I bought a used Quakewave, and it's an excellent condition. Not a scratch, joints very tight. However, it came in gun mode, and the thighs are collapsed into the lower legs, and it refuses to budge when I try to pull it out. The instruction manual and Youtube videos don't show any gun-to-robot transformations. Is there some kind of trick to this?

Also, is there a handy list of commonly reported errors or commonly broken areas (e.g. the MP Seeker mold's infamous wing joint) that I need to be careful of?

Thanks!

 

There is a small tab approximately where a trigger would be that rotates up out of the legs/handle that helps hold the gun mode together. That is probably what is stopping you.

 

Thanks for the help, but that didn't solve the problem. I tried to reverse-engineer the transformation by doing the manual backwards. I've got it all in robot mode except for the legs now.

 

If it's not the trigger tabs, just pull harder. Mine's kinda stiff in that regard too.

 

As far as QC issues go the only one I can think of is that on some of them the wires for the LED in the gun arm are a bit short so be careful with it. Unless you know how to solder then if the wires do pull out it's a quick and easy fix.

 

Thanks for the help. I just got him into his (amazing!) robot mode. But I'm getting really worried that those joints won't survive multiple transformations. Is there some kind of fix where we take the lower leg apart and file down a tab or something to make the leg easier? I'd open and do it myself, but I'm a complete novice at modding my figures, so I'm curious if anyone else has done it.

 

yeah the legs are kinda tough to pull. but a quick sharp tug should release it, i was thinking i was almost breaking mine the first time. hope you figure it out soon as its a great release and looks amazing in both modes

 

Pull as hard as you can... then order another one.

 

 

I was also fearing breaking mine. It looked like this all afternoon until I was brave enough to pull hard:

 

Question. Is there some kind of spring-loaded mechanism inside the leg that holds the legs together in their respective positions? For example, MP-01 Optimus Prime had a spring that (in my opinion) worked rather well: you push in the gas tank, the spring goes into the "off" position, and you can freely slide the leg up and down.

It looks to me that Quakewave has no spring, though I might be wrong. It looks to me that, in gun mode, the thigh stays locked in the lower leg by a rectangle-shape intended area.

This actually looks pretty simple to mod. It looks like the lower part of the indent is what prevents you from pulling the leg out. Would there be any reason not to very slightly file down the lower lip of that indent so that it's a bit smoother, making the legs easier to pull out?

I marked it in red.

 

There's no harm in opening it to see how it works.

You'll see what's causing it lock.

 

aw, so cute. I say just leave him like that

 

That's his Voyager mode.  

All kiddingness aside glad you finally have your Quakewave transformed properly. Hope you don't run into any more troubles.

 

Quakewave's upper legs (the silver parts) have to be rotated the right way to be placed in his space gun mode. They also have to be rotated the right way to be pulled out. It is a bit of a scary tug to get his legs out, but the legs are pretty good and very solid. Also, quakewave's lower legs become both the back of the space gun and they become the handle for the gun. You flip out the parts that become the handle and than rotate the lower legs 180 degrees ( has if his toes were facing backwards if he were in robot mode. Than the handles combine and you have to push the legs up to complete the back part of the space gun mode. If I understood your question/problem right I hope this helps.

 

Not sure if its to late or not... but that wont do you any good, the spring-tab mechanism is inside the purple part attached to the knee joint. It locks in place via divets on the front and back of the channel inside of the leg.

I think i'm gonna get some silicone grease, the kind used for plumbing so its plastic/rubber safe, then I will apply it to the top divet inside the leg then slide it in and out of gun mode to get even coverage. The nerf modding guys swear by the stuff because it wont damage the plastic or o-rings in their blasters. Although I am sure that a higher grade of silicone RC car shock lube would work nicely to.  

Hopefully it will smooth things up enough so its not as terrifying to pull the leg out of gun mode. Like no joke, one of my quakewaves legs is SUPER tight when sliding and is a real bear to get unlocked from the gun position. XD

Also don't bother trying to take apart the leg itself, they really made sure this thing doesn't break apart during transformation. My only guess is that its been glued in addition to the screws and pin for the shin flaps holding the leg together.