Wow, time to break out the flyswatter!

 

  Vangelus

Why do I see some TFR strips spoofing the old RAID commercials

 

They look cooool!

 

I somewhat regret not buying the extra exclusives. Especially since they're going for a kabillion dollars on ebay right now and I have no hope of rectifying that mistake.

 

Go, my pretties, and conquer! BWAHAHAHA!

By the way, anyone figure out how to fix their mandibles yet?

 

I did it to the four of mine. I just used a small screwdriver and pryed at the back of the head after removing the head screw. They look just fine now.

Once I started changing them over, I showed my wife how they were supposed to look. See laughed and said "You are telling me the convention organizers didn't notice that bugs do not have mustaches?"  

 

Yeah, I tried that too, couldn't pry the halves apart-- maybe the yellow spray paint on the front of the head sticks the two halves together more than they otherwise would be?

 

That is an AWESOME display, but seeing someone with two sets of clones makes me want to cry...  

Somehow I didn't realize just how messed up the Buzzclaw repaints looked with the mandibles error until now. Maybe I should practice prying open the head of one of my BW Buzzclaws...

 

Only if you gimme one of your clones.  

Just tried it for myself tonight, it was incredibly easy to do. Whether it'll be tougher with these repaints or not, I dunno. Junior pretty much summed the process up.

To make the process as easy as possible, remove the wing weapon and maybe even pop all the ball-jointed limbs off. Don't want to accidentally break something, but this is not necessary.

Take your average screwdriver and pull out the screw on the side of the head. That done, take a look at the back of Buzzclaw's/Dirge's/Virulent's head, underneath his "neck" joint. You'll see a space there that's pretty big. Carefully put the screwdriver inside and gently jerk it to the side. With the right amount of force, the gap between the two head halves will split open.

Excessive force is NOT necessary! The presence of the pin inside his head may fool you into thinking that this head is sealed tightly - it's not. The pin's only there to help keep the halves together, and is not even drilled into the plastic. The screw is doing all the real securing.

Oh, by the way, I was messing with Buzzclaw and intentionally gave it the mandible error while I was playing Lobotomy with him. It's ugly as sin that way! No way I'm keeping my Botcon repaints like that, exclusives or not.

 

Okay, how the slag are you guys doing this!? I tried it on my Virulent clones, and the screws couldn't go back in right a few of the pegs broke off, so now they have floppy heads. I wanna make sure I do this right when I get to Buzzclaw and Dirge...

 

It sounds like you didn't pull the heads apart gently enough, or you wrenched them forward instead of to the side or something.

Without pics or actually being there to witness how you did it, I have no idea how you messed it up. For the floppiness, make sure that the mandibles are lined up properly and securely in the head.

 

I guess I didn't do it gently enough then, but I tried doing it gently for some time and the pieces didn't budge, so I assumed I had to pry harder.

 

Here's a good way to approximate the force you should use (bleh, reminds me of one of my physics problems) - the minimal amount required to pop off a ball joint. More than that is definitely too much.

When I did it, keep in mind I practiced on two old, loose BW versions, one my childhood one that saw heavy play, so it was probably even easier than it was for Vangelus or yourself. Be careful!

 

The plot thickens!

I got Buzzclaw and Dirge just today (in person from Gort, BTW - that was a cool, if brief, encounter). And of course, sooner or later, after poring over the bio cards and the comic, fiddling with the mold I know so well... it was time for the operation!

Buzzclaw was a stubborn thing. That head was not wanting to pull apart. Definitely not as easy as I found it to be with BW Buzzclaw, which I should have expected. I forgot to compare the inside of his head to BW Buzzclaw (will later), but I think the pegs are really glued into the head tightly or something.

In any case, I ended up succeeding, and Buzzclaw can join Buzzclaw in not worrying about trimming moustaches.  

Dirge, on the other hand... I broke his neck.   While the back of his head (closer to the "neck") began to budge, the seam at the front of the head was sealed shut. Nothing would budge. Eventually I went way too far with the pressure I used and the neck rod completely broke apart. Even then, I still tried to pull it apart somehow... and I completely dented in the back of his head! It's a nasty mess, I'd show pics if I could.

While I dispose of the carcass, or something   and look for another Dirge, I want to spread that warning because it's entirely possible that more than broken pegs await those who do the mandible fix.