Gunpla: The Wing Gundam Entry Grade

 Now for something a bit more basic. Bandai has for a while now been producing Entry Grade releases. Kits for absolute beginners, to get them started. Loss leaders, basically. These do however tend to be very interesting to established Gunpla fans however, as these tend to be very cheap, technologically impressive builds which compare favourably with High Grades in general, and indeed other iterations of the same mobile suits. No need for tools or glue, no polycaps, and largely ideal colour accuracy. I think if they did the Zaku II in this style it would be impossible to keep in stock . They have instead kept Entry Grade as relatively simple actual Gundams, often with accessories omitted. The Wing Gundam is a recent addition to this line, possibly the most recognisable example to western fans. It comes from Gundam Wing, or more formally New Mobile Report Gundam Wing, the first series really make an impact in anglophone countries, and I've featured models from the series on this blog a few times.

First off, the obligatory context and biography paragraph. While the Wing Gundam might be assumed to be the protagonist mech of it's series, and it certainly was positioned that way, it's treatment within the series doesn't support that. It was intercepted on its approach to Earth, and so it's pilot made repeated attempts to destroy it, and himself, for fear of it being captured by the enemy. Eventually said pilot, one Heero Yuy, gets over that, but still ends up destroying it in response to a Trump style threat. It is then rebuilt by a foe, as a gift no less, subsequently outmatched by newer robots, and abandoned. It's final act was to be used in a desperate but successful attempt to get somebody to move out of the way of a big laser, a footnote in someone else's unrequited love story, but not a terrible way to go. It probably doesn't help that Heero was arguably more dangerous than the machine he piloted, and he subsequently acquired the Wing Zero, an almost total upgrade, except for that nasty habit of causing insanity. It also doesn't help, to paraphrase a friend, "that it's not the Tallgeese". But, on its own merits, what is the Wing like? A gun that flies with a somewhat unconvincing bird mode. It's buster rifle could melt whole squads of Leos in one go, and it was agile in the air. Said gun however had only a three shot capacity, and it's other weapons were unremarkable. As such, it was a machine that was mainly good for acts of terrorism, or airstrikes. Which amount to the same thing, of course.

As a build, the Wing punches above it's weight, but the budget is felt. It does have some immediate flaws, but not anything you'd consider unacceptable in a full HG that has a lot of white. It looks great immediately after assembly. You'd need a bit of black for the shoulders for example, and the inside of the shield is the wrong colour, but who cares? A flaw typical of the range is the absence of a beam saber, but no great loss. What is less acceptable is how the buster rifle is one colour when so much attention was paid to the body. Your mileage may vary on that; these aren’t necessarily difficult colours to add, nor obnoxious by their absence, but they are absent.  Meanwhile, the mecha feels light, is visibly hollow in places, and is loose in it's joints. Not fatally so, not unforgivably so, but not great. Can it transform? Yes, it can, but the instructions don't mention it. Possibly because the loose joint issues are quite noticeable and there's no securing tabs to hold things together. I decided against photographing that because it isn't worth the hassle.

For this build I opted for basic techniques such as panel-lining in grey with occasional paint applications. I experimented with gundam-markers and some conceptually similar paint pens by Posca. You can get some pretty decent colours that way, but I should mention that I have a medically recognised condition called “being cack-handed”, so things didn’t come out super-great. This why I go so hard on the dry-brushing and inking with other stuff, mistakes only help with that. I think I got something vaguely passable, but my paints just seem to hate gunpla plastic…. I ended up using a big black marker in places. Frankly, I shouldn't have bothered. Not everything has to succeed to be usefully, creatively speaking, I feel I made it worse in trying to fix it. And then trying to fix the fix.

If you’re a beginner, happily give this a go, but if you’re a perfectionist, I advise caution.

Plamo: The 30 Minutes Missions Levinix Type A

 

OK, so here's something I picked up as a slight change of pace, that didn't quite vibe with me, and didn't come out quite right... so it it got pushed back on the schedule.

 

The Levinix Type A is based off the Spinatio, meaning that it's a lithe and flexible mecha once completed, and comes with five hand options for easier posing. It's main selling point is the substantial use of translucent plastic in it's accessories: a big shield, a quartet of knives, and two revolvers with bayonets attached. Notably they haven't tried to just reinvent the beam saber here, it's more like glass, probably/hopefully bulletproof glass in the case in the shield. The design of the knives and their leg holsters is something I like a lot; there's maybe an Attack on Titan influence with that. I'd probably point to the Spinatio Ninja type as it's main influence though, otherwise it's a bit generic-protagonist-prototype with a hint of psycho-frame. Maybe it's got a bit of Syd Mead with the head, but that could just be the white of the Type A version. As you may have gathered by now, I would grow not to like the shield and bayonet revolvers once built. Neither seems proportioned quite right, the revolvers especially, and with translucent pieces this big, you can have cutmark issues easily. The shield needed a hand grip too, because it bumps into the shoulder armour as is. While not critically flawed or anything, the revolvers and shield feel a bit first draft. Or just off another machine entirely. So off they came.

Deciding to make the best of a bad job, I rebuilt the shoulders without armour and re-imagined the model as a knife fighter. I also tried to keep the bright and colourful nature of the kit, so I tried to be more restrained with the weathering, applying ink with a tiny brush. It's still more messy than I wanted, but nothing stains more easily than this shade of white, so OK I suppose. Funny story, I did think about getting the black variant, but choose the white as it was more outside of my military green comfort zone and less of a nuisance to tidy up. Maybe not the best choice now I think if it. Also used here is one of those new AK paint pens, an aluminum one, to pick out a few details. The tip isn't small enough for panel lining unfortunately, but there seems potential there as an alternative to Gundammarkers. As a finishing touch, I attempted to paint the codpiece magenta, to break up the white. And, frankly, that bit looks too much like a heart to be accidental. Not with this many blades...

 

I'm not especially happy with how this turned out. I wasn't aiming for "dirty knife weirdo" when I ordered this or put it together. But if that's a valid outcome, I suppose it isn't terrible.

Transformers: Titans Return Triggerhappy & Blowpipe are Something That Exists

The 1987 Transformers Triggerhappy toy

Back when I did that write-up for Scourge, one of the toys I held up as a positive example was Triggerhappy. Two thoughts soon followed. 1) why don't I dig him out?  And2) Is he actually as good as I remember? And so here we are, for a jaunt down memory lane. A wee bit of context first though. While I don't have many especially strong connections to G1 toys, Triggerhappy is a rare exception. He's one of those latter G1 guys that didn't get a huge amount of attention except as part of his subgroup. He mainly served as one of Skorponok's targetmasters, part of a team of thuggish jetformers with guns that turned into little dudes. Like his teammates, Triggerhappy had a sci-fi altmode, but his starfighter form was built around quad cannons, which you could mistransform for use in robot mode. This kinda made his little buddy Blowpipe a bit redundant, it's true. I had this toy and I remember enjoying it at the time. He was one of my guys. The version created for Titans Return recasts Blowpipe as Triggerhappy's head, and we'll come back to that momentarily, but thus far, this is the only revamp the pair ever got. Let's see if it holds up.

 

I realise that while I've done numerous Titans Return based articles over the years, it's probably pertinent to restate the basics after I glossed over it last time. A Titanmaster is a rebranded and modernised take on the old Headmaster concept, where a small robot becomes the head of a bigger robot, while also serving as a pilot or driver for their vehicle form. The fictional implications of this need not detain us at this juncture, it would take a while, but Titanmasters differ from Headmasters in a few ways. They are typically smaller, better articulated, while having peghole and tab connections in the legs for more interactivity. There's also attempts to improve the appearance and proportions of the resulting noggin, like with helmets and such in bigger toys, but it's face isn't concealed or anything while the Titanmaster is off enjoying their independence. Solo Titanmasters can be quite amazing, although the ones paired with larger toys got routine after a while, and Blowpipe is no different. He's not redundant anymore, but not like he got a particularly interesting sculpt nor any paint apps at all, all that saved for Triggerhappy. He does pilot Triggerhappy's altmode quite well, and the two handheld guns can peg together for him to sit on, maybe for use as a gun turret and such.  It's not hugely good, whatever that is, and it’s too bulky for use in Triggerhappy's jet mode. None of this is a negative in the context of the toy, but I should mention the TakaraTomy version, which presents Blowpipe in targetmaster form as well, at the cost of the regular gun accessories. As confusing as that may be, that's probably an objective improvement, but good luck finding that one for a sane price. Siege also did a version of Blowpipe a few years later, and that's probably easier to get a hold of. So Blowpipe is mainly just there, but unless you're a Geewunner or a perfectionist, he's doing the set no harm.

Now then, the Cybertronic spacefighter mode. I wonder if I'm either stating the obvious or presuming your tastes, dear reader, but this is sheer charisma isn't it? The sort of thing that ends up on propaganda posters on a aircraft nerd's wall. Or possibly a Toaplan verticle shooter. Let us acknowledge that it probably isn't aerodynamic, there's unwelcome hollow areas, and there's the old undercarriage junk problem common to jetformers, with his thighs on display. And I do acknowledge that nostalgia is a factor for me here, and I probably imprinted on this like duckling. But this is great, yes. It looks like something made of speed and gun. And here's the thing, it has a port for a figure stand. Lots of Transformers have these, but I usually forget that these exist as I don't have the desired type of stand. Then I remembered that the Action Base I use for Gunpla can work, and tried that, and wow. There's also an assortment of 5mm ports, flip out landing gear, and two pegs on the back end so Titanmasters can stand there. Because of, uh, reasons? Factor in effective use of plastic colours and a variety of paint apps, and you've got a 9/10 altmode.

 

Transformation is another highlight. I don't often talk much about transformation as it often becomes a dry blow-by-blow of the process, but Triggerhappy does do a few novel things. While gun housings and engines do become the arms like on the original toy, the cockpit block spins around to create the torso, with the nosecone ending up on the back. That's pretty clever, and benefits the robot mode in several ways. This style of conversion turned up a lot in Titans Return, not least because Triggerhappy's parts were reused for his teammates, but I don't recall this being done much recently. Maybe they do it somewhere where I'm not paying attention, like Studio Series...

So then, the robot mode. Perhaps not as appealing as the altmode, but ticking all the right boxes. Visually, it's favouring the comic and animation designs over the toy, although not as slavishly as say a post-Siege toy might.  As such, the head uses paint to achieve a red faceplate and yellow eyes look, which reminds me more than a little of Deadpool, although I suppose he and Triggerhappy would get on well. Otherwise he's mostly blue and grey plastic with a top heavy build, but there's like five different accent colours on the go here. I don't know how you would make this look better without a fundamental redesign or hitting diminishing returns. The weaknesses come however from articulation design, and a slight case of Reality Ensues. Due to the transformation, Triggerhappy has what I'm gonna "Inverted Universal Shoulders". A lot of transformers, when not using ball joints, connect the arm to the body with a rotation joint, where it moves forwards and back. Triggerhappy’s arms however attach at a tilt joint where the arm moves up and outwards for a T pose. See also: Tarn. It's not bad, but it feels the wrong way around. And then you hit the problems that occur from attaching gun barrels backwards to his shirt cuffs and wings to his shoulders. It's definitely something you need to work around, but the obvious solution is to just give him gunhands and then refusing to look back.…

I had a bit of journey rediscovering this one. A lot of Triggerhappy's strengths and weaknesses are shockingly close to modern toys, but maybe he's not quite as good as I remember him being. Hollowness and the arm joints aren't great, but these are still issues that more recent releases can have, and aren't inexcusable. Paint applications and visual design are also on point, and while Blowpipe could have used a bit of colour, today's toys skip details too, and frankly they haven't done Targetmasters better of late, have they? Triggerhappy doesn't have ankle tilts, but he does have angled feet, the option for gun hands, and nails the altmode. The worst thing you can say is that it's maybe too faithful to its source in places, but I'll take interesting weaknesses over mediocrity most days.

Plamo: 30 Minutes Missions, Armored Core VI: The BD-011 Melander (with Weapon Set 03)

 

So I finally got one of these. Eventually. For the unfamiliar, the Armored Core series is a franchise that's been around since the PS1 era where you play a mercenary with a highly customisable giant robot. You are encouraged to swap parts subject to your mission requirements, in a world which is basically cyberpunk corporate warfare meets real robot tropes. The Dark Souls people make it, and mainly did so before they got really famous for making Dark Souls. I've not played the most recent game, that would require newer hardware, but it seems to be on brand. Meanwhile, having Bandai's 30 Minutes Missions people on the tie-in model kits for the game is a pairing up there with giving Games workshop the Lord of the Rings license. This is Lego-makes-Minecraft levels of merchandising collaboration. So, high hopes here...

I picked up the Melander here, not a proper name, it's more a matched set of parts than a specific Armored Core used by a named pilot, because it seemed a nice entry point that also hit me in the nostalgia. It's similar in style, if not the specifics, to one of the first ACs ever seen, in the opening cinematic of the original game. It's much more detailed a sculpt mind you, if very lightly armed with just a rifle, so I got a weapon set too. Incidentally, Shoji Kawamori and Kazutaka Miyatake did mecha designs, and while I can't tell who did what, that's like having Benicio Del Toro on a monster movie. So this stuff looks great. Like I said, my expectations where high. Did it meet those expectations? Mostly. The first thing you notice about the Melander is, and I would assume this holds true for the line in general, is that it's not doable in 30 minutes. I'm sure someone has, but the regular 30MM stuff is simple sandwich construction, the Melander largely is not. Odd bits like the hand and shoulder design are relatively mainstream 30MM, in the sense that those solutions work, and why reinvent the wheel? Otherwise you're looking at a lot of small pieces like the monoeye, and a substantial increase in parts count for each sub-assembly. This is not to say that the Melander is unduly complex, far from it. But it's got a lot more plastic in it, with a sort of layered detail thing going on. Its also pretty big compared to most kits I've built lately. If the 30MM branding means anything here, it's about construction and joint design, the technically impressive stuff, not speed.  To go back to arms again, I'd say these are the weakest aspect of the kit, attracting cutmarks, and I somewhat unfortunate shoulder seam I thought was a panel line until it was too late. Articulation is also unexpectedly limited there. ACs aren't ninjas or anything, but the absence of a balljointed wrist was a surprise, as was the 90 degree elbow. The joints seem to be optimised for load bearing, which given the size of some guns in the game is understandable, but things in general seem a bit less polished than they might otherwise be. Like having one thruster repeatedly pop out.

That said, the model does look good with basic weathering techniques and a flight stand. It's a very greebly design, so drybrush and ink wash techniques work well, and it's not unarticulated really. I tried a few different metals for different components, and attempted a glowing red eye look. It did amuse me to realise that the plastic colours are the nearly same as the Baskyrotto. Largely satisfied with the look, I then added a few bits from Weapon Set 03, and these were weathered in much the same way. I had toyed with the idea of making that discussion it's own article, but there's only so much to say about a upgrade kit in isolation. You get two shotguns, a pistol, a missile pod, and a little gun drone type deal. These are cast in a simple grey, so maybe something you'd paint, and are fairly conventional builds for the most part. Where these differ from regular 30MM, or Gunpla in general, is that these have an explicit build for left or right side use, and in the case of handhelds, a tab for stowage on specific body types. Sadly, these weapons got more disappointing the more I read the instructions. You have parts for two shotguns, but only one business end, do you can't build both.

ARRRRGGGGHHHH! What a frustrating waste!

Two further disappointments manifested here, in that the Melander AC doesn't have the option to to stow the pistol, and the deployed version of the gun drone requires a stand you have to buy separately. I ended up going for the shotgun and missile pod because that seemed the most fun, and saving the rest for another day. 

 

While a generally good and attractive builds, neither kit I talked about today feels as awesome as I would have liked. That might have been my mood at the time, or it might have been the value proposition, these being not expensive, but definitely not inexpensive either. There is a lot of plastic here, don't get me wrong, but the Melander probably needed a laser blade or something to round things out, and the weapon set is disappointing. Then again, the social media response to this was very positive, and I would get another.

Transformers: Titans Return Scourge & Fracas are Something That Exists

 

Let's do something a bit different today, and talk about obsolescence. Some toys just get made redundant by later releases. Sometimes you just need a do-over, and if a character has been off the shelves of five years, they're probably fair game. The problems occur when Hasbro chases the stupidest of stupid design goals, and cycles too quickly. Case in point, we probably didn't need another set of seekers this soon. Today's subject matter is one such obsolete toy, Scourge, from the highly-regarded Titans Return line.

 

Appearing in the 1986 movie, Scourge was a bearded and seemingly self-replicating villain, its complicated and I can’t be arsed to discuss that now, with a something of a vampire vibe. As such, he's had numerous toys, although it wouldn't be until 2020's Studio Series release that we got a version considered to be definitive by most. I've not got that one, but I've got no reason to think they did a bad job with it. It's probably the best the character will ever get at mass retail unless Hasbro wants to go extra hard for an anniversary or something. This Titans Return version was an earlier attempt, coming after a largely superior TF2010 release, although that one wasn't trying for cartoon accuracy. TR Scourge was, for many people, the first serious attempt at doing a G1 version, because nobody likes to count the Titanium version. However, baked in at conception, was a conflict. In Titans Return, almost everyone had the same my-head-is-also-a-little-guy-that-drives-my-alt-mode play pattern. And Scourge never was a Headmaster, but he was sometimes a Targetmaster though, with his little gunbuddy Fracas now forming his head. So geewunners were a bit split on that and similar choices. The toys from Titans Return that have aged best either didn't have that concern, or were generally so well made it just didn't matter. Scourge unfortunately isn't in either category.

 

This toy is actually a useful case study for the weaknesses and teething troubles of Titans Return wave 1, not for it being terrible so much as embodying those problems all in one place. The key gimmick suffers from two angles, a flawed neck clip and an oddly proportioned faceplate that seeks to retain that characteristic headpiece/gun. As result, he looks weird, like he's either wearing techno earmuffs or his face doesn't fit his skull, and nothing is especially secure so he rattles like a bobblehead. He also has that early TR tendency towards obnoxious block colours, manifesting here in a very blue robot mode with equally blue weapons. Aggressively blue, almost, but at least they painted the face on Fracas. You might be asking if TakaraTomy fixed any of this, they as often went out of their way back then to make these toys as G1 anime as possible? Doing retools, adding targetmasters, and reshuffling accessories and such? Well, they fixed the colour issue, but not the design issues. It's also worth mentioning that, even with those cosmetic improvements, Scourge doesn't rate as that good a deluxe by the standards of both Titans Return or modern Generations. This guy predates things like ankle tilts as standard, omits a waist joint due to the transformation, and he certainly isn't a Triggerhappy or a Topspin.

So, this lad kinda sucks. Yes, the altmode seems OK, but that's only because you can't see the underside. Or the backend. Its largely a matter of laying his beheaded body flat, and wrapping it with his cape. He was carried by G1 nostalgia and that stopped with the Studio Series version. It just doesn't seem to have been a huge priority for the design team, and given the extent to which his engineering was reused were in later releases, the lasting contribution of this toy was as spare parts. By all accounts, it shelfwarmed to buggery. And still does, if my Toy-Fu experiences are anything to go by. But is it totally without merit? No. You've got two guns, these combine if that's your thing, two usable modes, and the wonderful Titans Return play pattern. The shoulders are pretty good, if you want faint praise to damn it with. So, it's mainly just something that exists, but at least its consistent in it's mediocrity.

WH40K: Thoughts on that new Cadian Recon Squad

OK, here's a few words on these guys. I'd actually forgotten about them until their 40k rules materialised, because A) it's very busy for 40k stuff just now, and B) in no way is anything from Cadia gonna be outshining Armageddon just now, when C) 11th edition is impending. But, I do think there's something worthwhile to talk about. 

 

The obvious thing to say about the Cadian Recon Squad, other that point out their Kill Team name of “Spectre Squad” is much sexier,  is that are Infiltrators. This means they do things like board control and mission objectives well, although the specifics of how 11th ed missions are still uncertain at time of writing. Making judgments about how good they are just now is unwise, so I'm not gonna, but there is obviously competition with Ratlings and Gaunt's Ghosts. The Recon Squad compares most favourably with the hobbits, due to being typical guardsmen profiles, but with more of them for a modest surcharge. It's not a 1:1 comparison in form or function however, as while Ratlings are better snipers and more agile, they just can't get a meltagun. The Ghosts are obviously more capable with that uppy/downy thing and named character energy, but you can only ever have one of those, and it costs more. More generally, the Recon Squad sets somewhere to the side of Kasrkin, being generally less elite, but still having decent weapon options due to this unit being designed for Kill Team first. The Recon Squad also brings a USP with it's Order shenanigans; only needing to be ordered once a game, and offering a servoskull for a bit of WiFi hotspot action. So, nothing overly amazing here, but probably a unit you could work with. What made me want to talk about these guys were the weapon options though. There's a lot of Kill Team bitiness going on. There is a Sargent, but he has no sword or fancy pistol. The lasguns all have the Assault keyword, an interesting choice but not unwelcome in this context; these chaps will want to run. There's a medic on the sprue whom goes ignored. Oh, and there's a guy with a sawn-off heavy stubber. But what is most interesting? There's a heavy weapon team in there!

 

 

I thought such things were prohibited since the 10th ed codex! Are we getting more stuff like this? Might some hypothetical future battleline unit do this also?! It's not executed as two guys to a base either, it's two distinct models, thus bypassing some rules faff! Yes, I know it's only a missile launcher, and those are mid to the point of being a cucumber sandwich in weapon form, but it's still a step up from lasguns, right? Right? Well, to talk about weapon balance again, I do think there's actually a choice to be made here, and without a screamingly-obvious musthave. A unit such as this probably isn't holding a gun line. It's off doing mission stuff instead, moving about, maybe getting close. So do you actually need the missile launcher, and the pistol armed loader, with these guys? The alternative being a lasgun and sniper rifle? It's a question worth asking, certainly. If lethal hits are a thing, I can see the case for leaving the missiles at home, instead advancing a lot, focusing on similar light infantry, and maybe the occasional assassination. Then again, you can also do the old school generalist loadout of Plasmagun and Missile Launcher.  Plus the machine gun and sniper set. That might make the unit a bit passive, but there are worse units to punch up with. Much is unknown about 11th edition, but I think they got the balance right with this one.


Although, maybe its a shame that most people won’t notice...

Plamo: The 30 Minutes Missions Iglight 02

You know, it's been a hot minute since I last checked in with 30MM, I wonder what they're up to?

The Iglight 02, I didn't see the 01, is one of the newer 30 Minutes kits to materialise at my local nerd shop. Something of a soft reboot, it goes back to basics with three concise and briskly organised runners, putting me in mind of the original Alto and Portanova kits. It is however something of a clean sheet design, drawing on the five-ish years of experience. Polycaps aren't present, and it's clip joints all the way. The Roy Roy partner drone thing is still present, although these seem to have gone a bit targetmaster this time, with a pair pulling double-duty as weapons. Another innovation this kit brings is that parts are designed to be removed from a sprue without the use of tools. This isn't super new or anything, Blokees does the same thing, but I made a point of doing so here, as part of the whole 30 minutes thing. No tools? So faster and easier, right? I can report that it works pretty well, as I was cleaning with just my thumbnail in many places, but the light green likes it better than the dark green. The 01 version probably doesn't have that problem with it's white and purple, but that's got more of a Gundam protagonist look TBH.

Once assembled, the Iglight is a very skinny, very-very skinny, but just as posable, grunt. The overall vibe is similar to that military Spinatio I did a while back, while the moustache and shoulders are similar to early Alto parts. While already skeletal, there's notable hollowness in areas like the knee joints and ankles. This is the only area where I felt I felt the price-point biting. Well, that and the Roy Roy drone that doubles as a shield. That needed a sensor or something. This was a notably cheap kit by local standards at £13, and while I've paid a lot more to get less, I feel it's worth a mention. Things I do like include the rotating arm mounts, the way the blaster can become a sentry gun, and the head. In a clever bit of design, possibly unintentional given the paperwork, the translucent visor pegs into the head so as to suggest eyes behind the glass. The other translucent bits in shoulders just kinda get lost though. Meanwhile, there's an adjustable, ECOAS style sensor pack to cover all that for the Splinter Cell look. It's all very characterful, in a pleasant distraction kinda way. Its not complex, but it is elegant, and in a style I like. Whereas the Gelgoog was a revelation with fictional baggage, this is a simple meal done well. 

I did a basic weathering job on this, picked out some details and put some leftover mud paint on the feet. It worked pretty well. Would buy another as a palette cleanser.