Good Evening everyone!
If haven't seen my previous review, click here:
Moving on!
I present to you the kindhearted virtuous leader of the Shu army, Liu Bei!
He' the main character of the show Brave Battle warriors. He's a simple man who values respect and kindness more than anything. Liu Bei is widely known as an ideal benevolent, humane ruler who cared for his people and selected good advisers for his government.
He also shows skills in combat and was good enough to get the loyalty of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, his oath brothers.
Here he is in the Dynasty Warriors series. He's depicted a bit younger here unlike in previous games where he looks a little older.
On with the review!
Box art:
You can see Cao Cao at the back.. Maybe plotting something haha!
The usual tour around the box, you can see his gimmicks and a special combo is you own Guan Yu and Zhang Fei!
This is something new, he's the only one I know who has this special printing the base of his box. It promotes Zhang Fei and Guan Yu as well a reminder to buy original products :D Also has a link to a forum you can check out for fellow fans of the show and an ad for the shows timeslot.
Manual:
Yup, it's in english. The show did air on toonami in cartoon network before. Maybe I got a US stock. Read away :D
You can see he's modeled after the grand daddy gundam RX-78-2! he's the main character after all so I guess that's a no brainer.
It's still sideways even in english text haha!
Contents/Runners:
So yeah, this kit has been with me prior to this blog so I don't have the actual runners anymore but I did took him apart for assembly shots :D
As usual, standard 3 runners and he's mostly in white. Color separation really resembles an RX-78-2 kit.
Here he is before I painted him, very sticker heavy. It's not noticeable meaning the stickers really did their job. Keep reading to see his transformation!
Head assembly:
A very simple build. He's one of the few characters that doesn't wear a helmet but rather a face plate. He resembles the RX-78-2 in most of his parts. Also, he has his hair tied up.
Body assembly:
Pretty straightforward. You just need to focus on the painting. It's hard not to see RX-78-2 here.
Waist assembly:
Very plain. Just a bit of detailing on the front skirts.
Leg assembly:
A bit of panel lining and small gold detailing and you're done. He looks like a chicken here LOL.
Arm assembly:
If you leave the shoulders white, they'll really resemble RX-78-2. The shoulder painting is a bit tedious but with effort, it's doable.
Backpack:
I forgot to include the shoulder drapes in the previous shot so I put them here instead. He has a simple backpack to store his weapons. The tassels are a nice touch to his armor.
Accessories:
Swords galore! The first 2 are his default weapons and the last one is a powered up version of the middle one.
You can store them like so.
Completion:
I highlighted the places that needs painting. I still need to polish my skills, they're not yet smooth as other painters but I'm proud of what I've accomplished :D
He really has a nice look overall, really gives him the "leader" vibe. Dual wielding made him more badass.
Articulation:
This guy has awesome articulation! Thanks to his armor design, the shoulders are simple and doesnt obstruct the arm movement too much. Same with the waist skirt, it's not in the way and his legs are longer meaning he can do nice one foot standing poses.
Very simple body frame allowing him to move freely with ease.
Comparisons:
Here he is with my various RX-78-2 models. He really does blend in huh :D
I don't have a review for the MG 2.0 and Ver. 30th yet but it'll come soon :D
You can check out the HGUC 1/144 (the one on the left) review here:
and the SD version here:
Here's a closes look of him side by side with his first form, the only other version of him I own.
You can see how much far he's come from a simple soldier to a leader.
You can check his review here:
Poses:
As I said earlier, his armor design doesn't restrict his movements allowing him to pull of decent fighting poses. If only they have action base connectors to do aerial poses. Simple poses are enough for him to stand out.
Having him side by side with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei really adds a nice effect. They're one of those characters that would look weird without their companions beside them
You can check out Guan Yu's review here:
For Zhang Fei's review:
Here's the reason why you need to complete them. They have a gimmick just like in the show where you can transfer Guan Yu and Zhang Fei parts to Liu Bei to do his Divine Trinity slash attack!
There's a special version where they're all gold colors and they include a star effect to imitate his move. Maybe I'll get that someday.
Verdict:
Deatials: 10/10
Despite being simple, he has nice molded details. In his skirt you have grooves to look like chainmail and some subtle details like the ones in his shoulders and feet. If you don't have skill in painting the stickers actually do quite a good job in bringing the details.
The swords also have nice details them that only need a bit of painting to make it shine (literally)
They really captured the RX-78-2 feel in his design, one look and you'll know he's the main character.
Articulation: 10/10
This guy is one of the best sangokuden kits in the series along with Lu Bu because of it's articulation. Thanks to his armor design, you can pull of nice ground poses which is important because he's a dual wielder after all.
He pretty much overpowers a typical sangokuden kit, perks of being the main character haha! There's also a version of him where he has elbow joints. But that kit is overkill with the price, it has a lot of gold metallic parts.
Anyway, setting that aside, this guy is enough!
Accessories: 10/10
He gets 3 swords. Technically it's 2 swords because the other one is a powered up version. It's all you need. Add other misc. items would be out of place for a model kit. If it's an actual figure maybe they can include food items or something.
You get what you see in the show and that's what you want of course. You have posing options which is a plus if you're into toy photography.
You have the usual eye sticker variations but it's a one time thing so you need to choose unless you have extra face plates lying around.
Parts: 10/10
Color separation was done well. The molded detail also helps if you wanted to paint the kit. There are stickers to compensate and they do the job well, It's hard to tell in the first pic if I'm using stickers or not.
Since it's mostly white, you need to do a lot of panel lining to bring out some minor details which stands out if done well. The backpack tassels have a rubbery feel to them which is ok for me because it feels like tassels but the pegs get loose easily if you rotate them a lot. I had to paint the peg to help it hold its place during the combination gimmick.
Other than that, all parts fit nicely and no loose joints. There's also minimal seam lines visible. Nubs are placed well. A straight build would still look awesome.
Conclusion: 10/10
Long story short, this kit has lot of things going for him. If you're getting into this line, this guy is a must buy. Not because he's the main character but you'll get your moneys worth even if you just build him out of the box.
I know some people don't have the means and time to do painting so this kit is good for those people because a straight build is enough to justify this guy. Also, it's not often stickers do a good job of keeping a kits overlook pleasing.
Just like with previous reviews, I got this guy because I love the show and he's a lead character which is what most of my kits are, lead MS.
Fun fact, this guy is the first Sangokuden kit I ever bought. I wasn't into the show before but when my friend explained to me that it was based on the Three Kingdoms (I'm a geek for that) I immediately changed my mind. Thus began my sangokuden collection. I mainly collect Shu officers though because of their motif.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the review! for the coming reviews, i'll just leave it at random. It can be a gunpla kit or figure, whatever comes first haha but stay tuned for more of my stuff!
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