| SOUNDWAVE (ACTION
MASTER)
PROJECT #166
CLASSIFICATION: REPAINT
MATERIALS USED: ENAMEL PAINTS
MEDIA APPEARANCE: N/A
"Cries and screams are music to my ears!"
Preamble: Although I seem to
be in the minority on this one, I happen to be a big fan of the Action Masters.
In an era when the Transformers toy line was cluttered with this endless
horde of Micromaster nobodies, Hasbro took a step towards bringing back a
large number of recognizable, familiar faces to the toy line. Rather
than simply putting some of the 1984-85 toys back into production, though
(as was the case in the UK), Hasbro designed new action figure versions of
these characters that were more durable and had more articulation than the
older toys. These new figures were the same scale as one another, more
realistically proportioned, and in a few cases, legitimate attempts at creating
toys based on the cartoon versions of the characters. (Fans who complain
that they were "Transformers who didn't transform!" conveniently forget that
every single Action Master came with a transforming vehicle, sidekick, or
accessory.)
Soundwave was one of my first Action Masters,
and as a big fan of the character, I was delighted that he had been reintroduced
back into the toy line. Even though this version of Soundwave was based
on his original toy, and not the animation model, it was still a very nice
looking figure. It did need a little work, though.
Construction: While I did add some
details of the cartoon model to this figure, I also added some of the missing
paint operations that would have made this figure look even more like the
original transforming toy. Mainly what I did was fix a lot of the silver
parts that hadn't been painted silver. I painted the sides of his helmet,
his eject button, the knees, upper legs, and the insides of the lower legs.
(Normally, I wouldn't paint an Action Master's upper legs at all, but
I wanted them to be the same color as the rest of him. I promise not
to pose him too much.) I painted the feet dark grey, to represent the
unpainted metal of the original toy.
I did add some of the details from the cartoon
model, too, just to make the figure look a little more like the cartoon Soundwave
we all know and love. I repainted the stripe around his cassette door
a nice, bright yellow, and gave him the red stripes around his forearms.
His eyes were originally pink, but I went back and made them a more
vibrant red color.
Comments: This wasn't a significant
makeover, by any means, but I still feel like it improves the overall appearance
of the figure. |
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