and packed with two of the Micromaster Battlestations becoming Airwave and Hot House. Whisper becomes Groundshaker, the driver for the identically named Tank base. For this release black becomes green and purple becomes grey resulting in a more Military themed figure. The Groundshaker base when released in Japan was identically coloured but renamed Landshaker and came with a different figure: Gunrunner who is a repaint of Roadhandler
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Post by grahamthomson on Mar 18, 2010 13:39:58 GMT
Which version ? normal or miscoloured ? Are the miscoloured ones the set with Yellow Armed Flak? If so, I have the normal ones. |
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Post by Philip Ayres on Mar 18, 2010 15:04:25 GMT
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Post by Philip Ayres on Mar 18, 2010 22:13:17 GMT
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Post by Philip Ayres on Mar 19, 2010 10:48:43 GMT
NightflightNightflight is a member of the Decepticon Micromaster Air Strike Patrol. He's co-moulded with Tailwind - the two share the same colours of plastic. The patrol also contains Stormcloud and Whisper The same four toys were available in Japan as the Micro Transformer Jet Patrol Team numbered C-336 where Whisper & Nightflight are named the same but Tailwind becomes Windrim and Stormcloud is named Starcloud. All Four are recast as Cybertron (Autobot) Transformers for the Japanese release - but are identical to the Western versions. Nightflight is a F-14D Tomcat Jet fighter whose Jet mode is cast in a grey/off white plastic. He has a moulded front landing gear and a wheel under each wing. TF: Fold the wings down. Bend the rear of the plane back 180 degrees to form the robot legs. Fold the nose cone back. Stand. Nightflight's robot mode introduces a blue chest and head to the grey carried over into the arms & legs. Standard Micromaster articulation rules here: turning shoulders and joined bending hips & knee. A big bulky lower legs and feet section means he has no trouble balancing unlike his team-mate Whisper. Decent moulded jet mode, nice robot. Does the job. AirwaveNightflight and his co-mould Tailspin were recoloured and released as Airwave & Tailwind, two of the Micromaster Battlestation Commanders. Airwave is packed with the Airport base. The same colour swaps apply to both toys: Grey becomes a maroon/red. Blue becomes white. The main colour for the jet doesn't work quite so well here, it would be nice to see it done in black - perhaps with a yellow chest allowing his co-mould to be turned into a Tigerforce repaint. Airwave was released in Japan as C-345 where he was a Cybertron (Autobot) called Overair.
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Post by Philip Ayres on Mar 21, 2010 14:54:40 GMT
TailwindTailwind is a member of the Decepticon Micromaster Air Strike Patrol. He's co-moulded with Nightflight - the two share the same colours of plastic. The patrol also contains Stormcloud and Whisper. The same four toys were available in Japan as the Micro Transformer Jet Patrol Team numbered C-336 where Tailwind becomes Windrim and Stormcloud is named Starcloud while Whisper & Nightflight are named the same. All Four are recast as Cybertron (Autobot) Transformers for the Japanese release - but are identical to the Western versions. Tailwind is the second Transformer - after Powerglide - to be modelled on an A10 Thunderbolt. This time the jet mode is mainly bright blue bringing it closer to the dark blue colour scheme used for the Cobra Rattler jet in GI Joe. TF: Pull the tail back straightening out the two joints just in front of the engines to form the legs. Stand on the rear of the plane and fold the wings back to reveal the arms. Ah the arms.... pieces moulded to the wings, fixed in place with no motion at all. A big let down, nearly every other Micromaster does better than this. The revealed body & upper legs are grey and look fine as does the shape of the lower legs - formed from the jet's tail - but are spoilt by some moulding indentations bellow the knees.. Decent jet, robot articulation is disappointing. HothouseTailspin and his co-mould Nightflight were recoloured and released as Hot House & Airwave, two of the Micromaster Battlestation Commanders. Hot House is packed with the Fire Station base. The same colour swaps apply to both toys: Grey becomes a maroon/red. Blue becomes white. Thinking about it if the white was the maroon/red and vice versa you'd have a rather nice Powerglide homage here *and* have got a better colour scheme for Airwave too. Another option is to swap the red/maroon for black and the grey for yellow for a Tigerforce repaint. As it is the white jet - with Fire dept stickers on the wings - looks good as does the red & white combination in robot mode.
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Post by legios on Mar 21, 2010 21:00:07 GMT
I'm going to have to disagree with TFwiki here. Given the the release date of Nightflight is a couple of years earlier than than the inservice date of the -D model I'd suspect he is actually a -B model. (Not that there are any external differences between the A, B and D models anyway, so the point is probably moot.....).
I actually think he is my favourite member of the group for some reason. I don't really know why, he just edges out the rest.
I think Tailwind is my least favourite of the Patrol. The aircraft mode is rather nice, but I find the humanoid mode to be very lacking even allowing for the small size. It doesn't help that I tend to find he has serious problems with the standing up on his own as well.
Karl
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Post by Philip Ayres on Apr 12, 2010 13:38:14 GMT
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