I've actually come full-circle w/regards to my opinion of Hoodlum's face. I was disappointed when I saw the first pictures, I was satisfied when I had the figure in-hand, and after studying it more closely, I've decided that it's pretty good.

The helmet and the soft paint obscure the contours that run from his eyes to his chin. If you look closely, he had a little goatee action similar to Quietus.

I wonder if a glossy topcoat would bring out those features a bit more.

 

A little goatee. Hmm. Rodimus Unicronus anyone?

 

Man I hate in when these threads come down to grammar arguments. If I wanted schooling I'd go back to school.

 

Does this help you?

 

The shape of the face is actually the best of any Hot Rod we've had, I think. They've nailed the angular shapes around the cheeks without etching in lines as Takara has done. However, for me, the nose is too long and the mouth looks as though it's sucking on something, meaning that I don't like the face sculpt as much in hand as I do when I see it in pictures at certain angles. If you put MP-28's nose and mouth on the rest of Hoodlum's face it would be pretty much perfect. That said, it's definitely a very good face sculpt - and better than many of Takara's - but it just doesn't quite capture movie Hot Rod as much as I'd like. (I'm a bit fussy about head sculpts, though - I've been disappointed with half of Takara's human-esque ones, especially Bumblebee's.)

 

I'm joining the hood chip group. got mine today and that's the first thing i inspected....sad part is that the actual hood itself was slanted out of the box which might have caused the chipping as i saw some paint clumps at the base.

Gonna have to hunt for some paint over the weekend.

@sodawilly - thanks for the mix info. this'll come very handy to correct this issue....

 

sodawilly posted a good paint mix a few pages back......gonna try and get some to correct my chipping issue too.

 

Yes these are perfect! I can see exactly where i need to keep cutting. Thanks for your help. I gotta say once you know how to clip everything in in vehicle mode because there is a certain order and place for all the tabs and panels his car mode is incredibly solid. I also really love his robot mode as i found a sweet spot for the chest to sit that keeps the shoulder panels in line with everything. It restricts the movement but there are enough joints and range that i dont mind really. Overall i still like him and masterpiece hotrod but for different reasons. To me MP Hot Rod is kind of like the toy version where this one is the toon one. At least thats how im setting it up in my head haha. Ill take some group shots with my season 3 guys later on today

 

Cool
I’m glad those helped
Are u going to take pictures of the progress?

 

Man, I must have missed a few pages. When did his face become a problem? Every time I check back in, people are hating on something new!

He does seem like a fixer-upper. That doesn't scare me (I own two copies of Omni Spinout), but I'm sure as hell not paying full-price for something I've got to do extensive modding and rework on. When this thing gets 50% off, I'll bite. If it sells out, I'll do without. I don't need more expensive projects.

 

Though not the exact same character, is it fair to say DX9 made a superior product in their Rodimus Prime than Fanstoys? Fanstoys especially having the upper hand releasing it last?

 

That’s an interesting comparison. To be fair, Carry has some limited articulation as well. In a lot of ways, the comparison is apples and oranges. But it seems that Carry came closer to accomplishing the goals it was shooting for than did Hoodlum.

 

Transformed him for the first time, and had a little trouble at first. As I was going through it, I was trying to find another way to position the arms lower in a "more solid" way and didn't find one. The slots on the inside of the chest really pigeon hole that position...maybe they could have added 2 sets of slots for both positions. Once I got it into alt-mode with everything tabbed in, I really liked the feel of it...felt really solid. Really important to have everything situated as intended, back wheels included...I think there will be small scratches on his thighs once I transform him back though...the instructions though, are confusing TO ME. Some steps seem to repeat pictures of previous steps or ambiguously tell you what to do...

 

The scratches on the thighs are confirmed. It pretty much happens no matter what you do.

 

Carry would have been awesome with an ab crunch and better articulation, but his shelf presence and transformation are both very good.

 

Just wanted to make sure to mention when doing the paint fix for those that decide to do the paints I did... Once you apply it, let it dry and cure for 72 hours. The paint dries from the inside out. Once it finishes drying, I strongly suggest adding the scotch tape (3 layers) to the metal waist piece and by the hinge. Make sure to cut it to size... Car mode shows paint fully cured. =) I also have the tape sitting flush on mine where that central hinge assembly is.

- Gregg

 

Car mode picture is the wrong picture I just noticed... That is pre paint touch up. I'll take the new picture tonight when I get home. =)

- Gregg

 

Got my rowdy roddy, no chips, he's perfect. The heft! Brilliant.

 

Carry owner here. His knees only bend to about 90 degrees, though his shoulders go up more than FTs do. So in terms of articulation he's worse than TT, slightly better than FT from what I've seen. Not as much die cast, a lot of plastic. Chest is smallish, could be wider (yeah, I know, Studio OX, but I'd like that). Alt mode is closer to CHUG scale, though in bot mode he's as tall as MP-10. Still, this is my Rodimus: Great engineering, especially the transformation, which is a lot of fun. And the trailer is fully integrated to his bot mode, which I love. The biggest problem with Carry is that he can hardly hold his targetmaster. Real shame they didn't give him a gun, though not to the extent that I'd buy one for him or take one from a different figure. Has no spoiler in alt mode, though toyhax have released one. Again, Don't need it. There's a lot of pics of Carry, including my own, in the Carry thread.

 

W

Why three layers of scotch tape? Wouldn't a single layer be suficient? Or clear tape for that matter?