I'm thinking about doing a quick head swap, some light paint apps, and swapping the grabber gimmick for more of a cassette door type look to turn Payload into Soundwave. Any suggestions for a decent looking head that would work ok with the mold?
I'm doing a Soundwave, and using Jet Storm. I think the head is a good match, however, people has said ironhide's was a good one too (the back of it)
How about Cybertron Soundwave? He's got kind a movie feel to him, he's already Soundwave, and surprisingly (though possibly not considering all the Voyager-size heads already suggested) it doesn't look like it'd be too big for him, either. You might need to shave out some of the shoulder piece to make room, though, unless you're taking that off entirely (which admittedly doesn't seem like a horrendous idea, and would actually make Soundwave that little bit 'blockier'). Interesting idea with the tape door look. Plan on taking that further and giving him minions..?
Payload's head is pretty small. I think Cybertron Soundwave still might be too large for it. I'm hoping for a cheap Cybertron or Energon deluxe toy that I'm not thinking of that might be a close match. I do think I will remove the shoulder/head peice. There is a circle right in the middle of that area that I can drill a small hole to attach a new head. That was one of my thoughts. Another thought would be to find a really tiny cheap mp3 player. Or perhaps Barricade's Frenzy. I think I am over estimating the space in there though. I probably won't be able to really put anything in it. The tricky thing will be actually removing the claw part. There are about 4 pins in the inside of that compartment. I don't know if I can get at them. Then there is a matter of making the door on a hinge that doesn't interfere with the transformation. I can never finish a kitbash anyway, but if I found a close enough head, I can do a little at a time, since his overall color scheme is similar. EDIT: Energon Doomlock perhaps?
I dunno, surprisingly, Soundwave's head doesn't seem that much bigger than Payload's, just slightly wider, which if you do remove the shoulder plate, won't be an issue anyway. I wouldn't drill through the panel underneath, though, as that'll go straight through the back doors of the truck mode; better, I think, to attach a post system of some sort that goes into the head. If you're not worried about piercing the doors, though, then by all means drill away. That could be cool. There may be more space in there than you think. You certainly couldn't fit, say, one of G1 Soundwave's tapes in there, but probably something akin to half a tape (not that that's necessarily much help). Not that hard, actually, I've already done it to mine. You don't need to get at the pins at all. Unfortunately I can't remember how I did it offhand, but I'll have a gander at the claw in a bit and get back to you.
