Zoids and Stuff » 2000s Misc Releases

GZ-006 Zabat (Build Review)

RCM — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 23:05:48 +0000

This review has only one thing to mention, but it’s an important one.

Point of no return:

Once you put B3 and B4 on the body, they are on there forever! I ruined my Zabat trying to take it apart for a swap. The tab that’s highlighted cannot stand the strain of trying to remove those pieces later.

GRZ-013 Gul Tiger GC

RCM — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 21:48:08 +0000

Words are coming, but for now here are some pics I took to test out my new lens.

Things to note (and eventually write out in a better fashion):

This took less than half the time to build as the OJR would have, since the entire motor/gearbox unit came pre-built. For a taste of what you’re missing, see WIKD’s review!
GC stands for Gyrocrafter and was originally sold separately as GU-05.
You can also attach GU-03 Eye Flasher to this, which I am hella going to try, ~~as soon as I find where I stashed that thing~~ RIGHT NOW.

HMM-015 Iron Kong

RCM — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 19:52:56 +0000

For the longest time, people have wanted an HMM Kong. Especially me! But now that it’s out, and I have built it, I’m kind of disappointed, because it did not overcome the worst qualities of HMM kits—the fragility*. I haven’t gotten around to it yet, but this one’s going to require serious amounts of glue just to keep it from shedding armor and fingers every time you look at it.

~~Pics still to come, if it can survive being photographed (don’t expect any exciting poses; I don’t have the patience).~~ Screw it, just look at Dalong’s pics instead.

*For a kit this size, it’s as fragile and fiddly as the Molga or Command Wolf (two of the worst in this regard). Kotobukiya has shown they CAN build sturdy kits—look at Saber Tiger and Gun Sniper! That makes it even more disappointing that the Kong is so weak.

Before I got it in my mitts I told myself that if this kit was as fiddly as I feared, that I was going to quit HMMs. The level of detail is incredible, and the kits are beautiful, but they’re just too expensive and I’m too clumsy for this to be a good deal.

HMM-013 Gun Sniper (Build Review)

RCM — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:38:51 +0000

This was a fun build, with very few tough parts (which weren’t even that tough). The main thing with these smaller kits is having to do a lot more painting than with large kits, if you want that “looks just like the box!” style. I think Kotobukiya’s getting better at engineering these things, because there were not as many parts that needed gluing to keep the kit stable.

Head (gluing):

This connection is pretty loose, but be careful not to get glue on the front “lens” part.
Head (painting):

Sure is a lot of white here. The jaw/seat pieces should probably have just been molded in another color, since only the teeth are meant to be white. The “ear” pieces need a little touching up too.
Does anyone have a ruler?

I could have saved an hour or so scrambling to find a ruler if I only knew that this diagram in the instructions was actual size. Well, now YOU know!
I haven’t figured this one out yet:

There needs to be some kind of gluing done here, because A10 and A7 pop out when trying to do some poses.
Paint me:

I’m going to be compelled to paint this gold, as I do with all such bits.
Not sure about this:

Gluing may be needed here (they pop off), but that could hinder future disassembly.
Definitely glue here:

You have to pull on that rocket to extend it, and it just pops off without glue.
Beware:

This piece (from the tail) is incredibly thin. It’s a miracle I didn’t break it just by looking at it.
Upper arms:

These are identical, until you put the cap on the appropriate side. Clever!
Paint me too:

Again with the silver/gold. At least there weren’t too many of these to do.
A-and paint us too, while you’re at it:

This Gundam Marker (GM09 “Gundam Eye Green”) works really well for all those pieces that need to be done green. Last pic: I thought I’d try an aurora sticker for the scope, but I’m not sure about it.
Racing stripes:

The note in the first pic about sticker #15 (a solid block of red) roughly translates to “have fun cutting them out freestyle, suckas!”

HMM-013 Gun Sniper

RCM — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:12:13 +0000

Short review: WOOT! Long review to come. I love this little guy.

For now, check out the build review.

HRZ-010 Tiga Godos (“Dos” mode)

RCM — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 21:46:35 +0000

Since I don’t have the funds to get the Dos Godos, and Tiga has all the required parts, I’m having it fill in. And since the TS motor is being borrowed by all my other windups, I’m using a windup motor from Spinosapper.

HMM-007 Command Wolf AC

RCM — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 19:40:11 +0000

Thanks to a sale at HLJ I was able to pick this up for cheap(ish).

TS (Thruster System) Motor

RCM — Thu, 21 May 2009 06:27:27 +0000

This motor is one of new developments from the Rebirth Century line. It consists of a reworked windup-sized gearbox and an external battery pack. Official releases with this motor are Barigator TS, Tiga Godos, and the super-rare Merda TS (a “Guylos” colored limited).

SO, I wanted to see how many Zoids could use this motor, without any darthing (or visible darthing, in the case of Snipe Master).

Zoids that weren’t compatible:

Double Sworder/Saicurtis (non-generic motor)
Garius (nowhere to mount the battery pack)
Gator (nowhere to mount the battery pack)
Godos (wires get tangled in the arms)
Gun Sniper (nowhere to mount the battery pack)
Malder (non-generic motor)
Molga (non-generic motor)
Pteras (non-generic motor)
Sea Panther (non-generic motor)
Sinker (non-generic motor; water hazard)
Spiker/Mantazoid (nowhere to mount the battery pack)
Storch (non-generic motor)
Twinhorn (non-generic motor; no openings in inner frame for wires)
Whiteheads not mentioned above (non-generic motor)

Zoids to try:
~~Taking requests, if doable!~~ Tried them all!

GRZ-002 Gil Vader

RCM — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 12:25:11 +0000

Box damage, half price, woot! That and finally being able to do the awesome swap would have been good news enough, but it turns out the original color scheme is pretty wicked. I never knew the purple parts had a metallic flake finish. A-and the clear red is beautiful.

HMM-009 Saber Tiger Schwalz ver.

RCM — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 23:29:27 +0000

~~Best HMM ever! More to come… someday…~~

Yeah, so I pull this guy out of storage for display in my new place and… dang. Armor flew off just from looking at it, the rubber ammo belt broke clean off, all the joints were suddenly super loose, a good heapin’ helpin’ of ETC… Screw this kit, screw it hard.