Zoids and Stuff » Kotobukiya HMM

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.

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).

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.

HMM-008 Molga with Canory Unit

RCM — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 14:27:20 +0000

Aaaand here’s the other half of the HMM Molga two-fer. The Canory unit has a lot of detail and looks great, but a lot of it is made from the semi-fragile brown plastic. Mine is showing stress lines where the arms mount to the gun, and also where the “jewel” under the barrel goes. Also because of that plastic, I’m keeping this one’s wheels permanently in anchor mode, since the mechanism for them is extra fragile.

HMM-008 Molga

RCM — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 14:42:23 +0000

This kit was actually a two-fer, coming with a regular Molga, and one in Genesis colors with the Canory Unit. The HMM-ified Molga loses the secret missile compartment in the back, but gains a TON of flexibility, plus little grub-legs. I’d say it’s a fair trade.

Since there weren’t enough pitfalls to warrant a full build review, I’ll just say it here: the brown plastic pieces that make up the wheel retracting mechanism are very fragile, and a tight fit. Trim the pegs a bit, to ease stress!

Parts Comparison

RCM — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:46:17 +0000

Not much to say here, but things are different. Apart from the brand new pilot (which has very basic articulation!), I was surprised to discover the caps are a bit smaller than their rubber Tomy counterparts.

Official Visual Book

RCM — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 19:32:03 +0000

This booklet came with the first production run of HMM-008 Molga/Molga Canory to commemorate the release of ten HMM kits. It’s printed on high quality, thick paper and has all the box art from the first ten releases.

HMM-002(ltd) Empire Command Wolf LC

RCM — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 18:04:10 +0000

Well, Irvine’s gun has never looked better. Empire Command Wolf LC was the second limited kit from the HMM line, released summer 2007. It is a recolor of the regular Command Wolf, but it also includes a new weapon—the long range cannon (like Irvine’s variant in the NJR). It sold out quickly, teaching a valuable lesson: if something’s limited, don’t hesitate! I hesitated, so I had to pay a lot more on the secondary market.