Good Afternoon Guys!
I hope you saw my previous review, if not click here:
Moving on... I present to you another character from the Sangokuden series, Zhang Fei! He fought along side Guan Yu and Liu Bei to rid the land of various corrupt overlords.
He is one of the founders of the Shu Army and a blood brother to Liu Bei and Guan Yu. Unlike his 2 brothers, Zhang Fei is a very carefree happy go lucky guy.
The three met by coincidence and they believe that it was destiny that brought them together, being impressed by Liu Beis virtues, he and Guan Yu swore an oath that they will support him no matter what.
He usually laughs at the face of battle because he enjoys the feeling especially when he's challenged. Think of him as Lu Bu but more friendly haha (Lu Bu is the demonic super warrior in their time.)
Here he is in the Dynasty Warriors series.
I got carried away with the history lesson hahaha! On with the review!
Box art:
Pretty much the same with any other basic Sangokuden kit. I really love the art style of this show. On the sides of the box you can see his gimmicks and the same image from Guan Yu, the combination attack for Liu Bei.
I'm recently re watching the series just to see the characters in motion again. Here's a link if you're interested:
It's dubbed in english though, I can't find the original version because it's such an old show.
Manual:
His basic information and back story along with the description of his weapon.
You will see here his special attack, forgot the name but its something "Serpent" attack XD
Also they show the MS he's based on, the Zeta Gundam.
The usual comic that's included, this is actually before Guan Yu's manual so I should've posted this one first haha! But I really wanted to build Guan Yu first :p
The runner count, usually it's just 3 pieces for a basic character. Others have more due to their accessory count or bigger pieces.
Contents:
Yay! Stickers! ummm.. no. Hahaha! As usual I only used the eyes I decided to use the forehead camera just for fun. Others can be painted if you try :D
So he's mostly red which contrasts Guan Yu's green and Liu Bei's blue motif. The silver molds on these kits are ok unlike the supposed "gold" so I didn't paint the silver parts because its a piece that moves lot so it might get damaged anyway.
As I said with my previous post, Sangokuden kits require a lot of work despite their size if you want to get that accurate look but stickers are always there if you don't have the means of painting :D
Head assembly:
As expected, gold linings but easy assembly. I kinda used the wrong color for the dragon piece but what's done is done haha! I'll own it :D The helmet takes up a lot of space because it's angled hitting the backpack most of the time.
Torso/Arms assembly:
I find it cool that his torso armor are sleeves not the usual big piece you just slap in. More gold detailing. The arms armor have an asymmetrical design like Guan Yu with different pieces at each side. He also has this spikey wristband.
Used brown lining on the red parts because the contrast is better and a bit of fun metal on the forearms for more details.
I love that dragon head on his shoulder. Unfortunately, with this armor pieces and his helmet, articulation is somewhat limited.
Legs assemble:
The legs only need a bit of panel lining the bring out the details. The feet however have some intricate detailing required, I used chrome silver on the toes to show them more and gold for the lining the spikes on his one foot. Dunno why this guy has an asymmetrical armor build.
The waist.. that's where most of the fun is. Crotch area and that cape thing is painted red and then some gold linings to show his belt or satchel or something. A bit of panel lining to emphasize the molded details. If done right, it looks pretty cool.
I keep forgetting that these characters are suppose to look human too hence the armor designs.
So far, I'm loving his overall appearance, from Guan Yu's tough like a wall persona, this guy looks more agile.
Accessories assembly:
Looks hard but it's doable. It's good that the inside red section is a bit sunken which makes it easier for me to clean if ever I went out the lines. Love the color scheme. This back pack resembles the Zeta Gundam closely minus the spikes.
Forget the waist, this is where the actual fun begins. It's the tiny sections that gets you crazy haha! I worked on this for almost 1hr and a half. As usual, my fine tip tamiya brush does the job well.
If you look at it, the default silver color is working well and doesn't need the metallic paint and plus since he's holding this most of the time, the paint would probably be scratched majority of the time.
Articulation/Completion:
I gotta admit, despite his simple look, he looks pretty bad ass. For some reason, he reminds me of the Air Master from Gundam X. Probably the color scheme.
The overlook is amazing, if you painted it :D The spear really stands out and just noticed that his spear is shorter than Guan Yu so he can't do 2 hands holding pose.
Aside from that, a simple standing pose can really show how defined this guy is.
For articulation, the armor significantly decreases his mobility. The helmet alone is hitting a lot of areas when moving around. His thighs are cramped inside the skirt making very limited obvious movements but the feet can rotate freely. If you want, keep the wings on his spear so the head and arms can move a little more.
Sangokuden kits all use ball joints so the articulation are all basic rotations and angles but they tend to pop off moved further from its limit. There are no elbow and knee joints. Only special characters have them though.
But you don't need the articulation when your kit looks awesome standing. LOL.
Gimmicks:
Just like his original form, the wings can detach and attach to his spear making it stronger and cooler. He does this whenever he uses his special attack.
Damn, that spear looks so cool, that's why endure the painting :D
As Sangokuden standards, this guy has detachable armor pieces. They're humans after all :D
Comparisons:
Along side his brothers, he seems smaller or maybe it's just my angles. But damn ,they look good side by side each other. It's one of those kits that will only look complete if you have their companions.
You can check out Guan Yu's review here:
As for Liu Bei, I plan to restore him, meaning remove the stickers and paint the details instead. He's actually my first Sangokuden kit way back 2013 so my skills back then are somewhat... bad hahaha!
Here's a side by side comparison with my HGUC 1/144 Zeta Gundam. The one before the Revive series. The parts I can clearly see the resemblance are the v fins, shield, wings and thigh shapes. Aside from that, he Really reminds me of the Air Master because of the color scheme.
I haven't done a review yet of my Zeta Gundam but it's in the list so stay tuned!
Poses:
They really look good side by side. Can you tell that my Liu Bei is using a lot of stickers? haha also the lining is pretty bad, I enjoyed too much back then and didn't notice how thick they are.
My Shu Army! Sadly I don't reviews of them yet aside from Guan Yu. I'm slowly building my blog again so stay tuned! Also, I might need to paint the others to make them more presentable haha!
From left to right (clockwise)
- Ma Dai
- Guan Yu
- Ma Chao
- Zhao Yun
- Zhuge Liang
- Guan Ping
- Zhang Fei
- Liu Bei
The Shu Army is pretty much my favorite faction overall. I like some characters in Wu and Wei but if can choose to join a faction, I'd go with Shu hahaha! They have a strong sense of virtue.
My only other Zhang Fei kit. It's a clear kit from the Oath set which you can view here if you're interested:
His upgrade pretty much all his armors and weapons bigger and sharper.
This is how they met. Liu Bei saw Zhang Fei and Guan Yu fighting. Due to his virtues, he tried to calm the pair. They were surprised by him and explained that it was a misunderstanding. From there, the trio started their long journey.
Also, imagine them in their basic forms haha!
Some dramatic poses :D The effect is really good if they're complete! The color contrasts really make them pleasing to look at.
I'm so happy I finally have the three of them together :D
Here he is without his armor. You guessed it, another bald man :))
Verdict:
Details: 10/10
Compared to Guan Yu, this guy had more molded details that just needs a bit of painting and lining for them to shine. Stickers are always an option but it's really best if you try to paint them.
His spear and accessories also has nice molded details which really begs to be painted to be appreciated. His asymmetrical design really makes him stand out.
Articulation: 7/10
Without the armor he's very poseable. With the armor he's poseable to an extent. Things will mostly likely get in the way of each other especially the helmet, back pack and wings.
If you do keep the wings on his spear, his articulation can be increased but not that much. He also can't hold his spear with two hands because of its length.
Accessories: 9/10
His spear combo really did it for me. You have 2 configurations for the spear adding more posing options. He does have other eye stickers but it's not like you can interchange them.
He was based of the Zeta Gundam, was kinda hoping he can transform into something but that would be realistic in their terms.
Parts: 10/10:
Color separation was made well so if you ever paint it, it wouldn't be much of a hassle in your part. They mold it in the color that's majorly visible. Like the skirt, it's good they molded that in white, you just a few details and you're done.
Same with the spear, it's good that they molded that in silver lessening your painting time making you focus on the small parts.
It's nice that the torso armor are sleeves so you don't need to paint much as well, they separated the colors really well for this kit.
My usual complain with Sangokuden kits is the very dull gold they mold some parts in but that's my opinion. :D
Conlusion: 9/10
I rated him higher than Guan Yu because I considered the difficulty of this kit. Unlike Guan Yu, his assembly and detailing is easy even for a beginner.
I love his overall appearance and armor details. The spear is the selling point, the look and playability of it really gets your attention.
Despite the lack of articulation, You can still make nice static poses and if you have Liu Bei and Guan Yu, you'll hardly notice it because the trio really gives off a nice aesthetic view when posed side by side.
I'd recommend him if you like SD kits and you're trying to get into SD kits. If you're not a fan of painting then you might be stressed with detailing unless you're fine using stickers ;D
Aside from that, I got him because I love the show and Dynasty Warriors so seeing this kind of model kit really amazed me.
So there you have it, another review done! I hope you like it and stay tuned for more! I might build an MG next...
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