June 2021 is coming to a close, as is my self imposed "model kit boot camp", where I give putting together models and prettying them up a try. For my last kit this time around, I decided to go for something slightly different.
Slightly.
As we all know, when you have a popular product going, you're gonna inspire competition. Sometimes, that comes in the form of bootlegs. In other cases, like this, companies step in and try to offer something new. Such is the case with Eastern Model, who have clearly noticed how well things like Frame Arts Girls and Megami Device have been selling, and decided to do their own take on things.
The actual company itself appears to be a legit player, with these Atk Girl models, as well as some licensed stuff like Mega Man and some upcoming Marvel sets (Black Widow FTW).
I figure they're generally cheaper than the Kotobukiya kits, and I'd actually been gawking at this one for quite some time, so I decided to take the plunge.
Like with the aforementioned Kotobukiya lines, the Atk Girl line effectively revolves around decking out a central female figure with various pieces of gear. A few things to mention before I continue:
1. You'll notice she only has one arm.. that's because I screwed up the top coated the ball joint,
causing it to seize and snap off, which is weird as this never happened with my Kotobukiya
kits. I've taken steps to remedy this matter
2. There was never a colour guide, or even any real good reference photos in the manual. As a
result, the colours painted on are totally from my imagination and whatever I could get my
hands on.
3. On a related noted, I've basically painted everything except for the hair, flesh points, and
areas that never get seen. As always, quality of paint apps is on me.
The kit comes with the parts to make this main figure, the various replacement limbs for when she's geared up, the display stand (which I didn't put together) and a small mecha that conceals Katanas in each of it's six legs. Why does a Spider based mecha have six legs? Because... SCIENCE! I honestly have no idea... I do know the Scorpion based Serqet has eight legs, which also makes no sense.
I'm gonna guess that it was a budget thing.
What's interesting to me is that in terms of actual display options, the base figure itself has significantly more. Specific to this figure are two different hair styles (front bangs), three faces (normal, embarrassed, smiling eyes right), and TWELVE different posing hands. There are also additional blank faces and eye decals for you to do your own thing with.
You'll also notice that the proportions of the base figure are significantly different from, well, basically every other similar kit out there. with a slimmer overall silhouette. Bust size is not particularly of relevance as that is a simple part change away to fix.
Oh I guess while we're here might as well mention this... who in their right mind decided to make her primary outfit colour BROWN?
Overall, I also found that the both the instructions provided and the actual planning of the trays wasn't as good as with the Kotobukiya kits. Part of that is definitely you get what you pay for, but another part of it is really lack of thought putting sprues to be cut in horribly tight spaces, and several ridiculously tiny parts.
There's also the matter of many of the features on the available official artwork not making it into the actual figure itself.
From an articulation perspective, the base body both is better and not as good as the Kotobukiya ones I've played with thus far. The general points of articulation are there, the same as that for the Kotobukiya sets. The main differentiators are this has no ass cap, so leg motion to the back is basically unrestricted. The body also has an additional joint at waist level that allows for a more elegant looking back arch (still no actual waist swivel), and the shoulder blades are jointed such that they swivel out and allow for the arms to collapse together, though it should be noted there is no backwards motion granted.
The pull down hips, however, are not as robust as with the Kotobukiya kits, and as such the range of motion granted by this aren't as impressive. Also, as mentioned, there is a slight advantage shoulder wise as you can simulate a chest expansion pose better with the Kotobukiya body.
As you can imagine, adding the backpack and the armour can, and will, making posing more challenging due to both bulk and general wonky weight distribution. Still doable, mind you, but you need to have vast amounts of patience.
Getting Arache into battle mode, like Magatsuki, she's very much Samurai looking and, as mentioned above, equipped with a stupid number of swords. The base colours weren't nearly as bad as normal figure, though without paint she'd be pretty much Black and Grey. The various translucent plastic parts are also available as solid colours, which would let you paint them up.
The shoulder and thigh armour can be moved in order to improve range of motion and general posing options.
Unlike the base body, this mode only has six associated hands.
Unlike the standard body, this head only has one expression.
With the full set of Spider legs strapped on, Arachne becomes an impressive looking, if horribly weighed down, combination of Blades and Babe. The additional shoulder articulation would be put to great use posing her unsheathing the swords from the various legs... or you know, you would if you had both arms. The shoulder and thigh armour can be moved in order to improve range of motion and general posing options.
The joints for the legs are strong enough that you can pose the backpack independently and have Arachne ride it.
Or, you can strip off the legs and attach it to her lower back like a Thorax.
The actual Build Quality is also something that you'll notice is different. Parts aren't as well made, with some warping issues and general reluctance to be tabbed together. Significantly more clean up work was required on this kit as compared to the Kotobukiya kit, even discounting the sheer volume of actual parts involved.
So overall, an interesting experience, as it gave me contrast to what I've been doing with the Kotobukiya stuff. While an admirable attempt at getting the "value for product" market segment, some additional reference art would have been appreciated, as would a final product that more closely resembled the art itself.
As for what's next, well a few figures have made their way into my clutches, so I guess it was timely that I finished up this kit at this particular moment in time. I'm looking forward to playing with something that didn't require hours and hours of my time to make.
For Full Gallery, please visit:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/22877494@N02/albums/72157719459121993
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