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Sunday 5 January 2014

TFC-008 Wings Of Uranos [Project Uranos] - Pictorial Review

Now, for the last piece of the puzzle. Sorry for the delay I had a slight problem with the supplier that causes the delay and hectic end of 2013 doesn't help.

Years before, during the time of Hercules, TFC decided to release an add on set after his [near] completion, answering to fans request [demand] of a more G1-Devastator-ish aesthetic for Hercules. And TFC answers with the Rage of Hercules set. And I applauded them for that.

Pic Credit : Web
But, with Uranos, TFC decision to release add on even before the combiner was finished was a bit disappointing, considering they were still at the stage where amendment can be made. Okay, that's the end of that. Moving forward, having completed 5 members of Not-Aerialbots team, do you need the upgrade set?
Without further ado, I present to you Wings of Uranos



In Package 


Design wise, the set roughly have the same feel as Rage Of Hercules, with Uranos packaging theme. The artwork of Uranos equipped with the set is beautifully done, better than that of Hercules, in my opinion


At the back, there's a picture of the toy, showing the basic configuration for Uranos's upgrade


Comes with the set, there's Uranos's tech specs, a cardboard (the same size as Wings of Uranos box) with Uranos's artwork done in sketch-style.


This is where it becomes redundant. Also comes with the set is a poster of Uranos using the same artwork as the box, the tech specs and the cardboard. Nice as it is, maybe they could at least used another artwork for any of these. Now, let's move on to the main course


Above are all the parts included in the set, beginning with at the top, Uranos's gun, crotch piece, front and back neck filler/collar/whatever-you-want-to-call-them, chest plate, 4 pairs of twin missiles and 4 guns for individual robots (minus Blackbird). The mouth plate is not in the picture as I got excited and attached it to Uranos right away

For Alt Mode

Now, let's see how the parts are used in alt mode.
*the explanation will be brief due to fact that most of the parts are repetitive on different figures*

F-4 Phantom




The twin missiles are attached to each wing, pegs into the outer round holes while the original missiles pegs into the inner side holes

F-15 Eagle



AV-8B Harrier II



In order for Harrier II to incorporate both the original missiles and from the set, the landing gears on the wings must be taken off and replaced with the missiles from the set.

F-16 Falcon



One might think that the additional missiles upgrade seems petty and pointless, and I can understand that, knowing most people won't keep them in their alt modes. However, I strongly think that these helped improve the aesthetic and feel for the four members.


Just so you know, despite being 'simple', TFC went far when they decided not to do a 'dummy' missiles where the twins are not molded together. Instead they separate, with 4 different types of missiles, attached to connectors. I applaud them for the attention to detailing given


Now, for the weakest link. The remaining parts of the set (excluding the neck fillers) can be attached together forming some sort of a drone jet.....or maybe a flying cannon with more guns!


The drone is a combination of the big gun, the chest plate, crotch piece and all four of the small guns

For Robot Mode

F-4 Phantom



The design for F-4 Phantom's gun (and other members) are not exactly like the one used by their G1 counterpart, instead a redesign version homaging the originals.


F-15 Eagle




AV-8B Harrier II







F-16 Falcon



Just to clarify, all the missiles and guns are interchangeable, shown above are just examples

SR-71 Blackbird



The set however failed to do a plausible improvement on Blackbird, in my opinion. The chest plate, crotch piece and back portion of the big gun can be attached together, forming some sort of a shield. However, the barrel can't be attached anywhere.


The simplest way~
For Combined Mode
Wing of Uranos seems to be a hit-and-miss upgrade if you concern yourself with the alt modes and robot modes. Let see how it goes for combined mode


Presenting, Uranos (complete with all the original missiles and wings) equipped with Wings of Uranos add on set (minus the additional missiles).


The set doesn't come with a manual but on the most part, the picture of Uranos at the back of the box can be used as point of reference.


Above is how attaching the neck filler will look like. The large piece are inserted from the front of the neck while the small piece from the of the back of the neck. Personally, I think the purpose was to hide Uranos's neck as some might view it as a bit long (not me by the way) and also uniformed color with Uranos's white. Still, I won't be using it as it looks ridiculous AND it hinder Uranos's head articulation.


Detaching the wings of Phantom and Harrier II (as shown at the back of the box) will gives Uranos a cleaner look and improves his posebility as the wings tend to bump at other parts of Uranos. However, I see no reason to do the same for Eagle and Falcon, just use the normal configuration



I personally don't have any problem with Uranos's head sculpt but with the mouth plate attached, I like him more than I knew I would, total homage to G1 Superion


The new chest plate not only improve Uranos's looks but also, the tabs on both sides help to keep Blackbird's hand (with the combiner pegs) in place when moving Uranos's hands

New gun homaging G1 Superion's gun
I've read online that people complaining the crotch piece can't stay in place and keeps falling off. Apply force to attach the crotch piece until you hear locking sound. If fails, just sand the tip of the peg of the crotch piece that may have some excessive plastic (as was mine)


For those of you who still have problem with Uranos's hip, please refer to the video below (by T2rx6 )


If you can't find anything to put inside the hip (as recommended), simply just roll small piece of paper and wrap it around the peg inside the hip joints, under the spring, voila~

Literally standing strong



So, is this set worth the money? For me, yes. If you have Hercules, the improvement this set brought to Uranos are more than what Rage set brought Hercules

However, I do hope Project Ares and Prometheus doesn't follow the same path (but seeing Nemean, I'm guessing we'll be getting a better sword and shoulder cannons)

6 comments:

  1. YAY...Thanks bro..
    I actually didn't played yet with my set. bought all of them together including the add-on..
    But.....didn't know yet when to play...............
    Much to do but less time..........
    :(...Everyone seems to have the same problem...
    Care to share your display shelf (if there is any)...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Welcome bro, and thanks for the support btw. When u want to play, check Blackbird's hips and if it's not ok, fix it before you play cause it'll spoil the mood, haha

      sorry, just got married last June and staying with my in laws now so basically, everything goes into their box or container for now, haha

      Delete
  2. Yup, that will be my first priority...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Played with all of them except for combine mode. The hips problem not so obvious like the one in the YouTube. However, the scale of all are to MP scale. Didn't took pic, but noticed after put side by side with MP-10.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Did..but without arms..will try some other time

    ReplyDelete