The second step in my training to be a competent model builder is this, an actual Frame Arts Girl, specifically Magatsuki, who arrived quite literally at the same time as Wonder Woman. I went with WW as she seemed simpler, and after doing this kit, I was certainly right about that.
So, Frame Arts Girls... I guess to clarify what I wrote in my last entry, this is a line by Kotobukiya that features a, I'm going to call it "typical" anime girl, wearing trademark gear and weapons of other properties. What I didn't quite know, or clarify, is that this other property is actually Frame Arms itself, an original mecha based IP of Kotobukiya.
Basically you have the giant mecha followed by a mascot dressed in mecha clothing in the Frame Arts Girl line up.
The CONCEPT of a heavily geared up Waifu, though, has been used by a variety of figure makers, as well as model designers. Wonder Woman was effectively a dolled up base body, and if I wanted to I could swap parts from her onto Magatsuki here.
I'd been eyeing these Frame Arts Girl kits for a while now, and they're the types of things I'd like to build - part naughty, part nice. Magatsuki in particular, however, really caught my eye compared to the other sets due to the lovely maroon colour, and the stupid amount of swords for weapons.
As luck would have it, I managed to catch it on sale on the Hobby Bee website as I was looking on the internet for various supplies that I needed to get started on my path.
Being a more complex design meant more parts.. and by more parts, I meant a stupidly large number of parts. Of course, perspective is everything - I imagine things can get even more complicated with larger and more intricate sets.
I mean... look at all that stuff.
As you would image, the set comes with the parts to make both the main figure and the various armour pieces, along with the weapons/sheathes. She also comes with what I'm guessing are the same 5 pairs of hands all these ladies get, as well as that really crappy stand.
In terms of faces, she has a better variety than with Wonder Woman, with a normal look, injured look, and embarassed look. There are also some eye water decals for custom projects.
Overall, it took less time to complete this kit due to some life lessons from Wonder Woman, as well as less time actually painting as I was generally happy with the colours. As usual, colours were substituted for whatever I actually happened to have because I'm not that hardcore.
- Used NATO Black for the hair and some other small details
- Used Bronze for some other small details
- Used Metallic Blue for the parts on the sword
- Used Blue for the gems in the forehead
- Used White for appropriate spots on maroon pieces
- Gundam Fine Black for panel lining
- White paint markers for the smaller more fine white details
- Mr. Hobby Premium Semi-Gloss and Glossy for top coating
As with all model kits I write about, I'm skipping paint work here because for better or worse it's all my fault.
Here is the base figure with effectively no gear. The base plastic is well coloured and comes out looking quite nice with a simple top coat of your choice. Stuck with Semi-Gloss as I wasn't looking to give her skin that sweaty, oily look. You can also see the nice sculpting details in the exposed body parts, which I'm guessing is probably a thing with rest of the line too.
While there are several variations, this figure basically has three different modes, each featuring a different headcrest (amongst other things). There's Base, there's Intermediate, and then there's Fully Geared up.
Intermediate has you slapping some pieces of gear on the 3mm ports all over her body. For illustrative purposes, I simply attached her two short swords to her hips and her waist pieces. As you can imagine, things can get creative from here.
Going through the motions to insert all the these parts (and taking care not to lose any of the ones you take off) you end end up with this:
The armour pieces certainly add quite a bit of presence to the figure. There's the bulk, of course, as well as the various clear blue pieces. FOUR swords mounted to the back says she's a close combat connoisseur of sorts.
Overall, the set gives off a very strong Samurai vibe, probably more so than the mecha of origin due to the slightly different proportions of the pieces.
The set also comes with two pieces so you can mount the swords to her Full Geared ankles (I mean.. why else do you have four swords if not to kick with them like Bayonetta?) and two thigh inserts for use if you ever decide to display the Base figure with normal, unarmoured legs from some other set.
Articulation wise, the general points of articulation are consistent with the Wonder Woman release, which the short version would be everything but a functional waist.
A general list includes:
- Toes
- Ankle front and side tilt
- Ankle rotation (mid shin)
- Static knee joint (thigh and calf contain the pivot points)
- Thigh tiwst
- Pull down hips
- Mid torso
- Standard shoulders with butterfly joint for moderate lateral movement
- Bicep swivel
- No actual elbow joint (forearm connects to upper arm directly)
- Double peg ended wrist joint
- Neck side and forward tilt
- Ball joint at base of head
There are of course a variety of other joints on the armour pieces and the hair, which I'm not going to get into detail here.
Overall, joints have been calibrated for maximum range of motion for the main body, which generally carries over to the armoured mode quite well. The sole exceptions are the loin cloth doesn't permit full forward motion of the legs, and the ends of the hair, articulated as they are, just have difficulty, if even possible, to clear the mess of weaponry mounted to the back.
Finally, with regards to Build Quality, again, it's mindblowing how well everything fits together. In fact most of the time things don't perfectly, it's because the person doing the assembly didn't quite sand things down enough, or had some piece inverted. No warped pieces were observed, which is why all the edges look so crisp on this kit. Joint strength is generally alright, though I feel that the ones for the hips might need a coating of something to make them more stiff.
So, a second kit down, and I'm already working on a third one, albeit one that's NOT a Kotobukiya product, and I'm already feeling some of the differences between products. Still, it should be visually impressive when I'm done, and that it will be even cleaner looking as I use my experiences to change my ways. There's also a few actual figures on their way, which I'm excited for, of course.
It is nice to have these models as time killers though... much more interesting to me than those adult colouring books.
For Full Gallery, please visit:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/22877494@N02/albums/72157719427887919
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