(REVIEW) Master Grade SAZABI 1/100 scale model kit
James E. "ZEE" Doyle
1/100 scale Master Grade plastic model kit by Bandai
Series: "Char's Counterattack" Price (yen): �8000
Well, I know a couple of people have already reviewed this beast, but I
figure I'll throw my hat in the ring as well.
I think it's pretty safe to say that the Master Grade SAZABI has been
one of the more controversial GunPla releases in recent memory. Ironic,
considering the rapturous joy the news of its imminent release inspired
in almost everyone at first.
The first bugaboo, of course, was its price, an astonishing double what
we're used to from that series. When the first photos began popping up,
there were troubled murmurs over the styling. And now that it's out, it
seems to to be getting dissed good and hard from all corners, or at
least damned with very faint praise. Much has been made of supposed
shortcuts, posability problems, and so on into a hundred little
nitpicks. And a very vocal contingent on our beloved NG has taken to
loudly lamenting its inferiority to the infamous trio of 1/100 garage
kits from WAVE, Kotobukiya, and B-Club respectively.
Well, it just so happens I have the WAVE monstrosity. Nice-looking,
ambitious kit, but UGH, vinyl. Picked it up on the tail end of a 3-month
stay in Tokyo for 13,800 yen, and have never built it. You could say it
was something of a trophy, a hangar queen even. The parts, huge ones at
that, remain in their original bag and have never been closely examined
by your humble reviewer. Well, tonight that's gonna change. Once I heard
that Bandai was finally going to attempt to do Mr. Aznable's ultimate
hot rod justice, I pretty much made plans to buy the MG and sell the
WAVE. Tonight, as I build and review the MG, I'm going to attempt to
directly reference the WAVE kit wherever relevant (and possible, given
the WAVE's unassembled state). I'll also refer to an article on the
notorious Kotbukiya resin version here and there (and for the recent
B-CLUB kit, alas, which appears to be the best of them, I have.. a
couple of postage stamp sized photos. So I won't be talking about that
one much).
So, is the MG SAZABI a great kit, a flaming bag of poo, or some
indifferent mixture? Is it, as some would say, drastically inferior to
the older, rarer, more expensive GK's, or does it hold its own? And in a
year that has seen some impressive technological and design innovations
in the Master Grade line and elsewhere, does this big, red, expensive
thing bring anything new to the ballgame?
Read on...
-FIRST IMPRESSIONS-
The MG SAZABI comes in a big box. I mean, really, it IS pretty darn big.
Big enough to hold one and a half MG DOM or ZZ or GP-02A boxes, in fact.
Hmmm, but doesn't this guy cost double what those others do?
Given this generous canvas, I had high hopes for the box art. The
thumbnails looked good, but what we get is pretty standard MG fare
depicting a disturbingly clean but dynamically posed and again very big
SAZABI with beam rifle brandished just northwest of your cranium. The
pulse engines of the AXIS base flare in the background, and off Char's
left flank lurk Gyunei's JACD-DOGA (hey, wasn't he toast at this point
in the flick?) and three GEARA DOGAS, the former looking like nothing so
much a retouched photo of the 1/144 kit. The main image itself still
looks entirely too CG, as is often the case in this series, but the
Photoshopped, poorly designed markings are just stand-out poor taste.
Incidentally, the MS description given here is "Neo Zeon Char Aznable's
Customize Mobile Suit For New Type". No WONDER they needed such a big
box!
Opening the box, one finds, disturbingly, a fair amount of air (and the
standard MG color insert is distressingly small). The box contents are
arranged into thirds a la the PG series, and air nonwithstanding,
comprise six trees molded in a medium russet (including the shield), six
in an almost magenta red, five in dark blue (what is Bandai's aversion
to just using BLACK, I wonder?), three in a dark-bluish grey, two in yet
another dark grey, one in dark blue-grey soft plastic, one in medium
grey, a small tree of orange-yellow (more attractive than the
lemon-yellow seen in the preview pics, I think), one in translucent
green soft plastic for the beam weapons, one clear runner containing one
part (the mono-eye, much smaller here than in previous Zeon MG's), and a
largish tree of custom polycaps, totalling a staggering TWENTY-EIGHT
parts trees. Holy jeez! This beats the MG ZZ's all-time high by a
substantial margin, and I shudder at the memory of what an aggravating
experience assembling THAT kit was.
With so many runners, I find myself praying for a halfway sane parts
breakdown, and I decide it would be a good idea to examine all the
runners closely before I set on my merry way... and yes, I'll DEFINITELY
be paying attention to the manual for this one (I am also looking at my
laughably small workspace and wondering if this is going to be in any
way doable once the parts start flying). First I flip through the manual
to get a feel for the construction of this beast. The usual superlative
BEE-CRAFT mecha art is here in spades, offering wonderfully clean,
detailed studies of the fictitious interior of this most impressive MS.
Is the finished kit going to even come close to these views? Hmmm...
The assembly procedures would seem to indicate a semi-straightforward
approach here, so I stop hyperventilating. I give all the parts trees
the once-over. I am immediately struck by the plethora of minor molding
defects that are in evidence. Resume hyperventilation.
A little background on injection molding: the parts trees on this and
just about every plastic model kit ever made are created by forcing
molten plastic through a metal mold at high pressure. The plastic floods
in, as it were, from several different apertures, which eventually fill
all the mold cavities. These rivers of plastic are still more solid than
liquid, especial at their cool leading edges, and when these edges meet,
small molding defects called "knit lines" form, most noticably on large
parts (thanks to Bill Swagerty for the info and metaphors). This is a
more or less unavoidable flaw in injection molding, though it can be
minimized with care.
The MG SAZABI has some of the most plentiful, most hideous-looking knit
lines I've ever seen on a GUNDAM kit. Part after part is scarred by
them, and not just the large ones, either. Even more troubling, the
molds themselves are downright defective in places... I notice that two
of the funnel bit container halves are sunken in one corner, right under
one of those impossible-to-duplicate notch details. Part of the shield
near the top looks slightly cancerous, and the bulkier parts abound with
post-molding dings and scratches.
It's obvious Bandai QC was not playing at the top of its game with this
kit, and it's equally obvious that making this kit look good is going to
have to involve painting, a near-complete surface sanding, or both. Not
a good sign, especially for a kit that costs the same as a month's worth
of fun weekends out. One such weekend I am NOT having at the moment, let
me add.
I noticed I never talk about the decals in these kits, so for what it's
worth... the kit includes one sheet of matte plastic stickers with the
usual, annoying "avoid excessive use" boxes and stencils, a couple of
nice Psycho-Frame logos, and oddly, two green stickers for the single
mono-eye. The dry-transfer sheet includes, to the dismay of many
including myself, the large, fragile Neo Zeon crest for the shield (no
extras, and the silk-screened markings of the first 4 MG kits are sorely
missed here), as well as other insignia and extremely poor-looking "Neo
Zeon" and "Funnel System" markings. The small foil sticker sheet
contains only the yellow stripe for the shield (couldn't they have put
the crest here too, simply as a backup for the dry-transfer-phobic?).
The parts breakdown seems reasonable, so I put away all the trees
devoted to the upper body and settle down for what is likely to be a
looong round of snappin'. Are we having fun yet?
-CONSTRUCTION-
Start at the feet, of course. Even these are massive, complex
assemblies, with various armor shells snapping onto a central ankle
block. Fit here is pretty good, if tight (prying these apart for the
gluing phase will be a chore). The ankle block is "trapped" between the
various external parts, but the latter's well-hidden join lines mean
they can all be painted separately before final assembly.
(Construction note: I often cut all the parts needed for any given
subassembly off their trees at once, and finish that piece before moving
on. For a kit with as many wildly disparate parts trees as this one,
it's practically a necessity).
Next are the inner leg frames. The two main halves require five polycaps
apiece, and the instructions are somewhat vague on the placement of a
few of these. It's not impossible for builders who have lots of
experience, but novice beware. A large, movable joint-arm assembly gets
trapped here too, as does the upper part of a cylinder block (hmm, not
sure I care much for all this trapping... I'm convinced that
independently modular is the way to go on these kits, specially bigger
ones).
Already, the instructions are proving necessary just to locate which
tree any given part is hiding on. A moving ankle block is snapped around
the joint-arm, with the lower half of the cylinder block trapped inside.
Hmm, this kit shall prove to be a challenge to paint, I think, as the
HG/MG norm of distinct, removable assemblies is not being adhered to a
whole lot so far.
The double-action ankle joint and functional cylinders are pretty cool.
Moving it around is kinda tricky though, and I urge you to practice with
it before the external armor parts are attached. A few more parts to
finish the feet, and I decide to wait on the leg's many rocket boosters
and external armor until more of the basic assembly is done.
The simple two-part knee block traps the lower leg assembly, and is in
turn trapped by the two-part upper leg frame. Joint fit is very tight
here, and the joint pins on the upper legs sit on thin, fragile-looking
supports (canıt think of any solution as far as strengthening them
goes). A break in this area would be very messy indeed.
On the plus side, the range of knee motion sans armor is very
impressive. I'm already wishing that the hip joint blocks had been done
as separate swivel units though, a la the MG GUNDAM Mk. II. And it is
quickly becoming apparent just how huge the finished model is going to
be.
I snap the upper leg armor halves on. Even these parts impede knee
motion dramatically. The hefty two-part hip mount nests inside a nicely
detailed pelvic unit, upon which is snapped a two-part "codpiece" plus
dark blue (should be yellow) thruster insert. The latter parts are an
excellent example of the molding problems which plague this kit. covered
as they are with thick, wavy knit lines and wild variances in the
surface gloss of the part.
A remarkably complex thruster assembly fits on the bottom (the yellow
thruster inserts here won't fit properly if so much as a hint of a sprue
scab remains, so be careful), and the surprisingly detailed shelf-mount
for the skirt armors and upper torso fits on top. I decide again to get
more of the basic model done before building any of the skirt armor
parts.
Enormous ball-joint receptors (hmm, that sounds a wee bit naughty, or
maybe itıs just me) fit into the reasonably well detailed torso frame
halves. Takes me a couple of tries to get the balky poly-caps to sit
right. This unit is then cocooned within two more halves, effectively
obscuring all that nice detail (this shroud is designed so as to be more
or less removable, though). A good-looking detail unit is then snapped
into the top along with a nicely molded, very "Zeonic" power-cable part,
which is regrettably molded in that notoriously hard-to-sand
not-quite-poly soft plastic.
The four parts of the red torso sides then snap on. Hey, waidaminnit...
the corrugated "belts" here are molded as one piece with the torso
sides, and very shallowly molded at that. What gives? Even the vastly
simpler HGUC RICK-DIAS had these as separate parts. As it is, we get
that and thoroughly undetailed, dare I say RED planes where the shoulder
openings ought to be. Not good! A better-detailed fix here wouldn't be
impossible, but it's still a shocking oversight for any MG kit, let
alone one that costs as much as a major piece of office furniture. Not
pleased by this at all.
My displeasure fades somewhat as I test-fit the torso to the leg
assembly. Wow! This model is going to be absolutely heroic in stature! I
am reminded briefly of why I wanted to purchase it in the first place.
Returning to the torso, I decide to get the detail phase over with. Thus
ensues the clipping of many tiny yellow plastic rings. Unlike the power
cables of the MG ZAKU series, which sandwiched a metal tube spring
between the rings and the plastic cable armature, these rings merely
slip over an engraved soft-plastic hose part. Also unlike the ZAKUS, the
rings are angled, so take care that they are properly orientated. Again,
the instructions are a tad vague for the non-Japanese reader. Slide
rings P9 onto the cables first, followed by four of the P10 rings. You
then have to slip cable mount halves H6 and H7 on one at a time... they
wonıt slide on if you assemble them beforehand (the fit between these
two parts is very poor, incidentally.) Don't snap the M1 mount onto the
back until the cable assembly is firmly seated (and with the odd plug-in
cable holders, this is not easy... very, very awkward assembly, this).
When it's in place, slide the P5 rings and 5 more P10 rings onto each
side.
Also, do NOT get the cable part upside down, as I did, unless you enjoy
cursing (the cable ends in front should point downwards). Had to pull
off the very tight M1 part again, and I'm starting to worry about the
strain being placed on the thin cable parts. HMM.
You know, Bandai is usually pretty good about designing their parts so
they can't be put on improperly... not so here. After way too much
fussing, I finally slide the two-part mega-beam cannon assembly over the
ends. Aggravating! The two main torso armor parts snap on (N6 proving to
be another slightly tricky fit), and that's it for the torso.
I decide to do the basic arm assemblies next. Simple but visually
effective shoulder blocks snap together first, sandwiching a moving
joint arm with a ball at the end. First major parts drop of the night, a
large polycap which promptly disappears (whoever invented wall-to-wall
shag carpeting needs to be found and flogged).
Upon retrieval, I assemble the upper arms next. These are of the
one-piece-shell variety increasingly found in Bandai's GUNDAM kits, and
are a welcome addition to a kit that has seemed shockingly crude so far.
The cap which tops the arm has a nice hefty peg for the joint, but
seriously tiny ones holding it to the arm itself. This was much the case
with the similar MG DOM, and I'd recommend gluing here even for the
snappers among us, but make sure you don't accidentally glue the
pivoting cylinder parts too!
The cylinder moldings, I might add, appear a little flat on the sides,
and slightly rough overall. I'll say it again, this is not an especially
refined effort.
The elbow blocks get two polycaps each and the lower halves of the
cylinder assemblies. They are (again) trapped between the black (sorry,
dark blue) lower arm parts. I am a little surprised that we didn't get a
proper endoskeleton here. As molded, these "cores" are left with many
visible seam lines, and along with the trapping problem, indicate to me
that this could have been handled better. The red arm halves then snap
over this (oog, this kit is gonna be hellarific to paint). The finished
arms have a nice hefty look to them though, and the massive elbow blocks
work as smooth as silk. Maybe a little... LOOSE though? We'll see.
I set to the hands next. As with the MG DOM, the fingers have two points
of articulation each (except for the thumb's one), and are molded of
semi-soft plastic that proves to be difficult to cut cleanly from the
tree. Mindful of my screw-ups with the DOM's hands, I pay extra close
attention to parts numbers this time. Careful as I am, one of the joint
nubs still gets mashed. Why do I think this design could be improved
just a tad? Wrist caps go on the end of the arms, and the hands plug in
over that. I can already tell that the ball-joints here will be somewhat
prone to popping out, though.
With the basic frame of the robot complete, I return to the legs. First
I build the rocket boosters... all eight of them! Each one gets its own
polycap, as well as an endcap and thruster bell. These are actually
great-looking assemblies with some fairly impressive detail. These clip
onto a semi- detailed frame which clips onto the leg. Looks really good,
actually.
I pop the niceley detailed knee guards on, and the main leg armor halves
easily plug into the leg frames, with a small bar to hold the backs
together. Removing these to display the endoskeleton should be no sweat,
and fortunately for such large parts, the fit is good, though the
seam-hiding trench in back could be better-defined.
Unfortunately, these large parts suffer noticably from the dreaded "knit
lines" mentioned earlier, and the surface finish and detail engraving is
surprisingly rough. In fact, upon closer inspection, it's astonishingly
bad. Damn! The front leg fairings plug into the leg frame (surprisingly,
they're not hinged), as do the knee armors. Fit to the leg shells is a
little dicey here. Legs are now finished, 5 hours into things.
Side skirts are next. Make sure polycap T16 is facing ball socket
inwards, long end down! The instructions are clear as mud on this issue.
The triple rocket booster tanks are molded in one piece, and the attempt
at detailing for the black side-skirt inserts is strange, but at least
it's an attempt, and is barely visible on the finished model. The
bizarre polycaps balk at being plugged into the dainty nubs on the
pelvic shelf, but once in are quite stable and surprisingly flexible.
Rear skirt: A huge assembly. I think there's enough plastic here for a
1/144 WING kit. First thing is to snap the thruster inserts into the
inner shells. These look awesome. but insert G3 doesn't want to stay on,
and in fact breaks for no apparent reason. Assembling the outer and
inner shells without being able to see the pegs proves challenging. Part
A6 does not seem to fit well, and when I pry the two halves apart, an
assembly peg breaks. The two halves then go back together almost
flawlessly. Hmmm.
The huge, detailed thruster assembly snaps in next, and looks great.
Very nice to see this level of detail actually visible on an MG kit.
More rectangular thruster assemblies follow (again, trim those sprue
scabs, as the yellow parts fit very tight). The finished assembly plugs
into the back of the pelvic frame.
The front skirts get dark inserts too, VERY nicely detailed ones. They
also use the same polycaps as the side skirts, and the same advice
applies, though here the proper orientation is slightly more obvious.
Separate red thruster inserts slide into slots in the front, another
nice touch. Very noticable sink marks mar the surface of the front
skirts. They seem a little wobbly when plugged in. I'm definitely
beginning to get a feel for the finished kit here, but still have miles
to go...
I turn to the shoulders. The fronts of the shoulder armors plug into the
detailed internal shells first. Polycap T9 fits into the red part after
it is snapped to the interior shell, and once again the instructions are
a little unclear about this.
The interior shells are surprisingly detailed, though more so,strangely,
on their ultimately hidden outer surfaces. The interior sides have
plenty too, but are marred by numerous ejection-pin marks. Though some
effort has been made to hide these, the molding here is still slightly
rough.
The red outer shells sandwich the interior shells and are clearly not
intended to be removed. I would not say the fit of the various parts
here is the greatest I've seen, either. Perhaps more work on lingering
sprue scabs will help this.
The rocket boosters inside the so-called "flexible shoulder thruster"
housings are a simple one-piece moldings capped by three thruster bells.
The housings slide easily onto the polycaps in the shoulder armors. The
shoulder armors slide over the shoulder joint posts, and getting the
ball joint properly connected takes a little effort. I'd suggest
pressing firmly on the shoulder block itself as you push the whole
assembly in until the joint is firmly seated. This kit is almost
finished, but I'm still not sure what to think...
Backpack: when I say "almost", that's not counting this extremely
complex assembly plus its attendant sextet of gimmick-laden funnel bits.
After fumbling a bit with the unfamiliar parts, I muster an attempt.
The rectangular tabs of the polycaps on the funnel container joint block
(did I actually just write that?) prove to be a chore and a half to fit
properly. I wind up mangling two of said tabs pretty thoroughly. I only
manage to get it in by holding the joint block onto part B3 with pegs
properly situated, and then pressing it down into the main funnel bit
housing. Even this doesn't work very well. Complicating matters is the
fact that this awkward polycap fit must be made whilst fitting B3 and
the two funnel housing doors into place at the same time. The fit here
is ultimately just short of bad, but the parts finishing here, at least
on the sides of the housings, is awful. I remind myself again that this
is a Master Grade kit, one that I paid one hundred and thirty dollars
for, and then I'm sorry I did. I'm getting ever so slightly discouraged
here.
The second housing goes together easy as pie, though I immediately
discover that I've put the doors on backwards. Swearing audibly now, I
re-place and re-fit, and the polycaps again refuse to seat. I finally
get them in, but am VERY! exasperated at this point, and call time out
for beer, cigs, and videogames. The barely-there articulation afforded
by this maddening joint hardly seems worth the effort, incidentally.
There's not a cold beer in the house. This could get ugly.
Even the relatively simple (but exquisitely detailed) backpack shells
have their drama. Polycap T3 proves to be very tricky to get wedged into
its inaccessible rest. Polycaps T17, which mount the propellant tanks,
are detailed structural elements, distressingly visible on the finished
model, as are the funnel container mounts T7 and T8. As I try to mount
said containers on the backpack, I find to my snarling chagrin that the
joint blocks are on backwards, and I once again pry both of the godd@#n
things apart again while praying for the beer to get cold. And no, those
f#*+ing polycaps don't fit any better when the joint is in the right
way, either. When I finally get the funnel containers placed on the
backpack, I resist the urge to cheer.
The propellant tanks are molded so as to theoretically hide their seams,
though the shallow banding detail provided may not hold up well when
sanding off the attendant sprue scars. More small problems: the tiny
ball joints that fit into the tanks can only go in a certain way, but
the receptacles are so poorly molded that it's hard to tell which way
that might be. An extremely minor point, one that has zero impact on the
finished piece, but it's still unusual to see a recent major kit by
Bandai that has been this weak on the little engineering details.
But, onward. The propellant tanks snap on easily. The main thruster bell
gets a detailed yellow insert, which is a nice touch, and the two tiny
subthrusters are molded as separate parts, which subtly yet effectively
enhances the realism of this area. A fairly plain shell covers all the
neat backpack detail, as is common with the MG series, though the shell
has some detail of its own. Snapping the finished conglomeration onto
the back of the robot does prompt a sigh of relief, though there is
still more yet to come.
I am dreading the funnel bits. These are clearly complicated, fussy
little assemblies, and this kit hasn't been pulling those off very well
thus far. I decide to hedge my bets and concentrate on buliding one
first, rather than the whole bunch at once. What initially seems like
it's going to be a simple task (flaps hinge on well, thruster/barrel
assembly seems straightforward), it quickly becomes yet another exercise
in aggravation as mount part R9 flat-out REFUSES to stay put, and the
flaps flop all over the damn place. Even when I remove the funnel
containers from the backpack for better access, the bit proves to be an
astounding pain in the ass to get seated properly. Oh, joy, I've got
five more of these to go? I think I'll just kill myself now, thank you.
Aaargh, can't take it anymore, must sleep. It's 9 hours into this
project now.
Conscious again, I finish the other five bits, which are only slightly
better-behaved than the first one. Their construction is interesting,
allowing for a rather involved transformation to their "deployed" state,
and the detail parts are effective, but I'm still glad when the last one
is set in its socket. Gluing the R9 mount cores in place is going to be
absolutely necessary, and given said part's proximity to all kinds of
moving hinges and slides, not easy.
The bits look good fully deployed, but the loose, sloppy flaps look like
hell when closed up (fortunately, only the upper third of the bits are
visible when placed inside the containers). Even there, the tapered,
nicely molded barrels flop around uselessly inside their outsized
apertures when retracted. I am definitely NOT pleased when I finally get
the whole mess put to bed. I'm not sure this could have been done
better, but it's sure not done WELL, I'll tell ya that.
We are now in the home stretch though. I decide to hit the shield, which
I am somewhat dismayed to find, despite its size and multiple layers of
parts, is an almost laughably thin and hollow-looking affair. Yeah,
THIS'LL offer some good protection, if the enemy is attacking with ripe
bananas.
A rotating arm mount that also slides, clicking sloppily into three
different positions along an inch-long slot, is fitted into an insert
which is then snapped onto the back of the shield. Either the insert or
the shield is slightly warped, so itıs not a good fit, but a little
Zap-A-Gap ought to take care of that. There's some detail on this insert
(which will also hold the stowed beam tomahawk), but not enough to
distract from the hideous cheapness on view from this angle.
The view is better from the other side... the thing appears far more
substantial from the front... but the dark blue insert here is missing
any kind of vent detail (as pictured in both the manual and the box
art), opting instead for featureless, poorly done insets.
In any other MG kit, the yellow stripe on the shield face, and possibly
even the Neo-Zeon insignia, would have been molded as separate yellow
parts. Not this time.
And once again, the surface of this brand new, never-handled part is
pitted and scarred, like a weatherbeaten '86 Hyundai. I'm starting to
think that this kit's claim on supposed Master Grade quality is tenuous
at best. More like Very Expensive High Grade run through a wood chipper,
so far.
I build the beam tomahawk next, another surprisingly complicated task.
Building the grip and hilt around the (very poorly molded) core requires
some serious hand-eye coordination. The finished piece looks okay, more
or less.
The day-glo green beam parts include two beam saber blades plus full and
half blades for the beam tomahawk. I've never been crazy about the clear
beam parts in any GUNDAM kits, but for review purposes I test-fit one to
the tomahawk. Hmm. Doesn't look half-bad, really. The SAZABI's tomahawk
is a unique weapon, if nothing else. It retracts via a twist of the
handle, which I found kinda slick, and stows handily inside the shield,
where it helps to slightly alleviate that assembly's oppressive
emptiness. A 3-part missile assembly completes the shield
(note: I have nothing much to say about applying the large dry-transfer
shield insignia, as I don't intend to do so anytime soon. In fact, when
the time comes, I may opt to make water-slide decals for this mark
instead. All I can really say is, dry-transfer technique is a whole long
post in itself, it looks like this one is going to be especially hard to
do, and what the hell was Bandai thinking?)
Beam rifle next. The parts tree on which the gun halves reside is
hideously warped, and numerous sink marks scar the barrels. Fortunately
the parts themselves go together fine. There is a sliding "pump action"
grip here, and two red cable inserts. These look nice, but I imagine
they'll be difficult to paint once the gun halves are glued and sanded
around them. A simple cap depicting the rifle's twin muzzles tops it
off, and once again is designed so as to easily allow one to install it
upside-down.
The beam sabers are simple 3-piece affairs that I assemble in a daze. I
wonder offhand if I'm getting too old for this s#!t.
Whoa, mama, can this really be the end? Finally it comes down to the
head. First I plug little tiny (and legless) Char Aznable into a
surprisingly detailed cockpit seat. This is then placed inside the two
inner head halves, along with a moving arm for the canopy (make sure the
bend on part R4 is facing up).
A detailed mono-eye rail slips on next, followed by the two-part
mono-eye. The eye-mount pivot is held in place by the ejection capsule
part (which should be red, but is molded in dk. blue) Make sure the tab
on part R11 is facing inward. This attaches the red faceguard, which
pivots down. PartR2, which will hold the finished canopy, hinges onto
arm R4, but I really have to force these two to fit, and R4 does not
look all that strong. I'd recommend ignoring the instructions here and
assembling these two before R4 goes into the head.
The canopy consists of the the visor, some nicely sharp blade antennas,
and a camera housing which, contrary to all other MG and even many HG
kits, does not provide for a clear camera lens. It could be argued that
the antenna block takes up too much room, but it's still a weird
oversight, and one more shortcut on a kit with too many of them.
The helmet, however, fits on easily and surprisingly well, with the
canopy snugging in nice and neat, with no noticable gaps. The two-part
crest has an unfortunate seam line on one side, but is again nice and
sharp. Guess they figure that anyone old enough to afford this kit isn't
likely to put an eye out, eh? Then the nicely styled three-part neck
assembly snaps onto the body (which is far easier than snapping it onto
the head first, as the instructions show), the head snaps onto that, and
my god, Martha, the damn thing's done.
Well, almost. Still have to place the weapons. The shield snaps on
easily. It looks as though the small mount provided will be sturdy, but
already the notorious MG shoulder-sag is evident on the fully-loaded
shield arm. I find it looks best with the slide set at its lowest point.
The beam sabers slot into their wrist-mounted polycap sheaths, and don't
look like they'll easily come out again.
The beam rifle doesn't want to play nice at first. I wind up removing
the hand (well, actually, it pops off of its own accord), fitting the
fingers around the grip, and placing the whole schmeer carefully back
onto the model (I am grateful for the small pin that helps hold the gun
in place on the hand). Still no go. The gun doesn't want to fit AT ALL,
the stock continuously banging into the forearms, the wrist joint held
far from its plug at every angle. SHIT! I really am getting genuinely
tired of this kit's peccadilloes at this point. I didn't pay this much
money to be irritated. I can get that for FREE, fer chrissakes.
I finally get it jammed on there, but the fit is very awkward. Wonder if
it'll stay put? Who knows?
Anyway, the construction phase officially ends, having consumed
precisely eleven hours of my life. Good. Goddamn. Riddance. I haven't
had such a frustrating kitbuilding experience since last yearıs MG ZZ,
and this kit doesnıt even have the excuse of being transformable to fall
back on! I decide to wait for my blood pressure to go down, in the
hopes that I just might manage to proffer a semi-objective viewpoint on
the kitıs styling and features.
There is one rectangular polycap mysteriously left over. I later
discover that it goes in the shield and holds the tomahawk, which seems
to be staying in place just fine without it. Works for me.
-DETAIL AND LIKENESS-
Wow, I hardly know where to begin. Everyone has an opinion on the looks
of this kit, and most of them seem pretty disparaging. Iıll try to
approach what we do have here as clinically as possible, with comparos
to the older GKıs thrown in for perspective.
First off. I have no real problems with the basic design of the finished
kit. It looks like the SAZABI to me. I prefer the earlier versions of
Katokiıs design sheets (which were the first images many of us saw of
this kit), and am not really sure why some details (such as squaring off
the shoulder armor flares) were changed, but it gets the job done.
High points include the compex and very visible ankle detail: the
well-handled head interior detail ( although wee Char and his nifty
chair are almost totally obscured in the finished kit): a slightly
shallow but well-designed subthruster nozzle detail thatıs peppered all
over the surface of the MS (will definitely take the pin vise to these
areas, should look very cool): the excellent rear skirt with its vents
and gizmos, probably the most MG-ish part of the model: the detailed
front-skirt inserts, easily GK quality and something every GUNDAM kit
should have, in my opinion: the power cables, which despite their
awkward design, actually wind up looking pretty good. And the palms of
the hands and the soles of the feet, which get extensive, excellent
detail.
Some of the little things trouble me, though. The sculpt on this kit
introduces lots of faceted surfaces to a traditionally smooth and curvy
design (very noticable in the shoulders), and Iım not sure how well that
works visually. Iım not sure what that implies for the sanding stage,
either... facets are notoriously easy to screw up in the sanding stage,
and this kitıs numerous sprue scabs and surface flaws pretty much
guarantee that lots of sanding will eventually need to take place. The
three GK versions all opt for much rounder, almost pneumatic lines in
the upper body than the somewhat constrained MG.
Itıs hard to say which is more flamboyant, the WAVE vinyl or Kotobukiya
resin. The WAVE kit offers interesting, aggressive proportions and an
appropriately cladded, hunkered look, but it takes some bizarre
liberties with the original design. Same for the Kotobukiya, which looks
more like the old 1/144 SAZABI than the WAVE does, but is saddled with a
teeny-tiny peanut head that looks cool to some, bizarre to others. They
are both highly stylized interpretations, whereas the MGıs proportions
very much follow Katokiıs ³real mecha² approach. I personally think the
MG looks more realistic, if a bit more mundane, than the two earlier
kits.
What about details? Surprisingly (or not), the MG stomps all over the
older efforts, for the most part. The WAVE kit is actually pretty
pathetic upon close examination. Its leg frames are mere two-by-fours,
not even attempting to look like bits of machinery. The leg-mounted
rocket boosters are wan, undetailed tubes (though the vinyl thruster
nozzles have some nice detail) Thereıs barely any detail on the rear
skirts, just some notches and vaguely defined mechanical forms. And the
handling of the various rectangular thrusters is cartoonish at best.
The hands, though a little faintly detailed, are nice. The MGıs hands,
though nifty, really donıt look all that good when curled in a fist, and
still look oversized even on this huge model. The WAVE kit offers two
closed fists and a gun hand, and they look real in a way that
injection-molded ones never seem to. They are not jointed in any way,
however, even at the wrist.
The WAVE kitıs waist-mounted mega-beam cannon is, strangely, larger and
more detailed than the MGıs. Its injection-molded beam tomahawk is
poorly formed and tiny. Only pipe springs are offered to reperesent the
power cables... no molded parts, no rings. The archaic joint system
seems beyond bizarre in both appearance and function
The Kotobukiya kit gets better marks for detail... the exposed machinery
atop the chest gets lavish treatment, and the rocket booster units are
comparable to the MGıs... but even here, the MG manages to trump it.
Relatively detailed leg frames, fine nozzle detail inside all those
rectangular thrusters, the plethora of well-executed vents... the
much-vaunted Kotobukiya gets none of these. Indeed, some of its major
visible joints (based on the buildup Iıve seen) have a disturbingly
³handmade² quality to them, and either the sculpt or the molding on the
shield back appears wretched (the WAVEıs shield looks to be even
worse... though its shape is right, itıs a vinyl part, which means all
that goopy, hard-to-finish Backside Of Vinyl is clearly visible on its
interior face. The guy who did the HJ buildup Iım referencing didnıt
even bother to build the damn thing) The MG therefore seems to stand up
to both of these much-revered older releases quite well indeed. Dare I
say, it is clearly superior technically to either of them.
Where does the MG SAZABI fail in the looks department? Well, some find
the head too big. It looks right to me, and if you accept that it
contains the cockpit of the MS, then it is ³correctly² sized. It looks
quite similar to the WAVEıs head (which actually contains the whole
cockpit ball). Some still prefer the smaller, meaner-looking Kotobukiya
head though.
The interior frame parts, while decent-looking, are nowhere near as
detailed as BEE-CRAFTıs illustrations imply they should be, so donıt
even get your hopes up. Many other kits in the series have been closer.
Some have also mentioned the apparently flimsy nature of the armor. Here
Iıll have to agree. Like the MG of Charıs GELGOOG, some of the parts
donıt have the necessary heft. This is especially noticable in regards
to the shoulder armors and shield. While I donıt know what can be done
with the shield (short of popping a positive mold from it and building
it up with vac-formed shells), the shoulders seem like they might
respond to strip plastic laid around their perimeters, butting up
against the black inserts. Or something like that
And for the record, I donıt like the way the shoulder insert detail
plays out on the finished model. The raised (not engraved) linework
looks busy and cheap, and the frantic attempt to make the mold-ejector
marks part of the detailing by adding even more circular depressions
flat-out doesnıt work. And even on this hugely expensive kit, thereıs
still no detail provided for the very prominent ³wall² that sits halfway
into the shoulder flares... just flat, seamed plastic. I can see sanding
all this junk off and starting anew, definitely with something simpler.
Ironically, the outsides of the inserts get much better detail, which is
hidden for all time once the shoulder armors are in place.
There should be a small, semi-circular ³windscreen² enclosing the
mono-eye assembly, according to both the anime and the manual
illustrations. This is not included in any form.
The pallete that the funnel bits mount on is fairly detailed and looks
good; however the funnel container door interiors are simply unfinished
plastic ... very strange when you consider that the inside of almost
EVERYTHING is given detail on most MG kits. An odd oversight. The
funnels themselves, besides being all flopsy, get a weird little rounded
notch near each flap hinge that just looks bad. Iım glad these will
spend most of their time hidden from sight.
The gun seems a tad on the short side.
The shield just looks weird and hollow, like some strange Tupperware
invention. Itıs passable as long as the huge beam tomahawk is kept
mounted there, though. The massive assembly serves to distract from the
sheer emptiness of the shield interior.
I really think the ³nipple vents² on the chest should have been molded
as open slots. The shallow notches we get are very un-MG-like.
And I will say it again, for what I promise is the last time: sink
marks, knit marks, scratches, pits, and other assorted grunge run
rampant over almost the entire surface of this kit. The heavy surface
refinishing this kit needs, combined with all those scary beveled
surfaces, gives me great pause. And frankly, the plastics used here just
donıt cut it. The warm russet clashes noticably with the almost pink
shine red, and the dark blue just looks plain off. And given the insane
number of different colors used in this kit, it still gives off a
depressingly monochromatic aura. Some more warm grey or metallic black
moldings would have really perked up this kitıs OOB experience. As it
is, it is one of the few MG kits that practically DEMANDS painting...
the swirled, pitted plastic is just too distracting in the raw, and red
styrene almost never looks good anyway for some reason...
I guess Iım mostly cool with the styling on this kit. The things that
bother me the most are things I never dreamed would be a problem on a
kit that cost this much. The corners that were cut diminish this model
significantly, but not fatally.
-POSABILITY AND GIMMICKS-
Just looking at the MG SAZABI, you know posability is not going to be
its strong suit. Too big, too bulky, too many things hanging off of it
every which way. I was not expecting this kit to be terribly flexible,
and itıs not.
Range of motion on the elbows, knees, and skirt armors is very good, but
the hips are constrained; they donıt have much splay to them, leaving
the feet pointing almost straight forward, and they tend to pop off of
their mounts without warning. Given the modular-looking design of the
SAZABIıs hips, they REALLY should have provided a hip-to-leg swivel here
(both the WAVE and Kotobukiya kits got them, incidentally) It may not
have helped much, but limited splay is one of the most hurtful
posability flaws going, and the legs arenıt very expressive in this case.
Hard to figure out are the multi-jointed ankle blocks. They donıt move
intuitively, donıt sit flat in most poses, and itıs hard to figure why
theyıre double-jointed at all. The ankle blocks are also slightly too
large, which restricts foot motion severely and causes the red ankle
guard parts to pop out of place repeatedly. These areas could have been
reduced with no loss of visual impact, and a likely increase in
flexibility. Weıll have to wait and see how the HJ/Dengeki boys fix this
one.
The toe and heel parts of each foot can swing inward, claw-like. Pretty
much useless for anything short of an in-flight display (and maybe even
that). I would rather have seen a proper PG-style ³stepping² foot here.
The joints are there, but the armor parts wonıt allow motion. Some
judicious cutting might fix things a bit here.
One thing I noticed about the early photos of this kit was that the arms
seemed to hang a little low, and I was concerned both as to the severity
of this and its possible solution. Well, as it turns out, the shoulders
are double jointed, so the arms ³rise² and ³fall² depending on the angle
of the joint post. When done properly, this kind of joint can increase
posability of the arms noticably. When not, it is not only useless but
pretty much counterproductive, as it makes for a far less stable
shoulder. Guess which is the case here?
The shield arm, as mentioned, tends to droop, and the shoulder armors
are so large that any imbalance between them is immediately noticable.
Also, the beefy arms and big mitts do indeed look better the higher
theyıre kept. Factor in their vexing lack of detail, and I could see
totally rebuilding the shoulder joints. Which is something I wouldnıt
have to do if the kit is designed properly.
The inherent awkwardness of arm-mounted shields, the barely compatible
shape of the rifle stock, and the huge, unwieldy forearms all conspire
to make the arms look regrettably clumsy, I think.
The torso is jointed, but all this really allows it to do is flop to one
side or the other, not the most attractive or useful feature. Torso
twist is negligible, restricted by the mega-beam cannon aperture and the
cable mount in back
The fingers can do all the expected poses, of course... I just donıt
like the way they look very much. The sculpting is decent, but the
joints just look unrealistic, especially at the first knuckle. I like
the idea, but I donıt remember the very similar hands from the 1/60 GOD
GUNDAM and WING ZERO kits looking this toylike.
The funnel containers open and close easily, thought he previous polycap
problem is still interfering with fit a little. The funnels that work
properly are neat, with its beam-barrel popping into view and flaps
deployed... I just wish this seemed less to me like a superfluous
gimmick. The funnel containers are hinged to the backpack, as are the
propellant tanks (keeping all this stuff aligned straight can be tricky,
too).
The mono-eye pivots slightly. The working arm cylinders are a hoot and
will really perk up this kit when painted in the appropriate mettalics.
The opening cockpit parts work smoothly and easily. The beam rifle has a
cute sliding pump action, but do beam rifles even NEED pump action?
I come to the conclusion that only pose that looks good on this thing is
pretty much the one you see on the box photos. Damn the luck! Damn
Bandai too, for not taking better care with this important, expensive
kit.
-THE BOTTOM LINE-
Okay, Iıll spell it out straight. This kit was a bitch to build, just
as this review has been a bitch to write. Iım afraid I enjoyed neither
experience. At least the review will never have to be re-written...
someday, maybe a long time from now, I will have to disassemble my
SAZABI and attempt to correct all its flaws. Of which there are far, far
too many.
Iım still jazzed that we have a 1/100 SAZABI at all. Molding and
posability issues aside, it does look pretty good. As long as you donıt
actually ask it to move, it looks like it could whup any other MG on the
block. And it is one of the most important MS in the entire GUNDAM saga.
I almost... ALMOST feel that 8000 yen was a fair price for something
this big and involved (and when I say yen, I mean yen... I donıt think
it was quite worth the $130 I paid for mine). However, it distresses me
that when faced with such an astronomically expensive addition to the MG
lne, that Bandai chose to cut a few crucial corners that immensely
cheapen the finished result. Once youıre throwing around figures this
high, why not add 500 or 1000 more yen worth of parts and do it RIGHT?
Even one extra tree could have helped the legs and the shield SO much...
two extra could have solved virtually all of this kitıs design problems.
The molding issues, on the other hand, are not excusable. These
shouldnıt have been issues at all at this point in the game. Hopefully
theyıll iron these out in future production runs, but I guess Iıll never
know.
Iıve waited a long time for this kit, and had very high hopes for it,
for obvious reasons. Iım sorry to say it has roundly failed to meet most
of them. Iım glad I now have a SAZABI (especially after seeing how weak
the WAVE kit truly is), but I still like my RICK-DOM better. And Iım
just going to try not to think about how much this disappointment cost
me.
---
PROS: Finished kit is huge and impressive. Lots of detail. Almost
everything moves. Neat cylinder gadgets. Important addition to the MG
line. Almost worth its sticker price.
CONS: Extremely hard to build. Quality control sucks. Posability sucks.
Awkward bulk. Balky funnel bits. Pointless double-jointed shoulders.
Enigmatic double-jointed ankles. Cheesy plastics. Insane dry-transfer
shield decal. Can barely hold its gun. Too many shortcuts taken.
Review by JAMES E. DOYLE
09/10/00
--
This Sig Closed For Repairs
Patrick Moore
it?
Patrick Moore
the kit.
As for the molding problems, mine has the knit marks, but the plastic is
perfectly smooth, and none of the trees are warped. All in all I'm pretty
happy with mine, I'm thinking of posing it in the cover pose by putting it up
on a clear styrene pole and fixing the hips so they'll stay opened up under
the weight of the legs, its do-able, you just need to build some inserts.
As it is ive only got the arms, legs, torso frames, and gun finished totally.
I have the shield and shoulders prepped for painting. Then I'm going to
finish off the lower body.
Anyways for those who are interested here's a listing of the paints I'm
using:
Testors Stainless Steel Metalizer
Testors Magnesium Metalizer
Testors Dark Anadonic Grey Metalizer
Testors Burnt Metal Metalizer
Testors Gunmetal Metalizer
Testors Titanium Metalizer
Testors Exhaust Metalizer
Testors Metalizer Sealer
Testors Acryl Metallic Teal
Gunze Sangyo Shine Red
Gunze Sangyo Clear Orange
Gunze Sangyo Gloss Yellow
Gunze Sangyo Neutral Grey
Gunze Sangyo Flat Black
Gunze Sangyo Semi-Gloss Black
Gunze Sangyo Flat Black
Gundam Marker: Thin Grey, Thin Blace, Chisel Tip Grey, Chisel Tip Black,
Chisel Tip Silver
Grey, Dark Grey, and Black oil pastels
Powdered Graphite
My only thoughts on painting this beast is that I should have used Shine
Orange oversprayed with Clear Red, instead of vice versa, which I'm using. I
migh add though that the armor looks pretty slick under full spectrum light.
Chris Bryant
review I seriously doubt I'll purchase this one. Guess I'll go for the Full
Armor ZZ.
furball
do you happen to have a scan of the Wave and Kotobuika releases? I
haven't seen them recently.
I was just wondering how much work would be involved in trying to
convert the look of the MG to something resembling the Wave version.
I've done a few scratchbuilds, and was considering doing this. The
completed MG Sazabi doesn't look very inspiring to me and I was
thinking of making it look more dynamic.
James E. "ZEE" Doyle
<cbr...@mail.cswnet.com> wrote:
If I had seen a review like this before I bought mine, I still would
have bought it... just might have waited a year or two. I suppose I'll
figure out fixes for its problems eventually (like when the next issue
of Hobby Japan comes out).
And for what it's worth, I *loathed* the MG ZZ, floppy nightmare that it
is.
J.E.D.
Capsule Corp. CEO
> is.
I doubt I'll buy an MG Sazabi now either. Have you built either the
Zaku I or II Black Trinity MG model kits? If so, how are they? Has anyone
else built them? I am very intrigued by them.
--
Capsule Corp CEO
Si vales, valeo
Chris Fullbright
F*ckin drain......
Prabal Nandy
> I doubt I'll buy an MG Sazabi now either. Have you built either the
>Zaku I or II Black Trinity MG model kits? If so, how are they? Has anyone
>else built them? I am very intrigued by them.
I didn't think there was a BT Zak-II, just a Zak-I and a Zak-IIR-1?
At any rate, I had the BT Zak-I... bland, interesting improved cockpit
hatch, but otherwise exactly what you'd expect: A watered-down simplified,
even less detailed version of the Zak-II mold, with no conductive cables
etc. I was hoping for improved articulation, especially in the legs, but
no dice there. Think of this as a MG-Zaku color variation with some
different, simplified parts changed out.
--
\~~~~~\__ ~~\___/~~ __/~~~~~/ /pr...@sunset.bph.jhu.edu\ Lord of the Flies
~<==\__\_<O\:/O>_/__/==>~ /www.dragonfire.net/~jhfong\ 1st MPC Division
<_/ //=\ ^ /=\\ \_> \na...@opt-sci.arizona.edu / Colony World Myops
\| (|) |/ \ na...@ccit.arizona.edu / Velox-Durus-Infestus
Capsule Corp. CEO
> At any rate, I had the BT Zak-I... bland, interesting improved cockpit
> hatch, but otherwise exactly what you'd expect: A watered-down simplified,
> even less detailed version of the Zak-II mold, with no conductive cables
> etc. I was hoping for improved articulation, especially in the legs, but
> no dice there. Think of this as a MG-Zaku color variation with some
> different, simplified parts changed out.
Oh, maybe I'll get the Zaku-II BT instead. I think it looks better
anyway. By the way, there is a Zaku II BT -
http://www.hlj.com/cgi-local/hljpage.cgi?BAN72574. Thanks for your help.
James E. "ZEE" Doyle
> I doubt I'll buy an MG Sazabi now either. Have you built either the
> Zaku I or II Black Trinity MG model kits? If so, how are they?
Don't have those yet, though I will pick them up eventually. RX-79[G]
review right around the corner, though.
James E. "ZEE" Doyle
<cfull...@premierhome.net> wrote:
> I just bought mine last week. Damnnit, I wish I hadnt now. 110 Bucks
> down the F*ckin drain......
Eh, c'est la vie. Yours was cheaper than mine. To add insult to injury,
I had a massive car expense hit the day after I bought mine, and have
been struggling ever since. Factoring in the bad building experience, I
have every reason to be resentful towards this kit, but my current
reaction when I glance up at it in its temporary berth atop my monitor
is "cool... I've got a SAZABI".
Flaws and all, it's still a pretty damned impressive piece.
Chris Bryant
building experience with this kit?
"James E. "ZEE" Doyle" <superw*mb...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:superw*mbat-18B5A6.0...@news.earthlink.net...
James E. "ZEE" Doyle
mdkn...@pacific.net.sg (furball) wrote:
> do you happen to have a scan of the Wave and Kotobuika releases? I
> haven't seen them recently.
None handy I'm afraid... sorry.
> I was just wondering how much work would be involved in trying to
> convert the look of the MG to something resembling the Wave version.
> I've done a few scratchbuilds, and was considering doing this. The
> completed MG Sazabi doesn't look very inspiring to me and I was
> thinking of making it look more dynamic.
Oooog... beats the hell outta me. My brain is still bleeding from
building this monster. You'd need LOTS of putty, fer sure, and would
probably need to do some vac-forming as well. The styling of the WAVE
kit is far more overstated and cartoony than the MG, the proportions
quite a bit squattier, and the sculpt far simpler. It would take an
insane amount of work, that much I can guess.
Sorry this is such a worthless response. I have decided that if I can
solve this kit's posability problems (will concentrate on angling the
hip supports and whittling down the ankle blocks first), I will be happy
with it. The SAZABI in any form is such an ungodly complex design, I
wouldn't even know where to start re massive cosmetic mods right now.
J.E.D.
Capsule Corp. CEO
positive
> building experience with this kit?
Listen, when responding to a post that was 50 kb big, please erase the
message when you reply. It saves needed bandwidth. Thank you.
Patrick Moore
Chris Bryant wrote:
> I really want to WANT this model. Is there anyone out there with a positive
> building experience with this kit?
I for one anm enjoying mine. I'm a little infuriated with the shoulder binders
right now (they wont stay on the arm pegs, got to tighten them somehow) and the
shoulder pall joints themselves (same problem). But, hell its a Sazabi! I can
only pray that someday, somehow, a PG kit comes into existence of this design.
Then it will be done true justice. Hell i'd pay 25000+ for one of those ;-)
As it is, Ive managed to get the thing in a full-out run pose, a cool looking
'lets fight' pose, and of course, the hangar bay attention pose. Of course I
dont have the head or backpack on yet, so I cant tell how that will effect
balance, but I have quite a bit of play in the hips right now to compensate.
Mark Wilson
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
James E. "ZEE" Doyle
<war...@dcsi.net> wrote:
> I for one anm enjoying mine. I'm a little infuriated with the shoulder binders
> right now (they wont stay on the arm pegs, got to tighten them somehow)
> and the shoulder pall joints themselves (same problem).
The shoulder joints bite, and they make no sense. They should have done
a scaled-up version of the MG ZAKU's shoulder joints. The shoulder
armors are too big to make a ball-action joint useful for posing
anyway... very strange design decision.
> But, hell its a Sazabi! I
> can only pray that someday, somehow, a PG kit comes into existence of this
> design. Then it will be done true justice.
Frankly, after seeing the job they did on the MG, I'm not sure Bandai
can handle a 1/60 SAZABI yet. Maybe a few more years down the road.
> Hell i'd pay 25000+ for one of those
But would you pay 40000? That's the more likely figure.
> As it is, Ive managed to get the thing in a full-out run pose, a cool looking
> 'lets fight' pose, and of course, the hangar bay attention pose. Of course I
> dont have the head or backpack on yet, so I cant tell how that will
> effect balance, but I have quite a bit of play in the hips right now to
> compensate.
Sounds like you've pulled some mods to the kit. 'Splain please?
J.E.D.
Patrick Moore
"James E. \"ZEE\" Doyle" wrote:
> The shoulder joints bite, and they make no sense. They should have done
> a scaled-up version of the MG ZAKU's shoulder joints. The shoulder
> armors are too big to make a ball-action joint useful for posing
> anyway... very strange design decision.
I have to agree there. I'm thinging of glueing the shoulder armor to the shoulder
peg.... I dont thing it would pose much of a problem as far as poseiablitiy goes.
> Frankly, after seeing the job they did on the MG, I'm not sure Bandai
> can handle a 1/60 SAZABI yet. Maybe a few more years down the road.
I agree on that one... and would want them to wait. Speaking of PGs and low
quality... I wonder how the upcoming Wing Zero is going to do... Lets just hope they
use their brains and engineering sene with that one.
>
> But would you pay 40000? That's the more likely figure.
Actually, I probably would... well I dont; think I would but on faith alone... I'd
need to see some pictures first......lol. I mean that thing would be massive... the
emount of detail that could go into it is staggering..... 1500+ parts, easy.
> Sounds like you've pulled some mods to the kit. 'Splain please?
No mods yet, though its possible I've misassembled something in the legs, somehow
generating poseability. The way I have it posed in the full out run, the ankle
goings of the forward foot are strait, so the shins are loned up with the toes, but
i have the ankle rocked forward enough that the shin armor is almost toughing the
top of the foot. This puts the knee forward of the ankle pivot/beam thingy. Then the
knee is bent (using only the rear swivel in the knee, the grey (in the box photos
and my kit), middle knee section is all the wat forward) so that the upper leg goes
back towards the hip. The hip pin is situated in a diret line with the round bit
with the \ mark on it on the ankle armor. On the opposite leg, the upper leg is
strait down, the kne is bent back so that the tip of the foot is against the ground
(looks like its pushing off), and the ankle is aligned wit the lower leg in the same
way as if it werestanding at attnetion. This leeaves the torso straight upright,
tilted a little to the side. By rotating the torso forward at the hips, I can
compensate for the weight of the backpack. Also, the sheild is on the side of the
body that has the planted foot.
Anyways.. theres a "how to pose your Sazabi" lesson... lol
--
General! It appears that the enemy Tai-sho has forsaken his honor, and is running
like a whipped dog!
Shogun: Total War
furball
>I agree on that one... and would want them to wait. Speaking of PGs and low
>quality... I wonder how the upcoming Wing Zero is going to do... Lets just hope they
>use their brains and engineering sene with that one.
>
In the latest Hobby Japan and Dengeki Hobby issues they show closeups
of the joint systems. I wonder if the final product will use all those
screws too. It looks really nice. The usual incredible range of
motion, etc.
But we'll still have to see how they handle the feathers.