[HGUC] Crazy Probe reviews the Dom Tropen!
Prabal Nandy
Much has already been written about the full-metal monstrosity that is
the Dom Tropen, but seeing as he's so easily available in the US now (and as
I've FINALLY opened my Japanese-released one up and finished it) I thought I
oughtta spout off a bit on what I think of it.
First of all, I should probably admit to being both a big time Dom Fan,
and also to having been disappointed with pretty much every Dom we've been
getting out of Bandai lately (including the MG and the MSIA). To me, every
Dom must be judged against the stylish and superb lines of the 0080 Rick Dom
II, one of the finest Heirs to Dom-dum around (and not to mention one of my
earliest and most favorite model kits). That old Dom literally exuded bulky
curvaceous organo-mechanoid sinisterosity, coupled with a grim
high-performance thruster beladen full-nozzle space based
bazookamunderousness than no model kit ever since has come close to
matching...
Until Now!
That's right, because if you liked the 0080 Rick Dom II, I think you'll
really enjoy the Dom Tropen! From the sensor-tipped top of its dome-shaped
head to the giant filter-shrouded thermonuclear pulse jet air intakes on the
sides of its feet, the Dom Tropen oozes a sense of armor plated angular
bazooka-toting badness... sharp and facetted where the Rick Dom was smooth
and Organic, tall and severe where the Rick Dom was squat and wide, the
Tropen nevertheless has an element of that heavy armored mystique that makes
it unquestionably Dom-ing. And finally, a Bazooka WORTHY of a mecha of this
size... we're talking the summer-barbecue prize BRATWURST of missile
launchers here, not that anemic little thing you get from other Dom kits!
And he can carry it over his shoulder with pride, not under his armpit like
some kind of passed down family ukulele or something...
Let's start from the bottom and work our way up... the Dom Tropen's feet
are HUGE dark blue/black affairs, made of what, about 8 pieces... some of
the parts have interesting airgaps between them to give you that 'open air'
Dom-Foot-Feeling... most impressive is a three-piece air-intake system (I
painted the inner nozzle grey with red trim, plus the filter-banks grey) for
the classic Dom foot-jet-thermonuclear-air-skating system. These units plug
into the outer edge of the foot and could easily be removed with the holes
covered over for more of a 'classic' Dom appearance. The light blue-grey
sole is decently detailed with a single big engine at its center... but most
importantly, the sole piece sticks out around the heels of the mecha, and is
detailed to look like a hoverskirt. Very cool effect, and it makes painting
oh so much easier! Notably, the foot half-seams in the front and the back
are completely concealed with a separate toe and heel piece! The entire foot
is ball jointed to a special 'internal structure' calf piece (now familiar
to all HGUC builders) which is mounted quite off-center within the calf.
This gives the foot a truly impressive amount of flex, about 45-degrees
inward, without requiring an embarrassingly huge airspace between the calf
armor and ankle area. This amount of flex very necessary for posing the Dom
dramatically with its feet splayed apart.... the HGUC can keep its feet flat
on the ground with its hips spread a good 45 degrees or more, looks very
cool! Though the foot really doesn't have a significant back-to-front flex
ability it has a good 180-degrees of swivel, which allows you to do some
adequately cool poses. Probably my only real problem with the foot of the
Tropen is that it's molded almost entirely in dark blue, with none of the
purple inner areas that distinguish it from the classic Dom color scheme. Oh
well!
The calves are big on this guy, with quite a bit of fluting around the
ankle area for a very mechanistic effect. Not quite as airy and flared as
those on the RDII, they nevertheless convey a sense of bulk and solidity
which fits the Dom-Tropen ethic. Notably, there are no thruster nozzles
hidden under the calf cowling (nor under the skirt, nor anywhere else apart
from the backpack!) which surprised me! The calves sport separate grey
knee-cam pieces to save you from painting those parts separately. They also
sport most of the panel lines on this guy, true to the anime. The Kneecaps
are huge affairs, and come molded on the same piece as the front-calf
armor... this completely conceals the split between the two calf pieces in
the front at least, and looks great! The knees are two-swivel completely
enclosed affairs familiar to HGUC builders, and hence provide a surprisingly
nearly 70-degrees of back flex plus another 20 of forward flex.... you can
quite easily put your Dom into a stretching-forward pose with feet still on
the ground! The hips are rounded and ball jointed, as well as
interchangeable much like those on the MG Dom and Gelgoog (as I recall). The
skirts are huge and surprisingly well jointed, considering in an 'at rest'
pose, all the pieces come together relatively seamlessly for that illusion
of one-piece-ed-ness. The front skirts hook onto a purple 'belt' piece and
can swivel forward about 15 degrees allowing the thighs to raise forward
almost 70 degrees! Each flap also sports a single 6mm wide hardpoint for
accessories (In this case, just one of three bazooka ammo-magazines). The
side skirts are PCed and can easily flare open for the thighs, about 40
degrees. The rear skirt isn't quite as airy as that on the RDII, but it's
still reasonably big and doesn't get in the way of the legs at all... It
sports eight hardpoint slits and an interesting two piece light grey
circle-n-rectangular clip piece that plugs in to the top portion of the
skirt. This will be used to carry the MMP-80 MG in the Desert version of the
Tropen, but it's unused here. Notably, there's no thruster array under the
rear skirt on this guy, and I must admit, with only two connection pins up
at the top, the lack of an array to fill that space behind the skirt leaves
the rest of the piece feeling frail and flexible. I wouldn't put too much
pressure on it. This problem seems to have been remedied in the Desert
version, which comes with that missing thruster array.
Above the skirts is the torso, and it's composed of two dark blue
pieces, a backpack (with two grey thruster nozzles, I painted the insides
bright red of course!), a bright red cockpit hatch, and a lower torso light
grey piece. Notably, as with the calves and feet the seam lines are
discretely relegated to the shoulder/armpit area... nice concealment! The
torso is a modernistic take on the classic Dom torso, with a much more
0080-styled design sporting a prominent red FZ-styled cockpit hatch and a
downsized and downright diminutive beam-spot launcher on the left side of
the chest (which I painted bright red, just to call attention to this
oft-ignored special Dom weapon!) The Dom Tropen's upper chest is canonically
just dark blue, but I went ahead and painted the classic 'muscle-shirt of
armor' band that goes around it grey, for that MSG-Dom feel... The entire
feel of the Dom's torso is bulky and square, almost like an office complex
rather than a typical MS in terms of faceting and impression of weight. I
like it! Each arm on the Tropen is pretty standard, with a spherical upper
arm part that plugs into the elbow but it surrounded by a separate seamless
MG-style upper arm cube. The elbows (cams and joint covers) are separate two
part light grey pieces, which once again save you from having to paint them
separately if you wish. The forearms would be simple two part affairs with a
PC ball joint for the fists, if it was not for the fact that the pieces are
front-to-back rather than side-halves in design, the point being to once
again cleverly disguise the seam line within a panel line... with nary a
shallow draft angle panel line defect in evidence, excellent molding work
Bandai! The hands are big bulky grey four piece structures with separately
moving trigger fingers (though honestly providing a separate wrap-around
bazooka-gripping hand as on the 0080 RDII would have worked just fine as
well.) Finger and knuckle detail are decently molded and look great with
panel lines inked in. The wrist has maybe 30-degrees of flex in every
direction, good enough to carry the bazooka or wield its heat rod
realistically. The arms are capped by cool four piece shoulder armors at the
top, composed of two dark blue piece sandwiching two bright red pieces (with
inset details) together. The molding is superb with very little seam line
showing once completed. While definitely a non-traditional color choice (and
probably one of the three main details that set the Tropen clearly apart
from other Doms) the bright red shoulderguard pieces nicely compliment the
red 'eyelids' and cockpit hatch of the design, providing some color balance!
Speaking of that, the head is a large fluted four-piece deal, once again
designed with a one-piece dark blue 'helmet' and light grey neck/cabling
piece underneath to hide all the panel lines. The eye area is molded as part
of the helmet, the red 'lid' piece being separately attached. The head can
turn maybe about 25-degrees to either direction, no big deal considering the
'real' Dom can't move its head at all! Perhaps the biggest oversight (cough)
of the HGUC line here is the lack of a transparent separate eye for the Dom
(only a sticker is provided). To remedy this I built my own glowing monoeye.
I started by drilling a shallow concave pit into the center of the Dom's
visor area, and then painted it bright chrome silver. I then glued on a WAVE
clear green convex lens that was slightly larger than the pit on top of it.
I then painted the surrounding visor area flat black and plugged in the red
'eyelid' The result is a reflective eye that glows like a lightbulb in
ambient lighting, it looks really cool, as good as that on the RDII. The
Tropen also has an interesting Gundam-like forehead sensor at the top of its
head which seems to be usually ignored in line-art... I went ahead and
painted it fluorescent signal green, just to call attention to it (and boy,
you'll see it and the monoeye glow like lightbulbs in my UV light pictures
of this robot!) I should mention that the entire head barely pokes out from
under the huge armored 'boxes' on the shoulders of this robot, giving him a
very squat, hunched, bad-tempered look. Oh yeah, there's a pretty simple
plug in dark blue backpack on this guy, with two light grey nozzles that
plug into it. There's also a PC-ed hole for a little square loop that holds
the heat rod melee weapon for the Dom...
For accessories, you get the heat rod with its holder, a giant rocket
bazooka with removable clip, plus three 'partial' magazines to store on the
skirt. The heat rod is a long sword with beveled end about 4 inches long...
I painted the round 'blade' silver... there are some details on the handgrip
that look better inked in. It slides easily through and is held in a loop
holder PCed into the backpack. It kinda gets in the way of the bazooka a bit
though, since that's also held on the right side of the robot.
The Bazooka really merits some comments. It's a huge affair, about
5"-long and definitely has the feel for a weapon the Dom should be carrying!
In design it's basically a bigger version of the 0080 360mm Rocket Bazooka,
with a separate clip, rotating handgrip (It pivots forward to make it easier
to pose with the bazooka over the shoulder) and a face-shield with extra
handgrip. The bazooka retains the old sensor-camera block that the 0080
bazooka had, though shockingly enough even this is molded with the seam line
a bit off center, making it easier to paint in the sensors (I painted the
sensor and the 'viewfinder' fluorescent signal green, looks cool!) The face
shield plugs in at just one point fore of the camera and consists of a large
slightly curved plate (with a hole for the sensor behind it!) with a big
U-shaped grip molted in behind it... an extra handgrip that the Dom can just
about reach with its left arm, The entire face-shield piece is mounted with
a single plug-in point so it can be removed, unused, without messing up the
lines of the bazooka itself. Nice touch! The partial Magazines you get are
basically shaped like the bazooka magazine, but are hollow on the side that
plugs into the skirt hardpoint. You get three, but I find them kind of
annoying and only sport one on the front skirt of my Dom... they've got just
enough detail to make them interesting, and no mold lines either!
The HGUC Dom Tropen is surely worth getting... it's got big bulky
classic Dom lines and enough distinctiveness to make it clearly 0083 in
design, but also enough flexibility in construction that if you wanted a
0083-styled 'classic' Dom, you could make one quite easily. If you're a fan
of the classic Dom or just love that old-fashioned Dom look while hankering
for Katoki's stylish lines, you need to get the Dom Tropen! If you want some
serious weapons though, I strongly suggest getting the Desert version
instead. At any rate though, as model kits go you can't go wrong with either
of the Dom Tropens! Git one NOW!
Prabal Nandy
> > First of all, I should probably admit to being both a big time Dom
Fan,
> >and also to having been disappointed with pretty much every Dom we've
been
> >getting out of Bandai lately (including the MG and the MSIA).
>
Lots of reasons. I didn't like the vast fields of featureless plastic,
the sense of size for the sake of size, the oversized, overdelicate,
overcomplex hands, the lack of weapons. Basically, not to rip on the mecha
traditionalists, but I really don't believe classic MSG designs lend
themselves well to 8" tall models when nothing else is added to them.
Yes, the MG Dom has awesome internal structures, etc etc etc... but
generally I display my robots with all their armor on and I just don't like
a slavish adherence to a traditional lack of detail.
The Dom Tropen, while still not as cool-ly detailed as the Rick Dom II,
does strike an acceptable balance in my opinion.
Mark Wilson
<p.n...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>Hey everyone!
I could have sworn that was a MODEL review....
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH THE REAL PROBE!?!?!?
Mark Wilson
The Sleeping Giant has awoken....
http://home.earthlink.net/~mmwilson2/
RAAM FAQ:
http://home.earthlink.net/~mmwilson2/RAAMFAQ/index.html
Prabal Nandy
>
> WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH THE REAL PROBE!?!?!?
Come on dude! I still love model kits, I just don't have the _time_ for them
like I used to!
RX-79(G)
look at my son's every growing pile of MSIA it kinda makes me jealous. Open
package, play with fully assembled and detailed figure. :-)
"Prabal Nandy" <p.n...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:2XIy8.50094$Rw2.3...@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
Mark Wilson
I hear that--a new puppy and "real" work have effectively shut down my
work bench for over a month now....
George Caswell
>
> > > First of all, I should probably admit to being both a big time Dom
> Fan,
> > >and also to having been disappointed with pretty much every Dom we've
> been
> > >getting out of Bandai lately (including the MG and the MSIA).
> >
> > You were disappointed with the MG Dom? Why?
> Lots of reasons. I didn't like the vast fields of featureless plastic,
> the sense of size for the sake of size, the oversized, overdelicate,
> overcomplex hands, the lack of weapons. Basically, not to rip on the mecha
> traditionalists, but I really don't believe classic MSG designs lend
> themselves well to 8" tall models when nothing else is added to them.
> Yes, the MG Dom has awesome internal structures, etc etc etc... but
> generally I display my robots with all their armor on and I just don't like
> a slavish adherence to a traditional lack of detail.
MG does not stick to the classic designs. Every single one of them is a
redesign, especially the ones from MS Gundam. I think a lot more has changed
(and for the better) between the original Dom and the MG than you've noticed,
and I can't conceive of what you'd want to add to the design: If you want to
build a Dom, you want it to look pretty much like a Dom, right? Just how much
extraneous detail has to be added to these things, anyway?
"The sense of size for the sake of size" - what do you mean exactly? One
of the key distinguishing characteristics of the Dom design is that it's big,
right?
---GEC
New projects page: http://home.attbi.com/~sieg_haro/
(M-x depeche-mode)
"Must... Finish... Zaku..."
Thunderous Citizen Iron Moose!
>> You were disappointed with the MG Dom? Why?
>
> Lots of reasons. I didn't like the vast fields of featureless plastic,
>the sense of size for the sake of size, the oversized, overdelicate,
>overcomplex hands, the lack of weapons.
...
O_O;;;
X_X
...
The lack of weapons?
OK, Probe. Benefit of the doubt time. This image here:
http://www.newtype-asylum.com/model/mgpic/mgdom-m1.jpg
shows the MG Dom's weapon selection.
That's 2 bazookas, a heat saber, a machine gun, 2 sturmfausts and 2 clips
of ammo.
HOW IN THE MOST CRACKHEADED OF ALL WORLDS, THE BLUEST OF BLUE HELLS, THE
MOST UNRELIABLE PERCEPTIONS OF REALITY IS THAT A LACK OF WEAPONS!?
Eagerly awaiting a response,
--
Thunderous Iron Moose (with Anime Hair).
Kris Petersen
>
>OK, Probe. Benefit of the doubt time. This image here:
>
>http://www.newtype-asylum.com/model/mgpic/mgdom-m1.jpg
>
>shows the MG Dom's weapon selection.
>
>That's 2 bazookas, a heat saber, a machine gun, 2 sturmfausts and 2 clips
>of ammo.
>
>HOW IN THE MOST CRACKHEADED OF ALL WORLDS, THE BLUEST OF BLUE HELLS, THE
>MOST UNRELIABLE PERCEPTIONS OF REALITY IS THAT A LACK OF WEAPONS!?
>
>Eagerly awaiting a response,
Perhaps he got the Rick-Dom, which only has the Heat-Saber, Dom Bazooka, and
Rick-Dom Bazooka. Mine stole the Sturmfausts from Char's Zaku, actually. Heh.
>
>--
>Thunderous Iron Moose (with Anime Hair).
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------
Kris/Raven/LT.Mashima
IM: Greedo3534
Sickle584th
news:20020428074121...@mb-fl.aol.com...
> Perhaps he got the Rick-Dom, which only has the Heat-Saber, Dom Bazooka,
and
> Rick-Dom Bazooka. Mine stole the Sturmfausts from Char's Zaku, actually.
Heh.
MG Char's Zaku didn't have Sturmfausts. Maybe you're thinking about the
stock MG Zaku-IIF/J?
--
Sickle584th
JAE (japan.anime.evangelion) FAQ:
http://www.evafaq.com
RAAM (rec.arts.anime.models) FAQ:
http://home.earthlink.net/~mmwilson2/RAAMFAQ/index.html
Kris Petersen
>stock MG Zaku-IIF/J?
>
>--
Char's Zaku II is the only MG Zaku I have, so I'm sure he came with two
Sturmfausts.
Thomas Kohl
"Kris Petersen" <greed...@aol.com> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:20020428160317...@mb-mo.aol.com...
> >MG Char's Zaku didn't have Sturmfausts. Maybe you're thinking about the
> >stock MG Zaku-IIF/J?
> >
> >--
>
> Char's Zaku II is the only MG Zaku I have, so I'm sure he came with two
> Sturmfausts.
you got a kämpfer ? hes got 2 sturmfausts as well
Kris Petersen
>you got a kämpfer ? hes got 2 sturmfausts as well
No, I just checked the manual, actually. Japanese Version Char's Zaku II MG has
two Strumfausts.
Kris
Thomas Kohl
> >
> >you got a kämpfer ? hes got 2 sturmfausts as well
>
> No, I just checked the manual, actually. Japanese Version Char's Zaku II
MG has
> two Strumfausts.
Cool never can have enough sturmfausts and those cool 0083 GM Shields
George Caswell
> On Sat, 27 Apr 2002 18:39:15 GMT, "Prabal Nandy"
> <p.n...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>
> >Hey everyone!
>
> I could have sworn that was a MODEL review....
>
> WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH THE REAL PROBE!?!?!?
>
Chopped him up into little bits of PVC and sold them at Wal-mart,
target, and Toys R Us?
Prabal Nandy
> MOST UNRELIABLE PERCEPTIONS OF REALITY IS THAT A LACK OF WEAPONS!?
Sorry, was thinking of the MG Rick Dom.
Thunderous Citizen Iron Moose!
>> MOST UNRELIABLE PERCEPTIONS OF REALITY IS THAT A LACK OF WEAPONS!?
>
> Sorry, was thinking of the MG Rick Dom.
<Deflates>
Oh.
Um...
<Runs>
--
PAIN!
BlazeEagle
BlazeEagle
"George Caswell" <sieg...@attbi.com> wrote in message
news:87znznc...@adamant.attbi.com...
Mark Wilson
model review. He's gotten into them MSiAs, and we all know the MSiA
has the Devil in them!!
Mark Wilson
"If we lose the war in the air, we lose the war, and we lose it quickly."
--Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery
Thomas Kohl
"Mark Wilson" <mmwi...@earthlink.net> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:np6qcu471ktfsfe7u...@4ax.com...
> Yeah, but it has been nigh on a solid couple years SINCE he did a
> model review. He's gotten into them MSiAs, and we all know the MSiA
> has the Devil in them!!
oh i guess thats why they stink so much
i almost had to vomit when i opened my Acguy&Zock Pack,the MSIA i had and to
the day the only ones i have
Thomas Kohl
"Thomas Kohl" <streifenk...@gmx.net> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:aaj8qt$b79c6$1...@ID-105900.news.dfncis.de...
>
> "Mark Wilson" <mmwi...@earthlink.net> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
> news:np6qcu471ktfsfe7u...@4ax.com...
> > Yeah, but it has been nigh on a solid couple years SINCE he did a
> > model review. He's gotten into them MSiAs, and we all know the MSiA
> > has the Devil in them!!
>
> oh i guess thats why they stink so much
>
> i almost had to vomit when i opened my Acguy&Zock Pack,the MSIA i had and
to
> the day the only ones i have
i meant the first Msia i had...
Menohl
"Thomas Kohl" <streifenk...@gmx.net> wrote in message
news:aaj8qt$b79c6$1...@ID-105900.news.dfncis.de...
George Caswell
> Probe did a ton of kit reviews before MSIA's came out, guys.
>
Yeah, then stopped, and talked all about MSiAs, what stores they were or
were not available in, and how much better they were than models.
Doesn't matter much, I suppose, I've come to see Probe as one of the
loudest advocates of bad taste.