Oh Joy...Fifth Element Korben Dallas Taxi First Look!

Oh we love the big boxes.

10 lbs!

My wife complained..."10 pounds!". Half the weight of our lucky quadruped. I know, shut up already and GET OUT THE BLADE.

"Two hand scale"

I ordered this a few months back from goldenarmor.com. 325 smackers.

All everything

Note the size of the X-acto on the left. You know what they say about builders who build big models...they have big tools. Or they need big tools and don't have them. Ahem.

Main body shells

The body sections are 24 inches long. They come primed in gray. The finish is pretty good. They are not perfect. This may sound like a criticism, but authentic prop models show the work of tools and human hands. This is what makes them special. Collector models billed as prop replicas made through 3d modeling often have an assembly line look. Too finished.  So, I like the little flaws here and there. It shows the physical work of story making.

Hollow interior

The insides are fiberglass. Not looking forward to the grinding and dust. Grinding is the worst.

Interior parts

After I ordered mine, an interior was added. Golden Armor included mine for free as I had already paid. Very nice! Thanks! The seats and consoles get put onto the large laser cut panel. The seats are primed as well. 

Dash board console.

The main console is a big clear part meant to be lit. As I understand there will be a light kit for this. I have worked with a lot of resin. So glad I didn't have to pour any of this. Thinking about the molds and setting them up....eooooh. Icky-poo man.

Various detail parts

Details are separate. Mostly underside details. Grille, etcetera.

Stickers and lights

The last bits are the translucent bits for the lit areas of the model and the decals. Lot of lights inside and out side of the kit. 

"Feed me, Seymour"

This is going to be a great kit. It goes well with other studio scale models, being large, but not overly so. It has the right feel of a prop model. I have sprayed a lot of yellow paint...not looking forward to that! There is no room for error!  

A great model from a now CLASSIC sci-fi movie! You can find the taxi at:

http://goldenarmor.com/the-fifth-element-props-page/

AND...
Divas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPf2ANjUbrY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tv3aJRz5h7M

Chase (x2 parts) DO NOT WATCH UNDER PAIN OF DEATH.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4V6T0kDB2Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m38QcCyo110

Ok...everyone over here is bugging to do stupid stuff for them...TIME TO GO!

Bandai Perfect Grade 1/72 Millennium Falcon Review

I found myself at NYCC last week. I've been to a lot of events, and yes these things are amazing, but I'm getting old and after a while the noise starts to sound like a thousand invisible air horns. After Gen Con last year, I said no more. BUT, I had to go for "work"...

So here we are. I made myself enjoy it.

This is me ENJOYING it. Look closely, I am almost smiling.

I planned on not buying anything. Not pictured above are the PO-ZU shoes I bought. I justified this by saying they were shoes. I got Finn's, they are all white. My wife has some issues with this.

In the box is the Falcon. The excitement broke my spirit to the tune of $400 bucks. I waited in two lines for 45 minutes just to get in the tiny Bandai store. There is no "shopping". You move through like an animal in an abattoir. Before your hit by a friendly electrified baton you point at your purchase and the nice girl at the register scans your credit card before your body hits the carpet. I LOVE BANDAI!!

I have this thing now, so let's review it:

This is a big kit. A box in a box in a box. Just so you know, I am already a "Bandait", meaning that I buy their kits sight unseen, because they are better than Tamiya. DO NOT SEND ME HATE MAIL.

Here is all 36 sprues. $400 divided by 36 equals $11.11 per sprue. Given that Disney/Lucas charges Bandai 20% for the licence, this is probably about right. Some of the parts are large, this doesn't include the frills such as the lights and PE.

Unlike Laura P., this thing is staying in plastic. What if I want to resell? Bandai always gets the detail.

More sprueage. 

All of the piping is separate and secured in a box to keep it all fresh during shipping.

Here is the PE and masking. Decals of all the "red wine" panels on sheet (reversed).

Here is the light module. Engines, landing, ramp and cockpit.

This is the frosted light piping for the engines. These are pretty thick.

Another gratuitous sprue shot.

So, this is an expensive kit, but probably the best Falcon period. I have not test fitted this, but I am sure it will slide together like clockwork. When I bought it I wasn't sure if I was completely happy. After a few days, my happiness is complete.

Here are my nit pics: There are lights, but no sound. The new Andromeda has sound. The painting guide is a bit skimpy. Should be more call outs, like those Wingnut kits.

Hey, I know how to make my nit pics go away. SEND ME A REVIEW SAMPLE and poof they are gone.

Keep up the good work Bandai!

Unboxing PKking Dark Elf Queen and The Nine Balances Evil Fox

Today we are looking at two PKking resin kits.  http://www.resin-kit.com/  I ordered these from the manufacturer from Ebay.  I put the money thru Paypal less than a week ago and these arrived from Taiwan yesterday:

Everyone here gets 5 stars.  The boxes themselves have a nice thought out presentation.  The Dark Queen on the left was 110 USD, the Evil Fox on right was 140 USD.  I have purchased and built practically every resin kit from around the world.  Price on these is very good.  Notice that Artist (Ppking) has signed top of each.

Image of our Queen.  Even in black and white it looks pretty effing good.  Based on a video game (I think), I like it cause she is just really cool.  That's what we are looking for, right?  Great pose!

A lot of care has gone into ALL aspects of this kit.  Not only in the sculpting and casting, but in the packaging.  What good is a part put in the box in such a way that it warps?  I call your attention here to the staff, which has been carefully taped to stiff cardboard to make sure it stays straight.  I can't tell you how many resin trucks I have bought that have warped chassis because the maker did not take the extra time to insure they laid flat in the box.  Let's keep going, got a lot to cover.

General view of the parts in kit.  Well wrapped with bags.

Close up of Queen's torso.  So a couple of  things here: 1) Notice kit is molded in grey.  This means you can see what's going on.  Often kits are molded in white, this makes it impossible to see casting flaws until you have put primer on it.  2) All the edges (around leg and neck) are sharp and crisp, no chipping.  3) Thought has gone into connecting as much of the kit as possible so there is a minimum of parts and logical construction.  You can tell when the maker is a painter and builder, the kit is engineered to actually be built.  This one is for sure.

Shot of the level of detail.  Looking closely you can see that a real live human used tools to work this surface.  I know, digitally created models are cool, but personally I like seeing the evedence that someone made this thing with their hands.  No air bubbles or misaligned mold seams.

This is the back of the cape.  A very complex part to mold.  Yes this is one part.  Pretty much no flashing.  No air bubbles, pinholes (I hate pinholes!) or misalignment.  I could just give you guys a big hug!

Ok, so here we see two small air bubbles.  These were the only casting flaws I could find.  This part is a large complex part.  What I really wanted to show here was the addition of the that little disc attached to the edge where the cape comes to a point.  That was added so the fragile point is protected during casting, shipping and building. One of the many fine thoughtful touches here.  this is a clue that these guys really care about what they are making and what you are getting.

Flawless.

Another complex part to cast, notice the vents on the top.  I like removing material, instead of having to add it.

1/7th scale.  Very good size.  I do like the big kits (1/4 scale), BUT they take a long time to build, are expensive and take up a lot of space.  It is probably smarter to work in a smaller scale.  In a larger scale these kits would lose their cuteness and probably be to big to get built.  Kits should be built.

If this was one of my kits, I would sign it, too.  This is an awesome model and worth way more than 110 bucks.  Do not buy a recast!  Not only is it bad for these guys, and you will get something of much lesser quality.

Here is the second kit, The Nine Balances Evil Fox.  My wife call these "My Girlfriends".

It was so well packaged, it took me 35 minutes to unwrap it.

Again, part protected by attaching it to board.

Here are the the parts.  It's a lot of stuff!  It includes the base, which is flat on the bottom.

Amazing sculpting, breakdown and castings!

She practically fell together in my hand.

The coolest wolf EVER.

Here is a cape section on the base.  Very large complex part.  Note, the only part that was broken in shipping.  One of the tendrils broke, but can easily be glued back.

Assembly guide.  The kit is much simpler than it looks, but not for beginners.

Color picks from guide.

So let's wrap this up.  140 smackers for this one and worth tens times that.  These are like Wingnut Wings kits..because they have been so well produced and they will get built.  5 stars out of 5, these are the most awesome kits ever!  Grab one while you can and build it!  I'm starting mine tomorrow!*

Oh, here is my crappy Mad Max kit, with a new smaller base.  Cheers everyone!

*by the way if you nice folks at Ppking need some one in the USA to send "review" samples too...