Big thanks to the fantabulous folks at Gundam Mad for selling me this kit. This article isn't sponsored, but I at least have another poster from them to fit nicely on my wall.
That dress-like area of flash between Liquid's legs is actually where the peg that secures him onto the pilot's seat extends from, so you can guess why I haven't clipped that part off.
Now to put this chunky thing all together!
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| Hello again, Oculus cable! Is the foreground more comfortable than the background this time? |
This is a big occasion. I've had this kit's massive shiny box lying right next to my desk for
the past month, and only now have I finally gotten round to building it. However it isn't for the reasons of it being the first mecha model kit I've worked with that isn't from Bandai - having glimpsed the instructions, yeah they obviously label things differently, but from what I can tell it doesn't seem all that dissimilar from the sort of thing you'd otherwise get in a Bandai kit.
No, the actual dilemma for me was whether or not to paint the kit. On the one hand, the in-game Metal Gear Rex does indeed have a faint but visible camo pattern. But on the other hand, my confidence in painting a model kit isn't really at that level yet (I've only ever done camo painting on one model kit before, and that was the 1:72 Airfix Spitfire), and in any case, other reviews I've seen of the kit beforehand don't paint it. It isn't like the included parts aren't varied in shade anyway. However, I will at least give the kit some style by panel lining it throughout, since I personally feel that'll at least be better than having the subtle details of the model camouflaged amidst its various greys.
Let's not stall for time any longer, I already had to scrap an idea to open this post with a Codec call skit. Let's get that dummy thicc box open!
Right from the get-go, I hugely appreciate Kotobukiya's approach to runner design where they at least try to put the letter indicator in the corner. Helps out a ton when trying to flip through them, especially given how many there are in this kit.
I wish to focus on this grey pipe on the side, since the instructions say to insert it front-first. This is to ensure the hollow front end of the grey pipe lines up with the white pipe further in front so that the back-and-forth movement of the leg works correctly. I'm liking this kind of detail and articulation.
The spiky bits you see on the front in the above image were a little confusing to put together, but the idea is that the outer part has the thicker end facing down, and the inner part is pushed through with the pointy part down and the notches on the back of both parts lined up.
It was assembling the drumstick-shaped hinge part you see attached here that I noticed the polycaps used for this kit feel slightly more solid than the polycaps I usually work with. They're still the same kind of thing - noticeably softer plastic used to fill out joints - but not quite the same as the Bandai ones. That and they're shiny black plastic rather than matte dark grey plastic.
These small white panels (which are supposed to be where missiles are) were a bit of a pain. Sliding them in from the side then slotting them in flat with the help of my tweezers seemed to help, but even when I had the right ones for the right slots, they were still annoying to get into the right position.
Gotta say, bringing all this together makes each leg feel quite solid and heavy in a really pleasing sense. I'm excited to see what this thing looks like completed in person!
I didn't notice this until later, but the lower part of the mechanism in the second photo is the wrong way round. This was thankfully easy to correct (as you'll notice in later photos), but it's still a little annoying.
It was upon reaching parts F5 and F11 that I notice there's a shiny blue part already pre-applied to each of those parts. How peculiar. At least it means I won't need to fiddle with stickers during this kit.
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| Oh hey, now the hinge is on the correct way round! Maybe it'll actually fit on the cockpit now! |
Now it's time to dig out the figures and stick Liquid Snake in the pilot's chair.
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| It'd be authentic if I clipped one of his arms off and plastic glued it to a Revolver Ocelot figure. |
That dress-like area of flash between Liquid's legs is actually where the peg that secures him onto the pilot's seat extends from, so you can guess why I haven't clipped that part off.
It feels rather odd that the two light grey parts on the side you can see there have what look like internal connections facing outwards, but that does mean I have some outer armour to look forward to panel lining and attaching.
As long as you're careful with the clear L runner, the lights aren't all that difficult to assemble. Just make sure the clear parts are in securely.
The grey pistons that secure the light grey part to the cockpit were very fiddly to attach - I had to hold both the top and the piston in place as I attached the darker grey side panel to secure it. I feel like partly attaching the side panel with the back part kept open to fit the piston worked better. Either way, it was rather annoying.
To clear up confusion when attaching the uppermost part of the head, the hinged part sticking down from it fits through the square hole and hangs down. Yeah, the instructions aren't too clear about that.
Certainly looks like a Metal Gear Rex head to me. I'm really impressed!
These white parts on the side fit more snugly than they seem to at first. Angling them right gets them fitting correctly beside the gold parts at the front. Unfortunately, the instructions aren't too interested in telling you this.
Fortunately, they at least tell you to insert the covers for these missile launchers at an angle.
That gives us two legs, a head and a back. What we really need is something to fit them all together.
And then I found that the leg connections are some of the most annoying polycaps I have ever worked with.
These things legitimately do not fit well without lots of pressure. Like, not only are there several smaller parts on the legs that come off easily, but even when the ball joint fits into the leg's polycap connection, it still pops out easily unless you squish them in really, really hard. There's not even a click or anything. The instructions say nothing about any specific things to do when attaching the legs, so I can only pin this on an embarassing design decision. At least the join is solid if you get it right, but that doesn't make it any more fun to assemble.
The same thing could be said for the back part if it had just as much stuff to come off in the process.
Though now that the basic shape of the Metal Gear is done, I'm satisfied with how much of a hefty, solid-feeling kit it is. And we haven't even started the radome and railgun yet!
Let's give this thing a way to fling nukes without traditional propulsion! Because Kojima-science!
Something else the instructions aren't too clear on - the dark grey part you see sticking up has differently-sized bolts on either side, so if it doesn't seem like it fits, that's why. It's not even all that visible in the illustration.
Now for the weak spot- uhh...radome.
And now the moment of truth. Attaching these to the Metal Gear itself.
Splendid! There's just one last finishing touch and that's attaching it to the base in a presentable manner.
(and then I realized there was a dark grey part on the back that I forgot to add until I was cleaning out the runners, but it's definitely visible on the last photo, sssssssshhhhh!)
All in all though, a very impressive kit. Some slightly infuriating parts to deal with (in fact I had to PVA glue one of the parts on the feet because it refused to stay on), but my initial theory was otherwise correct - if you're confident with working with your average Master Grade Gundam kit, you should be good with this kit. The manual also includes a colour chart if you want to throw in some camo painting along the way, but if your confidence is the same as mine, this kit still looks really good with oodles of panel lining.
Stay safe and keep clipping, folks!
The Good
+ Large imposing size
+ Doesn't need a flashy colour scheme to look cool
+ Fun little mechanical details galore
+ Easy to move about once it's on the base
The Bad
- A few pieces don't stay attached without being glued on
- Polycap joints are secure, but need a ton of pressure to get them to click into place
- Getting the prongs of the railgun to stay sufficiently apart is a bit of a confusing exercise
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