Name: Airwave
Series: Generation 1
Allegiance: Decepticon
Function: Aerial Defence
Alt Mode: F-14 Jet Fighter, Airport
PLANE MODE
Height: 2cm Length: 6cm Width: 4cm
A cherry red F-14 with a gold canopy and blue stickers on the outsides of his tailfins. There are two black wheels underneath the rear of the plane and a red post pretending to be a wheel underneath the cockpit. The wings are permanently retracted - they're not distinct pieces. While there's fairly detailed moulded seams, this jet is pretty much a cherry red arrowhead. I can't say the red is all that interesting, even though it's a nice shade - the toy is kind of overwhelmed by it.
While the red is a little strong, this is still a reasonable jet for it's size. There are better plane modes amongst the Micromasters, but there are worse vehicle modes amongst the Micromasters. With a little more colour, I'd really like Airwave's jet mode.
TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE
Fold down the wingtips, unfold the back of the jet to form the boots, flip up the nose and stand him up.
ROBOT MODE
Height: 5cm Width: 2.5cm
The cherry red is now limited to Airwave's limbs, while the torso and thighs are white. His face is painted purple, and while the facial sculpt is pretty good, you'll have to look close to see it amongst the dark purple paint. The addition of white makes this a much better colour scheme than the jet mode, even if the purple masks detail.
The tailfins sit on the knees, and while the boots are a single piece, they look ok and there's a moulded seam between them. He has beefy shoulders and fairly rudimentary moulded hands. The overall shape is decent even if some of the details are lacking.
There's not a lot of articulation here - the shoulders swing while the knees bend and hips bend. Since the wheels are on his calves, Airwave cannot sit down.
While there's nothing spectacular about this robot mode, Airwave is solid. The colours are certainly better and that alone makes this his better mode.
AIRPORT MODE
Height: 9cm Depth: 9cm Width: 9cm
(Ignoring 8cm ramps which can be attached the the sides)
A grey platform with a runaway extending out to either side on the front half and a blue terminal building block at the back. There's an orange hangar door on the left side of the terminal while the right has a terminal window sticker. Above this we have a smallish orange control tower. There's also an air-conditioning sticker on top which is a nice touch. There are some runway-light markings on the runway, along with a "32" sticker, which I presume would be a runway number (not that there are 32 runways here).
The ramp that comes with this set is grey - which fits the colour scheme. You can this can interconnect with other Micromaster bases. Airwave can't roll up the ramp, and I'm not sure you want a ramp at the end of a runway anyway, but the point is interconnectivity, if you have a few Micromaster bases you can create your own little city, which is cool - and when you join sets the ramps are level, giving Airwave more relevance.
The door of the hangar can only swing inwards, so there's no real play value here if you haven't got any other sets. Airwave can take off and land with your help, I guess. For the size and complexity of this set, it's actually a decent little Airport - and is the only Airport we've seen in the Transformers line.
TRANSFORMATION TO MISSILE BATTERY
Unclip the missiles from underneath and set aside. Swing the runway halves forward, fold the tower back and then fold back the entire terminal block back. Lift up the runways, so that they overhang the now exposed underside of the terminal building, reattach the missiles on top of the structure. Place Airwave into the cavity on the bottom.
MISSILE BATTERY
Height: ~10cm Depth: ~10cm Width: 9cm
Exact dimensions depend on the angle of the missile mount
Again blue and grey, with the blue concentrated on the control bay at the front bottom. The back and overhead missile rack (once the runways) are grey, while the front of the control bay and the two missiles on top are orange. The window sticker is still visible but doesn't really come into play here - the overhead missilerack dominates the feature list of this mode.
There's an element of "it's a base because we say so" here, yet the missiles on top make this thing fairly convincing. They detach but don't fire at all, which I don't really expect of a small, simple base such as this - heck, springs are rare in the Micromaster line. The tech specs call this a mobile missile battery, and while I can believe the missile battery, without even moulded wheels on the base, it's more portable than mobile.
Considering how small and simple this base is, the missile battery isn't at all bad. The airport mode is stronger, but this is still worthwhile. The orange door still has no purpose, but otherwise I can't really complain.
VARIATIONS
None that I'm aware of, although Airwave is a repaint of Nightflight of the Air Strike Patrol.
OVERALL
While there's nothing spectacular here, Airwave himself is a decent Micromaster with an Airport that's impressive at this size. The missile battery mode is probably better than it's entitled to be, which is a credit to the design of the set. There are better Micromaster base sets, but you could easily do worse - 6/10
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