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.

Rangers, Cyclopes, Anubians, and more

Dark Dream Studio has released their latest group of 1/72 fantasy sets. These miniatures extend their range of Middle Earth figures, and also include some generic fantasy figures as well.

The Black Riders don't seem to have made their way to North America yet, so a review will have to wait for another day, but I was able to get the other figures.

The first set are Rangers, and they are classified as Southern Kingdom Warriors (which I assume means they are Gondorians).

The set contains figures in 12 poses that include swordsmen, and male and female archers.

The figures are well sculpted and can be used for any type of medieval European fantasy gaming.

The next set is the Anubis Army, which I am guessing come from the 2001 movie The Mummy Returns.

These jackal headed creatures are often called Anubians in the FRP world, and the set includes 10 different poses armed with a variety of weapons.

The figures are well sculpted, and much taller than humans. They are also very muscular, so they're not quite like the more mummified movie versions of these creatures.

A couple of previous Anubian figures come from the Age of Mythology game and the Arcane Legions game, with the later probably being more compatible with the Dark Alliance figures than the former.

The next set are Cyclopes.

The set has 4 poses of classical cyclopes that are about twice the height of a human.

They fall somewhere in the middle as far as height goes compared to other cyclops miniatures which can be seen here.

The final two sets are a couple of older releases. The first being Light Warriors of the Dead (the companion to this set is reviewed here).

The set contains lightly armored figures in 10 poses.

The figure with the sling is supposed to be carrying a shield, but all of the figures in my set have their left arm short shot. I think the set I bought was a recent production run, so the molds may have some issues now.

Intact figure

The next set is the third installment of Light Alliance Elves. I was not a fan of the first set, but I think that these are a huge improvement.

There are 10 poses including swordsmen in heavy armor, one female with sword and dagger, and male and female archers. All of them stand at least half a head taller than a human.

They look more like the elves from the Lord of the Rings movies, and they aren't as bandy-legged as the figures from Set 1.

Overall, this is a nice group of sets from Dark Dream Studio. I think the Rangers and Army of the Dead are the most useful, while the other figures are of more limited use.

Gog Magog

Gog and Magog are Biblical names that have been used in a number of different contexts. Throughout history, the names have been applied to various peoples or nations by demogogues to signal the coming of an apocalyptical event.

In the Alexander Romance and Islamic folklore, the names refer to tribes of rapacious barbarians, but whereas the former sometimes illustrates them as giants, the later describes them as being more dwarf-like.

The names have also been associated with legends about the founding of Britain, with representative examples being the Guildhall Giants (traditionally known as Gogmagog and Corineus), and the Wicker Giants used in the London Lord Mayor's Show.

Miniatures of Gog and Magog were made as super exclusives for the Time of Legends: Joan of Arc Kickstarter.

The two giants are billed as heralds of the Apocalypse. Gog is a sorcerer, armed with a sword and staff, while Magog is a warrior bearing a mace and shield.

I find Gog a lot more interesting than Magog, but both sculpts are very nice. They're on 65mm bases, which I'll probably switch out for something smaller.

Olog-hai

The set of War Trolls from Dark Alliance include 8 figures in 4 poses.

They are made of the same type of plastic as the Dark Alliance Mounted Modern Amazons, which I think they should use for all their figures going forward.

These figures are essentially modeled after the design of the Olog-hai battle trolls from the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings movies and associated media.

In the novels, trolls were presented as creatures of Morgoth, created in mockery of Ents. The Olog-hai were a newer breed of troll which were immune to being turned to stone by sunlight, and described as "taller and wider than men, with hide or armour of horny scales".

The movie derived Olog-hai seem to be at least twice the height of a man, and the Dark Alliance figures look to reflect the size very well.

I'm not sure how they scale out compared to the GW Olog-hai miniatures, but from this post from The One Ring, I get the impression that some of them may be very comparable in size to the Dark Alliance figures, and could possibly be used alongside each other without any issues.

White Elephants

Sometimes when an impressively large model catches my eye, I have to take a reality check and think about whether there is any point in owning the thing.

Here are a few items that gave me a moment of pause before I decided not to buy them.

1. Kyoshinhei by Good Smile Company

This figure represents a God Warrior from the Studio Ghibli short film produced for a 2012 exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo.


Giant God Warrior Appears in Tokyo posted by f711513007
At 50cm in height, the figure is impressive, but I have to say that it would be well under it's actual 1/72 height as represented in the short.

The figure is still probably very undersized compared to the original God Warrior as presented in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.

Scale issues aside, the final price with shipping would have been very high, and there was the very real possibility that the model could have sustainded damaged during shipping (polystone resin is not the most durable of materials).

2. Colossal Titan Coin Bank by Bandai

This PVC figure represents the aberrant type 60m Titan from Attack on Titan.

The Colossal Titan at 60cm, is even taller than the God Warrior. It is actually 1/100 scale, but that's something I would have been willing to overlook with regard to a fictional flayed giant.

3. Flower-class Corvette by Revell

Even now, I often contemplate buying this kit, but at 85cm in length I wonder where I would store it. The pool might be an option, but I couldn't keep it docked there all the time.

4. U-Boat Type VIIC by Revell

I would seriously consider a waterline U-boat since they could be used for gaming every now and then, but at 93.3cm long, the type VIIC and the even larger type IXC submarine (106.3cm) are just really big.

I suppose that the kit could be converted easily enough to a waterline model, but that seems almost like throwing away half the kit.

5. Skipjack-class Submarine by Moebius Models

As with the U-boats, I would definitely consider a waterline model of the Skipjack for an Ice Station Zebra scenario, but at 106.7cm, the full hulled kit is a monster. I believe that this model is also sold in Revell packaging.

6. Gato-class Submarine by Revell

Yet another submarine. This time the 132cm long Gato-class sub. If I were to have bought this model, I would have been tempted to get two. One built up in the standard way, and one built up as the USS Sea Tiger from the 1959 film Operation Petticoat.

Balao-class submarine

However, I probably would have been bothered by the fact that the subs used in filming were actually Balao-class submarines, while the USS Seadragon which reputedly operated in red primer color for a time was a Sargo-class submarine.

7. C3-type Cargo Submarine by Lindberg

Lindberg went out of business, but the kits are still being produced by Round 2 LLC under the Lindberg brand name. The model is 148.6cm long, and comes with four Kaiten manned torpedoes.

8. Saturn V Rocket by Dragon

There was a time when I was really interested in getting the 1/96 scale Revell Saturn V, but by the time the Dragon version came around, that desire was a distant memory. At 153.7cm tall, I'm not sure if there is a commercially produced 1/72 kit that is larger than this one.

In closing, I'll have to admit that at times I look at my existing piles of lead and plastic and wonder what the point of it all is. However, finishing a project no matter how small, or getting to play a game with newly painted miniatures always brings a sense of satisfaction, and puts me back to the proper hobbyist perspective.