This would be my first review that I have ever done, so bare with me if I ramble on about nothing, but I will try to stay on topic.
I will break this review up into 4 parts. An Intro, Assembly Log, Pros and Cons.
Intro.
The Metroid Prime Samus Aran Resin Kit from Japanese garage kit maker Dimension Diver is a beautifully casted kit and was a Wonder Festival 2009 Summer Event Exclusive and a hot one at that. It did cost me quite a fair bit of change to acquire (roughly $200) but I’m really happy with it.
The kit comes with individually colored-cast parts, so you could pretty much build it without having to lift a paintbrush (or airbrush). The kit is a little small for the price though, and IMHO it would’ve been perfect if it was done in a slightly larger scale. Packed in a plastic baggie,(image is borrowed from stomandchomp.com)
it comes with a sheet of paper, which is printed in color on both sides. The first side has its instructions and the other side has a picture of the kit painted with some Japanese text. The kit itself looks fairly straightforward to build though, but believe me it is not.
In order to build this kit, one must buy a ball joint kit. It was recommended to me that I get ones from a company called "Yellow Submarine". You will need to buy 2 of these kits and assemble them together.
Since it was such a highly coveted kit, supplies for the kit dried up pretty quickly. I also recommend getting a stand for this kit. That will be discussed later on.
Assembly Log.
As mentioned assembly of the kit is not as easy as one might think. Judging from the image of the unpainted Samus on the instruction sheet, I decided to paint it to give it more character, and cause the unpainted version just looks too damn plain!
Using Gundam markers I began to paint the chest, head, joints and canon. I also used brown and black marker pens to outline the panel lines.
The canon has 2 tips. One normal, and the other is opened as if she is ready to shoot a missile.
It also has 2 hands. A fist and an open hand.
The jet pack on her back comes all red. Don't forget to paint it.
The canon was a challenge to paint. Esp. the yellow lines. I had to use a needle to paint them.
After a few days of painting I started to put it together, only noticing that you have to use glue for some of the parts. For example her boot and sole needs to be put together.
Be aware that the small green pieces, like on her chest and legs, can break easily when taking them off the trees. Be careful. Also you will need to use tweezers to put them in place after you apply glue.
Once everything was glued I was ready to put in the ball joints and put her together. Not so easy. The holes, where the ball joints go, are VERY shallow. You will have to either shorten the shaft of the ball joints OR drill deeper holes for the whole joint to fit. I went with the drill. I used 2 drill bits. One to drill deep enough and the other to widen it to the right size. This process takes a while and patience is much needed.
Once everything was done, Samus was ready to be put together.
On a side note, I noticed that the hole on the cannon where the 2 tips can go is wider then the ends of the tips. This causes the tips to fall out easily. I used a mixture of clear nail polish and dabs of crazy glue to thicken both ends. This worked. I also used this tip in places where the holes were little bigger then the shaft of the ball joints.
Pros.
The parts come colored for those who do not want to use paint.
It is very limited making it a collectors item.
The casting is very clean and beautifully done.
This is a much sought after figure then what we got officially, it shall not be named.
Possibility is quite good.
The following images are some poses I put Samus in. I tried to use well known poses.
*Notice the clear elastic holding up her canon. This is because I do not have a double joint.
Please note that posing her takes a lot of time. I will get to this in the Cons.
Cons.
Expensive.
Would have been nicer if it were in a larger scale.
Have to buy extra parts to complete the figure.
Ball joints are to shallow.
When posing the figure, limbs tend to fall out. You will have to pose each part separately. The joints are very stiff and do not move the way you might expect them to move. So you will have to take out the part and position the joint properly.
She is top heavy. I recommend getting a stand.This way you can pose her any which way.
Final Thoughts.
Overall I am quite happy with this kit. Building this kit was an experience. With only a few bumps along the way, the final product is well worth the effort and time.
If you are able to find this kit somewhere, grab it, and if you already have it, hold on to it. This one is a keeper!
VGM out...
