The "attention to detail" packed into a compact body is impressive! I made the "Vic Viper ver. Gladius IV," which is easy to assemble and looks cool! The Weekend Plastic Model Kit of Taiyuki, Voice Actor!　No.15]

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! The 15th issue of the series has started!

Vol. 15 Vicviper ver. Gradius IV

PLUM, which has made kits of its own aircraft from numerous shooting games, finally releases this aircraft!

Here comes the 1/144 scale "Big Viper ver. Gradius IV"!

The base of the kit is an image of the aircraft that appears on the KEYCONFIG screen of KONAMI's "Gradius IV - Resurrection", and if you have played the first "Gradius" game, you will recognize the "Vic Viper" at a glance.

On the package, the Vic Viper is prominently displayed!　The package features a large, majestic image of the Vic Viper.

On the side of the package, you will find a pre-painted sample of the finished model, as well as an explanation of the aircraft.

The bold division of parts has kept the total number of parts down to about 70, including display parts.
Even those who prefer painting and gluing will find that each part can be easily modified later!　What a kind design!

Since the number of parts is kept to a minimum, there are not many assembly processes. It will not take much time to complete.

Now, let me introduce some points of interest while assembling.

First, the cockpit area. Once completed, it is almost invisible, but even the pilot is well sculpted.

Undergates are used for some parts. It is especially nice that the canopy part does not show the gate marks even if it is not painted.

The use of adhesives is recommended for some parts. In this example, we only used instant adhesives to attach the parts by dotting.

Be careful not to lose the very fine clear parts such as the wingtip lights, which are very detailed! The instructions provide "tips on how to assemble" so that you can cut them out of the runners after assembly.

Here is the figure assembled and the clear parts detached from the runner. You can see how small the clear parts are compared to the finger in the picture!

There are pins on the main wings so fine that they could be mistaken for gate marks. Be careful not to accidentally scrape them off!

The fins of the intake on the underside of the fuselage are separate parts one by one. ......

The three-dimensional effect is amazing!

Super fine clear parts are also attached to the nose. The tips for assembly are the same as for the wingtip lights.

Following the instructions, I was able to complete the assembly in about an hour.
The coloring is mostly reproduced in molded colors, and the modeling is quite sharp. It looks cool!

The color separation of the main wings is especially brilliant. Even without painting, the coloring is satisfactory.

From the front, it looks very sharp.

From the rear, the nozzle located in the center of the fuselage is impressive.

The main nozzle is well molded down to the edge.

The nose, which is split into two halves, is one of the features of the Vic Viper.

The molding on the inside of the nose will be more informative when painted.

The details around the cockpit are also well reproduced. The inside of the cockpit is hard to see, but it will look even more realistic if this area is painted in detail.

The intakes are also well reproduced.

The back side of the fuselage top block looks like this. Is it used for yawing?

Even from the bottom, this graceful figure!

Not a single detail has been left out!

Two tank-like tanks are equipped under the main wings.

Perhaps it is because the aircraft is from a side-scrolling shooter game, but the vertical tail wing also has a strong presence.

The wing tip lights are the smallest parts in this kit,

Clear parts of the nose. Look at it again!　How small it is!　Really, don't lose them!

The base of the pedestal is ball-shaped, so it can be rotated and tilted.

In the game, this is the first orientation you see.

Was it like this when going up and down?

The pedestal connection can also be made flat by replacing parts.

Now let's do some inking here as usual.

I used a 0.3mm mechanical pencil and a Gundam marker to ink the base. Compared to the unassembled state, the mold looks more informative with a clearer image.

The underside of the fuselage was also inked well. The nose of the Big Viper is really distinctive, isn't it?

This is a slightly higher view of the nose. I feel that the inked-in surface gives the aircraft a model-like appearance.

The detail on the wings and other prominent surfaces are also well detailed, which is a great effect of the sumi ink.

The Vic Viper looks so cool even with the inked model!

The "Vic Viper ver. Gradius IV" is probably one of the easiest to assemble among the previous three-dimensional Vic Viper models, and is a wonderful kit with a sharp and delicate finish. This kit is a must-have not only for "Gradius" fans, but also for those who love science fiction fighter planes!
The kit is 1/144 scale, so it would be interesting to compare the size of the kits with other character kits!

Product Information

Vicviper Ver. Gradius IV

Now on sale

Scale: 1/144

Manufacturer: PM Office A Co.

Height: approx. 150mm

List Price: 4,200 yen (tax not included)

Specifications: Plastic kit

Profile of Yuuki Tai]

Voice actor born on October 6, 1977.

He has appeared in "Bungo to Archemist: Judgment Gear" Haruo Sato, "Sword Dance: ONLINE" Sosan Left Character, Tarotachi, "Bungo to Archemist" Haruo Sato, "Dream Kingdom and 100 Princes" Latria, "The 3rd Super Robot War Alpha: The Galaxy at the End" Quavray Gordon, "Beastly Machine Attack Dancuga Nova" Johnny Burnett, "Super Robot Transformers Prime" Wheeljack, Beacon, "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY" Chen Jian Yi, and many others.