Dave's Transformers Legacy Rant: Selects DK-2 Guard

DK-2 Guard (Earthrise Ironhide redeco)

Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Legacy/DK2Guard

This one has a simple backstory compared to Buzzworthy Silverstreak. A
few toys from the Diaclone line were sold in America in 1983 as Diakron
before the deal with Hasbro was worked out. A black version of the mold that
became Ironhide was sold as simply DK-2. "Guard" seems to come from the 2008
E-Hobby "Ironhide Protect Black" issue of an almost-Diakron deco of the
Encore Ironhide mold.

https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Gen/AutobotAllianceE - Ironhide
Earthrise mold
https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Gen/DeluxeS2 - Ironhide Siege mold

Much like the Not-sun family, this mold has gotten rather overused,
especially since it started in Siege.

CAPSULE

$25 at HasbroPulse.com.

DK-2 Guard: Mold family is generally recommended, if at the low end of
that range. This is a decent addition, although the floppy panels are
getting pretty bad. A little TOO black, as well. Mildly recommended.

RANT

Packaging: Like Lift-Ticket, it's a brown box with a lot of black ink
and a wireframe sort of blueprint look version of the character's upper body
and head on the front. Again, no GS number, and it looks like the interior
pattern is just generic since it's the same as on Lift-Ticket. The
instructions are in Legacy colors, and the box has several Legacy logos.

AUTOBOT: DK-2 GUARD
Assortment: F3071
Altmode: Van
Transformation Difficulty:
Previous Name Use: None
Previous Mold Use: Gen:Siege, Gen:ER

Packaging: Three rattan strings hold the robot to the cardboard inner
tray, one string wrapped around twice holds the shield/roof, and the gun is
secured in a corner flap.

Color Swaps: Gray becomes red, clear stays the same, everything else
becomes black.

Paint Apps: In robot mode, the face is painted red with bright blue
eyes. Most of the pistol is painted silver (rear peg and main grip peg left
unpainted), and there's gloss black paint on the non-window parts of clear
plastic pieces. The shield/roof has a medium sized Autobot symbol printed in
red. The other paints are mainly for vehicle mode.
In vehicle mode, the front bumper and headlights are silver, and there's
early 80s stripes along the sides (like Trailbreaker's aesthetic). Dull gold
in a sort of extended trapezoidal loop, yellow over red inside the front half
of the outline. No attempt to paint the windows to look window-like.

Mold Changes: None that I noticed.

Other Notes: The boot-side flaps are quite floppy, even by the standards
of this mold family. There seems to be some mold flash inside the neck
joint, making it hard to move.
I am really tempted to paint it as the A-Team van. Robot mode even has
the right "hair," although painting the rest of the head is a touch fraught.
Another paint project would be to make the face gray and the eyes red
for a Shattered Glass Ironhide (I suppose a new faction symbol would be
needed too).

Overall: I know that trying to paint windows usually ends up with bad
results, but maybe they could have painted the window trim and the wheel
hubs? The floppy panels are the main problem with mine, and given how
they've plagued this entire mold family, I expect it's common on this one
too.
Well, http://www.dvandom.com/kitbash/DK2touchup.JPG will be my effort at
fixing the looks once I finish it (decided against the A-Team mod).

Dave Van Domelen, finally found Kickback today, ready to start the
regular Legacy Deluxe wave 1.