The Virtual On's Viper II makes its model kit debut from Kotobukiya. No need to insert coins to continue!

Sega’s Cyber Troopers: Virtual On -Oratorio Tangram arcade booth was set up in the same fashion as racing games only geared towards fighting robots. The set up was limited to a foot pedal and twin joysticks that functioned according to the game’s 3D movement and worked pretty well at the time. Despite its global popularity, the game was an obscurity in South Georgia, where this review was made. The premise of the game was the standard of fighting games; one on one combat against other machines in a tournament format where the player would progress until they faced off with a final boss with a two-player mode for arcade Versus Action. Since its creation, the Virtual On series has been ported (the game industry term for transitioning between formats) to the Sega brand game consoles: the Saturn and Dreamcast as well as the Sony Playstation. In recent years, Virtual On has been available to download through the Microsoft X-Box 360 Live Arcade.

Not to be compared with Mobile Suits, the machines of Virtual On are called “Virtualoids,” a menagerie of mecha in all shapes and sizes created by artist Hajime Katoki. The TRV-06k-H Viper II is one of the series more dynamic looking designs comprised of sharp edges along a streamlined frame. Its sharp look is coupled with a sharp color scheme of rich neon colors of cherry pink and purple with green detailing lights over a black and gray frame in its premiere form.

Taking up the task of recreating this design in plastic is Kotobukiya, infamous for their work on Super Robot Wars: Original Generation and Armored Core. Although Kotobukiya’s plastic quality lacks the refinement and polish seen with Bandai model kits, the craftsmanship in its recreation makes up for that in the quality of the detailing and part molding.

Following the alphanumeric method, the parts are molded in their individual colors, with duplicate runners to make up for the design’s use of repeated construction steps for the limbs. The parts are molded in their primary colors: neon (cherry) pink, purple, gray, white, and black with a runner of clear green parts for the Viper II’s running lights. Interestingly enough, these clear parts have a cross hatching pattern on the backside which can be exemplified by painting over the surface with a metallic paint. In addition, the Viper II also comes with a small runner of ball socket polycap pieces for the joints. Contrary to previous Kotobukiya models, the Viper II does not have any pre-painted parts. On the upside, much of the required painting is simply black outlining and gray trim to detail around subassemblies with some minor touch-up work around smaller parts. Builders taking the ‘Out of the box’ approach can have the model completed in no time, but the extra effort in painting the model can really show off the details of some areas and improve on the monochromatic build.

Adding an extra layer of detail and color to the model are a set of water-slide decals. The decals were a troublesome bane in this review, as most of them did not bond to the model, despite being prepared properly. The two that did survive the transfer are a hollow reminder of the model’s full potential for more experienced decal artists to bring out on their own.

Construction of the Viper II moves quickly, as parts are layered over each other in a given fashion.

Despite what one can assume from a lifetime of 1/100 scale Bandai models, the Viper II is not very tall, measuring at six inches from head to heel tip. This comes as a surprise at first, but looking over the remaining designs of the Virtual On series the surprise wears off and settles into a realization of scale that the Viper II is just one of many smaller designs in the Virtualoid roster. Its scale size does however make for some construction grievances with its smaller, easily lost, parts.

The Viper II as a plastic model is more dynamic than its once simplified digital model from the video games. Once painted exteriors on low resolution digital squares of polygons have now become finely detailed, mechanical assemblies in molded plastic. Each section of the body has more assembly to it than a first glance expectation with the entire body of the Viper II being built from within. The design has the model built with an interior mechanical structure that contains the joint couplings which are then covered by a layer of armor plating. The noticeable gaps and separations between the two layers are complimented with the clear green detail parts which fit into specific crevices in the underlying layers. Another good point to discuss is the hands. In the Bandai standards for Gundam models, hands are typically a two to three piece structure (except in Master Grade format) consisting of the fingers molded together and attached to the palm and backhand pieces. As this is not a Bandai model, the Viper II benefits from Kotobukiya’s extensive modeling practices and has its hands molded in four separate pieces; the fingers, thumb, palm, and backhand. The molding of each finger in the solid piece is distinguishable by the folding of the knuckles, and the separated thumb gives the hands a more natural look, rather than the toy-like blocks on some kits.

The Viper II has only the minimal amount of accessory parts to compliment its display value. Its arm mounted weapon, the “Revenant Version 1.666,” comes with a clear molded beam blade that can be detached. As for its “booster” gimmick, the wings on its backpack can articulate into a glider mode, and a detachable disk can be placed in the opening console on its backpack. Lastly, Kotobukiya included a bracket for the Viper II to fit onto a base stand not included with this model. The stand bracket is designed to attach with Kotobukiya’s ratcheting arm display stands for its aircraft models but cannot fit with the Bandai Action Base.

Not every kit is perfect though. Like many Kotobukiya kits before this one, the edged pieces of the Viper II are sharp enough to draw blood. However sadistic it might seem, the Viper II makes up for this in the sculpted detail. While it makes the final product more aesthetically pleasing, the sharpness adds to the model’s fragility. Sharper parts are generally thinner at their edges and are more prone to crumbling at the tips if it is worked with or adjusted too much. The most significant flaw with the Viper II is that it is delicate and stiff display model. Stemming from its eccentric knee design and compounded by the sharp heel design, the legs have limited mobility and a fragile distribution in its standing position.

Although the model kit follows the now-universal “Snap Construction” method, there are still quite a few points on this kit that benefit from using model glue. Parts that are sharply detailed have limited tensile strength to hold themselves in place such as the previously mentioned running lights. Some of the larger parts as well will see a dramatic improvement on the Viper II’s structure through glue in some areas as well.

Overall, it is good to see non-Gundam series receiving model kit treatment, but even more appealing to see Virtual On again in some form. After the series’ short lived and poorly executed toy line, the model kits are an excellent redemption and make up for the series absence from the scene. The Viper II benefits from Kotobukiya’s standards of design quality and makes for a great introductory build into the series despite its sharp shortcomings.

Koto's Raiden doesn't disappoint

The enduring popularity of Virtual On is a testament to the exceptional mechanical design work of Hajime Katoki. Fifteen years on, the mecha from Sega’s arcade and console hit Cyber Troopers Virtual On remain fresh and compelling.

One of the principal Virtuoids is Raiden, here realized as a high-end model kit by Kotobukiya. Raiden’s box is impressively large and well illustrated, with a handsome rendering on the front and details of the model and videogame screenshots on the sides.

Inside rests about thirty runners of parts, an instruction booklet, and a small sheet of water-slide decals.

The build is complex and time consuming (it took me around ten hours to complete). Kotobukiya’s signature laminations of sharply detailed parts creates a rich, layered series of components. The part count and construction process is roughly equal to Bandai’s Master Grade series. Kotobukiya mostly holds its own with MG models, but I found the sprue placement to be problematic. Whereas Bandai has honed its molding technique to incorporate conical sprues in discreet locations, this model uses big, fat sprues in highly visible places. As a moderately serious modeler, I’m distracted by the sprue bruises in the final product, and not willing to go the next step to sand, putty, and paint the model to take it to the next level.

That said, the finished product is a nice looking robot. Raiden is well articulated, considering his blocky, heavily armored design.

The laminations of different colored plastics are stunning, particularly in Raiden’s feet. I appreciate the sophistication of a part of the model you’ll rarely see.

I love that the Virtuoids have Sega Dreamcasts on their backs.

The palette of colors is attractive, and you won’t need to paint this to get a good looking piece. I like the use of the clear pink parts at the vents. I used a gundam marker to pick up a few panel lines and added some of the slide decals to finish it off.

Kotubikaya provides parts to make two sets of hands, a large bazooka, and a set of claw-like chest-mounted lasers.

The chest lasers are a neat touch, with unique criss-crossed transparent parts.

The gun is plain, and its construction is sloppy and easily falls apart.

Raiden is a fun build and a fine model. It’s not a toy by any means, but if you enjoy Virtual On and building models, he’s a great addition to your collection.

[G2: class=g2image_centered]

I'm going to try something a little bit different with this review and show some pictures of construction and comment on it. After all, building a model kit's one of the most important parts.

If you're a fan of giant robots, it's no doubt that you know what Super Robot Wars is. But if you don't, Super Robot Wars is a series of videogames that often include famous anime characters like Gundam or Mazinger and has them fight together and spectacular fashion. However despite that, the company that makes these games, Banpresto, often includes their own original mechs and character designs as well. One of the most well recognized designs is the Gespenst Mk-II.

This is a 1/144 model kit of the Gespenst Mk-II M Kai. It's a modified version of the normal Gespenst. This version specifically is used by Kai Kitamura and specializes in close-combat. I'm going to try something a little bit different with this review and show some pictures of construction and comment on it. After all, building a model kit's one of the most important parts.

As with all model kits, you start with an open box filled with sprues and runners. From looking here it's just like any other model kit, and you couldn't tell the difference of if it were from Bandai or Kotobukiya. However there are a few small differences that really make Kotobukiya's kits stand out more.

One major thing is that for certain small details like pictured about, parts will have paint and details already done. While this isn't as evident with the Gespenst, other model kits will have painted faces and parts that really make these kits more convenient at times.

Another major difference in this kit from the Bandai ones is that very often you will get two of the same frame. Bandai kits would often have their models have a left and right left with separate similar parts. For Kotobukiya though, the parts are exactly the same and have the exact same construction for both legs, arms, weapons, and several other things.

However there's one thing that I don't like about these models. These models come with several hands. You get your closed fist, open fist, splayed hand, and palm hand. Un fortunately, you need to put all of these together yourself. It's a lot of work and pain that could have been avoided by molding them into single pieces. Although they are very nice hands, I will give Kotobukiya that.

Here's a look at the finished leg construction. It looks pretty decent and does bring up a point that I like about this kit. There's a lot of small details such as the vents on the front shin and the side skirt armors that are all casted in separate colors. It makes the model look much less monotonous, something which Bandai kits are quite guilty of when it comes to basic construction.

And now here's the final constructed piece! Err... not too impressive, is it? Let's fancy him up a bit.

So, into the actual kit as a toy. Gespenst is a very solid and bulky model kit. Every joint feels solid and tight, and turns nicely. The elbows, legs, and feet are all double jointed. Although the thigh's joint has a very small degree of turning, the shin's turning joint has a much larger range of motion that easily makes up for it.

Gespenst has a small part of articulated wings. While they may seem dinky in the model, these parts actually allow the Gespenst to fly in Super Robot Wars. The verniers on the back are also articulated on a ball joint and can be pointed in any direction. The two large gray pieces are actually weapons in the game known as Split Missiles. Usually these would shoot off and several missiles would spray off at the enemy. Unfortunately these pieces can do that or come off. However they still do make a very cool looking backpack.

The Gespenst come with two armaments. A machinegun and a shotgun. The shotgun is quite impressive and molded in a very dark grey. Although a bit unwieldy in one hand, the open hand can be used to hold onto it with snuggly.

And then, there's the machinegun. I... this is a really dinky little gun. Mind you that when the Gespenst uses this gun in Super Robot Wars, it's usually SD and looks rather small and disproportional to begin with. But this is a bit ridiculous I think. It could have been molded to be bigger.

The last real weapon that Gespenst has are mounted on its arms. The set of three stakes are known as plasma stakes. These are charged with energy and the Gespenst punches its enemies while discharging plasma. Standard Gespensts have this mounted on their left arm, but since this is Kai Kitamura's custom Gespenst, he's upgraded his with two. While you can't do much with these, there's still a good bit of fun posing you can do.

(Skip to about the 1:30 mark to see Kai and the Gespenst Mk-II M in action)

One thing that I found that was new on the Gespenst was that in his hip section there was a small panel that could be removed revealing a hole. This is new on the Super Robot Wars model kits and can be used with the Kotobukiya model kit stand. However I don't have one, so I tried using a Bandai base. It gets the same effect down and makes this model all the more dynamic.

In terms of construction and aesthetics, Kotobukiya model kits are very nice. They are much sharper and match the colors of the original line art a bit better than Gundam model kits do. The Gespenst is a solid model kit who is nice and has a good weight to it as well. If you want a different aesthetic and style from a mobile suit, but still want to build an engaging and intuitive model kit, Kotobukiya's Super Robot Wars line is an excellent place to go to.

"With infinite complacence people went to and fro over the earth about their little affairs, serene in the assurance of their dominion over this small spinning fragment of solar driftwood, which by chance or design man has inherited out of the dark mystery of Time and Space. Yet across an immense ethereal gulf, minds that to our minds as ours are to the beasts in the jungle, intellects vast, cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes and slowly and surely drew their plans against us......."

The H.G. Wells science fiction novel "The War Of The Worlds" was brought to the big screen for the first time in 1953.

This 1/48 scale model kit is based on the invading saucer from that film and was produced earlier this year by Pegasus Hobbies. The kit could be purchased either unbuilt for $24.99, or in a completed form for $34.99. I'll be reviewing the completed version.

The completed kit comes packaged in a beautiful cardboard box with a clear window allowing you to see the product inside. The box measures approximately 13" x 11" x 8" and inside the ship rests in a clear vacuform tray and held in place by twisty ties. This fact is the only problem that I have with the entire production. The outer shell of the ship has a beautiful reflective gold chrome plating and the plastic ties had a tendency to scuff the surface. It's slight, but with such a beautiful, shiny outer hull, you really want to preserve the pristine condition as much as possible.

Beneath the ship itself rests a base representing the top of the planet Earth with a "The War Of The Worlds" logo. A curved plastic stand elevates the ship above the planet and makes for a great looking display.

As you can see in the pics above, they also went the extra mile and decorated the interior of the box with burning buildings and rubble. The ship looks great against such a backdrop.

At 1/48th scale, the Martian War Machine is about 10.5" across from wingtip to wingtip. The antenna on the top of the ship can be turned. The tip of the antenna has a clear plastic end. The nose of the ship, the wing tips and 3 circles on the bottom have clear green plastic. You should be able to insert some small lights into these areas to create a great effect. I haven't done so as yet, but I'm not sure why. It looks like it would be pretty easy. If you remove the ship from the stand, there is a screw in the hole where the stand attaches. It appears that all you'd have to do is unscrew it and you'd have easy access to the interior of the kit. I really should look into adding lights to this thing.

Of course, as a model kit, other than the rotating antenna, this doesn't do anything other than look really nice. But it succeeds at that admirably. Perhaps the best thing about it is the price. Between the packaging, the base and the completed kit, you really get a lot of bang for your buck.

Of course, this being Halloween time, although I'm reviewing a collectible based on the movie, I feel like I need to work in the infamous Halloween 1938 radio broadcast by the Mercury Theater somehow. So I'll just say that I'm a big fan of old time radio and if you haven't listened to the show, you owe it to yourself to do so now. It may sound a little dated now, but it's historical significance can't be denied. For you younger readers who may be unfamiliar with it, the show caused a panic as some listeners tuned in late and believed the show to be an actual news report of a martian attack, due to the show's news broadcast format. Enjoy! And remember...

It's only a radio show....

...only a radio show....

...only a radio show....

(If the above embedded player won't play, the mp3 is HERE.)

Both endearing and enduring, the Aurora classic monster model kits refuse to die!

Earlier this year, Revell re-released 4 of the classic monster model kits that were originally produced by Aurora in the 1960s. Unfortunately, the boxes this time around don't feature any really cool artwork, instead defaulting to the new typical photo of the completed model. Still, with the added lightning and image of Frankenstein in the background, it's not completely boring.

I've mentioned a few times in the past that I'm not much of a model builder, but with these being the classic monster items, I figured this would be the time I'd have to get them and try building them since I wouldn't' want to mess up a vintage kit.

Building the kit was actually pretty easy, but I didn't spend a whole lot of time filling in every seam line. Basically, I only did that to the area where the arms attached to the shoulders and then I got to painting. Color me impatient, I guess.

I couldn't picture Frankenstein in anything but black pants so I wanted to counter that with a lighter up half so I went with a brown coat and copied the blue shirt from the side of the box. Finishing up with the green of the skin, I think it looks varied enough to be interesting, but not too bright for a monster character.

I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with the base so basically I was just slapping some greens on there and seeing what happened. Then I went with a little bit of brown to suggest something of a muddy element to the ground. And if he's walking in mud, well, I figured it should be on his shoes as well.

And of course, I wanted to give the tombstone a bit of a weathered look. It's not perfect, but at least it's not all smooth and brand new looking.

Honestly, the Aurora Frankenstein face is so classic that I think I could have painted it orange and it would still look great. But I chose to stick with the expected green.

Overall, I think I did OK for my first styrene kit and I'm very glad to have this classic kit in my monster display. But I must be honest and admit that I find model kit building to be something of a necessary evil. I like having the finished product and I like being able to say "I did that", but while doing it, I find it anything but relaxing and can't wait to be done with it!

This kit requires both glue and paint to complete, is recommended for ages 12 and up, and stands 10" tall when completed.

Between the kits themselves and the art on the boxes, the original Aurora models are some of the most recognizable, beloved and copied images in the the hobby. You never quite know where you might see them. They can be seen in the background in the Ghoultown video "Mistress Of The Dark" (featuring Elvira). Or even in this old, unauthorized coloring book.

(Those books are also well known monster books from Crestwood and that poster is a classic Jack Davis drawing!)

Arii’s 1/100 scale Regult Battle Pod from the Super Dimensional Fortress Macross TV Series is a great example. Manufactured and designed in 1982 this kit is one of the better kits from the line that builds up to a great representation of our favorite two-legged cannon fodder monster, although not without some minor faults.

Regult Arii 1/100

Model kits have an unusual connection with toy collectors. Usually, they are bypassed and forgotten by toy collectors, as most do not have the skill to build the kits leaving some great subjects that have been represented in sprue sadly left behind and under represented.

Arii’s 1980’s Macross line is a perfect example. Some great subjects were injected into plastic model kits but because many of the kits in the line that were produced were less than satisfactory the entire line has had a bad reputation over the years, even though there are few well done gems in the line.

Arii’s 1/100 scale Regult Battle Pod from the Super Dimensional Fortress Macross TV Series is a great example. Manufactured and designed in 1982 this kit is one of the better kits from the line that builds up to a great representation of our favorite two-legged cannon fodder monster, although not without some minor faults.

Arii’s Regult kit includes: 2x off white sprue, 1x black rubber polycaps, 1x instruction, 1x promotional flyer, 1x sheet of decals, 1x Glue. No options are supplied. The skill level is moderate to advanced due to the fragility of the legs and paint masking.

According to Macross World this kit is a rare kit due to some quality issues with the upper leg joints. I picked up this kit about 7 years ago at an antique store in New Mexico for $14.00. I just happen to luck out when I saw it at a vendor booth with an “all items 50% off“ sign. This was good as the original $28.00 asking price was a bit overpriced. Today, expect to pay from $8.00 to $18.00 for these kits.

As with many of the early 1980’s Macross oil painted toy and model kit box art, this Regult box art is fantastic and first rate and really captures the spirit, realism and mystery of what I love about Macross to this day. The downside, and typical of the era, is that the model kit itself is not represented on the box top or sides, but in this case you are getting a decent kit.

The kit itself is a straightforward build, but there are some things you should be aware of. I was surprised to see so much flash on this kit but considering that these Macross kits out produced even the landmark Gundam 0079 from three years earlier shows the popularity of these kits and I am sure that the molds were run down. Some parts clean up are necessary for the parts to fit correctly, especially the rear facing cannons array on the top of the Regult.

Great care is needed when building up the upper leg area. Very much if you accidently drop even one tiny drop of glue in the wrong area forget it, it’s over. Make sure all the seams are filled properly before gluing those upper leg parts together. But if you take your time you should have no problem. I have read that the upper legs were redesigned in Arii’s later Regult kits, but as I do not own any of these later kits, I cannot comment on how they were redesigned.

Also the designers of these kits were more focused on playability of the kit after it is finished. They designed it so moveable joint parts are permanently joined together and cannot be taken apart. Since this kit was for display only I opted to leave those parts off for ease of painting at a later stage. Keep in mind this does not affect the pose ability of the kit after one is finished with the kit.

The six-gun cannons present a few problems, the major one being that two larger cannons are a bit awkward and thick for the scale, as the cannon barrel holes should be filed down to look more scaled. If you have the skill, new cannons could be lathed out of aluminum for a better look. The heels were also open so I boxed them so they can look solid. You might want to box in the toes as well which was something I was planning to do but I thought I did not have the right resources. It was not until I was nearly finished when I realized I did have the right book with the proper info. I will build up these details on the next Regult I build.

The body is three parts, the front, back and the bottom cap. I purposely left the bottom cap off until final assembly so I can put all the cannon parts in after I was through painting and decaling. My biggest complaint is how the jet nozzles are designed to be assembled together. Instead of having a bottom and top half the parts are split down the middle leaving a near impossible seam to fill. Filling the deep seam not only destroys the detail around it, but also destroys the shape of the nozzle in general and demands a lot of reshaping for the part to look right.

Painting this kit is where one needs to deliver, as all the painting details are no joke and quite intricate. This is not like your current Systeminjection multi-color sprue Bandai kit, this kit is molded in one color, off white and every detail needs to be masked and painted. I painted the kit with Tamiya and other than the light blue, which needed to be mixed, all the other colors were straight out of the bottle. Honestly, give yourself about a week to paint this little monster as there are so many small details involved and they just don’t paint themselves!

I sprayed a Testor’s gloss coat and applied the decals. I accidently dropped the entire sheet into water bowl so I had a limited time to quickly apply all the decals. Of what I can see the decals went on well but typical of the Arii decals, the instructions only tell you where to about six of the 25 decals provided. Thankfully Macross World saved me again and I was able to use their resources to place the other decals on the kit.

After a spraying a Testor’s flat coat, I applied a mix of black and burnt sienna oil paints for the weathering and finished it off with a silver color pencil to represent chips in the paint.

My other main issue with this kit is the scale. Since we here at CollectionDX already discussed scaling issues with some of the Macross vehicles here, there is no need to open a sore wound. But I am going to say its too small especially if you compare it to Imai’s 1/100 scale of Captain Kamujin Zentradi Armored Space suit, which I feel, is scaled correctly. I know the pilot has a snug fit in the Regult but there is no way the Kamujin kit would fit inside this Regult kit or fit through the hatch in the back. Also viewing the kit from the back, the Regult body looks squashed especially compared to Revoltech’s Regult.

Besides the jet nozzles parts and some scaling issues this kit builds up into an impressive model kit and stands out from the self amongst my other Macross toys and models. The best part about this kit is that it is one of the few representations of the Regult in any form and accordingly it is great to have an item few people have in their collections to display. The pose ability of the kit is quite good, with upper leg and waist pivot and bendable knees and toes and positional jet nozzles.

Again I suggest this kit to moderate to advanced builders due to the paint masking and upper leg fragility but if you take your time with the finish and parts you will be rewarded with a beautiful representation of a classic Macross vehicle.

©2009 Article and pictures Leonardo Flores and CollectionDX.

The Space Battleship Yamato craze of the late 70's spawned alot of very interesting toys. Aoshima's Gattai Yamato has to be one of the most unusual I've ever encountered......

The Space Battleship Yamato craze of the late 70's spawned alot of very interesting toys. Aoshima's 1976 release of Gattai Kyokan Yamato has to be one of the most unusual I've ever encountered. Recently, Aoshima's website, Hobby World Japan, sent me a re-issue of the 1976 release to review. Before I get to the review I would quickly like to explain a few things. "Gattai" is the Japanese word for "Combine" and "Kyokan" means "Giant Ship." Hence the name Gattai Kyokan Yamato. Basically in English would translate to Combining Giant Ship Yamato.

Aoshima's Gattai Kyokan Yamato is composed of four smaller vehicles that combine into one Space Battleship Yamato-esque like battleship with a Super robot called Gattai Robot Musashi, in place of a bridge tower. All of these four vehicles has its own name and purpose.

To start off with, the box is freaking huge! Measuring in at 21" x 13" x 4". The box being this large is always a good sign that the end product will be big. Besides being a large box, it is also very well illustrated and is almost a near duplicate to the original 1976 release.

Upon opening the box I found several different colors were used in molding the different plastic parts (red, orange, green, black, light blue, white). Nothing is pre-painted, however, I like the funkiness and toy like qualities of the molded colors. With this in mind, I decided to build this model with limited paint detail so it would give the finished product more playability and make it less likely that I would be afraid to handle upon completion. Taking this course also allowed a novice builder, like myself, ease in the building process.

As you can see in the picture below, the 18" Aoshima Yamato dwarfs the 16" Taito Yamato.

Moving along through the pictures below, please take note: Not only is this toy loaded with turrets and such, this model/toy has actual firing gimmicks! Not just the Gattai separation gimmick. I mean take your eye out rocket launcher goodness!

In this next photo I will point out all the things that launch off this monstrosity. Starting at the bow, the green tip of the bow launches. Midway back above the roman numeral II you will see our second eye impaler. A little further back right behind the smoke stack you will see the white harpoon type gun. Oh, and I am not done! between the rear wings is a launching escape pod!

Check out the stern, It almost looks like car taillights and a bumper! Funky huh? Plus, check out all the wheels and tank treads. Even more Funk-a-delic!

Here is a good view of the bridge which doubles as the Super Robot Gattai Musashi. Shown below are pictures of Robot Musashi combined into it's robot form.

Now lets check out the ship separated into its 4 individual components. Starting from the stern, working our way forward to the bow.

As you can see below the stern has sort of a Formula One motif. This part is aptly named A4 Turbo Machine. You can see the turrets that become Robot Musashi's feet mounted on the front car like portion. You will also get a better view of the launching escape pod above the giant hood scoop, between the rear wings. take note that Robot Musashi's legs just hang off each side when in this mode. I know that's kinda lame but, it really adds to the charm of this toy.

The next vehicle forward is A3 Bridge Machine. You can see how Musashi Robot's torso and head are used as the command bridge. You will also see the harpoon type gun I had mentioned earlier.

Moving along we come to my favorite piece, A2 Tiger Machine. I love this part, there is something about the tank treads and turrets that I love! Again, you will notice the red tipped launching missile and the arms that protrude from the front of it for no apparent reason.

Lastly, we have the very unusual A1 Zero Sen Machine. Now this to me is the strangest piece of the puzzle. Look at the WWII style Zero airplanes that are molded into the bow. They don't mention this in the directions, but you can take those off and make 2 planes from the included parts.

Overall, I would say that Aoshima makes a very fun kit/toy, along with being relatively easy to build. Even though for the most part it's easy, it still can be challenging at sometimes. Taking your time, Using patience, some quality glue and a X-acto knife will definitively make the build go easier!

The large scale Gundam Exia represents what I feel is a sorely under appreciated area of Gundam plastic models.

I've had a rather long love affair with Gundam plastic kits (Gunpla). I've been building them since I was a wee lad but I've never been that good at it. I've built everything from the old glue and paint kits to modern Perfect Grade kits. Sometimes I like to keep it simple, and here's where Bandai's 1/60 scale High Grade Gundam Exia comes in. The notion of a High Grade level kit of this size is nothing new. This was done starting with Victory Gundam way back in 1993 and continued through G Gundam and Gundam Wing. Unfortunately, these models reflected the High Grades kits of the time. The amazing engineering present in current models just wasn't there. Everything was crude and full of obnoxious balljoints that could never hold a pose at 1/144th scale let alone 1/60th scale. Fast forward to the SEED era, where a few years of High Grade Universal Century kits and better Perfect Grade kits have yielded many improvements to the design process of large Gunpla. As such, Bandai revived the line of 1/60 scale High Grade kits with the release of a Strike Gundam and Freedom Gundam. While I do enjoy a good Perfect Grade kit, there's something inviting about building these big High Grades. They are very much made for beginners and experienced builders alike with full color manuals and many hidden seam lines. I love the Gundam Exia, so this kit was a definite buy for me.

This Exia is big. Really big, like you may think your Master Grade Nu Gundam is big but that's just peanuts compared to Exia. Easily a foot tall, Exia looks ready for battle right after assembly. The kit consists of 16 parts trees and is very similar to a typical modern High Grade 1/100 kit. One nice thing about a kit this size is that most of the large areas are made from separate parts so little detail painting is required. The GN Particle transmission cables (those lilac panels) are made from a rubbery material that slides between the arm and leg parts. My kit has not been painted in any way.

One area that could have benefited from a few extra parts would be the shield portion of the GN Sword. It has a few gray pieces that could have cast as separate parts, however the size of the kit makes painting them easy. The blade itself is missing some light gray details and there are no stickers provided for these details.

One thing I appricate about this kit over the HCM Pro toy is how easy it is to outfit Exia with all of its weapons. The arm weapons plug in very smoothly and the GN Long and Short Blades are attached via two extension pieces that plug into the hips. You have to simply move the white hip caps and replace them with the mounting parts. The mounting parts may also accept the white hip caps to complete the illusion of extending mounts. These mounts can rotate a full 360 degrees so as not to impede leg articulation when the blades are attached. The GN Drive cone on the back uses a combination of clear parts and green stickers to replicate the GN Particle generation effect.

The details for the chest are provided by a set of paper stickers sandwiched under a clear cap. Each of the GN Capacitors found on Exia's knees and elbows have this same decal setup. Exia's shoulders have a compound joint which allow the figure to shrug its shoulders up and down as well as swing them back and forth a bit. Sadly, Exia's waist joint is a simple peg and hole joint but it serves the figure well enough. In fact, Exia has very few balljoints. There is one in each ankle, two for the hips, two for the wrists, and one for the neck. The rest of the joints are all peg and hole style, which generally last a lot longer than polycap balljoints.

This kit is large enough to feature a simple opening cockpit gimmick complete with a miniature Setsuna F. Seiei. The kit's fingers can open and close with the index finger being separate from the other three.

As a large scale High Grade kit, Exia is simple and fun to pose.

At 1/60th scale, the GN Sword is about the size of a dinner knife.

The kit's joints are nice and stiff. Exia can even hold its massive blade parallel to the ground. The kit is also very stable even when hefting its massive blade.

"My name is Setsuna F. Seiei. You killed my comrades, prepare to die."

When the GN Sword can't cut it (its a dull blade sadly), Exia can reach for its twin GN Blades.

Each of Exia's weapons have two slots which plug into rectangular pegs in each palm. The kit's fingers are stiff enough to hold its weapons without these pegs.

After the GN Blades, comes Exia's four GN Beam Sabers. One is mounted on the back of each shoulder pauldron.

Exia comes with two full sized beam blades and two dagger sized blades. These are interchangeable among the four saber hilts.

Exia often uses its aft mounted blades as throwing knives. These are mounted on double hinged joints for easy access in battle.

Up close you can see the stick detail for the wrist mounted GN Vulcans. The sticker does an alright job, but again the size of this kit makes painting these little details so much easier.

Fresh off the assembly line, the large Exia kit compares well with its smaller toy counterpart in terms of detail.

At 1/60th scale, Exia is a true diplomat to other robots of this size. It is always forging alliances...

... and making friendships.

At the end of the day, the big Exia is just good simple fun. Sure a Perfect Grade kit will give you unparalleled detail, but there's something to be said about straightforward High Grade. My only lament is during Bandai's initial preview of Gundam 00 merchandise they had mock-ups of all four first season Gundams in 1/60th scale. What an awesome sight it would have been to have all four Gundams in this size. Regardless, Bandai's 1/60th scale Gundam Exia is a great kit for newbies and experienced modelers alike.

An effort in frustration

Intro

Cybuster is a mecha from various Super Robot Wars games and other Banpresto titles. It was featured in the Super Robot Wars Original Generation Divine Wars anime. Cybuster and its pilot Masaki Andoh (supposedly named after the famed singer Masaaki Endoh) come from an alternate universe known as La Gias. Masaki is chasing after his nemesis Shu, but ends up helping the main characters fight on several occasions.

Contents

Construction

This kit was early in Kotobukiya's SRW line and it shows. Molding and detail is excellent and parts are super sharp. Anybody who has built a few Kotobukiya kits should know what I'm talking about here. Some parts are easily sharp enough to draw blood, and care needs to be take not to bend fine points. Color reproduction is good, and not much paint is needed. Spure placement is not great, but the colors of plastic for this kit are somewhat forgiving and the marks clean up well.

A lot of the parts don't fit quite right and need fiddling with and glue to be assembled. Seam placement is pretty good. I only painted the black detail and the handle of the sword gold. The polycaps for the waist and wings are very loose and frequently the parts come apart on their own or when you are trying to put the figure into a pose. This is extremely frustrating and you end up getting stabbed by all the pointy bits in the process.

Features + Accessories

There are no notable gimmicks for this kit. The mecha is supposed to transform, but Kotobukiya decided to omit this feature. The only included accessories are open and closed fist hands, sword holding hand and sword.

Articulation

The articulation of this kit is okay, but not great. The design does limit the articulation somewhat, but I still feel that Kotobukiya could have done a better job. The feet and legs articulate pretty well, but there really isn't much you can do with them unless you have a stand for flying poses. Otherwise it can be difficult to keep a standing pose with the weight of the wings.

The wrists, ankles, hips, wings, and waist are ball jointed. Everything else is a combination of standard joints.

Balance is actually better than I would expect due in part that the legs actually had a heavy solid plastic piece inside of them. Unfortunately the upper half of the figure leans back, and the waist joint frequently decides to pop apart on its own. (as seen above)

Conclusion

Overall this is okay but with a fatal flaw, bad joints. Just trying to photograph for this review the figure fell apart several times. Even if you get it into a solid pose and leave it be, it randomly decides to fall apart on its own. I really can't recommend it to anybody, unless you are a glutton for punishment.

Kotobukiya has made great improvements since this kit was originally released. Also to note they recently announced a new version of this kit due out in November. It will be part of their EO-Tech line in 1/144 scale and also able to transform.

In my opinion Dygenguar is one of the coolest mecha designs from the wildly popular Super Robot Wars tactical role-playing game series....Well, except the feet.

With all the hype and excitement about the soon to be released Bandai GX-46 Soul of Chogokin Dygenguar & Aussenseiter, I thought it would be a great time to review Kotobukiya'a Dygenguar full action model kit.

Dygenguar is one of the coolest mecha designs from the wildly popular Super Robot Wars tactical role-playing game series.

Starting off with the beautifully illustrated box. The box cover really gives you a feel of the characters coolness. As you can see in the photo below, he is sporting his famous pose. Man, is that sword huge or what?

Without boring you with all the details of the build, I will just say that it is fun and at sometimes a little challenging. The kit is molded in color so you really don't have to paint it. Of course, you can paint and detail the finished figure if you would like to. All the pieces are clearly marked for easy assembly. The kit is made of high quality plastic that feels very similar to the plastics used in high end Gundam kits. The kit is basically a snap together kit but, if you plan on handling your finished Dygenguar figure you may want to glue some areas.

The completed Dygenguar figure stands approximately 8" tall at the tip of his red shoulder armor. Dygenguar features 24 points of articulation and includes 2 swords as well as three sets of hands, one closed, one open, and one for holding his weapons.

On to the pics!

The cool background in the photos was provided by our friends over at Action Figure Displays. You can get this background as well as many others at their site.

In conclusion, Kotobukiya's Dygenguar model is a great build and if you are a fan of the character and you like to build models.... Its a no brainer, you gotta pick this kit up!