Showing posts with label aoshima. Show all posts
Showing posts with label aoshima. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 18, 2021

VFG Klan Klang

I've been waiting 10 years for a 1/72 scale model of Klan Klang, so it was with great excitement that I received the news that a Klan Klang Variable Fighter Girl figure was in the works by Aoshima last summer.


There is some controversy over what Klan's actual height should be, but my personal belief is that she should be about 11m tall, which makes the 6 inch height of the figures in the VFG line just about right.

The VFG line is part of the Aoshima Character Kit Series, which includes plastic models of various robots, kaiju, and mecha musume.

A comparison of the VFG figure with the putatively 1/72 MegaHouse figure can be seen at the プロピReNGu YouTube channel.

ReNGu-san often gets distracted by Klan, so the video might be considered slightly NSFW, but his video shows that there is a considerable difference in size between the two figures.

プロピReNGu channel

In any event, I'm glad I never bought the MegaHouse figure because it is entirely too big, and if Klan were that size, she wouldn't fit her Queadluun-Rhea.

The video also shows a comparison of the VF25G that comes in this kit with a 1/72 VF25, and seems to indicate that the model is probably 1/100 scale.

Anyway, after a 3½ month journey by sea, I finally received the kit in March.


The box is huge, and packed with an assortment of multicolored plastic runners.


The kit comes with 5 face plates so that the figure can be displayed with different expressions. Klan's face does not look as mature as depicted in the anime, but I think the kit designers mention that this was intentional.


Two of the face plates are blank, but the decal sheet has markings for a total of 8 faces. An assortment of hands are also provided.


The GU-17A gun pod from the kit is only slightly larger than a 1/72 scale GU-11 gun pod which is about right if it is 1/100 scale.


I feel the kit is representative of many modern Japanese robot and character kits in that it is designed so that the model can be built and displayed without the need for painting. It is also articulated so that it can be played with like an action figure.

I assembled Klan in about an hour. Her outfit is only loosely based on the flight suit she wears in the show, since it is obviously more of a swimsuit.


The figure is difficult to balance in a standing position because of the weight of her twin tails (which also limit her ability to look downward to some degree).


Her feet are also kind of undersized, which doesn't help her ability to stand, but I think it's because they would otherwise not fit inside the leg/engine nacelles when she's in VFG mode.


The fit on some parts is too loose, which is annoying when trying to pose the figure since the pieces keep falling off. I also wasn't sure which pieces need to be removable for adding the VFG parts, so I didn't use any glue during assembly.

As far as height goes, she towers over the Yamato Miria.


She is also slightly taller than the Matchbox Khyron, though without her high heels, she would be slightly shorter. Khyron is 1/100 scale according to CollectionDX, but I consider him 1/72 scale because there is no way he would fit inside his Glaug battle pod if he was bigger.


Will this be the start of a slide into the bishoujo plastic model genre? I doubt it, but as long as there is the possibility of 10m tall women in fiction, I wouldn't rule it out either.


Monday, February 25, 2013

M577 Armoured Personnel Carrier


One of the most elusive 1/72 diecast models has fallen into my clutches, courtesy of Mandarake. It is the M577 APC from the film Aliens, made by Miracle House for release by Aoshima. I was surprised that the model had never been opened, but a couple of the corners of the box were slightly damaged, so perhaps a perfectionist collector dropped it by accident and then sold it off in a fit of disgust.


It is a nice heavy diecast model with rubber wheels. The forward turret rotates, but the gatling cannons the are not detailed, and merely represented by a pair of plain cylindrical barrels. The plasma cannon turret on top of the hull rotates, and slides on its mounting rails.


Many have commented on how it would be a very tight squeeze to fit a dozen fully equipped Marines into the APC. It's about one and a half times the size of the Micro Ops Warthog, so it is relatively small.


The set also comes with a pair of Colonial Marines. The pair on the right are Gorman and Vasquez. A pair of Micro Ops figures are on the left for comparison.


Two other models of the M577 APC exist in 1/72 scale. The first one is a resin model produced by Gonzoid Models. The casting is barely adequate, and the wheels and tread pattern do not appear to be very accurate. It is fairly expensive, and would have cost more than the actual diecast model at one point in time.

The other model is produced by the infamous BamBam Model Productions, and it is essentially a pirate version of the Aoshima APC in resin. Apparently, even the screws in the bottom of the hull of the diecast version are replicated in the copy. From what I can tell from their website, the casting seems to be much crisper than that of the Gonzoid APC. Nevertheless, it is a pirate, and BamBam models have a pretty poor reputation.