Acknowledging
that it was gonna be bleak, I wanted to like Iron Blooded Orphans. I
gave it a go. Today's subject is from that series, brought prior to
watching, and fielded by the "Turbines" Mafia family. An
actual family, as it turned out, consisting of apparently dozens of
women, all married to the one guy. They have a crèche.
Somebody more eloquent than myself can unpack that one. Fortunately,
there's no shortage of other things to talk about here.
Ever
look at something, and think there's a cultural context you are
missing somehow? Like a idiom you don't get because you're literal
minded and don't know whom Gordon Bennett was? I get a similar
feeling with today's subject. There's something about it I can't
quite place, possibly supernatural, about that four-eyed faceplate.
The rest is more familiar, the chonk and bellbottoms look evoking
Zeon designs like the Dom. It's a good and interesting look, but it's
not what people are likely to mention about this thing. Unlike most
IBO kits, the Rouei has no internal frame at all, the construction
being similar to a conventional HGUC. There is no obvious reason why
this is the case, the external design offering no barrier to the
implementation of such a thing. It seems counter-intuitive too, as
the Rouei is a remoulded variation on the Hyakuren.
Surely, if you knew you were doing both, wouldn't you be aided by
having the common internal frame? Also, and I'm not quite sure how
to work this into the article, so I'll mention it now, the shoulder
armour looks like it should have another joint in it, but doesn't. As
it is, one can only suspect some cost saving measure at play. I'll
also admit to not realising this fact when buying, silly
me. However, all that only matters in
the context of IBO, and the absence of a Robo-skeleton is a
curiosity, not an objective problem. I wouldn't begrudge someone whom
passed on this kit because of that though.
The actual
build process proved to be quite a solid one, in both the literal
and figurative sense. Nothing leaps out as exceptional, but its a
no-fuss process. I like a kit that isn't finicky. It results in a
possibly more stable robot than the other IBO kits I've done, as its
much thicker in the mid-riff with big feet, so polycaps are less
vital to the balance of the thing. Its not without its problems once completed though, the fist plates being a nuisance during photography and couple of joints being loose. In other news, the build does rely on
stickers, with fricking humongous ones for the thrusters, in an odd
blue-grey. Aside from that showstopper, the stickers are otherwise
minor, and often go into recessed locations. I applied the smaller
examples, and took the opportunity to try paint here, which worked
wonderfully for the eyes. It also seems to getting better at avoiding
the cutmark problem too, so I'm pleased with how this turned out.
Let's
talk weapons. The Rouei is equipped with a pistol and club combo,
fitting the usual tactic in IBO were you to wear down a foe with
ranged attacks before crushing the cockpit in with a blunt
instrument. Its another good look, thanks in part to double-jointed
elbows, and both can store on the most ample butt armour. Throw it
on a flight stand, and you've got all you need for a great pose. In a
happy bonus though, this kit features all the weapons from the
original Hyakuren kit, just unmentioned on
the box. That's a rifle, two kinda-boxing gloves, and a sword +
sheath. Was that also a cost-cutting measure? Strange, but welcome.
To be
blunt: this kit had been sitting at the bottom of the to-do pile for
a while, due to the skelebob issue, fear of it being a lemon, and being less than keen follow those episodes I watched. But it proved
not to be a lemon. No, its more a kind of unbranded supermarket
chocolate. I feel if you are attached
to the characters that pilot this, you definitely won't be unhappy
with the experience. Otherwise? Well, it won me over, but don't
overpay?
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