September... FINALLY. Now that I've mastered the art of losing sleep and having to chauffeur kids around to daycamps, the time has come for all that to change again. I suppose at least the killer heat has finally gone away, though I suspect part of that is due to the effects of the Hurricane that's battering parts of the US near us.
Anyway, on with the show.
Busy with the purchases and all that sort of thing lately, but this week was about model kits. Two model kits, but right now lets talk about Gene.
I love PSO... well, I loved it more when I could actually play it. Played it on the Dreamcast. Played it on the PSP. Then they did Japanese only on PC and that was that... maybe it's changed. Regardless though, the character designs have been that perfect mix of Sci Fi and feminine charms that only Anime can do, and it's been that way since the 80s with Phantasy Star on the Sega Master System/Mega Drive.
I saw this kit on HLJ and thought it was cute, and it wasn't horribly pricey, so I bought it. Normally, the rest of the story would go that I put it together, blah blah blah, but it's was a bit more complicated. I learned the hard way that maybe QC isn't perfect with Kotoubukiya kits, at least not lately, as I snapped both ankles.
Since they don't offer plastic tray replacement service for us here in Canada, well, I had to buy another entire kit, and wait another two weeks, this time making sure to sand the joints down to confirm they actually move.
Well, that finally got done and here she is.
So, as mentioned this is the "Stellainnocent ver.", which from what I've read is one of two looks she has during the game. There is another model of this character, featuring reddish hair, which I guess is her look during the second half of the game. Both forms share the same characteristics, namely very cute and voluptuous. The kit comes with parts to build the figure and her energy bow weapon, and has a total of 3 expressions and 10 total hands..
Oh, there's also a stand if you want to put it together, which I may have to because getting Gene to stand on those feet is a pain in the ass. It's not like I'm going to be painting or prettying that thing up.
Due to the lightweight nature of the figure on the whole, arming Gene with her bow requires the use of a brace connecting her wrist to the weapon. You also have the option of mounting it to her lower back, also requiring the use of a bracket.
One of the things I like about these one off kits is their overall uniqueness. As much as I love Frame Arms and Megami Device, you can pretty much look at the models and see where parts were shared to get the most mileage out moulds (less so on the Frame Arms stuff I guess) and also the general main figure shape to generally have a good look no matter how you swap limbs.
The body mechanics are based off the Frame Arts body, as it lacks ab joints and the collapsing shoulders. As you can guess, the JUST short enough skirt is more for showing off the goods as opposed to allowing for any real leg articulation. I mean, yeah you can do walking poses and other moderate leg movements, but sitting, high kicks, and so on are not on the menu.
Otherwise, your general posing will not be problematic, though it would be nice if the bodies came with double jointed elbows to complement the double jointed knees.
Oh, and a functional waist.
While the quality of paint work is my bad, the actual painting of this kit was a major pain in the ass. Quite a few colours to mix and screw up, and then there's the size of the actual paint apps. But, this is a learning journey, and I learned to they made smaller brushes, so that helped. Now if only those colour mixing instructions were actually accurate... some of it was so off I was actually better off omitting some parts. Then some colours were splotchy because the components didn't quite mix well. Then there was the sheer number of surfaces that had multiple colours.
At least after the top coat and lightning, the colours came out as they were supposed to.
Decals are... always a challenge to put on, especially the ones that are like 1mm x 1mm.
Use hot water, people.
Normally there wouldn't be much to talk about with regards to Build Quality, but I did have that issue with tolerances of ankle joints, and from now on I'm probably gonna have to check every single joint as soon as I start assembling it. Honestly, something I never thought I'd have to do for a Kotobukiya kit.
Other Build Quality issues are that at the end of the day, this IS a model kit. So there will be that general feel of flimsiness and bits falling aparnt. One particular item to be aware of are the shoulder paulderons, which are a first for these kits... at least for me. There's the issue of fragility, as the connectors are pretty slim. Then, there's the fact that these things pop out kind of easily, which is GOOD in that at least it won't break, but finding it once you've dropped it is another trial of patience in itself.
Despite the broken ankles (lesson learned) this is still a visually beautiful kit full of personality. It's nice how different she looks from your typical Frame Arts figure, while at the same time sharing that heritage. Also, as mentioned, you really can't go wrong with PSO designs.
So that's one model kit down. Next up - Asra Archer.
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