Hello all, I have this weird thing when it comes to my movie series Transformers.. It is called SCALE! We are using REAL vehicles so it should not be that hard to measure and make sure they fit together. Now since we FINALLY have a good Jazz and Bumblebee in one scale (Thank you Studio Series!) it was time to take another look at this. I was so hopefull when it was anounced that the Studio Series would be IN SCALE that I ordered them unseen and I was beyond dissapointed when I got my SS ratchet in hands.. he is even smaller than The DOTM Deluxe for crying out loud! How is that " in scale" ? Needless to say I think that he does look like crap with the Studio Series jazz and Bumblebee.. while he is a decent figure. I have seen the Deluxe Lockdown so how can Ratchet be this tiny?? A Hummer H2 that is smaller than a seventies Camaro and about the same size as a Pontiac Solstice?? NO WAY! So with that in mind and in a state of dispair, I went over to a friends house who also collects Movieverse toys and he remembered the Hunt for the Decepticons Ratchet and gave me his junker version to play around with. Scalewise he blew me away. As you can see he scales perfectly with Both the Jazz and Bumblebee in 1:39 scale and as an added bonus, we have The DOTM Voyager Ironhide that has exactly that same scale! So yeah he is perfect.. In Scale only. As most of you know this was not a popular Ratchet, he was not a Search and rescue ambulance as he should have been and he is a kibbly mess! his arms and legs stick out under his body and he has a weird long grille these things NEED TO GO! oh yeah.. and this version of Ratchet is white to make matters more interesting.. Now as a coplete wackjob who is so obsessed with scale, I will atempt to cure the healer. What will be on my to do lost you might ask? - GET HIS ALTMODE SORTED. This means build a "shell" for his ambulance box and get it to fit seamlessly (at first - DEKIBBLE THE SH%# OUT OF HIM This means find another way to store all of his robotparts in a way that this 4x4 actually gets some ground clearance - MAKE IT TRANSFORM. well that is an "easy" one.. he is a transformer.. - MOVIEACCURACY Where possible keep him as acurate as he can be when it comes to both bot and alt mode - REPAINT witch would be a brease cause he does not have like a red stripe, letters and logo's to worry about.. - KEEP MY SANITY (.........) Too late.. So.. any ideas or tips?
I say start with the original instead of the white repaint. It would save you the time and pain of having to repaint the whole shell and add a bunch of decals.
That sounds like a plan, except I already have this one. I am going to make my own waterslide decals for the stripes and such I think. The model does need a complete repaint anyways once I am done with the box and transformation things, since I use Styrene sheet for the Ambulance box witch is white and I do hate the difference in color
so.... Styrene Sheet.. it is a fun and amazing material, looks and almost works like paper, but is plastic you can ise and modify.. wonderfull.. Annyhow, I measured Ratchet and his smaller versions and then used that to make him the ambulance box. No, It does not transform yet and I know, I have to cut it up at some stage but for now he looks like ratchet!! Fun fact: I have a scalechart in witch I have all the Autobots converted to Bumblebee and Jazz's scale in both Vehicle and Robotmode.. He sure fits right in there! The box now makes him exactly 1:39 scale Now I need to go into dekibblifacation mode and see what I can do to get the Kibble tucked away while keeping him transformable. Here he is with his new snail mode! As you guys can see, he is Spot on in scale with SS Bumblebee, Jazz and DOTM Voyager Ironhide Now I will finish up the front of his shell and figure out a way to hide his kibble and incorporate the new parts in one way or the other.
Ambitious project, I'll need to watch this. As a fellow scale guy, I feel your pain but SS was intended to scale in bot mode. I'd love if Has/Tak made a line that was scaled in alt mode.
Snail shell looks a bit long, but it will provide a good location to hide the legs! Loving this project tho @ this point
Unfortunately, with all the mass shifting in the movies, having scale in both modes is too much to ask. I'm of the opinion that I'd rather have bot mode scale, but if it gets at least close in alt mode scale that works for me.
Thanks, it is not actually, when I measured it from the other figures and from the pictures I have, it is about the same size as the cab and nose, However it does not have the decals to breal the line up yet and it does not have the roofrack yet to make it look shorter. It sure does provide a good place for his legs and feet for sure! I used these measurements from the movie drawings they build the actual ratchet from they could use joints that tilt and such to aproxomate the height they should have. I do that with my DOTM Voyager Ironhide and the search goed on for other robot goodness
I always consult the 'scale project' page before buying. For your 1/40 collection, you might consider the ROTF deluxe. The SS Ratchet is 1/50.
If it helps, Matt Booker made a guide with plenty of mods to this guy - including some that virtually eliminate the vehicle undercarriage; lemme see if I can find the blog posts. Good luck, fellow scale enthusiast! EDIT: Here's the old guide on his blog. Think I was overselling the guide since the mods really aren't that extensive, and be warned that the collar mod will make him inaccurate, but this is definitely worth looking into.
Thank you, I need all the help I can get with this guy! It is a screenshot from a promotional film they made for the GM Autobots.
DOTM Ratchet is also to small, I have him here and will post pictures today, he is 1:48 in scale. Here are the 3 Ratchets, as you can see the Studio Series is way to small while it does not really get better with the DOTM deluxe, The white one is the one I am (re)building. Whell I did make some progres, I got all the robotparts out of him to see what space I have to work with and with my new shell he gains 13 mm in length so there should be some space to work with: I just need to figure out where all stuf can go and how to get there while have him remain looking as Ratchet and have him the right height next to bee, Jazz and Ironhide. he should end at 15.6 cm in height.
Making good progress. I challenge you as well to perform some kind of wheelswap that helps Ratchet end up with his proper 6 spokes in alt-mode. I know the Deluxe version's wheels are a bit smaller, so perhaps building off of that as a base or model kit parts should help Hope these other builds can also help inspire too Custom Transformers Autobot Ratchet "Original" 1/24 - 1/27 Toy Diecast Voyager Custom Transformers Autobot Ratchet "Original" 1/43 Toy Diecast Deluxe
This is looking great!!! I need to find some thinner styrene to use myself. Gonna keep an eye on this!!!!
Those Ratchets look great, however they are repaints. I am trying to rebuild his movie alt mode by scratchbuilding him to make him more acurate. I might have something in mind for the wheels trough
Any hobyshop stacks these, these are the 1.5 mm thick ones. I am curently digging around in my spare-bin to find decent joints and such. Stay tuned
