Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 21, 2010 17:41:27 GMT
Mudslinger & the Destructicons
Mudslinger is a bright green monster truck pickup with huge inflated wheels, very similar in design to Cybertron Dirtboss. The body of the vehicle is moulded in a horrid neon green which just makes the toy look far too plasticy. Two of his Power Core connector blocks stick out the back of the vehicle, so you can imagine these as boosters for the vehicle mode, while the other two form part of the suspension. He has one Mini-con port, at the back towards one side which looks great with some form of gun Mini-con attached. He's currently using the Cybertron Drill Bit I found at Auto Assembly, but Chainclaw would work really well, and if I were a betting man then I could see these two paired up come repaint time.
Transform: It worth noting what slots into what as you do this. Remove the Mini-con, split the top of the rear of the vehicle in two and fold back 180 degrees to form the legs. Look at the legs: The tab under the windscreen fits into the slot behind the engine, the slot at the front fits round a tab projecting from the side of the front half and the shallow peg hole goes over the small peg coming out from the strut leading to the rear wheel. Fold the cab halves up to form the feet which brings the heel spurs down with them. Turn over do the underside faces you. Fold the wheels on each side out to the sides to form the arms. Pull the waist back and then fold forward & up to lock onto the Mini-con peg behind the front grill. Stand. Pull the engine up to reveal the head. Fold the arms down to the side rotating each half in towards the body 90 degrees so the 5mm fist hole faces forward. Pull the shoulders up so they sit a little higher.
Problems with the robot mode? well the waist can come out a little easily. The ball joints at the shoulder naturally sit in a position that doesn't allow you to fold the arms forward and when you turn them round they still don't want to bend in that direction. But he at least remains in one piece (unlike Doubleclutch). He's also the first and only Wave 2 Power Core Combiner to have a 5mm peg hole drilled right through his hand. Mudslinger celebrates by claiming Chopster for his own while Smolder is combined with the Destructicon drones and standing on the carpet. The hands do look a little odd with massive wheels sticking out the sides, and while the arms seem the right length their position mounted beneath the shoulders makes them look too long. He has a ball jointed elbow, bicep swivel and the aforementioned off ball joints bellow the shoulder pads on each arm. His head turns but the transformation rules out a rotating waist. He's got Universal hip joints, a thigh swivel, bending knees and an ankle joint concealed in his legs. His only Mini-con port in this mode is the one from the vehicle which is now on his left knee.
To transform Mudslinger into Torso mode, unplug the waist and fold backwards slotting into the robot's back where it sat in vehicle mode. Push the engine head down to form the combined robot's chest. Fold the front bumper up and rotate 180 degrees to form the head. Fold each arm out behind the combined robot torso, then fold each elbow forward so the rear wheels and behind the forward facing front ones. Fold the struts connected to the Power Core connector blocks out the side so they sit securely and point upwards slightly and straighten out the connector blocks on the ends. Fold each leg out to the side and then rotate the lower leg 180 degrees at the ankle joint so what was the knee, with it's Power Core connector block, is now the outer part of the legs and that a green panels points forward. Fold each leg forward slightly at the knee and rotate the leg down 90 degrees at the thigh swivel. Bend the knee the full 90 degrees bringing the smaller robot's foot up so it rests on the underside of the upper leg - there's a tab there that locks into a slot under the foot.
You're now ready for the Destructicon drone limbs.
The Heavy Hauler drone is a crane, and I could have quite easily seen this being repainted to form part of the Constructicons with a repainted Sledge. We have a white truck body with a pivoting gold Mini-con port on the roof of the cab. There's a short elevating gold crane arm behind the cab while mounted on the back of the truck are two pairs of gold missiles. To help it transform into an arm push in on the back of the vehicle and then fold down the claw that emerges from the underside.
The Dune Buggy drone is, surprisingly, a white dune buggy which strongly resembles Armada Mini-con Dune Runner even down to the gold cannon on it's back which can elevate. There's a Mini-con post moulded into the top of the cannon. Another pair of guns protrude from under the front nose and you want to pull down on these to help this toy transform into an arm. The guns are on a hinge and bending them in towards the body gives this drone a credible hand while the bulk of the car serves as a protruding shoulder pad. Unfortunately this limb, like the Chopper drone arm in the Aerialbots set, is prone to springing off.
The Armoured Truck drone is a red armoured vehicle, with a Mini-con post on it's grey roof. On a good day he'll transform for you but to help him pull forward on the back of his cab roof to transform him into a pretty solid leg. It's probably better than most of the legs so far, but it's not even the best leg in this set!
The Armoured Junker drone is an odd goldy bronze flat looking car with a wedge shaped cow catcher on the front. To help him transform bend the cow catcher up 90 degrees before attaching it as what's probably the most stable leg in Power Core so far. The large base provided by the cow catcher helps loads.
Having 2 decent drone legs helps the balance on this toy loads. While not quite as stable as combining these limbs with Smolder, the resulting robot is still pretty steady on his feet. My main problem with the balance is if I need to alter the legs then the smaller robot's thigh swivel is more likely to move than the combined robot's hip. The combined robot has a swivel bellow the knee and a bending knee, both of which are provided by the Power Core combiner blocks. The hips should turn but realistically the thigh swivel if more likely to move even though the upper leg should be locked by the tab into the smaller robot's foot. His head turns but this looks quite odd because the neck is slanted down at the front. The shoulders turn & shrug up courtesy of their Power Core connector blocks while the struts they're attached to fold back. He has a Mini-con socket on the inside of his right leg and another on his back. No chest armour again sadly :-(
While not the greatest toy in existence - it looks horribly plastic with the green of the torso clashing with the whites, red and golds of the limbs - it manages to do most of what it needs to competently enough and it's a relief to finally find a set of limbs that will stand up ok.
Mudslinger is a bright green monster truck pickup with huge inflated wheels, very similar in design to Cybertron Dirtboss. The body of the vehicle is moulded in a horrid neon green which just makes the toy look far too plasticy. Two of his Power Core connector blocks stick out the back of the vehicle, so you can imagine these as boosters for the vehicle mode, while the other two form part of the suspension. He has one Mini-con port, at the back towards one side which looks great with some form of gun Mini-con attached. He's currently using the Cybertron Drill Bit I found at Auto Assembly, but Chainclaw would work really well, and if I were a betting man then I could see these two paired up come repaint time.
Transform: It worth noting what slots into what as you do this. Remove the Mini-con, split the top of the rear of the vehicle in two and fold back 180 degrees to form the legs. Look at the legs: The tab under the windscreen fits into the slot behind the engine, the slot at the front fits round a tab projecting from the side of the front half and the shallow peg hole goes over the small peg coming out from the strut leading to the rear wheel. Fold the cab halves up to form the feet which brings the heel spurs down with them. Turn over do the underside faces you. Fold the wheels on each side out to the sides to form the arms. Pull the waist back and then fold forward & up to lock onto the Mini-con peg behind the front grill. Stand. Pull the engine up to reveal the head. Fold the arms down to the side rotating each half in towards the body 90 degrees so the 5mm fist hole faces forward. Pull the shoulders up so they sit a little higher.
Problems with the robot mode? well the waist can come out a little easily. The ball joints at the shoulder naturally sit in a position that doesn't allow you to fold the arms forward and when you turn them round they still don't want to bend in that direction. But he at least remains in one piece (unlike Doubleclutch). He's also the first and only Wave 2 Power Core Combiner to have a 5mm peg hole drilled right through his hand. Mudslinger celebrates by claiming Chopster for his own while Smolder is combined with the Destructicon drones and standing on the carpet. The hands do look a little odd with massive wheels sticking out the sides, and while the arms seem the right length their position mounted beneath the shoulders makes them look too long. He has a ball jointed elbow, bicep swivel and the aforementioned off ball joints bellow the shoulder pads on each arm. His head turns but the transformation rules out a rotating waist. He's got Universal hip joints, a thigh swivel, bending knees and an ankle joint concealed in his legs. His only Mini-con port in this mode is the one from the vehicle which is now on his left knee.
To transform Mudslinger into Torso mode, unplug the waist and fold backwards slotting into the robot's back where it sat in vehicle mode. Push the engine head down to form the combined robot's chest. Fold the front bumper up and rotate 180 degrees to form the head. Fold each arm out behind the combined robot torso, then fold each elbow forward so the rear wheels and behind the forward facing front ones. Fold the struts connected to the Power Core connector blocks out the side so they sit securely and point upwards slightly and straighten out the connector blocks on the ends. Fold each leg out to the side and then rotate the lower leg 180 degrees at the ankle joint so what was the knee, with it's Power Core connector block, is now the outer part of the legs and that a green panels points forward. Fold each leg forward slightly at the knee and rotate the leg down 90 degrees at the thigh swivel. Bend the knee the full 90 degrees bringing the smaller robot's foot up so it rests on the underside of the upper leg - there's a tab there that locks into a slot under the foot.
You're now ready for the Destructicon drone limbs.
The Heavy Hauler drone is a crane, and I could have quite easily seen this being repainted to form part of the Constructicons with a repainted Sledge. We have a white truck body with a pivoting gold Mini-con port on the roof of the cab. There's a short elevating gold crane arm behind the cab while mounted on the back of the truck are two pairs of gold missiles. To help it transform into an arm push in on the back of the vehicle and then fold down the claw that emerges from the underside.
The Dune Buggy drone is, surprisingly, a white dune buggy which strongly resembles Armada Mini-con Dune Runner even down to the gold cannon on it's back which can elevate. There's a Mini-con post moulded into the top of the cannon. Another pair of guns protrude from under the front nose and you want to pull down on these to help this toy transform into an arm. The guns are on a hinge and bending them in towards the body gives this drone a credible hand while the bulk of the car serves as a protruding shoulder pad. Unfortunately this limb, like the Chopper drone arm in the Aerialbots set, is prone to springing off.
The Armoured Truck drone is a red armoured vehicle, with a Mini-con post on it's grey roof. On a good day he'll transform for you but to help him pull forward on the back of his cab roof to transform him into a pretty solid leg. It's probably better than most of the legs so far, but it's not even the best leg in this set!
The Armoured Junker drone is an odd goldy bronze flat looking car with a wedge shaped cow catcher on the front. To help him transform bend the cow catcher up 90 degrees before attaching it as what's probably the most stable leg in Power Core so far. The large base provided by the cow catcher helps loads.
Having 2 decent drone legs helps the balance on this toy loads. While not quite as stable as combining these limbs with Smolder, the resulting robot is still pretty steady on his feet. My main problem with the balance is if I need to alter the legs then the smaller robot's thigh swivel is more likely to move than the combined robot's hip. The combined robot has a swivel bellow the knee and a bending knee, both of which are provided by the Power Core combiner blocks. The hips should turn but realistically the thigh swivel if more likely to move even though the upper leg should be locked by the tab into the smaller robot's foot. His head turns but this looks quite odd because the neck is slanted down at the front. The shoulders turn & shrug up courtesy of their Power Core connector blocks while the struts they're attached to fold back. He has a Mini-con socket on the inside of his right leg and another on his back. No chest armour again sadly :-(
While not the greatest toy in existence - it looks horribly plastic with the green of the torso clashing with the whites, red and golds of the limbs - it manages to do most of what it needs to competently enough and it's a relief to finally find a set of limbs that will stand up ok.