HMM-004 Geno Saurer (Build Review)
Since this one was a mega-build, usually taking a whole evening for each section, I thought I’d do an “in progress” review and point out cool features and potential trouble spots.
- Eyes:
The piece that goes here was too dark for my tastes, so I did it in silver, leaving the raised parts for contrast. I also painted silver behind the actual eye, to help it catch light better. - Head/Neck:
You will want to paint the areas around the teeth, or else suffer an unsightly all-white mouth. - WEAKNESS:
On the chest/shoulder unit, the only thing holding the sides together is that tiny spine and the earnest prayers of children. When you put the core block in, it helps a bit, but really superglue is necessary. You should also glue the ball joint pegs, because they aren’t held in very tight. - Beware:
This piece is as thin as a promise! I nearly broke the last rib while panel lining. Thankfully it’s held securely in place by later pieces. - Pelvis:
Much of this detail will be hidden when the model’s done. Also: glue required if you like stability! - Details:
Those hoses were really hard to thread all the way through, but so worth it. Tweezers helped on the top ones. - So far:
The next step is the tail, which is two pages of instructions and around 80 pieces. - Tail:
Those vents got really really small the further back you went. You will definitely want to glue the top vent pieces, because otherwise they like to pop off. - Tip of tail:
The purple bits on this segment were too small to be cut out, so I painted the background black to make it look right. The “tail lights” on the back were reddened with a sharpie because it’s way too cold to bust out the airbrush and clear red paint. - A gun:
About an inch longer than the Tomy Geno’s gun, and a lot meaner. Only bummer is that it was largely one color. I was all happy when I finished this, until I realized I had to do the exact same thing again. - Something else to glue:
Otherwise the weight of the guns will cause the whole mount to pop right off. - Arms:
The arms took all me all evening, but more than half of that time was spent detailing: trying to color in the claws (which I still don’t have quite right) and painting the hydraulics (my gold marker was failing me). A word about the claws: they are SHARP! A word about that hydraulic piece behind the hands: it severely limits wrist movement and WILL break if you’re not careful. - Naked legs:
Before putting on armor, the left and right legs are identical (same with the arms). - Leg armor:
This step took longer than I expected. You will definitely want to glue the mounts for the calf armor, because not much is holding them in place. - Details:
(left) hidden detail behind the knee, (right) more sharpie-modded clear bits. - Feet:
Lots of glue required here–mainly for the armor bits.
