Review: Super Vehicle 001 (Billion Spark Craftsmanship)

Hello guys, I'm the new reviewer for Tabletop Newtype. First of all, allow me to introduce myself, I am Cat_Casval. I have been building model kits for a couple of years now, with my brother. I started my modeling hobby from a bunch third party kits, then got some Bandai and even Tamiya airplane models.


So with that out of the way, I'd like to introduce the Super Vehicle 001 M.S. Evolve by Billion Spark Craftsmanship.






It's basically the tank you ride while playing Metal Slug (a really reaaally old game).


After a quick google search of the company, I discovered something really important. It is very hard to read Chinese if you don't know the language.

Kidding aside, the company is almost unknown, the only thing I found was the slug flyer. The sv-001 original design was copied from the manufacturer "Wave". They say it's a 1/35 on the kit but the original is 1/24. Honestly, I don't really know. It's from a game with deformed characters.

Now onto the box.






It's a very good box.


Inside the box are 13 or so runners that are very neatly packed by two's. A thin manual. Some stickers. And.... screws?


Whenever I see screws I faint.

THE KIT

In all honesty, its a very nice kit. Some tight pegs here and there. An irritatingly loose gatling gun cover.


But overall a good build

EXCEPT FOR ONE THING. I don't know of it's me or the kit itself. There's this one part "C2-3" that always gets in the way of the armor.


You could not put it together with this part. Plus it keeps falling off the frame. So I just threw it away. No harm done to the kit.



Another thing that's nice is the inner frame. It's cool and kinda functioning (some pistons work but are just there for design purpose unlike the barbatos' frame pistons). Why would i need to have a really nice inner frame, you ask? If it's just gonna be covered by the armor?

Lo and behold, it also comes with clear armor! Im not really a fan of clear armor on kits. I would like to think that the inner frame should always be hidden, its just for the eyes of the builder. So I didn't build it. That's just me. But I'll admit, it is really cool.




PLASTIC QUALITY

It's thick but surprisingly good. Not really Bandai good but not t.t.hongli bad either. It's not prone to stress marks. The only bad thing is the plated parts. You need some touch up paint especially for the search light on top of the tank. It's the only shiny silver part that is really exposed. But overall good plastic.




POSABILITY

At first, I thought it would be like a brick. No moving parts, no actuation. But surprisingly it moves.

Well… the parts move. And it has a stand included(this is where the screws are for... *phew*). So posability? Just like a tank.


MY THOUGHTS

Movement: The tracks don't rotate.

Extras: There are 2 weapon cases and a gas can in the kit. But you would need to paint them. The stickers can only do so much.

Assembly: i almost crushed this kit trying to assemble the inner frame. It's like merging a bunch of parts from the right frame to a bunch of parts from the left frame.

The tracks again: you WILL assemble 42 of these individual tank threads. 42!!!




VERDICT

Do you like ammo boxes and gas tanks? Do you like cool cartoon looking tanks?
Do you love the nostalgia that Metal Slug brings? If so get one. If not, still get one. It's a cool little model kit for your display cabinet/office table .

One is enough for me. I won't get two.


Score 75/100

Review: Empire Stormtrooper (Nuclear Model)

Hey there guys. I'm doing something different this day and I'll be reviewing the Empire Stormtrooper model kit from Nuclear Model. It's a new model kit manufacturer that I haven't heard off before.So without further ado here is my review.

Packaging.

So... Apparently this is a copy of Bandai's stormtrooper kit. So just like BL gunpla the box of the stormtrooper looks a lot like Bandai's (minus the bad translations)

Manual.

Okay. Color me impressed. This is one good looking manual especially from a third party company. The colors are bright. The details are sharp. The quality of paper is good as well.

Good job.Nuclear model

The kit proper.

The Stormtrooper is a 1:12 scale model.  It has no true internal frame. So comparing it to gunpla it is a RE 100. Great details but no inner frame. The pegs fittings are firm. Although some require shaving specially in the torso.

Plastics.

The plastic used to make this kit is really remarkable (no bs) it feels almost Bandai like though a tiny bit softer.

Posability

Okay. At first I thought that this kit would be highly flexible but sadly this is not the case. The problem is the kit's simple joints system, armor design and the lack of an inner frame.

To be more specific. The shoulder armor keeps popping out and it hinders arm movement.The stormtrooper's elbow joint also tend to easily pop out.

As for the torso. No problem there.

The waist armor/tactical belt of the stormtrooper also tend to detach when posing the legs of the kit, since they tend to restrict their movement.

Trooper: You are the droid I am looking for!

Gundam: Me? K.

Thoughts:

Plastics: The plastic here is great. Better than the plastics used by Daban. Almost near Bandai.

Fitment: parts are snap fit. Although some pegs need shaving to go in without using too.much pressure.

Posability: lacks posability because of joint and armor design.

Details: details are good. Very good.

Pewpewpew

Proton cannon!!!!

Verdict

I might get me two or more of this kit. I need to make a squad. I wasn't too into star wars kits. Now I'm hooked.

You won't be disappointed.

Get one.

Score: 90/100

Site update.

Future reviews

Hey guys its been a while. First of all I would like to thank you for continuing to visit my site. Thanks to you we have surpassed 23,000 views. Although this isn't a big number compared to big websites, for a really small time blog like mine its huge.

Now here is my big news. I am getting another reviewer to help me out to help me review third party kits. Dont worry we would still be keeping it real and keeping our reviews as neutral as humanly possible.

Again. Thank you for visiting my blog and I promise much more content in the future.

Review: PG Unicorn "Fighter" Gundam (Daban)

Bandai is so pissed right now

Okay. It's been out for some time but I wanted for the hype to die down before I made my review of this kit. First of all. Guys.... if you have the money get the original Bandai kit that's just the fair thing to do it's better than this Bootleg kit and you're actually getting your money's worth.

Okay One more thing. I didn't get the optional Daban LED system for the kit since I'm planning to paint the psychoframe. Without further ado....

Here is my review of the Perfect Grade Unicorn "Fighter" Gundam made by Daban.

First of all Let's talk size.

If it was real and in 1:1 scale. The Unicorn Gundam would measure approximately 21.7 meters tall in Destroy mode. so 1:60 that'll be about 36.17 cm or 1 foot 2 inches(thereabouts).

Let's see if it's true

Yup. Seems just right.

Well... It's taller than a standard ruler. so it is HUGE. What do we expect. It is one of the taller Gundam models from the Universal Century timeline.

So a big Gundam needs big guns too. so here they are compared to an MG RX-78-2 ver 3.0

RX-78-2: A shield? Looks like a surfboard to me.

RX-78-2: twin beam Gatling guns??? Where did they get this a battleship?

RX-78-2: If I used this I could've blown up A Baoa Qu by myself.

Huge.

Basically the kit comes with 4 beam saber but only 2 beam saber effects, a bazooka, a beam magnum, a set of dual beam Gatling guns and a shield. The full armor unicorn looks impressive now, right?

A lot of other blogs have done the part by part analysis and to be frank it's not my style. I'd like to just relay my thoughts and experiences when I was building this kit.

Thoughts and Issues:

1. The plastic is reminiscent of Daban's Sinanju Stein. It's sturdy and snappy to cut but there is something really off about it's weight. It feels structurally unsound. It isn't, but it feels that way.
2. A lot of the external armor is undergated. which is a good thing. you wouldn't a predominantly white suit to have visible nub marks.
3. it's surprisingly easy to assemble. No screws, springs or any fancy locking mechanisms to hold the frame together.
1. Take that into mind because the shoulder joints may not fully support the Dual gatling gun/shield combo with an outstretched arm. friction can't keep the arm from sagging down,
4. You will face some tight fitting pegs. I would suggest not to over shave the peg holes or polycaps too much since friction is the only thing holding this thing together and standing up. 
5. I like the clear parts in this kit. I din't have to modify anything to make them fit. i just shaved the nubs off using my hobby knife and followed the instructions carefully.
6. Read the manual carefully and use your common sense. a lot of the clear parts need to go on a specific way otherwise the transformations wouldn't work.
7. If you're planning to get one but want the led later. save yourself the work. get the led's at the same time to avoid disassembling the kit to the inner frame.
8. Details are surprisingly good.
9. transformation sequence at the most part is good and smooth. Although there are some parts you have to force a little. namely the shoulders, arms and lower leg armor.
10. I love the head transformation most of all.
11. Really good posability. (Good job Bandai)

Final Thoughts.

I enjoyed making this kit. I took my sweet time in savoring the build. The details are great and it does look sweet. The gimmicks are plentiful and transformation work pretty smooth for the most part. So if' you're looking for a brilliant piece of inexpensive (relatively) Perfect grade eye candy you can't go wrong with this Unicorn.

*Rating: 90/100

Final Final Thoughts.

BUT if you take into account that Daban's newer plastic formula (I felt it began after the Nu gundam ver ka) FEELS less sturdy and less substantial compared to older models. I mean my old bootleg 00 Raiser feels heavier compared with the Unicorn.   I know it's nitpicky but there is something fundamentally "cheap" feeling about the unicorn. Please note this is my opinion.

*My Rating: 80-85

Verdict. 

Yup, It's a great kit. aside from the plastic quality feel issues I said. this is a really good copy of Bandai's original (sorry bandai).  With Daban's  Banshee already in the works, the full armor kit nearby and Dragon Momoko's more expensive , more detailed Unicorn  I would say this is a pretty good year for PG's.

Death of my thunderbolt gundam and my new daban PG Unicorn

Guys... I have bad news. I cannot finish my review of the thunderbolt gundam. I misplaced the entire box and I have no idea where I put it.  But good news. I have a new kit to review.

Meet the PG Daban Unicorn Fighter (Gundam) I promise. I will finish this and the review in a week or two.

To see updates of this build and my initial reactions please follow me on instagram: @tabletopnewtype

Next review: FA-78 full armor gundam (daban)

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Next review: FA-78 full armor gundam (daban)

Its been a while guys. Coming in the next few days will be my review of the Daban HG full armor gundam from  thunderbolt

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