New Plastic Model Review] Iron Gear from "Battle Mecha Zabungle" is now available as a ship model from Hasegawa! Let's finish it realistically with easy weathering!

When you are a working adult, you tend to have a lot of plastic models piled up in your busy life. ...... In this series, Yasuyuki Tai, a voice actor who loves robots and plastic models, takes on the challenge of building plastic models on your behalf!

The concept is "even busy working people can make it this far on their weekends off. There are only two rules: bare bones assembly and a production period of one to two days! If you read this series, you will surely find the plastic model you want to build.

So, "Weekend Plastic Model Making by Voice Actor Taiyuki! Let's get started with the 64th issue!

Weekend Plastic Model Making by Tai Yuuki, a voice actor! Vol. 64 "Battle Mecha Zabungle" Iron Gear

Hasegawa, one of the long-established model makers, has produced a plastic kit of the popular large landship "Iron Gear" that appeared in the TV anime "Battle Mecha Zabungle!

If you are thinking "kits made by long-established manufacturers look difficult ......", this kit is for you!　This kit is so amazingly easy to enjoy that it blows away such an image with Blue Gale!

To be honest, I was also worried that the kit might be too difficult because of the image of "Hasegawa as an airplane manufacturer" (of course, Hasegawa also releases ships and AFVs), but my fears were completely unfounded!

In fact, Hasegawa has been developing a variety of character kits in the past, including character kits for "Cyber Troopers Virtual-On" and "The Super Dimension Fortress Macross," and recently they released a kit of the Lovely Angel from "The Dirty Pair. The intuition in this area is perfect.

Package image

The kit we reviewed this time is a "test shot (prototype)" close to the production version, so we would like to state "some details may differ from the production version" just in case. Also, the "water-transfer decals" that come with the production version will not be attached. However, if you read the article, you may think "What?　Where do I need decals? The color separation by dividing the parts is also well done.

Decal image

Let's start with the runner.

I was first relieved to see that each of the parts is large. You can probably tell which parts are which from this image.

So, let's take a look at the unassembled state.

Here it is. How do you like it?

It looks great without paint or decals. The shape is based on the fact that it is a transformable mecha, and I got the impression that the landship that appeared in the TV anime was honestly modeled, without daring to add any "ship" arrangements.

The coloring of the model is also very well done. I wonder how much more I can do with the paint job.

From the rear.

As I will introduce in detail later, the details of the movable parts of the rear wings are also detailed with "character".

It is also surprising that you can hardly find any joints between the parts when you look at the front and back of the model.

This huge feeling when you lick the bow and look at the bridge.

The gun ports of the bow 200mm guns have dimple details. As a ship model, this is a nice touch!　If I had to use a pin vise and carve them myself, they would be off-center and the edges would be chipped.

The inside of the jet nozzles on both sides of the bow are also well detailed.

The color coding around the knees in Walker Machine (WM) form is reproduced in separate parts. The orange-yellow parts also fit together with a high degree of precision.

Other major details have also been faithfully reproduced from the model drawings.

The characteristic circular deck is clearly visible, with lines that suggest a deformation gimmick.

The 76mm anti-ship rapid-fire gun is also firmly in place. The orange-yellow part is of course a separate part.

On the deformable deck, a triple delayed flame high explosive howitzer (potent cannon) can be installed as a selectable feature. It is a maniacal armament, but not a few people may remember it because of its impact in the play.

The hangar portion of the chest when in WM form. In some of the toys that have been released so far, this part has been removed and transformed, but in this kit, it is connected with this ramp-like part.

The windows are clear parts. The orange-yellow parts are separate parts. The parts are neither tight nor loose, but firmly assembled.

The hatch of the hangar can be opened and closed.

The inside is as you can see.

The hangar is actually small because it also functions as a large WM.

Close-up of the bridge.

The windows are clear parts. The rest of the parts are also color coded with only a few parts. The water-transfer decals, which we did not introduce this time, are mainly concentrated around the bridge, so that, for example, the yellow lines on the cheeks in the WM form can be reproduced with the decals.

However, the decals are still satisfactory as they are, aren't they?

View from the side. The neck part is supposed to have a dividing line, but it is so precise that you can hardly see it, and the line is at an angle that can be seen as a detail, so it really doesn't bother me.

The bridge shape has been well reproduced without being crushed, and the size of the bridge is well balanced with the ship's body.

The 40mm anti-WM machine gun is located on the shoulder of the WM form, which is divided into upper and lower sections, but the turret covers most of it, so the joints are not noticeable.

The wrist parts, which are stored in the landship form, have also been properly reproduced.

The only joints I was able to find in this kit are on the diagonal surfaces of the forearms in the WM form.

Even so, as you can see, the corner next to the one where the seam occurs is seamless!

The tubular jet engine parts on both sides are also made up of multiple layers, and when you look inside, you can see the details without fail.

The same goes for the rear of the ship. The two nozzles in the center are also detailed. This is the part of the model that makes us say "Hasegawa, the maker of airplanes".

The movable part of the dorsal wing folds down in the WM form. The modeling is simple, yet has a distinctive appearance. It is wonderful that the shape is so well designed that you can imagine its function just by looking at it.

The ramp-like part in front of the hangar is not so impressive, but perhaps this is one of the few arranged parts of this kit. There is a recess on the deck side where the ramp could fit. This recess of just a few millimeters is enough to imagine that the ramp would fit there. ...... It's a very fine trick.

The area behind the knees in the WM form also does not have a hole, but is blocked by a plate that looks like a typical detail, as you can see.

Let's continue to look at the underside of the ship.

There is a space where the bow part fits in the WM form, and there is a mechanical detail engraved behind the bow part. The block-like parts connecting the left and right legs are an arrangement of this kit. If you want to make it closer to the anime, you may remove this block.

The thigh part in WM form. The iron gears are detailed like hover fans for a hover ship.

The back of the thighs, which are divided from just below the deck.

This is an important part because when transforming into the WM form, the body is impressively lifted up by flames shooting out from the three nozzles under the deck at full force. The shape of the movable arm for deformation can also be seen around it, making it easy to imagine how this part will deform. The deformation arm is thicker than the other parts of the body, as it is a part of the deformation mechanism that takes a lot of load.

The back side of the rear of the ship. There are no deformable parts here, so it is a simple structure.

On both sides of the deck, the part that will be the waist side armor in WM form is also divided into sections.

After looking at the structure up to this point, many of you may be thinking, "This looks like it could be converted to WM form.

Will it really be the case that someone will appear to modify it and make it, or will it be the case that a kit version will be planned first?

The ship can be placed as is, but by laying transparent pedestal parts on the front and rear undersides, it is possible to display the ship in its hover state.

Although the model is basically fixed, there are some parts that can be moved.

First, the so-called "ears" on both sides of the bridge. As you can see, they can be folded.

The bow main gun can be swiveled and elevated.

The rapid-fire cannon can be moved forward and backward. Potentiometers can only be swiveled.

The machine gun can be moved up and down.

The onboard WM is also included!

Next are the accessories, which are also not to be underestimated!

First is the WM "club type". The angle of the ankle is set to the side to reproduce the shape of the curved part of the toe. The modeling has been done to reproduce the characteristics as much as possible in this scale.

Next is the "Trad 11". The shape is much more elaborate than the club type, but it too has been sculpted in a way that captures its characteristics well.

The third type is the "Gallop Type.

At the time when the cartoon was aired, it would have been difficult to create this level of modeling in a mold of this size. The person who designed this model is also amazing, but we live in a better era now.

We mustn't forget the main character "Zabungle"!

Although it has a taller head than the other WMs, it has many unique details that would be difficult to omit, but they have also been clearly reproduced.

Finally, the ZABUNGLE car is introduced.

It can be separated into front and back at the connecting part.

Two sets of each of these WMs are included. As expected, they are too small to be color-coded by dividing the parts, but it is nice to see such a well-designed accessory.

The WM is shown here in combination with the iron gears.

The contrast with ZABUNGLE might be like this if they are the same scale. In the movie, it was stored in a hangar, but, well, "It's just an anime!

This wai-wai and fun-loving appearance is one of the interesting aspects of "Zabungulu.

The hangar can store anything but ZABUNGLE like this.

The ZABUNGLE car can be stored in the hangar by separating it.

Easy weathering for a realistic finish!

Now, with such a well-constructed kit with color-coding and parts, there are many options to add the usual "extra touches". I decided to do some simple weathering.

I used Daiso's "Melting Milky Foundation for Skin (200 yen).

Here is how I did it.

After about 20 minutes of work, I let the foundation dry lightly and coated it with "matte clear" to fix the foundation in place. The clear paint may make the weathering slightly docile, so if you feel so, apply weathering again after drying.

The finished product is shown here!

How do you like it? Adjust the weathering condition based on the image of the direction of travel and the height from the ground surface. I think the color of the stains is now typical of a landship hovering over the wilderness of the planet Zora.

This time, I focused on the bow side of the ship and looked at the bridge. The weathering has given the ship a more massive appearance, don't you think?

Considering the direction of travel, I thought the bow would be the easiest part to get dirty, so I applied a relatively heavy coat of foundation.

The corners of each part are also highlighted to emphasize the details.

The deck will be used by WMs, so the weathering was done in a somewhat irregular direction.

The white areas look particularly sandy and dirty.

The forward part of the ship from slightly behind.

In this case, the weathering was applied after assembly, but once you have grasped the shape, you can disassemble it and apply weathering to every corner.

Bridge area from slightly above. The panel lines and other bumps have been highlighted to clarify the details here as well. This is also because the original modeling is so solid.

You may want to add some sooty weathering to the jet nozzles. This time, I skipped it because I focused on the "simplicity" of the model, saying that it can be assembled easily and become like this with just a simple weathering. I skipped it because I wanted to make it "easy.

I adjusted the weathering with the height in mind, but since there might be sandstorms, I also applied a little tighter weathering to the higher parts of the ship. Please adjust this area according to your preference.

It looks cool when photographed with natural evening light in the background!

Around the bridge. There is also an antenna, so be careful not to damage it.

The edges, such as the cheeks and the sheath, have just the right amount of highlighting.

This iron gear looks outstandingly powerful when viewed from as low a viewpoint as possible.

In addition, be sure to stain the underside as well.

The backside will be especially dirty because of the sand that continues to be rolled up by the hover. It may also rub against rocks. Imagine that as you clean the backside of the plane.

The jet engine part is also very close to the surface, so it was heavily weathered. It is true that the jet engines are so dirty that I was concerned that it might interfere with their function, but since this is a planet like this, it must have been taken care of already.

Next, I will modify some of the WMs that I was interested in.

First is the Zabungle. Since two pieces are included, let's recreate the Zyron aircraft with one of them. I folded the wing on the back in a nice snap and removed the tires on both arms.

Just by folding the wing, the silhouette is completely changed.

Another thing is the club-type legs. I just cut them off at the knees and glued the toes facing in the desired direction, but I think that's all it took to make them look like that.

Again, this is the only way to reproduce the warped shape of the toes, given the convenience of the mold.

As you can imagine, it takes time to paint the WM, so paint it little by little when you have enough time.

Finally, there are a few parts that will not be used in this kit. Those are shown below.

Looking at these unused parts, the astute person may suddenly think that there are two other landships of the Iron Gear class, "Greta Gully" and "Ghia Ghia", which are different in color and have slightly different color patterns. It may be hard to notice because the color of this kit is that of the Iron Gear, but if you assemble the kit in your mind with different molding colors, it is possible to reproduce both of them (although you need a stand for the Gear Gear).

Could this possibly be a possibility for commercialization of both?　No, I haven't heard anything about it, so I can't be sure.　But I would like to take this opportunity to ask for a three-dimensional reproduction of all the Iron Gear class landships, and even a kit of the WM form!

Of course, those who are strong may use this kit as a base for painting various types of landships.

In any case, the kits introduced here are easy to assemble, so please enjoy them to your heart's content.

See you again with the next kit.