Gunpla: The RMS-106 Hi-Zack in Master Grade

 

It's been 6ish years since I started modelling and writing about Gunpla on a frequent basis on this blog. It's never been a regular thing, but it always was a thing, especially if we count the 30 Minutes Missions stuff. And as with Transformers of late, I find myself a little bored. So, I thought, fuck it, try a cheap Master Grade as a change of pace. Inflation has meant that the value proposition has actually started to change in relation to the newest High Grades, and hopefully the larger scale makes for a different build experience. Was it? And was it any good? Ummmm.... Well, let me waffle about the design a bit before talking about the actual model.

I gave a reasonable summary of the Hi-Zack way back when I talked about the HG, and my opinion hasn't changed much in the time since. There's no compelling in universe reason why the Federation and especially the Titans, should be using this machine, and doubly so in these colours. I do like the Hi-Zack though, and for much the same reasons as I like the GM III. It looks like an aggressively overbuilt bombtruck of a thing, a design upgraded and upgunned beyond it's original specifications. I find it's flaws interesting, and it's daft place in the canon to be compelling. It's space fascism repackaged and upgraded for a new generation to fight. Possibly the most self-reverential choice a sequel could make at the time, in what would become typical for the franchise. Every Gundam series gets it's Zaku clone in it's starter kit, it's scènes à faire. And those that don't have actual Zakus instead. The Hi-Zack is the first from that template. It's just that it's got a lot of the same components. It's machine gun is literally the same as the old one, maybe not the best choice TBH, but it's been modernised with a new sensor. The heat hawk returns, but bigger, and the leg missile pods have been upgraded and moved to a waist mount. More Freddie design elements have came in via a beam rifle, beam saber, chest vents, and a forearm shield with storage for energy packs. This also leads to the most baffling thing about the Hi-Zack, it's inability to wield two beam weapons at once. That really should not have been a problem, and there's been various attempts to smooth that one out over the years, with a lot more GMs and such carrying machine guns, a better pre-production version, etc. But you have options there. There are circumstances where you don't want beam weapons, a big axe has the advantage of being a big axe, and so on.

Now, I built this kit over several weeks. Its big, fancy, and probably not worth rushing. I'd build a limb or two over a week, as while not necessarily intricate, it was time-consuming. If only due to it's bulk. As such, I've been rather back & forth and up & down with this kit, as I encountered the bits that have aged poorly. And made some dumbass mistakes. This has a 2004 copyright and feels like a big polycap High Grade, with some very HG flaws. I did not expect stickers to colour correct the toes, the right plastic colour for it is right there. Nor a waterslide decal for the monoeye. I was not pleased to see the axe was moulded in one colour only, but at least its an ignorable grey. The plastic in general is prone to cut marks, being suspiciously similar to older HGs, and I had trouble with basically everywhere. Maybe I should swallow my pride and try sanding sticks?  Moving onto the more luxurious elements worthy of the title Mastergrade: the distinctive yellow cabling. These are made with rubbery bits, with individual plastic rings, and are generally a ball ache. I lost two rings because I am a muppet, but even if there were spares, these are inherently a nuisance to prepare. Meanwhile, the articulated fingers are nice, but have the inevitable issue with actually holding things. On the positive side, I did like how the legs go together, and the accessory count, even with that there's some awkwardness with the implementation. If you want to stow the axe for example, you have to use the missile pods, while the machine gun lacks a spare drum, but the beam rifle has three energy packs. It's not bad. And it's entirely possible for a kit to be rough around the edges and still be fun, especially if it's got a lotta guns. See the Zaku I. But this honestly this was more tiresome than therapeutic a lot of the time. The kit, much like the Hi-Zack itself, is simply outdated.

Having completed the kit, and still not having found the missing rings, I opted for a weathering job to downplay my mistakes, like an actual glue mishap on the left hand. I also painted the monoeye, which moves incidentally.  Normally this is the point where I start to feel better about a troubled project, but then realised another component had gone astray, and I wasn't having a great day in the first place. Its was a bit of cabling for the upper thigh, and not immediately obvious, but another annoyance atop of a series of annoyances. Soooo, I don't think I'm a fan of Mastergrades, at least of this vintage. Not for relaxation or therapeutic purposes.

That's a downer.

Warhammer 40K: Introducing Project Legs Eleven

So here's the thing, despite some reservations, I ordered one of those 11^th edition Armageddon boxes. I hope to have it today. I could easily blame the FOMO, (new previews and rules every day!) but truthfully I needed something to do. You might also argue that a loss leader starter box that will probably take me months to finish probably isn't a bad deal. There's a lot of new Orks in it, and I'm not opposed to having a paper rulebook either. That just leaves the marines, and I had considered just flogging these on eBay, I think I'll paint some of them too. As Crimson Fists.

You may not have heard of the Crimson Fists, because they are basically the snobbish hipster's beakie chapter. Turning up occasionally to please those in the know, they were on the cover of the very first WH40k rulebook, and featured in the very first scenarios, against Orks. It went badly for them, because they accidentally blew up their own fortress monastery with an air defense missile, trying to fend off an Orkish invasion. That was a tragic accident, apparently, and I will now allow the reader to take a leisurely 5 minutes to laugh about that one. 

We good? OK, let's continue.

As a result, the Crimson Fists are mainly known for being very few in number, and having an intense hatred of Orks. Oh, and having red hands. As an Ork player, such folks amuse me as foes. And they present a potentially interesting change of pace as a modeling project. I'll see how a few feel to paint, and if I don't vibe with it I'll move the rest on. The Ork angle meanwhile is more straightforward. Their presence in the starter box bodes well for rules support, although my existing army is quite complete. Unless the codex does something notably unexpected, the new stuff here is pretty much all I want. What I expect any new Ork codex to do is give me a lot of busy work as the Boyz, Grots, and Nobz kits get refreshed, likely reflecting the example set by this launch box. It has been stated that Rokkit Launchas etc for basic Boyz aren't going anywhere, but at time of writing, I strongly suspect that I'm gonna need to rebase a few things and such. This will be dull, so having marines as a palette cleanser won't hurt.

So, I'm gonna take my time here, and be a bit more relaxed about this as a project. I'm not forcing myself to do weekly updates, but it will likely be that if things go well. I’ve still got a  modest buffer of articles, so there’s no real reason to hurry. But I am planning on the following rough steps.

Stage 1: Gretchin and New Box Smell 
It's been a hot minute since I actually painted Orks, so a gentle warm-up won't hurt. If only to discover which paints need replacing. I'll probably dry-fit a few models too, as I'll probably want to play the game soonish. Does anyone know what's happening with runtherds BTW?

Stage 2: Shinys and Maintenance - Early July
Here I pick either one of the Ork vehicles, or one or two of the characters to work on. If anything is broken, I'll fix it then, as well as modernise my army lists etc.

Stage 3: Ongoing Alternations - July/August
Having got back into the groove, I putting the more basic marines into rotation, aiming for one unit at a time. I want to avoid burnout and take my time. I will most likely batchpaint the Boyz, but that's potentially a slog that my brain would rebel against, so I gotta pace myself. If something performs well on the table though, it's probably jumping the queue.

Stage 4: Blingy Beakies and the Book - September
Assuming things like the Intercessors went OK, I now move onto the more elaborate marines. These get quite fancy, and fancy it's not something I normally do, so I want to work up to that. Otherwise, if I didn't like the beakies? The Landspeeder might get looted, and the remaining bits go on sale. By this point the ork codex will likely be imminent and any rebasing or retooling etc that needs doing can be done at this stage.

Wish me luck.

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.

Not-Transformers: Dr Wu DW-E57B Giant Claw is Something That Exists

 

Something I find difficult when talking about the so-called third party Transformers scene is finding a fresh angle. It is necessary to acknowledge their dubious legal status, which tends to make any subsequent article an exercise in self-justification. But omit that, and you aren't being honest are you? And then, any discussion about the actual merits of an item runs into one sided comparison with actual Hasbro products. Third party tends to be better than Hasbro stuff, but of course it is. It's not subject to child safety considerations and typically costs loads more. Even with 2026 being 2026. You don't compete by being both worse and more expensive. This having been acknowledged, I find myself dabbling more in third party or non-transformers of late. I think it's just a side effect of Hasbro being Hasbro, and Age of the Primes generally being meh. I do wonder this represents a change in taste, or possibly an ethical decay on my part. But then, Hasbro wants to give J. K. Rowling money these days, so I suppose, fuck it, two wrongs make a right. As a result, Dr Wu's output has become my default "stupid convention purchase". If am at a robot convention, I want a robot. And would like to be something novel and/or awesome, that I wouldn't otherwise be easily able to get. I am just like that. Giant Claw is my latest such indulgence, a slightly chibi version of the Japanese exclusive character Black Zarak, a citiformer in miniature, whom now also turns into a box. I'm gonna talk merit, before talking about the issues. And hopefully find that fresh angle in the process.

The obvious question to ask here is, is it any good? And the short answer is, yes it is. Components here are overtly too small for a child, but it's got a lot to recommend for the size conscious collector. All the luxury touches you'd probably want are there. It's is notably still a headmaster, and the partner robot in gold is there. Both are, just to stress the point, tiny, but they are there. Its robot mode has a pleasing likeness, this colour scheme always looks great, well, except when I photograph it, with nice articulation, and a buttload of accessories. The tail assembly does limit the waist rotating, a modest downer, but there's transformation joints to use there. The fingers are articulated too, as are the gun turrets, which pivot up.  The base mode does the job well, although perhaps a touch better than the scorpion mode. Said scorpion does benefit from unexpected joints in the neck and horns, but the bug legs are too small. The box mode is merely adequate, not the best one, but an entirely acceptable as a bonus mode. There’s a certain degree of faff to it, as you tab the accessories in, but it works. So, most things are good. These seem to go for about voyager money plus a tenner, I don’t think you’ll question the value proposition here, if the style appeals. I just kept on having pleasant little surprises when writing this review, its that sort of good.

A lot of my issues here come down to nitpicks. It's just consistently well-presented and engineered, with imperfections usually justified by either the original source, or the cutesy vibe. Problems are often one of contrast, rather than cut corners or bad implementation. To talk about Giant Claw's actual weaknesses properly though, I'm gonna tangent and talk about another toy entirely, Iron Fortress. I picked this up a while back, and while I started a write-up, but it didn't quite come together. See the first paragraph. Iron Fortress was Dr Wu's take on Metroplex, mine being in Metrotitan colours, and was a very impressive piece with three partner robots. But impressive as it was, it was also undermined by it's own complexity and it's eyestrain inducing instruction sheet. The box mode wasn't worth the effort either, which is a bit weird for a guy made of boxes, but if you just wanted a tiny Metroplex, you're golden. Giant Claw is much closer in vibe and hand feels to my first Dr Wu purchase, Evil Dragon, but issues with the paperwork and an occasional fiddly bit do occur. The instructions assume that the toy comes in box mode, which it does not, and figuring that out in reverse isn't ideal. Said instructions also presume the regular release which has a different head design and also doesn't acknowledge the spear accessory for some reason. I figured that out too, but it's not ideal either. TBH, I'm not a huge fan of rifle and spear anyway, because you're having to work with and around those big claws, but I'm not seeing an obvious better way of doing it at this scale. There's also a certain amount of partsforming kibble which is inherited from its source material, and these are quite small parts. I could have lived without those gold panels. As a result, what should be a fairly simple process, shifting between modes, is not as elegant as it could be, but your mileage may vary on that one. Like I said, nitpicks.

 

All in all, Giant Claw is pretty good. Only failed by the instruction sheet, and the occasional 6/10 design choice. But as it so good, any flaws have a painfully sharp contrast. If they nailed the instructions, maybe going double-sided, Dr Wu would be unstoppable. Dunno if I found a fresh angle there, but hopefully this of use to someone. And yes. If Hasbro did something similar to this, I'd buy it.

WH40K: Why I’m not buying that new Armageddon book (yet)

Righty, a bonus article. Part blog update, part opinion piece. If you follow 40k news at all, you might have noticed that things seem a bit hype lately. We've had a few campaign books, with new units added, the most recent being the for Armageddon front, the famous orks versus guard meatgrinder. This one is almost perfectly tuned to interest me, but like the 10th ed Ork codex I'm not indulging. Why? Because 11th edition has been announced, and we've got maybe six weeks before it goes live. Yes, I probably could get some new models painted and get a couple of games in, but I'm not playing 40k regularly just now, and I have other commitments. It's an expensive and silly idea to even try. I need only to point to my Astra Militarum experiences as to why being an early adopter with FOMO is bad idea. Truthfully, my plans with respects to 40k are to wait for 11th edition, get a deal on a launch box, and paint it as a long-term project. It should be easier to find new sparring partners around then too, as everyone will want to learn the new game.  This Armageddon book will either be a flash in the pan, made obsolete before the end of the year, or an expense I can defer for a while. As the actual data sheets and detachments are free to download, it's not like it's urgent. Its not like the lore matters...

All that being said, I didn't want to let Armageddon pass without comment. And I currently have a suspiciously coincidental 6 week buffer on articles, so you get a bonus post, to help make it i vaguely topical. Presenting room temperature takes on the stuff that interests me.

 

Commissar Yarrick: Possibly the best single retcon in a setting made of retcons. So good to see this guy back, and I'm so glad he has interesting and powerful rules. As opposed to "anti-ork 2+" or some other targeted bonus, that kinda thing is deeply boring and can feel like a fuck-you. See the assorted Imperial Oddments factions for where this can go wrong. I dunno if his power in ordering infantry will last, nerfs are probable, but if I did indulge in named characters, it would be he. I'm looking forward to fighting him with my Orks, and he is supposedly amazing in Recon Element, where he would lead scores of hard-to-see infantry.

Commissar Graves: I don't think anyone was actually expecting a deranged lady commissar on a pimpmobile, but I think we're all happy she's here. It takes a lot of charisma and novelty not to be immediately overshadowed by Yarrick in this context, but I'd say yeah, she's doing OK. Who doesn't like an efficiently priced vehicle that does good support work and some melee? Definitely of interest in mechanised forces, although the on-foot version suffers from similar design issues to the generic commissar. I also expect fan art and memes, but I'm not gonna go looking...

The Centaur RSV: Yes, it's a fine Ork Trukk! I will be doing that eventually, as will about 100% of all Ork players. As a guard unit, it's definitely a welcome tool to have for objective play. It's current price is perhaps not ideal though, coming in at the same cost as the Chimera for a much less durable and less well-armed platform. What commentary I've read on this suggests that we'll see this unit as a ride for heavy weapon teams, Ogryns, or Kasrkin, which would be kinda boring, but ok. I'm not a huge fan of when Orks try that trick, trying to form a light tank or mobile bunker from a transport, and I don't think it fits the guard vibes either. Catachans and Combat Engineers probably have a nice new ride though. 

 

The Hippogriff AFV: And speaking of light tanks, we have this. I like the look of the Hippogriff. I like it's fire & fade rule. I also like how that new Armoured Infantry detachment plus this tank, means that guard can do more mobile styles of play, like mechanised but more agile. But I don't like the mislabeled weapons, and I don't like the price comparisons. For most things you want this tank for, you'd just take a Scout Sentinel, which is cheaper. Hellhounds and Chimeras are also potentially unfavourable contrasts, those being more established with the option for HK missiles. I do really want this unit to work though, and it looks to be a great board control piece. I suspect we won't have a good handle on this unit though for a while. Probably not until 11th is established and we know what is "optimal" weapon fit is. Is it all melta? Or does the cannon/stubber option have legs? We just don't know. 

Wazdakka Gutsmek: Yes, it's grand to see him with an actual model after all this time. And the model is incredibly extra.  Not my current vibe for Orks, and I'm not into Epic Heroes as mentioned, but I see the appeal. I would have liked more Orks in the Armageddon book, TBH, but if we're in the 11th edition starter box we're probably fine.

The Various New Detachments: Yeah, these look fun, especially the Superheavy Tank one. I'm not touching any of them until the meta settles though.

And to end on a sour note...

The Steel Legion Controversy: For heaven's sake, could we fucking not? I get it. I'm angry about the loss of the generic infantry squad too. And it makes sense that you'd want actual Armageddon troopers for an Armageddon campaign book. But Krieg started out as player 2 colours Steel Legion, just reverse the trick. Or look up Death Fields, maybe? I think the Catachans need the attention more.

 

Gaming: The Last Starship (PC, Steam)

So, I picked this up in mid February. I was in need of a fresh distraction, and this looked to be an inexpensive one. And its from the Prison Architect people, so that's pedigree. The demo was fun too, so I rolled the dice on the full version. I played it pretty intensely for a week, before pausing, and reassessing it. What follows is a brief discussion of it's positives, before moving onto wider discussion.

The Last Starship is a sandbox spaceship game, with a variety of gameplay styles. You can variously play as bounty hunter, courier, industrialist, cruise liner, or just stick to a thread of story missions that might teach you how to be those things. Mostly these are bite-sized chunks of gameplay, and you can pace yourself however you want. One aspect where it does stand out is it's 2D art direction. Your ship is always presented from the same isometric angle, so the universe spins around you as you turn. It's honestly a fun thing to do. Visuals are generally characterful and the combat isn't without it's charms. You switch into tactical mode, which has a wireframe/radar vibe, and things become about inertia and positioning. It's very age-of-sail at first, with ships kiting around each-other and such. Ship customisation is very much a thing, and it's probably the thing that the game does best. Yes, you can treat it as a base builder with a FTL drive bolted on, but there's definitely more things to be doing, with facilities to manage entire fleets of ships. Its pretty in it's way, with a lot of variety in things to do, and it's priced at 15 quid. Its a good value proposition, is what I'm saying. So why did I go off it like I did?

 

One thought  that did occur to me after 12 hours or so of fumbling around, was that I wasn't sure if the game was complex or shallow. There's an awful lot presented to you at the start, it's a big sandbox even before you get into other game modes. Figuring out the various systems is a big part of the experience, and you're probably gonna need to look at the odd YouTube video or two, despite in-game help. However, once I got a working knowledge of something, the game suddenly felt a bit simple and small. One thing I took to quite quickly was mining and smelting ore. I found a good spot, put in systems so I could produce my own fuel etc, parked up, and cranked up the game speed. I'd effectively turned this into an idle game, my efforts being so profitable that the bits I still had to buy were trivial percentages. My ship became like a cancerous tumor of capitalism, relentlessly consuming, expanding, while my faceless and totally interchangeable crew do muscle work. I got bored after that, and decided to do something else for a bit, easily buying my way into whatever I wanted to. I didn't bother with the robot arm and track automation stuff either, because there didn't feel a need. Ships have to get real big before human crew stop being practical. My point? Well, once you get to a certain level of wealth both risk and the desire to innovate kinda drops off. Sorry folks, this is no longer a games review, its Babbee's First Marxism. I suppose there's the creative mode if you just want to skip all that.

 

This is not me saying the gameplay loop is bad, I actually found it to be rather intoxicating in my neurodivergent way. But I would say the gameplay is functional and perfunctory in what it does, but rarely noteworthy at something. A jack of all trades, if you will. It's a typical example of it's genre I think, the sandbox aspects being a mixed blessing. Or I just found an obvious way to break the difficulty progression, I'm not totally sure. I did notice that much of the logistics and industry were relatively basic and automated. You have mining lasers to mine stuff out, and drones to collect the resources for example. And they will do this of their own accord, but direct instruction, of anything, isn't something the game does. There's no immediate scarcity of resources, nor large scale economics model that noticed, so it can feel like mining for mining's sake. Most of it feels like content for content's sake TBH. Or possibly a game that hasn't quite matured from its Early Access period. Ultimately, the it didn't hold my interest after its good first impression.

 

 

While I've not tried everything The Last Starship has to offer, I have spent 19 hours with it at time of writing, so I think I've seen a lot. And I think I've got a good way to sum it up. It's like an inexpensive buffet breakfast at a hotel. None of it is really that great, but most of it's OK. I've spent more to get less, but unless some killer DLC comes out for this, I doubt it will have a lasting impact.