The front wheels are wider, but actually slightly smaller in diameter than the stock wheels. Thankfully they still fit in his chest cavity (Thanks for the extra space, Maketoys!). So he still transforms as he used to.
The legs of the bot mode look fine without the extra bits (to me, at least). I guess if you're super used-to seeing those bits, they might look like their missing something now. But the tradeoff was worth it, to get red of the wacky alt-mode kibble.

 

Looks better than expected. Surprised those custom wheels fit so well. Haha great stuff. Lovely mods you've done to him.

 

nice

 

Looks great! I've been eagerly awaiting your results. Sadly, I won't be doing this mod: I guess I never really roll my bots around either but I still wouldn't be willing to give up that functionality. I also wouldn't be willing to sacrifice the bot mode legs for the alt mode rear. Your alt mode looks amazing though.

 

THANKS!

Is this a straight up 8.5"x11" sheet of paper or do I need to re-scale?

 

Thanks dude! Yeah, I know static wheels arent for everybody, but I felt like the deep-dish aluminum was worth the sacrifice   And i'm certain if I had more experience with Metal pins I could figure out how to make them roll properly... maybe on the next round!
Anyway, time to paint those feet!

 

Standard 8.5x11

Did you glue them in then? Sorry, you might've already said that but I didn't notice. I've done a little bit of work with pins and I find myself wondering how hard it would be to do.

 

So was there any chance of getting this in Stepper colors?

 

That's what many are hopping for....a Stepper repaint. Hopefully with the proper targetmaster partner.

 

Man, that would be awesome, but it's hard to say. They've definitely done more obscure repaints in the past, but they also had pleeenty of time to bring the first Artfire to the table and didn't, so hmmm :\

 

As with you're Smokescreen wheel mod, the Downbeat mod looks great as well.

By chance do you have any mock-up photos of Downbeat running the red Turbo Fan wheels? I believe the Mugello #4 car never ran them on the "low nose" 935/76 so it technically wouldn't be real world accurate. But they did look great on 935/78, "Moby Dick".

I apologize for my car nerding.

 

Yep just a dab of epoxy on the wheelcenter. If you're familiar with pins you should go for it! Would be really interested to see a solution.

lol you are correct! The red isn't accurate to this model but I still from a 935, so I figured that's close enough.. Regardless, both MP wheeljack and Exhaust have red wheels, and decided that's enough red for the shelf..
No mockup pics, but just put the wheels next to Downbeat to get an idea of the look:

 

Thank you! That looks good as well.  

 

Heh. Familiar might be a strong word. I've done a little work with pins. Emphasis on little. And I'm reluctanct to do major mods on $100 toys. Decals are fine but ripping out and replacing the wheels is further than I wanna' go. At least for now. Maybe after I've gotten s'more practice on cheaper figures.

 

I'm late to the party on this guy, finally got around to opening a shipment I got a few weeks ago.

This is a beautiful bot. That being said, he's somewhat of a disappointment. On a scale of 0 to Omnigonix, this guy is about a 7 in the fiddly-and-won't-stay-tabbed department. Such fidgety, overly-close tolerance nonsense. Did I get a bad copy or are they all that way? I just look at the chest and it falls apart nine ways from sunday... I love Despotron and Gundog, but this figure feels like it was made by a completely different company.

I'm *this* close to supergluing the whole chest together and saying f#$%-it to the car mode.  

 

My front tabs are slightly loose, but it still takes determined pressure to pop them open.

 

Are you tabbing the armpits into the wheels? It won't stay secure unless you do that.

 

Yeah, if I just look at it, the armpits untab, the chest untabs with itself, and the the chest untabs with the lower flap in front. Trying to pose it without it just coming apart at the seams is nigh impossible. Hence my desire to kragle it. Maybe I'll try floor polish first, but it's disappointing. At least with Omni, I knew exactly what I was getting, and I got it for half price. For this to be a surprise dud, at full price, from a company whose products I have really liked in the past... is a major bummer. I have nothing against MT, as Despotron and Gundog are amongst my favorite figures on my MP shelf, but this... is not cool. Chest issues aside, the transformation design almost reminds me of a giant FP stunticon with his 437 tabs and swiveling panels, and not in a good way.

It's a good looking bot, but nowhere near worth the $90-100 retail price. Again, maybe I got a bad copy as far as the chest goes, but it's a serious letdown. I can't decide if I want to try to fix and reprolabel him or just replace with Coolsville the next time ebay does a flash sale.

 

thats really surprising, my armpit tabs are on the tighter side rather than looser. Shame :/

 

I got that reference