I normally talk about models that come together pretty quickly here on the site. Even if it takes a few hours, it's pretty much done in a single session. However, I can't help but think about the
Furai Model Rodimus Prime I posted about in November of last year. My normal build time is Sunday evening... and I find it a pretty great way to end the weekend. However, that Rodimus Prime took a few Sundays. I'd mention it in the Monday 'Weekly Updates', but didn't outright talk about it until I had finished the kit.
Which got me thinking — I'd like to talk more about the more intricate kits here as well... and, well, they take time to build, something I enjoy, believe it or not. It's very therapeutic. It also occurred to me, with the shift to more and more model talk on the site over the past few years (seriously, I've built them my entire life, why don't I focus more on them on a blog of all things?), that if I talk about the building process so much on a model post... why don't I make these long builds a multi-part so we can talk about the journey to the finished product? After all, each Sunday is its own story. So that's basically what we're starting here with our first Build Saga post — a look at those more intricate kits as they come along, with a goofy name... because obviously.
I've talked about Zoids here in the past, but this is going to be the first of their model kits I've covered. That's pretty exciting for me, as I've got a long history with Zoids going back to early childhood, assembling Robo Strux (what they called Zoids at the time here in the states) at the kitchen table with my older brother. I've never outgrown those memories, and it's obviously something that's shaped my life going forward. Countless times putting together things all stemming from those Robo Strux, or oddball models and toys that required assembly. Considering I program CNC machines for a living... clearly watching something come together is really fascinating to me. The last Zoids I built were some smaller Zoids Wild kits a few years ago, today's kit is much different. The newer Realize Model kits from Takara Tomy are a very neat line of models, more in line with something Bandai or Flame Toys would release. Starting with Zoids is a great idea, as they have always been models to begin with (for the most part), so it's a nice way to establish the series. It's also part of the T-Spark line, so I'm excited for whatever else finds its way into Realize Model.
Command Wolf is not the largest or most extensive kit. I'd like to think that I completed half, if not more than half of it, my first night working on it. However, there are a lot of parts on the sprues left, so I'm assuming the legs are going to be very time-consuming. Considering how heavily articulated the finished product will be, I'm anticipating spending a lot of time on them. Fortunately, the instructions are pleasantly large and nicely printed in a booklet, not the little slip of paper they sometimes can be. They're almost completely in Japanese, but clear enough that language isn't a barrier whatsoever. Mine came with two copies, and I'm not sure why, as they seem to be identical. Either it had an extra by accident, or they knew it was nice enough that you might want a pristine copy.
Command Wolf's primary colors are grey robot parts, with white making up the bulk of the wolf parts, while black and orange are sprinkled in. It's really sharp looking. However, an early challenge raised its head. Not only did I buy a new hobby knife, but I also found my long-missing one, and some other cutting tools have been acquired, meaning I've been a little extra when shaving down the excess plastic the sprues leave behind after using nippers. The hobby knives are basically little razor blades, so they make short work of removing the excess... but also... I poked my thumb with the tip of the blade while trimming. Nothing major, other than some cussing, but now I'm bleeding while handling white plastic. I really should have put some liquid skin on the wound and stopped it in its tracks, but now that we're entering spring, my skin is finally not splitting open from the cold, and I've liquid-skinned my hands all winter... I just don't want to do it anymore. Also, I didn't want to worry the Mrs., who's reasonably nervous around things like a razor blade... I mean... some idiot could just cut himself.
It wasn't serious, either. However, I didn't want to stain any of that white plastic, so extra care while handling was needed. Talk about making things difficult for yourself. It's worth noting that awesome amount of articulation the finished product will have, because the parts I got assembled were already showing a bit of that off. What was assembled was the wolf's head and neck, the torso, as well as the gun pod, some exhaust pipes, and the tail. It was pretty neat putting that head and neck together, as it can bend all over the place. Pretty impressive to notice the articulation in what's essentially a severed head. Something tells me Realize Model is going to be something really special.
The plastic quality is pretty good, on par with its contemporaries, though there are a few parts I found interesting. The polycaps that are pretty standard on Zoids seem to be a completely different material and not the pleasant rubbery little bits I associate with the brand. However, there are a few parts on one sprue made from a more rubbery material that serve various functions. For example, some balls that worked as connectors, but oddly also as a gasket. Very interesting. There also doesn't seem to be any pilot figures that I've noticed yet. The cockpits are smaller than traditional Zoids, so it's understandable, but the absence is impossible to ignore. I can't tell you how many of those Robo Strux pilots got behind the wheels of my G1 Autobots. That being said, I did have a little trouble putting the cockpit's control mechanism in place — it is especially tiny.
*I totally discovered the pilots after writing this.*
Next Sunday I plan to assemble the legs and whatever else. I want to assume that will finish the kit, but there were several more steps left in the instructions, so we'll just have to see.
