So here’s the thing. I recently picked up the Option Part Set 8 (Multi Backpack) in a shop. There's a fair few of these in 30MM, but this is the first I've picked up. It's a grabbag of bits mainly, but the theme is one of stowage, with two different backpacks, but also a folding gun that can store inside one of the backpacks. This tied into a couple of things I like, mainly Gundam 08th MS Team, and from the Transformers comics, Brainstorm's Briefcase. I tried these with the Forestieri, but as great as that lad is, the proportions didn’t work. So, I started looking at another Rabiot as an artillery type dude. Happily, online retailer Gundammad had a few in, and was doing their “free random kit” promotion, so I rolled the dice. As you may have gathered from the pictures, things did not go according to plan.
Now, as it turns out, the whole munitions backpack thing doesn't play nice with the Rabiot and indeed several different 30mm kit types. This isn't just a matter of size, although it is big, the added weight is is too much for the chest joint. I've had a similar problem with a shelved project, and this style of chest design with the polycap just struggles to cope with additional weight on the back. If you’ve got a good polycap in there, you’re fine, but otherwise its doubtful, and I have no patience for a kit that dissembles itself when I try to pose it. The daft thing is that the Forestieri can cope with it, even though you're doubling the bulk of the robot, because it's designed differently, and the tooling is newer so things are a bit tighter. So, that was a bit of a bugger, and I ended up merely using the flip-out booster pack and stowage pouches instead. An option armour set was also applied, with the shield being spread-out over the left arm, and the Roy Roy staying in the box along with a few other bits.
As a side note, going back to the Rabiot after so long really does highlight how much the line as evolved since. Its better organised kit than some I’ve done lately, and still fine apart from the chest issue. More recent kits however are more self-contained, and refined.
The freebie kit however came to the rescue here, as it featured a compatible bustersword and stylised rifle. This came from the series SD Gundam World Heroes, and I must confess a certain level of polite bafflement. Cutesy versions of mobile suits are quite well established, but I didn’t realise they were doing Romance of The Three Kingdoms with ‘em. As these parts were translucent, I experimented with spray-painting and masking, in an attempt to to leave sections in their original colour. That didn’t quite work, so I ended up just using Soulstone technical instead. The Bustersword, like the main kit, was then weathered within an inch of its life.
So, like most of my recent 30MM projects, this was a palette cleanser, if one marred by technical difficulties. I was aiming for “serious real robot in blue”. Instead, I got “vaguely samurai techno-barbarian”. Now, that’s absolutely fine, as those are words I like, but I will be taking another swing at “serious real robot” when budget allows.
Meanwhile, my RPG group has dubbed it "Carnegie".
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