ryall shares insight into this potential laden kit. For those armor builders who want to venture out of thier comfort zone, but not too far - try this one. Or for those who do Gundams and want to come down to earth a bit and have some sci-fi freedom - try this one.



Review

If you have comments or questions please post them here.



Thanks Paul!

I
LIKE
IT!

That is a great review of a VERY interesting subject! I want one now, thanks a lot!

Cuhail

A lot of sci-fi modelers have their eye on this kit and are pretty excited about it. Being from Bandai, one knows that the quality will be good. Thanks for the review!

I got mine on thursday night. Thats what I've been working on all weekend. I love it!

Is it really a big kit? 25cm long seems mighty large...larger than a 1/35 tank?

It is big. I have pics of it next to a KV-1 I did a while back. I'll post them in a minute.

KV-8 actually, anyways...





These are the pics I took Thursday night. As soon as I got home from work and saw it I started working on it.

That is a very large model. It is an impressive beast.

Thank you very much for the side by side shot -Nice

Indeed, that's a nice comparison! Thanks for taking the photos.

And the price kind of suggests that the kit is a bargin in many ways.

It's nice to see at that size the bed and hovertruck can actually haul something. After all, it's designed to service Gundams.

Really interesting, offers loads of oppertunities.

Looks like the details and quality is of a high standard ...ummm, tempting...

Hi All

Thats funny, for my review of this kit I took a photo of it beside an M1A2 1/35 but I decided not to add it as I thought I might be puting to many photos in, oh well live and learn.

Next time
Ryally

Finally they're already out. And a nice review. Worth getting for the hovercraft alone.

This looks very interesting. Maybe something to do when I need a change from "real" tanks. Also a good kit to try out some homemade camouflage patterns.

Is thsi kit part of a larger line?

Hi Jesper

Here is a link to some other items in the line.

http://www.hlj.com/scripts/hljlist.cgi?SeriesID=2756&Dis=2

Next time
Ryally

Good review Paul, I like the look of the crew, they have a lot of conversion potential.

Got mine from Starship Modeler today! Looks fantasic --- and yeah, big, too! I am a big fan of LVTs from WWII up through the present (and I guess, the future)... Whatever era, those suckers (and kits of them) are always BIG!

Hey, Paul, where did you get that flight helmet for your female figure --- it looks fantastic!

Thinking of painting mine either WWII Navy medium blue or a three color Iwo Jima scheme. Don't like the outrigger landing legs on the sides. I may do away with them or convert them to weapons pods...

Anyway, got a scratchbuilt NYC Police hovertank waiting for paint (and the weather to get better) first...

Thanks for the great review, Paul.

Regards and Aloha,

Johnny B.

Hi John

The great news is, the helmet is in the kit. The guy is holding it in his hands. I had to cut the girls head alot bit by bit to fit it in the helmet, it will fit if you take your time.

Glad to here the review was well received( first review ever).
Thanks
Ryally

Thanks, Paul! I will have to open the poly bags tonight when I get a chance... Hoping that this one will go together without a problem. I am tempted to add a little interior, but don't want to get sidetracked and bogged down --- especially since I plan to display the craft charging for the beach.

Jason, how is the kit going together? Any hitches or snags...? Great job on the KV, by the way --- fantastic weathering!!

Thanks again, guys!

Much Aloha,

Johnny B.

If anybody buys and builds this kit without using the figures, please consider me. I love the figs, but, the hovertank, though very cool, is outside my interest.

LET ME KNOW! please!


Cuhail

It would be awesome if you could build the forward command section so that you could open it up and add an interior later on, but I don't think that the kit is engineered in this fashion... I think it gets buttoned up with the hull sides. I might try to fake something of an interior, but just do not want to get bogged down doing this --- I really want to finish (and of course, start!) this kit! That being said, I am going to take the time to convert the outrigger legs to weapons pods, add a shield and roof to the minigun turret a couple of weapons and shields to the troop compartment --- so much for a "fast" build, huh...?

I know that Bandai has a couple of more related sets --- I really hope that this kit sells well and that there are more of these cool 1/35th scale AFVs and figures (preferably futuristic Marines) on the horizon. the design and the detail of this one is waaay cool --- I want to see more!! And I am not even a Gundam guy!

Much Aloha,

Johnny B.

Quick update: this kit FLIES together!!!! The engineering is AMAZING! Was actually able to build about 90% of it while watching my sixteen month old and a three year old cousin. Fit is great for the most part and you barely need glue...

My hat is off to Bandai --- I'm an armor guy and having been spolied by Tamiya over the years, I am tough to please... And while it is not perfect,
I can say: this kit ROCKS!

Much Aloha,

Johnny B.

The kit is based on "08th MS Team" Gundam Spinoff and could be painted in this version. The crew also is based on characters from the same Anime.

There is a series of build logs over at fichtenfoo.com under the "Gone Fishing" tag; the build includes a full interior modeled after pictures from the series, which is missing from the kit (the bulkhead behind the cockpit in the kit was apparently added for structural rigidity, as it is not present in the interior images from the series).