Monday, November 12, 2012

Transformers DOTM Voyager Class Shockwave Part 2

Tank with fangs

More images of "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" Voyager Class Shockwave in vehicle mode after the introduction yesterday.








Closeups on the details:



















Bottom views:






The Mechtech weapon gimmick shown in the previous posting can be fired on the vehicle mode as well:



A little notch in front of the button can be used to hold it to keep the cannon in the extended mode.


Shockwave in vehicle mode with its cannon extended. ^^
A little bit of adjustment is needed so that the hose is positioned beneath the secondary cannons on the left.






While the Mechtech weapon gimmick works on this vehicle mode, the main cannon turret doesn't rotate at all due to the way it's mounted on the tank's body, or the robot mode's right arm if you will. ^^;

Even though the character doesn't transform in the movie, I'm glad that Shockwave is given this really awesome looking Cybertronian tank as his vehicle mode, which is officially called "Ground Assault mode" on the box. Its overall design has a rigid and sharp look that matches Shockwave's image very closely. The two spike-like protrusions in front of the tank helped to establish the tank's alien origin, and they are pretty mean-looking too. They pretty much sum up the tank's fearsome look and feel in my opinion. ^^

The caterpillar tracks are another huge attraction of the vehicle mode in my opinion. Like the two spikes mentioned earlier on, the track pattern look nothing like that on real world tanks. They look dense and much sharper at the same time. While they are fixed (obviously), the details are really awesome, and the silver paint work makes them look even more so. ^^ Again, that sharp design of the tracks compliments Shockwave's overall look as well. It's great to see that much of the caterpillars are revealed in robot mode as well, but I'll leave that feature till the next posting. ^^

Due to its assembly, part of the rear caterpillars are sadly not painted. ^^; Luckily, that lack of paint work is most obvious only when the tank is viewed from the bottom. The lack of paint work can be seen on the side panels of the cannon as well. The glossy light purple painted on the outer sides suggests that the two panels are spikes, but the lack of paint work on all the other sides of the panels cast some doubt over their actual purpose, and their thick blunt look does nothing to help with the image as well. ^^; Like the rear caterpillars, the lack of paint work isn't really a big issue for the cannon, and it doesn't really affect the figure's overall look. I'm not a big fan of applying paint work to action figures, so I've no intention of giving the aforementioned components their missing colors. ^^

The overall sharp look is the main reason why I like this vehicle mode just as much as the robot mode. ^^ If Shockwave does have a vehicle mode in the movie, I'm pretty sure this Cybertronian tank is able to serve that role perfectly for its sharp look. ^^

A look at Shockwave's transformation from this tank into its robot mode in the next posting. ^^

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