Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 21, 2010 21:07:05 GMT
Hunt For The Decepticons Hailstorm
The design for Hailstorm is apparently loosely based on Generation 2 comic character Mindset. He's a green tracked vehicle with a white camouflage scheme on him. There's a turntable on his back which turns 90 degrees to either side. Mounted on the turntable is a missile array that can pivot from horizontal - if pointed to the sides, at the front the passenger compartment gets in the way - to vertical. The missile array contains EIGHT ball missiles which can be first by pushing on their tails sticking out of the back of the array. On the top of each sides of the front of the array is a 3mm bar which will fit the bar & clip weapons currently in circulation on some toys - both Recon Ironhide and Darkmount have weapons suitable to be found on a tank.
Transformation: Pull the middle section of the front of the vehicle forward and out - note that the tabs at the back are sitting in a slot on what will be the robot's waist - splitting in two to form the feet which fold flat against each side of the front. Lift the front of the vehicle away from the tracks. Pull the rear corners of the vehicle back and in. Fold the front half of the track out to the side and then back in so it matches against the rear half of the track which then push together. Fold each arm down under the joined track halves forming the upper arms. Raise both arms up, fold the waist into place then fold the legs down. Fold the head up. The head is attached to a hinge on each side, which is attached to a short white strut. At the bottom end of this strut is another hinge, through which the arms are attached, which is attached to a second short white strut which is hinged at the bottom to the body. In vehicle mode the struts are arranged end to end between the body and the head section. Pull out on the upper arms collapsing the head section down on to the chest with both struts now on top of each other in a side ways V shape pointing out to the sides moving the arms away from the body. Rotate the missile launcher on his back so it points up. You could leave it like that as a backpack weapon but if you open up the back of the backpack the missile array will swing forward 90 degrees to point forward. Split the missile array into two blocks of four and fold out to the sides till the struts connecting them to the body are flat. Fold the missile arrays back in, keeping the struts flat, so that the slots on the bottom of the missile array marry to the tabs sticking up from the shoulders.
The concertina action with the head, arms and body is unique and adds an interesting touch to the toy.
You end up with a bulky, wide ape like robot, mostly green like the tank but with gold upper arms formed from the tank treads and some pale grey connecting parts. The head turns, the shoulders shrug up and down as well as turn, the elbows swing to each side & bend. No waist, but we have ball jointed hips, a double bending knee, albeit with the top hinge severely restricted, and ankles that bend & sing to the sides.
He looks like a thick Decepticon thug who's only there to add firepower. The toy, with it's unique transformation feature, posable vehicle missile launcher and multiple missiles, is a lot of fun and worth adding to your collection.
Hailstorm is a wave 2 Hunt For The Decepticons toy which hopefully will be in the UK soon. He already has a planned repaint as the aforementioned Mindset.
The design for Hailstorm is apparently loosely based on Generation 2 comic character Mindset. He's a green tracked vehicle with a white camouflage scheme on him. There's a turntable on his back which turns 90 degrees to either side. Mounted on the turntable is a missile array that can pivot from horizontal - if pointed to the sides, at the front the passenger compartment gets in the way - to vertical. The missile array contains EIGHT ball missiles which can be first by pushing on their tails sticking out of the back of the array. On the top of each sides of the front of the array is a 3mm bar which will fit the bar & clip weapons currently in circulation on some toys - both Recon Ironhide and Darkmount have weapons suitable to be found on a tank.
Transformation: Pull the middle section of the front of the vehicle forward and out - note that the tabs at the back are sitting in a slot on what will be the robot's waist - splitting in two to form the feet which fold flat against each side of the front. Lift the front of the vehicle away from the tracks. Pull the rear corners of the vehicle back and in. Fold the front half of the track out to the side and then back in so it matches against the rear half of the track which then push together. Fold each arm down under the joined track halves forming the upper arms. Raise both arms up, fold the waist into place then fold the legs down. Fold the head up. The head is attached to a hinge on each side, which is attached to a short white strut. At the bottom end of this strut is another hinge, through which the arms are attached, which is attached to a second short white strut which is hinged at the bottom to the body. In vehicle mode the struts are arranged end to end between the body and the head section. Pull out on the upper arms collapsing the head section down on to the chest with both struts now on top of each other in a side ways V shape pointing out to the sides moving the arms away from the body. Rotate the missile launcher on his back so it points up. You could leave it like that as a backpack weapon but if you open up the back of the backpack the missile array will swing forward 90 degrees to point forward. Split the missile array into two blocks of four and fold out to the sides till the struts connecting them to the body are flat. Fold the missile arrays back in, keeping the struts flat, so that the slots on the bottom of the missile array marry to the tabs sticking up from the shoulders.
The concertina action with the head, arms and body is unique and adds an interesting touch to the toy.
You end up with a bulky, wide ape like robot, mostly green like the tank but with gold upper arms formed from the tank treads and some pale grey connecting parts. The head turns, the shoulders shrug up and down as well as turn, the elbows swing to each side & bend. No waist, but we have ball jointed hips, a double bending knee, albeit with the top hinge severely restricted, and ankles that bend & sing to the sides.
He looks like a thick Decepticon thug who's only there to add firepower. The toy, with it's unique transformation feature, posable vehicle missile launcher and multiple missiles, is a lot of fun and worth adding to your collection.
Hailstorm is a wave 2 Hunt For The Decepticons toy which hopefully will be in the UK soon. He already has a planned repaint as the aforementioned Mindset.
