Post by Vendetta on Jun 13, 2006 14:13:28 GMT -5
The Kotobukiya SRW kits don't get enough love, so I decided to do a test-build of the Wildwurger and write a small review about it from the perspective of a modeler that primarily builds Bandai Gundam stuff.
The quality of the plastic trees is on par with Bandai's offerings, so it's relatively easy for a novice modeler to trim the parts off the trees and sand the excess. There are 182 parts (plus the polycaps) and no stickers included in this kit, so it's not a particularly complex build. Parts-fit is also as good as any recent Bandai stuff, so there aren't any issues there. I did note something odd about the polycaps though - I can usually just spin the polycaps off the sprues with my fingers with Bandai stuff, but the polycaps here had to be cut. It's a moot point but I figured I'd mention it nonetheless.
Maybe I've been spoiled by the recent Master Grade kits Bandai put out that have almost no visible seams to deal with save for the usual suspects (head, weapons), but if you're as anal about seams as I am, there's a decent amount of work to be done here. It's about as much work to do here as a HG Gundam, for reference. Off the top of my head, there are seams in the shoulders (which are particularly annoying because there's a different-colored part that has to be inserted between the two shoulder halves, so if painting this kit like I will eventually you'll have to paint the two halves and the piece in-between, then construct the shoulder, remove the seam, and then re-paint around the seam). arms, thighs, feet, weapons, head, and backpack.
Recent Master Grade offerings also have the benefit of helpful parts breakdown so that if not painting the kit, the model will still look pretty good on the shelf, and if painting the kit, will require little to no masking. In my personal opinion, Kotobukiya actually did a solid job of making the model appealing to non-painters, but if painting the kit, an inordinate amount of masking is required to get the model 100% accurate. This being my first SRW kit, I'm not sure if this is a running trend in the line, but it's certainly dissuaded me from purchasing any further products in the line (except for the recently-released 1/100 Huckebein Mk. II and 1/144 Alteisen ;D ).
For those curious about what parts need to be masked and painted multiple colors, you'll have to mask the backpack, gun, sword, claw thing, tri-barrel arm attachment, shoulders, chest, feet, legs, 'ears', and forehead. It's because of all this work that I decided to just assemble it for now and do this review; I'll save the unassembling and painting for a time when I actually have the willpower to go through the trouble. ;D It's interesting to note that the face and ears come molded in two colors each respectively (the face in grey and green and the 'ears' in blue and grey) to improve the appearance of the model built out-of-box, which is a nice touch.
What this model lacks in convenient parts breakdown for modelers it makes up for in surface detail. The Wildwurger is a fairly complex design, and Kotobukiya did a great job expressing it in plastic injection kit form. The surface detail is well beyond most of the Bandai Gundam stuff - this thing looks *sharp* assembled out-of-box.
In summary, I wholly recommend the 1/144 Wildwurger by Kotobukiya to those who snap their models. It's somewhere between the size of a 1/144 and a 1/100 Gundam, looks great built straight out of the box, and is a decent value at its retail price of about $25. For those who paint their kits, I'm a bit more hesitant to recommend the kit; there's a good amount of work to be done here in filling seams and masking for the painting, but if the sample photos in the instruction manual are any indication, the effort will be well worth it.
Onto the crappy pics! The Wildwurger was built straight out of the box. I filled the seams, but no other work was done on the kit.
The claw weapon on the right arm needs touching up especially.
A size comparison with a 1/100 Master Grade GP01FB and a Gundam Fix Penelope:
The quality of the plastic trees is on par with Bandai's offerings, so it's relatively easy for a novice modeler to trim the parts off the trees and sand the excess. There are 182 parts (plus the polycaps) and no stickers included in this kit, so it's not a particularly complex build. Parts-fit is also as good as any recent Bandai stuff, so there aren't any issues there. I did note something odd about the polycaps though - I can usually just spin the polycaps off the sprues with my fingers with Bandai stuff, but the polycaps here had to be cut. It's a moot point but I figured I'd mention it nonetheless.
Maybe I've been spoiled by the recent Master Grade kits Bandai put out that have almost no visible seams to deal with save for the usual suspects (head, weapons), but if you're as anal about seams as I am, there's a decent amount of work to be done here. It's about as much work to do here as a HG Gundam, for reference. Off the top of my head, there are seams in the shoulders (which are particularly annoying because there's a different-colored part that has to be inserted between the two shoulder halves, so if painting this kit like I will eventually you'll have to paint the two halves and the piece in-between, then construct the shoulder, remove the seam, and then re-paint around the seam). arms, thighs, feet, weapons, head, and backpack.
Recent Master Grade offerings also have the benefit of helpful parts breakdown so that if not painting the kit, the model will still look pretty good on the shelf, and if painting the kit, will require little to no masking. In my personal opinion, Kotobukiya actually did a solid job of making the model appealing to non-painters, but if painting the kit, an inordinate amount of masking is required to get the model 100% accurate. This being my first SRW kit, I'm not sure if this is a running trend in the line, but it's certainly dissuaded me from purchasing any further products in the line (except for the recently-released 1/100 Huckebein Mk. II and 1/144 Alteisen ;D ).
For those curious about what parts need to be masked and painted multiple colors, you'll have to mask the backpack, gun, sword, claw thing, tri-barrel arm attachment, shoulders, chest, feet, legs, 'ears', and forehead. It's because of all this work that I decided to just assemble it for now and do this review; I'll save the unassembling and painting for a time when I actually have the willpower to go through the trouble. ;D It's interesting to note that the face and ears come molded in two colors each respectively (the face in grey and green and the 'ears' in blue and grey) to improve the appearance of the model built out-of-box, which is a nice touch.
What this model lacks in convenient parts breakdown for modelers it makes up for in surface detail. The Wildwurger is a fairly complex design, and Kotobukiya did a great job expressing it in plastic injection kit form. The surface detail is well beyond most of the Bandai Gundam stuff - this thing looks *sharp* assembled out-of-box.
In summary, I wholly recommend the 1/144 Wildwurger by Kotobukiya to those who snap their models. It's somewhere between the size of a 1/144 and a 1/100 Gundam, looks great built straight out of the box, and is a decent value at its retail price of about $25. For those who paint their kits, I'm a bit more hesitant to recommend the kit; there's a good amount of work to be done here in filling seams and masking for the painting, but if the sample photos in the instruction manual are any indication, the effort will be well worth it.
Onto the crappy pics! The Wildwurger was built straight out of the box. I filled the seams, but no other work was done on the kit.
The claw weapon on the right arm needs touching up especially.
A size comparison with a 1/100 Master Grade GP01FB and a Gundam Fix Penelope:
