However, unlike the previous Zoid series, this series features absolutely no mechanized nor battery operated parts. Instead, this series boasts of improved articulation and posing abilities as well as a newer look on some of the older and classic Zoids from the previous series.
I got this Command Wolf from a store at CSC on a Sunday for like $20 sometime back. Quite a steal actually as I've seen it being sold at about twice the price I paid for it during the weekdays.
As this is the first Kotobukiya kit I've ever worked on, I've noticed some differences between the qualities of the kits from Koto and Bandai.
Firstly, the attachments from the tree to the parts is not as well done as Bandai, many of the attachments join at places which are totally obvious when the kit is built. I've tried many different ways of cutting and sanding, but the stress marks from the cut will still appear no matter what. Although it might just be my lousy modeling skills at work here...
Second, the parts don't really fit together nicely. Some parts need abit (read 'alot') of 'gentle' coaxing to fit nicely. Some other parts need slight adjustments to properly align the parts together nicely. Also, this kit is not very mistake friendly. Parts that go in wrongly are pretty hard to take apart, plus I often make mistakes when assembling kits due to my penchant for forgetting to look at the manual so, yeah, you get the picture. (-_-)
Lastly, the instructions on the instruction sheet could use better illustrations. It's good enough to fit the kit together, but sometimes, the angle in which it's presented makes it a little hard to figure out which part goes where or little but important things to take note of.
That being said, most of the parts are thankfully moulded in their correct colour, which makes it easier for someone like me who's pretty bad at painting kits, especially since I've not been doing kits ever since a llloonnnngggggg time ago. Decals are given too, but I don't really want to stick decals onto it so I've left it as it is. Plus, I've thrown out the box by accident... which contained the instruction manual and the decal sheet, so.... .... ... ... ...
There are plenty of moulded details on the kit, but it needs to be panel lined to make it look nicer, else, it just looks pretty... plain. Detailling the kit really makes it look really different.
As mentioned earlier, the kit focuses more on the articulation of the Zoid rather than movable/mechanized gimmicks from the earlier series. So I'll comment on the articulation right away...
Most of the major joints are articulated: the 4 limbs feature ball joints that connect to the main body; each limb also features an ankle and 'knee' joint; the tail is connected via a ball joint; the head swivels up and down, as well as to the sides; the mouth opens and closes; the mid-section also features a 'waist' joint of sorts; the turret rotates all the way around and can swivel up or down; each cannon can also be positioned individually along the vertical axis.
Pretty articulated ain't it?
The orange canopies also open to reveal small and removable pilots which can be taken out of the kit. Though the pilots are too darn small for me to paint properly... The pilots also feature movable shoulders. The kit also comes with brown canopies to give more choice of variation (though the kit can be repainted to another colour scheme, I prefered the original scheme so I left it as it was)
All in all, a pretty decent kit though I won't really pay the standard retail price for it. I'll probably wait and hope that the other Koto Zoid kits will be sold at clearance prices. Till then, I'm keeping my fingers crossed!!
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