With the way Ironworks turned out, I was curious to see what we'd get out of the additional Micromaster bases. Turned out we'd get them via repaints that I guess do work well because of the Modulator gimmick. The only other guy to be given the robotization treatment is Airwave, who was the base of a Micromaster of the same name (now named Overair and also the repaint of one of the Siege Micromasters). Now we shall see how he turned out as part of the WFC line!
Here we have Airwave in his battle mode. It's pretty much a lump of parts that are made to make something that barely resembles a battle mode. You still have parts that basically represent the cannons, and the deco layout mimics the old toy, but the thing is that the design of the base mode makes sense like how it is because it was made as a playset and not a robot. One thing I hate about this mode is that the bottom section consisting of the tank treads and the left arm is loose as hell. You pick it up and it starts to flop down with no real way to keep it up and straight because of how the clips work. No added pieces to connect it right, no real support. While you can hinge the cannons up as you would for a toy like this, it can't even go all the way up and you really need to make sure the hinges are used correctly or else the toy can't even work in its intended gimmick.
This is the railway mode, which makes sense as part of it being an airport-themed toy and all. This involves you using parts of the legs as the rails and the arms as stabilizers while making the torso be the airport building and control tower. While the rails are kinda wonky, it does make sense for him to turn into a mode like this given how his toy works. I even like the control tower looking like it has windows for tiny people to be in it (assuming Micromaster bases would allow that in-universe).
And this is the battleship mode! It's a mode that was not present in the old toy, but it's a nice addition and kind of trumps Ironworks by having one extra mode! It's small, and it's not quite convincing for a battleship that you'd expect from someone like Tidal Wave, but it's fine enough for a small Deluxe toy.
You can add some Micromasters if you want to give the toy some ships for the added play value.
Transformation involves partsforming once more, which makes sense given the gimmick. What I like most are the legs folding into the shins so you can have some nice blocky legs to the thighs. The arms simply slap onto the peg holes and the torso completes everything. The robot mode is quite blocky compared to Ironworks, which is kind of funny when the thighs seem to be a little more defined than the rest of the body though it's not saying much. I guess the thing I like most about the guy is the color scheme, as the orange, blue, and gray almost make me think of Seaspray. It's not exactly like Seaspray but it is familiar if you ask me. What is funny is that the arms are almost symmetrical but the right arm has a cool cannon that replaced his cannons but the left arm has these two plates that obscure the side view. From the back, he has more blue prominent.
Head sculpt is...kinda hard to show properly. The reason why I have the flash used is because you really need to get up close and see what the details are actually like for the guy, as at first glance he looks like a Movie video game Decepticon drone like Swindle and Payload, but he has two eyes! Kinda weird and his head is flat like Scrapper from the Studio Series line.
Articulation is the same as most WFC figures, but the elbows can be hard to swivel because of the plastic they have in certain positions. With his arm cannon on the right arm, you can place the other one anywhere you want, like having it be a pistol!
The thighs are similar to that of Siege Brunt, but the sculpting between the two as well as the overall placement of the small wheels is different between the two.
Let's go over the reuses (both of which are Autobots): This is Hot House, who is based on a fire station...even though the effect is lost when he's got the same modes as a repaint of a guy who was mostly for attack modes. He's basically Airwave with red replacing the gray as well as having lighter blue.
And this is Overair, who is what I'd consider what many would view the Takara version of the mold because his colors are darker, the blue has more of a metallic sheen, the black weapons are now gold, and the orange arms are now gunmetal gray. He's included with Ironworks to make a space station that can accompany Sky-Lynx.
Now let's take him apart! Because of blocky his parts are, making him into armor or gear like with the Weaponizers is a little harder than with Ironworks, but with any creativity imaginable, it is possible.
Wave 2 has no other Decepticons so let's instead use the Quintessons' Allicon! I gave him the big boots, little ankle guns, the two arms for extended attacks, and Airwave can hitch a ride. It works, but it is kinda wonky. And that's how I view Airwave. He works but is kinda wonky. He's not a cool as Ironworks but has charm of his own. I recommend you get him at discount if it's possible considering the Earthrise line's distribution being sucky (seriously, why did Wave 2 only have this guy and Doubledealer show up in-person at the one Walmart I visit until before Christmas?)
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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