Grimlock Swords

Modded swords from the ET01 sword and hands kit. Uninstalled the new hands as they were junk: wrong sized mushroom pegs and the fingers kept falling apart. The sword is a slight oversized KO of MP-8 sword with blade in fluorescent red to mimic the LED effect (and actually ended up doing better than the MP-8 LED setup) and MP-style handle (also oversized and MP-8 ironically can't use these swords). Filed handle down to proper 5mm diameter and cut off the MP connector tabs. Filed and sanded down the back of the hilts to get proper clearance.


Modded ET01 sword and modded Shockwave Lab sword. The handle is jank on the Shockwave Lab sword due to using a new taper design (there was zero reason for this and their older stuff fit just fine). Modded the sword by changing the pale clear orange blade into clear red via Tamiya clear red spray paint and proper masking of the hilt with hobby tape.


I've seen some eBay sellers sell all sorts of KO SL stuff in different colors...yeah, I suppose SL is popular enough to get KOs made. I've seen auctions of the Grimlock sword with the blades made in 6 different clear colors and 4 different opaque colors along with red or gold hilts. These KOs add a side peg and have an altered handle. Not sure if still has the same tapering peg issue, though. I haven't purchased a KO SL kit before to see if quality is ok or not.

Clear chest window is my own custom.

 

Man I finally got around to opening up my SS86 HotRod this weekend
What an awesome figure!

He's got a tiny mold flash on his visor, and maybe some microscopic paint aberration in his right eye
And I'm experiencing the same issues already reported, on tabbing his bot arms in for alt mode

But, he looks so damn good! SO damn good
I'm upset I paid full price ($45 CAD, oof), but same time I'm extremely glad I found him at retail (thereby avoiding 3rd party markup)

I baby-moded every step of that transformation, I don't think I stressed anything - but I can definitely see where it might happen
F*ck I miss the days of (window panels being a separate piece, bolted inside a stronger plastic piece)
This whole "the entire piece is clear plastic painted otherwise" is complete BS

 

Is it for sale?

 

 

I agree with window comment. I'd gladly pay a few extra bucks for the window piece to be bolted to stronger plastic.

 

I haven't opened mine yet. What should I be looking out for when transforming?

After the ER Grapple peg issue, I'm a little nervous about opening these toys and finding QC issues.

 

I opened mine yesterday. You have to be careful with the windshield. It's brittle because it's made of clear plastic and transforming it requires you to twist and fold it. I've since transformed him 3 times, no issues. The right leg cover doesn't tab in on mine tho.

Damn! As I was taking this pic I noticed a stress mark on his arm....

 

I got the Nonnef Grimlock set in today. I wanted this set primarily for the sword and the forearm gap covers. The color matching on the forearm flaps isn't as bad in person as I thought, maybe I got one of the lighter-colored ones. It still barely matches though. Functionally, the gap fillers work well enough, but I do feel like the way it's designed is going to put some stress on the screw because the screw is not long enough to go all the way in with the forearm covers installed. The sword is nice, though I couldn't get it to snap together completely flush and had to shave off some bits with an exacto to get it to fit together right. The teeth and the screw covers are far too dark to use. The crown doesn't work for me at all. The chest looks effective, but I like him how he is stock. From the set, I'll be using the forearm fillers and the sword...and that's it. Not worth the $20 shipped, but it'll do the trick until I get the ZX Studios set in. Slag will eventually inherit this sword when Grimlock gets the fancier ZX Studios sword, so it's not a total loss.

 

Hotrod - "I want to see a new Transformers trailer!"

Kup - "They're just starting to make the new movie, it's going to be a good while before you see a trailer!"

Hotrod - "I DON'T WANT EXCUSES!! I WANT A TRANSFORMERS TRAILER RIGHT NOW!!!!"

Hotrod - "AAAHHH!!!"

*SLAM!!!

Kup - "Well, he sure did ask for it!"

 

  This reminds me of the Lazy Eyebrow Optimus Prime review. I showed it to my son and we lol'd.  

 

We still need one with an actual face and articulated legs...

 

#stophotrodabuse2021

 

Blurt

 

I may be a glorified accessory,
serves as nothing, but a brick,
Thanks to @YellowCorvette's minor efforts,
I have elbows for more posing efforts,
Maybe a standalone figure I'm still not,
But any improvements is ideal than not...

"Here Wheelie was, goes on with rhythming again..."  



The pack-in Wheelie "figure" included with SS86 Grimlock is undeniably a bit of a glorified "brick" that can't do much, but with some junker gunpla parts lying around; I figure why not try to do some mods on Wheelie for a bit to give him some elbow articulation?

NGL, cutting the static "arms" is a pain in the butt, but once I managed to cut and separate the "arms", the implementation of some new elbow joints do become easier... a little bit.

Now the arms with their new elbow joints do look quite messy (thanks to all of the cutting involved), so some cleaning up and painting would be done later.



With these new joints, Wheelie can now pose his arms a bit better than before (The new elbow joints allow the elbow to bend around 100 degrees to the front, and 90 degrees to the back)...




I do have plans to give Wheelie some knee joints, but that one would be slightly trickier to do than the elbows; Maybe that one would be for another day.

 

I have been wondering if Cyberverse Deluxe Hot Rod's blast effects are compatible with SS86 Hot Rod. I specifically mean the pegs at the side of the effects that attach to the pipes by the way. Does anybody know?

 

I don't have the Cyberverse, but looking at pictures and stuff, it looks like they should work just fine.