I see. I actually just saw that on their website.

 

I really enjoy how the Tim Heada Soundwave set finishes off an already great figure.

 

If I order the Ironhide kit, would I get the leg extenders? Are we still within the first batch?

Nevermind. Looks like the first batch is sold out.

 

Wondering if I should be two sets for the eventual Ratchet, or he'll get his own set later for color matching.

 

At this point it's hard to say.

The one photo we've got of Ratchet reveals more remolding than I was expecting, so it is possible some of the gaps present in Ironhide won't exist in Ratchet.

The best case scenario is Ratchet will not have gaps (I can dream, can't I?), the other extreme is Ratchet will have different shaped gaps and will require a different filler kit.

I'm hoping all the remolding is cosmetic and that the Ironhide fillers will be applicable to Ratchet too because I already bought a set for Ratchet when I bought my Ironhide set.

*shrugs* At least, if the Ironhide fillers don't fit, they aren't very expensive.

~L~

 

All excellent points, but consider they might re-release the Ironhide fillers in a white color specifically to match Ratchet's plastic color (paint mixing-to-match is a real pain) or Ratchet might have more mold changes that we'd expect necessitating a new filler mold, it's really tough to say.

 

Please do Titan Returns fillers, and flip covers.. They surely need some love!

 

I'm sure you've been asked this loads, but what did you do to make the chest windshield blue? It looks really striking.

 

Tamiya Clear blue, painted on the inside.  

 

You can always use them on Crosshairs.

 

The notification my gap fillers had arrived came from TFSafari while I was at work, so was looking forward to them all day

Then when I open the package up, I discover this.

This is pretty disappointing.

 

Hi dude，do you mean it is a little bit deformed？Can you still use it？If possible pls send more clear photos to [email protected]，we can ask for a replacement from Ratchet Studio.

 

It is mis-molded and it is unusable as a result. I sent an email already, but it's the same photo, so I'll send more.

 

Some heat will get that to bend back into shape once inserted, I'm sure. That's a maintenance issue, not manufacturing.

 

I'm not sure that works for 3D printed plastic since it's very brittle in comparison to injection-mold plastic.

 

It probably won't.
3D printer plastic is different. After one of my Ironhide pieces broke and I got hooked up with a replacement from TFSafari, I tried glueing the broken piece with superglue figuring I had nothing to lose. The plastic didn't even react to the superglue. So it really is completely different.

 

Depends on the plastic. PLA is *very* superglue-friendly; and I believe the Ironhide kit I got is PLA.

 

I got the thigh extenders with my order despite being fairly certain I wasn't going to get them. I had no real interest in using them since I didn't want to lose Ironhide's alt mode, but thought to try them at least once just for a laugh.


So much for that.

I think 3D-printed plastic just has too much of a tolerance limit for these kinds of things compared to injection-molded plastic. I'm not too torn up about this though, I just want a replacement backpiece. Hopefully that'll go over smoothly

 

Wow man, you got a bad set... Right along the print grain too.
I know nothing about 3D printing, but it's almost like the machine wasn't quite hot enough for some of these and they're just layers, not really melding together properly.
Hope you get it sorted!

 

So I just got done painting the Soundwave fillers and test fitting the forearm covers.
For those who may be interested, Tamiya XF-19 Sky Grey is as close to a perfect match as I could find for the gray.
The only difference is the paint is more matte and the plastic is glossier. I've coated some parts with a semi-gloss and they blend right in. You have to really get close to see the difference.
And Humbrol 15 "Midnight Gloss Blue" is as close as I could get to a perfect match for the blue.

I had one of Soundwave's arms in my hand holding it up in the hobby shop trying to match and I think it turned out great.

Oh! And the holes in the forearm covers are 5/64 when the instructions from TFSafari say 2mm, that's the equivalent non-metric drill bit for making sure the included pins will fit.

I'll try to post pictures in the next few days once I get the insides of the forearm covers painted and am happy enough with it to stop fiddling.