This is even better! great job.  

 

Great stuff, very creative!

Hopefully I'm not derailing this thread by posting my own custom mods (always cool to see how other people tackle the same problem), but I've been working on something like this for a while now off and on, ever since I got HA Soundwave at Japanese retail way back in December 2011 as his janky legs and short stature really bugged me on an otherwise very cool figure.

I was inspired by your thread to revisit HA SW and rework his lower legs again to more of my satisfaction. I basically used parts from a junker Voyager TFTM Blackout and Voyager Prime RID Megatron to give him some added height, stability, and articulation. Parts can be attached and removed without damaging the original figure whatsoever.



Still a WIP and will continue to work on giving the legs some additional parts (probably from a 1/24 scale Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG model kit) such as the CGI/screen accurate wheels on the outside of the shins/ankles (I tried to find a way to safely remove the ones on his forearms but they're pinned on with no access to one side of the pin, unfortunately) and spike-y knee pads to help flesh them out a bit more. Also plan to paint him all up in metallic silver.



Comparison with Human Alliance Barricade (custom painted) and their various minions (Barricade's using a fan-moded HA Pinpointer as Ratbat  ).

 

Good stuff in robot mode, how about car mode, does it has anything speical?

 

Unfortunately, no, so he'll be a partsformer. That's OK as I actually picked up a second (loose) HA Soundwave from Mandarake when I was visiting Japan last year (before the HA Barricade and Soundwave 2-pack was announced/released) so I use that one strictly for alt mode with McDreamy (aka Mr. Dylan Gould).

If I was a 3D designer and could make Shapeways stuff, I'd try my hand at making designs for Frenzy/Rumble that could transform into "boots/shoes" or lower legs to combine with Soundwave to give him some added height.   I know Frenzy technically died at the end of the first movie (with his head being shown as a trophy in Agent Simmons' basement in ROTF) but I figured it'd be a different and fun/funny way for Frumble to interact with their master Soundwave.

 

some more mods

I did a few more mods to mine. I fund some washers that fit snug by pressing them into the prime wheels. I sanded the flames off and repainted everything so they fit a little better. The washers fit tight enough I didnt need to glue them.




Then I moved on to tightening up the legs. I added superglue to the hips to tighten them up, but mine was having a problem with the legs folding up at the joint just above the knee. The solution was a small block inserted in the joint to keep it from bending in robot mode. The block was a calibration cube I printed with my 3D printer to calibrate it. I pulled the cube from the scrap bin and carved it up with a dremel and exacto knife. These fit tight too so no need for anything else to hold them in. I decided there was no need to paint them. Mission accomplished! He stands pretty solid now (knees are a little loose but not too bad). Now just need to make up some tentacles...  

 

That looks pretty sharp! Really dig how you used the washers to plug them into Prime's wheels and painted them the same Allspark blue as Soundwave's audio speakers mounted on his chest and forearms. With speakers so low on his body, I guess Soundwave truly will have some ground-shaking bass.   Very creative! Great work!

I also opened up Soundwave's waist piece and tightened up the hip joints with the Future and glue trick. I haven't had the heart yet to cut up the figure itself (I probably should much like I did with HA Sideswipe when I performed his rear kibble/car roof mod) but the loose-y goose-y leg swivels (much of them using rivet joints, unfortunately) is one of the things that drives me nuts about the mold.

Cool solution using the 3D printed blocks to help tighten up that problem area in his thighs. I actually used the spare rounded cup pieces (that go on to ball joints) from X-Transbot Appolyon (swapped out for tighter shoulders) to help address that particular issue. They stay in using just friction and they're held fairly well.

With my other leg mods I'm trying to adhere to the CGI/onscreen design with his two-pronged claw toes and having the car wheels on the outside of his shins/ankles. But since I can't (safely without damaging the figure) remove the wheels on his forearms to relocate them onto his legs, I guess my Soundwave will end up having 6 wheels (once I kitbash the additional two wheels from a 1/24 scale SLS AMG model kit).  

As for tentacles, I recall someone (fakebusker, I believe) designing a tentacle set in Shapeways originally meant for TF Prime RID Deluxe Soundwave. That might work for HA Soundwave in the scene where he was getting a bit too friendly with Carly.

 

This really gets better and better, now even the feet match Soundwave's hand pattern!

 

Thanks Guys.

I saw the shapeways tentacles but I had some Doctor Octopus tentacles from Spider man toys but Gotta find where I put them for safe keeping..

Timesynch- What is that gun you are using with your soundwave- Also can you PM me a link to your HA Sideswipe mods?

 

Oh, the gun is just the mechtech weapon (that changes from a gun to a satellite dish) that comes with Takara Tomy DOTM Deluxe Soundwave. I find it's way too big for Deluxe SW but it's perfectly sized for HA Soundwave. Go figure.  

It's more or less accurate to the CGI/onscreen gun that Soundwave uses to threaten Bumblebee with in DOTM, it's just missing an ammo magazine beneath the muzzle. I got HA SW to hold it by inserting a black rubber ear bud piece into the 5mm peg to make the handle bigger so his weird claws/fingers can grip it. Holds pretty well now.

 

Awesome mod. Many op will die for this..lol

 

HA Soundwave is such a great toy. I'd love it if some 3P made some bootie addons to his legs.

 

Same here, though the ship may have set sail on that front given that DOTM (and this figure) was released a few years ago already. Not sure that there is enough interest for a 3P to make something like that, even with APS HA Barricade and Soundwave two-pack being released recently (and now being clearanced at major e-tailers like BBTS).

There are several 3P startups in Hong Kong and China that appear to specialize in making movieverse toys (more specifically, oversize "improved with new engineering/sculpting" knock-off versions of existing official HasTak movieverse toys) so who knows?

 

Oh yeah I can agree that it's probably a lost cause by now. I quite like your custom leg though, it looks very good.

I guess there was that one company that made addons for movie figures, sometimes years later (fans want it I think?). Maybe they were marketed at China since they apparently love the movie designs over there.

 

Thanks. My leg kitbash has been a long time in the making (still working on the damn thing  ) but will probably look better with more parts and some (silver) paint when I'm finally done with it (probably won't be for a while).

FWI could possibly make add-ons for HA SW but I'm not counting on it personally. They started off with making upgrades for Leader figures only before moving on to making a bunch of stuff for Leader Optimus. It's only recently that they moved onto AOE Voyager Optimus but I don't see them tackling secondary characters like SW, unfortunately, seeing how Optimus appears to be the big seller and their main focus.

Here's to hoping to that they branch out and make stuff for additional characters, like giving HA Barricade an actual left hand, a more screen accurate wheel mace weapon from TFTM1 (I kitbashed my own using the weapon from Robot Replicas Barricade), or the Scolex gun that he used to execute Que/Wheeljack. I'm still waiting for someone to make poseable finger hands for Leader Sentinel Prime (I settled for Shapeways after KFC cancelled their "Nimoy" articulated hands), or the rust cannon he used to execute Ironhide.

Yeah, fans over in China seem to have really taken a shine to the movieverse characters and designs, so there's always hope of more support as additional film sequels get made.

 

The reality is the better our solution provided in this threads, the more chance that some 3rd party will make a direct copy and sell as a product.  

 

Yeah, there's always that possibility. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, as the saying goes.  

 

Finally bought a KO HA Soundwave and stumbled upon this mod thread. Had to purchase a Voyager Prime from Ebay, but man does this mod make SW look so much better and screen accurate.

 

What ravage is that?? Lol

 

Hunt For The Decepticons: legends class ravage

 

THEY MADE THAT?!? Omg i need one!!!