Introduction:
I checked my list and saw that this was also a part of my “wish list” but having the budget to get the Bandai one would take a long time especially that there are lots of new kits out there that I also want like the Altron of Supernova, the Providence of Devil Arts, etc. Yes, I prefer the Bandai one even though Daban Model looks good. My client love this kit and assured that he will get one. And just after a few days when was I still building the Providence of DA, he showed me the picture that he already got the kit. I finished the HG Build Mk-II first then started with this kit.
I have a lot of positive expectations for this kit knowing that that brand is Daban Model because they have been releasing a lot of good kits with fewer issues. Of course, there were still problems here but I hope they are just isolated cases.
Again, please do ignore the typos you might notice in this article. But as for the terminologies, please do correct me so I can edit them again.
UPDATE (2017-06-10): After checking the wikia, I was correct that this kit was indeed Hajime Katoki's redesign.
Unboxing:
The box is the same with Bandai just with a few removed logos or markings. Even with these changes, the boxart looks really amazing and a real eye catcher among Gundam Wing fans. The box is thin though, so that made me think that the sprues are few and I was right.
The plastic bags are neatly packed inside the box so there were no damages. The bad side again is that they have packed 3-4 sprues in a single plastic bag. Most of them are small sprues but that can still scratch the surface of other parts.
You get 5 plastic bags here and only 1 of them is small. Take note of this smaller plastic bag because the sprue with the v-fin is here.
The construction manual looks really nice and the theme is very similar with the other Gundam Wing kits (ver EW). So this might be a redesigned version by Katoki. I could be wrong but that’s what I see based on the features laid out.
Anyways, here’s the list of the sprues/runners inside the kit. You have 17 sprues here where 5 or 6 of them are large.
The construction manual also features the gimmicks on the middle section of the manual along with some information about the mobile suit and even a small info about Frozen Teardrop. The last page doesn’t just show you the rear view of the completed model but also the front view, some painting guides about the colores used, and the usual advice in applying panel lining.
The next images will be the sprues/runners and other contents of the kit.
Sprues:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The first sprue or Sprue A features several runners colored in gray, blue, and red. The quality is smooth and glossy as expected from Daban Model. I saw a few flashes though so I guess they still can’t treat this issue. You also get a simple pedestal or action base which is a good thing, knowing that this mobile suit is designed for aerial fights. The Wing Zero Gundam ver EW (not sure if I’m correct with the name) doesn’t have any action base or pedestal. So this kit already gives you a nice bonus.
We get the clear stickers, dry transfers, and a small sheet of foil stickers. I will use the clear stickers and the dry transfers but I will try to replace the foil stickers with my pens in adding detail on the eye sensors.
Body Unit:
The inner frame is very simple and it features average parts separation. In the construction manual, you will see that you can apply the foil stickers on those green parts on the chest. I suggest you just let it be and the look is far better, if and only if you are not planning on painting the model. The abdomen portion is shown or instructed later in the manual after you built the head and waist, so I won’t have any pictures where this is attached on the body.
Overall, there are no snap fitting issues and my only problem here are the nub marks. It was smooth in my opinion but you may want to look or be careful with the main male pegs for the arms. There’s a tendency it may crack in half (the female peg attached inside the inner frame). And if this happens, the main male pegs will become loose and swivel a lot. :/
The body unit features a nice gimmick where you can lift these white parts up to reveal those machine cannons.
You can also pull the chest portion outward to reveal the cockpit. The main male pegs can be moved that much for some added range in posing.
These parts are for the abdomen and it was instructed on the construction manual a bit late and it's not part of the body unit assembly.
Head Unit:
The head features simple inner frame but with decent parts separation from the outer armor. You may want to be really careful with that v-fin because it looks fragile.
And here I thought it’s going to be a smooth build, but it’s not. There are lots of issues here with the parts. The facemask tends to fall off and the white forehead piece where the v-fin is placed is really tight. Both outer head armors are tight as well so there’s a seam line on the nape or back of its head.
I used my metallic green to color the eye sensors and avoided those foil stickers.
Upper Body Unit/Shoulder Armor:
This part of the body shows good parts separation to add color for Proto Zero. As for issues, be sure to take note on those encircled parts (parts E3) because they can fall off if not treated with some good adhesive.
That was just a very minor issue so it was a smooth build here with no other snap fitting issues.
The articulation here is awesome because you can move two parts here. The first one is for the beam saber slot and the other might be some kind of vernier/thrusters. You can also move the white flap on the bottom and the thrusters a few angle sideways.
There’s room for modification here like adding a booster like part that would fit inside. And this will show when the blue piece is lifted up. And instead of the beam sabers, you can modify this as a booster as well.
Arm Unit:
Another simple inner frame structure with below average parts separation for the outer armor. It can’t be helped since the arms are really simple in terms of design.
I forgot to add this hand guard piece and there were actually 4 types of fixed manipulators. (I always forgot these parts. I think my age is starting to grow on me)
The blue piece (Part I2) presses the edge of the parts E9+E10 too much that is why you will notice the stress marks pointed in the image. You may want to fix this by sanding just enough to slide the part I2. Other than that, there were no more issues to bother you and everything in the inner frame section fits perfectly fine.
The articulation is good but the range of movement is reduced from its design. You can bend the arm that much.
Just like the shoulder, there’s also room here for improvements. I thought of adding a modification here by placing those parts from Wing Gundam Zero Custom just to make it look less plain. Although, you may need to find a way for the other arm because the shield is placed on that slot.
Waist Unit:
The parts separation here is somewhat same with the MG Blitz Gundam. Detailing is nice and features average amount of parts to build.
There are no snap fitting issues here and it’s a smooth build here in my opinion.
Articulation is great but that body may affect its range of movement. You can lift the front skirts up like this (A) or move it sideways up to this degree (B).
The side skirt is limited in movement because of the front and back skirts.
The nice feature though is that the side skirts are separated into two and you can slide this fin-like part.
You can lift the back skirt this much up but I’m sure the body will get in the way.
Overall, it’s a good build but it was kind of a shame where they didn’t try to separate those parts in the front skirt. It’s not much of an issue but I just want it to look really good with parts to build. Besides, if those parts on the front skirts are separated, then other builders won’t need to do masking here. :P
Leg Unit:
Here are the parts for the leg unit and you can see the finished right leg on the mat. Actually the legs don’t have any certain designs to make it a left or right leg. That means you can switch any of them. The parts are also somewhat similar to the Wing Zero Custom.
Anyways, there were no snap fitting issues here and everything fits just fine. Just a few seams in the joints' mid section because they tend to slide off from their pegs or slots during movement. You can apply some adhesive here if you want.
The articulation is really great, thanks to the feature of transforming it into Bird Mode. The leg in the upper side shows the basic range of movement it can do in its Mobile Suit form. And the leg on the bottom shows what it looks like in its Bird Mode form. There were no problems during transformation as well and it was just as smooth as the Banshee I’ve reviewed before.
PS. I will not include any pictures featuring the Bird Mode. The transformation gimmick may be smooth but the kit isn’t mine. I have the means to do so but I just don’t want to risk any unexpected damages. Sorry about that. :/
Wing Unit / Backpack Unit:
So here are the parts for the Wing Unit including the Backpack Unit where the wings are attached. I built the other wing for comparison here in the exploded view.
Everything fits nicely and there were no other issues to bother you here.
You can open the wings and it will spread out into four parts.
This small flap or wing on each side can be slid out like so.
Also, not a big issue, but you may want to be careful attaching the main female pegs (connectors) to the wings. As you see in the image, there’s a stress mark when I attached the wing.
Articulation is great and you have nice angles for the movement of the wings. Some angles are not allowed because of the design of the connectors (I remembered that this can be called “hardpoints”?) but it was just enough to allow good posing for the model.
Weapons:
Twin Buster Rifle:
The iconic weapon for the Wing Proto Zero features average amount of parts with no other special gimmicks.
The other side is plain which is obvious because of the featured “twin” mode.
The only movable parts here are the handle and the connectors to attach them together.
In that certain angle in the image, it may still look like the same single buster rifle. But it is already in twin mode or attached together. It doesn’t have any problems and they connect just fine without detaching so easily. The lock is good and holds each rifle firmly.
Wing Shield:
One of the iconic weapons for the Proto Zero looks a lot sexier than the one I remembered in the series. Like I mentioned in the Unboxing section, this could be a remake of Katoki. I haven’t checked the information about the kit who designed it so it’s pretty much just based from my own impressions. This was also mentioned by my client that the kit isn’t the “original” Wing Proto Zero. He was also referring to the kit being redesigned by Hajime Katoki.
Anyways, there are no problems here in the shield. The shape can do resemble that of a bird’s beak that can pierce the heads of enemy mobile suits… or save one Relena. :v
The shield features a slide out gimmick on the upper part giving it an extended look. I am not sure if this is for the Bird Mode. There are also fins that can be extended out from the sides.
The shield has a rectangular peg that can be inserted in the hollow slots of the arms.
Beam Sabers:
Nothing special here and they were quite plain.
You can attach the beam saber handles here inside the shoulder armor.
Extras:
You get other fixed hands here and use them for holding the beam sabers, the twin buster rifles, or use the open palm for posing.
I am counting the beam saber effects as part of the extras as well.
Pedestal / Action Base:
The stand or pedestal is very plain with no other design. Well the good factor here could be the idea of focusing on the model rather than the pedestal.
The stand is has this snap-lock mechanism so you will have a hard time removing it again. Some builders would test fit them first, then dismantle, and then paint the stand. If you are planning to paint this pedestal and avoid the trouble of removing those “locks”, then paint it right away before making the final assembly. (Just my thoughts)
Anyways, there are two angles the pedestal features. You just need to pull the stand and change its angle to a lower position.
These are the connectors to the hold the model in mobile suit form and Bird Mode.
Decals/Markings:
You get the dry transfers and clear stickers here in the kit. I was told to place all the stickers and that I will do.
The dry transfer markings aren’t that great. It sticks to the surface too quickly even with a simple tap from a pointy or blunt object. There were also cases where I placed the marking on the cutting mat and prepare the adhesive tape. Then after trying to pick it up using the tape’s sticky side, the marking got ruined because some sections already stick on the cutting mat. :/
After a long day of placing those clear stickers, the model is complete.
Completed Model:
Articulation test!
Legs can still bend nicely but you can't lift the legs that much because of the front skirts.
If you move the sideskirts away on the back, you will be able to bend the legs same with Infinite Justice. With this feat, I'm sure Proto Zero can really perform a split.
No problems with the arms though but I am starting to worry with the mentioned inner frame part here. It might break if I keep moving it like this. :/
With the Wing Unit:
Here are the rest of the pictures and I apologize if they were few. I don't have any decent or clean shots either. :/
Now here are my personal ratings..
 |
| Design based from GDC card |
Plastic Quality: 8/10
The plastic may have a few flashes on the colored armor parts and for the inner frame but it was still great. I love the color and it’s not as dull as before on their older released kits. It was also glossy and there were no badly molded parts. I haven’t tried sanding the parts and it’s been a long time since I tried progressive sanding on a kit. After I ran out of 2000-grit sandpaper, I stopped the process because I need certain grit types and I can’t find cheap ones in local hardware stores.
Anyways, since the plastic is good and there are no flashes, that reduces the flashes or excess plastic strips inside the female pegs. The male pegs are also smooth making things easy to fit. The kit deserves an 8 considering the results of other builders who also tried this kit.
Assembly: 8/10
It was great and I don’t have trouble assembling them piece by piece. I don’t have any issues attaching the ball-jointed pegs on the PC parts (supposed to be tight) and they still feature a nice grip even with the easy assembly. Both inner frames on most parts fit just fine. Yes I said the word “most” because the Head Unit slowed me down. I had trouble attaching the outer white parts because they were tight. The face mask also tends to fall off during movement on its socket peg so I had to glue this face mask. The arms also have a problem with the outer blue armor which I already mentioned above. Some pegs were tight and often shows stress marks.
Just because I have obstacles to clear doesn’t mean I have to give a low rating. The legs, arms, waist and the body unit were fine in terms of assembly and didn’t cause me any trouble. Well the arms did show a minor issue but it was still good and easy to solve.
Articulation: 9/10
I think this rating is just right if we take the gimmick or the Bird Mode feature into consideration. There are sliding and other movable parts in the inner frame that we can put into count. Of course it can’t be helped it that the range of movement is reduced once you have attached all body parts. But with the correct angle, you can do a lot of extreme poses for the model. If the side skirts are removed, the Proto Zero can do a split which is cool.
There are also a lot of movable parts on the wing unit and this is a good reason why the Wing Gundam Proto Zero has good mobility in aerial combat.
Detailing: 7/10
This model already looks cool even without the markings/seals from the clear stickers. If you want to add these markings, I suggest you go for waterslides which is way better than the clear stickers. I have no complains here regarding its detailing or looks. If I am right about what my friend said that this is a redesign of Katoki (which might be true), then there were a lot of other detailing here that were just added and not supposed to be on the model. My friend mentioned that the small sliding wings or fins were added and they are not featured on the original design of the mobile suit.
Again, the model looks awesome with or without the paint. I don’t have the skills to paint the model but I really want to add some extra color here with yellow and gray. Just on some few parts like I usually do with my pens.
Weapons: 7/10
There were a lot of debates in my own head whether to give it a six or a seven regarding the armaments of Proto Zero. But that’s just about the kit can offer and there were no other weapons for the model. Then why the rating of 7? I put the gimmicks into consideration and compared it to the other kits. The Twin Buster Rifle can be combined and used on both arms which is a good pointer. Instead of the usual beam saber attached on the side skirts (SEED mobile suit reference), it is hidden on the shoulders giving it a “surprise!” expression when facing an enemy in close range. Instead of the common vulcans in the cheeks, you get hidden machine cannons on the shoulders. The upper part or the tip of the shield can slide to a certain length. This Wing Shield also have vulcans that can be used during Bird Mode, And yes, it is also added/included in the transformation gimmick as the head or nose of a fighter plane.
So you see, even though the model features a limited set of weapons, the gimmicks it can do can cover this certain negative side.
Gimmicks: 8/10
Putting the model into Bird Mode and plus the mentioned features of the weapons already boast nice factors as part of the gimmicks.
Extras: 5/10
Well let’s face it guys. There are no other neat extra items here in the kit. But we are thankful they added a pedestal or action base to pose it in mid-air.
Patience: 5/10
It was easy and fun to build. I don’t think it will consume you a lot of time to finish the whole model unless you are busy with work or school. Of course I am saying this as a straight build and it’s a different story how long to finish the model if painting were part of the process.
Overall Rating: 8/10
I love this kit because it’s really rare to see kits from Daban Model with very minimal problems. Daban Model may have copied it up to 95% close to Bandai. The sharpness of the detailing isn’t as good as Bandai but I think that can be fixed. If Bandai did designed this model with more parts, then painting the model would be less troublesome given the fact you will no longer need to apply masking tapes. :v
If I were to recommend this kit among builders who are new with the MG line, I think it is fine considering the experience that it has very few issues. And I am not recommending this kit just because the Wing Proto Zero is popular. The inner frame design or mechanism isn’t that complex and building the outer armor parts are really easy. So beginners can grasp the feeling of building a 1/100 MG kit without too much problems here with a bootleg. In terms of overall major quality of course I will still say to go for Bandai. But if the pocket is not so deep, then you might take this as a quick shortcut. Plus, like I mentioned earlier, the model already looks great but it still have lots of room for upgrades or modifications. If you don’t want to risk ruining or practicing your mods with a Bandai model, then go for this kit.
I don’t have any complaints in this kit because the tight peg issue or tight parts are common traits of a bootleg kit. I know that it’s also common for these types (I usually waterslides among “ver ka”) of kits to have dry stickers but I am disappointed they didn’t include any waterslide decals. I mean, Daban Model can stop following their routine where exact contents from Bandai are copied and replace the clear stickers. That may add some spike in the price for each box, but builders will not mind if that is the best Daban Model can offer, right? But it was a nice copied kit from Bandai. Daban Model did a great job with the low amount of issues and that’s what matters.
I will try to follow up the review for TTH Nu.
The 3 Bandai kits I have will have to wait but my friend wants me to build a few HG kits of IBO. Finally, I will have a few articles with the Bandai brand.
Thanks for taking a look on my short review. Again, if there is something wrong with the article or anything I have written that seems off, just do comment them.
Also, have a look on our Gunpla-related Facebook page - Click Here
No comments:
Post a Comment