As much as I general love Takara's anime redecos/retools of the TR line, LG Skullcruncher actually seemed like a misstep to me. I questioned the durability of changing the rubbery cockpit hatch to a transparent plastic one (since I think the mold is identical and it's a pain to get a grip on the TR one as it is), the lack of any good alterations to the legs (I would expect them to have done something to address the lack of an actual foot, especially since it looks like the rear croc legs were intended to swivel inwards at some point in the design process), but what baffled me the most was the pretty naff new headsculpt. It just seems really off in comparison to the other Legends Headmasters like Chromedome and Hardhead, especially the visor and chin. Then I spied TR Fangry and noticed that his overall facial structure was actually closer, and when I saw it on deep discount at Target, I got an idea: I also ended up switching the faces between Fangry and Skullcruncher's Titanmasters, which is actually a bit involved since the connections changed between waves. By extension, this also meant swapping the arms (and as I discovered, filing the front shin tabs on Fangry's TM because they interfered with the Skullsmasher arms going into head mode). I actually like Fangry's TM with the TR Skullsmasher headsculpt. I may repaint the face to emphasize it's fangs (and also might stick dots of paint in the eyes and mouth vents of the TM head. There's detail there but it's invisible due to the massive forehead crest catching all the light). There's quite a bit of surface filing and rebuilding work to do for Skullcruncher, and this is my first major TF customizing project (one of several I've bought figures and materials for). More to come. Any tips and comment appreciated.
Last two images are from this morning. It's my first project using styrene but I'm getting comfortable thanks to tutorials. I had to sand and cut down the existing sides of the head and am building them up with layers of styrene (hence the thickness. This should provide enough material to carve and shape into the proper Skullcruncher helm. The only parts of the faceplate that I am not covering is the mouth and back. The sides are only getting a single sheet because of earlier sanding errors.
Impressive efforts! I assume you've seen this, right? Skullcruncher Face, IDW (Titans Return) by TrentTroop on Shapeways
Ive seen these, yes! I'm more doing this as a warm up for larger but more complex mods (like the eventual cross-bash of CW Red Alert and Trailbreaker that I'll start after this).
Further build-up progress. I intend to fully "block out" the extents of the head before carving back into it, sans the lower chin (which will need minor resurfacing, thought a coat of Mr. Surface might take care of the sanding blemishes I made alone).
