Ah, its 30 Minutes Missions. Not 30 Minute Missions. That’s a typo that’s lasted basically the entirety of this blog. Bugger. Moving on.
One of several non-TF purchases I made at TFNation, the Esspositio Alpha represents an evolution of the 30 Minutes Missions concept. Having spent several years perfecting quick build grunts, we now get transformable kits. Kinda. Actual transformation is usually asking too much of a kit of this size, so the Alpha converts like the Wing Gundam, Airmaster, or any number of designs that like to ball up and attach a shield. It's a scheme where form follows function, not about disguise. There is apparently a Beta version with a combination thing going on, but I was not aware of this at the time.
Let's
talk more about the visuals. The robot mode is pretty much all leg,
with reversed feet, and the kneepads being the main engines in flight
mode. This gives it a certain ungainly appearance, but also a
feminine one. I'm put in mind of mecha musume works, but this could
just have easily have been design practicalities. The colours and
flight form are much more evocative of the Zeta Gundam and its
assorted spin-offs specifically the Zeta Plus A1. But its got its own character. I love how the
scalp becomes an implied cockpit, and the way the leg panels move
about. It does pretty much all it can to change its silhouette, and
within its niche, I'd say a good job was done. However, it's not a
toy, and I would have liked some securing tabs.
Construction was very much in the 30MM style, using the common joint sprue. The main variation was a new clip joint in the upper chest to facilitate transformation, and as there is no ankle armour, those ball joints went unused. The runners are more numerous than usual too, presumably due to the flight bits. It's not difficult as such, I'm just making an observation. I actually built it while idly waiting in for an appointment. Not wanting to dirty this one up, I panel-lined it in grey a few evenings later.
A nice little kit, this.
No comments:
Post a Comment