Unlike Thundercracker/Supermode Starscream, however, Skywarp got some remolded parts to properly differentiate himself from the others, beyond a simple change in colourscheme... but how big a deal was it really?
Vehicle Mode:
There is something delightfully kooky about the Armada jets - from some angles, they almost look believeable, but the chubby central section, bonkers back end and weird forward protrusions from the undersides of the wings make for the unlikeliest of aircraft. In terms of physical differences, the most obvious change has to be the vertical fin protruding from roughly the centre of the jet, for no obvious reason. It's clear even in jet mode that it's mounted on the top of the robot's head, but that doesn't make it any less weird. On the nose of the jet, the canards on Starscream and Thundercracker have been replaced by stubby guns which barely protrude from their mountings. Toward the rear, the horizontal stabilisers have been replaced with small VTOL fan-equipped wings with bits sticking out of the leading edge which could be navigation lights or ECM antennae... or both, since there are two on each wing. The VTOL fans are a strange addition, not least because they bring the G1 Conehead Thrust to mind more than anything else (yet it was this version of the mold was recoloured into Universe Ramjet - and the Collectors' Club version thereof), but also because they surely can't offer much by way of aerodynamic benefit mounted where they are.
By and large, it keeps to Skywarp's traditional colourscheme of black and purple, but the intakes, a couple of boxes on the purple-painted sections of the black wing protrusions, and the fans mounted in small rear wings are picked out with copper paint. Odd blocks dotted about the jet are highlighted in red, as are the rows of four raised triangles on the top surface of the boosters. As well as purple striping on the wings, Skywarp's raised Decepticon insignias are painted a different, richer shade of purple and outlined in silver. The stripes on the wings are a bit more traditional than those on Thundercracker, but they don't quite keep to the silhouette of the wing at the tips, with the stripe running at a different angle there for no obvious reason. Like Thundercracker, Skywarp's canopy is painted a super-bright sunshine orange.
The fact that the nose adds grey into the colour mix seems strange, except that it matches his Mini-Con partner. Like Starscream/Thundercracker's Mini-Cons, Thunderclash can be attached either to the rear of the jet - on the port that turns the vehicle's boosters into forward-facing missile launchers - or on the underside of the nose. While he barely fits in the former position - his arms/missiles have to be tilted up out of the way of Skywarp's boosters/launchers - he fits very snugly in the latter... and makes it look as though Skywarp has picked up a weapon upgrade, scrolling shoot-'em-up style.
All his sound effects are the same as those of the other Armada Seekers - two different sounds operated by the canopy button (deployment if Thunderclash is attached, weapons fire if not), with engine sounds at the back, along with the same excessively long and irritating weapon effect when pulled back after he's deployed the spring loaded launchers.
Robot Mode:
The strangest thing about Skywarp is how big an impact that head-fin has on his overall look. Both of the other two Armada Seekers have their heads level with the shoulder-mounted boosters/launchers, but just the small addition of a vertical protrusion serves to highlight the head and lessen the impression that he's very hunched. Other than that, though, Skywarp just looks like a black and purple remix of the existing Armada Seekers in robot mode, with a slightly narrower look to the waist due to the lack of canards. The grey sides to the nosecone come off like a reference to the silver torso details on G1 Skywarp - if only the lower part of his chest had also been molded in grey plastic, to complete the illusion! One puzzling aspect of the paint job is that he has paint applications in two difference colours on his forearms... but the sculpted Decepticon insignias on the sides of his arms are unpainted.
Skywarp features the same detachable wing/sword-thing as the other jets, but Thunderclash's Mini-Con port isn't conducive to looking good as an arm-mounted accessory as it's located on the underside of his nose, and the back end is far too bulky - thanks to his large, blocky legs - for him to lie flat against Skywarp's arm, and he'd be too far back to act as a decent shield anyway. It's possible to hang him perpendicular to his arm, but then he looks more like a handbag or ornament, rather than something useful.
The head sculpt is very different to Starscream/Thundercracker, not least due to the large fin rising from his crown. The helmet has been entirely redesigned, with raised cheek guards, and small horns on each side, wrapping round from the base of the fin on his forehead, and he has a permanently-deployed battlemask rather than a smirking face. What little detail there is has been swallowed up by an application of glossy black paint, though his eyes are picked out in a fiery, malevolent orange. The fin is actually molded in a soft, not quite rubbery plastic which, when I first brought Skywarp out of storage at my flat, was bent over to the left. It's still not perfectly vertical, but it's straightened itself out gradually over the years he's been on display.
Mini-Con Partner Thunderclash:
While it may at first seem as though Thunderclash is rather a dull Mini-Con, the fact that he's molded in the same colours as Skywarp's nosecone works well in his advantage, particularly when docking him on the underside of the nosecone. Unfortunately, that's about the only advantage to him - his size and shape are a distinct disadvantage for firing off Skywarp's booster/launchers since the joints on his purple missiles, while only hinged, are tight enough that they prevent the boosters swinging forward when he's plugged in.
His robot mode is curiously similar to the Armada jets, in that his jet mode's nose hangs down between his legs, extending below knee level, he has extremely broad shoulders with limited arm movement, and the back of his jet mode sticks out behind his head, unmoved during transformation. In fact, his transformation comes across so much like a cut-down version of Skywarp's, I'm surprised this Mini-Con design has never been reworked into a Legends class Armada Starscream/Skywarp/Thundercracker.
Thunderclash's head is of the fairly bland, visored-and-battlemasked variety, though his visor is painted orange, to match his partner's optics.
This is one of those toys I picked up purely because I'm a Seeker completist, so I have three of these (this, plus Micron Legend Starscream and Armada Thundercracker) basically clogging up a good chunk of shelf space. That said, the remolded parts made him unique until Universe Ramjet appeared on the scene a couple of years later. As a result, he's perhaps a more compelling purchase than Thundercracker.
My Skywarp doesn't suffer from the same hip misalignment as my Thundercracker, but there are problems with his transformation into jet mode due to a loose connection between his groin block and the clip on the underside of the jet. Looking at it more closely, as I write, one side of the clip actually appears to have broken and is now hanging on by a thin sliver of plastic... No more transforming Skywarp for me, then, I fear... Unless I can figure out a way to fix him.
Once again, I find myself annoyed by Hasbro's neglect of the original Seeker trinity in their toylines. It's forgivable in a line like TF Prime, which didn't even introduce Skywarp and Thundercracker, even as TF Animated-style clones of Starscream when they re-used that storyline. I'm sure there have been licensing issues with the movie lines, but it's incredibly frustrating, as a Seeker completist, to be faced with a situation where Starscream gets a mass release, then either Skywarp or Thundercracker (normally the latter) is released as a repaint, while the other becomes some obscure - and consequently expensive - regional exclusive released only by Hasbro Asia or Takara Tomy... I really long for the days when Hasbro had the combination of brand awareness and sheer cockiness to make all three mass releases as repaints of the same mold, with or without individual head sculpts. Armada seems to have been the last toyline that released all three in the same mold, with Energon/Superlink featuring multiple versions of Starscream, but no repaints as other characters and Cybertron/Galaxy Force having Thundercracker as a separate mold, which then received a repaint as Skywarp.
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