Great point. Beginning to think just telling her might be less work.

 

Just do what I do and wait for her to notice.  

 

I usually go ahead and buy, and then blame my cats

 

Can anyone confirm swapping the robot head/eyes by popping it off the ball joint works just fine?

 

I usually just go with "look what I bought with my money today".

 

Grimlock's character model from Transformers Devastation looks like Grinder.

 

Actually that pic reminds me a lot of DX9 Rager.

 

Not really. That model does not have a super ... model waist. Grinder is really Cindy Crawford (darn I must be old to still remember her) in Halloween costume.

 

So how many of the G1 style dino head did Fans Toys make for this guy? I'd like one, but all I see is "SOLD OUT" everywhere. And I don't ever recall it being for sale.

 

LOL! What is this "my money" thing you speak of?

I just got called in for overtime today, I wonder if that will count as "my money"?

 

Apparently not enough. When I wanted to preorder one it was already pre-sold out almost everywhere. I was lucky and relieved to find one after all, since it is an essential add-on to turn a good figure into an outstanding one. Maybe FT should consider doing a second run, at least of the regular head.

 

I wonder if the whole Kapow toys thing made them do a less than full run? I'm just speculating myself but no one likes to stir the hornets nest so maybe it's related. Then again, maybe they just thought it wouldn't be as popular as it was and just didn't make enough.

 

Might very well be possible, but considering that Kapowtoys is "just" a UK retailer...I tend to believe that FT have simply underestimated the demand for a toon accurate head. I actually don't see the necessity for giving the Diaclone or G2 version of Grinder the new head since they are both homages to the original toy and its repaint and they work really well with the stock head, but toon Grinder needed the new head from the beginning. FT should have manifactured as many heads as regular Grinders.

 

Or, they could have just included the head with FT Silverbolt...

 

The price of which would then have to be covered by silverbolt, which isn't the way to do it at all when they are completely unrelated figures and it' a sizeable piece.

 

I know that feeling!

 

I tried painting Grinder's eyes with some Tamiya X-14 but not happy with the results (see photos)

I thinned it slightly with Tamiya thinner but, as you can see, the pigment and gloss is uneven. It's worked fine before on small areas like MP-10's eyes. I also tried it without thinners. Also, the second coat seems to disrupt the first coat (even if it's left to dry overnight) no matter how delicate I am. I've cleaned it off and started again a few times in the last couple days. I prepped the surface with some 1500-2500 sandpaper to remove the chrome instead of the bleach option. I used a nice flat brush too.

I must be doing something wrong. Are there better paints e.g. Vallejo or Citadel? I'm fed up and might just use a rattle can or brush with enamel instead. Any advice appreciated.

 

This is why I favoured the bleach and the spray can over the sandpaper and paintbrush. The bleach, or if you're not fond of it alcohol will just cause the original stuff FT put on it to just shed, leaving the surface even as opposed to sanding which could leave it uneven if overdone and thus making it harder to paint evenly, like you've done....I guess. Painting, particularly if your skills are limited, is only worth doing if you have a very small surface area to cover as you have now experienced.

With the spray can it is much easier, you just spray it (after you've removed the original paint, of course!) look for any unevenness or bubbles, if any are detected, address them with a brush and then spray over them until they are gone.

The blue you're using is a bit dark, it looks good in robot mode but a lighter blue will look better in dino mode as it seems to bounce off the grey quite nicely, I know because I used the deep blue first and it didn't quite have the effect the light blue one had.

Hope this helps!

 

Thank goodness I'm happy with they eye color of my FT dinos just as they are.