May 3, 2011

1/35 scale Assault Suite "Leynos" ~ Quick review

From Wikipedia: "The Assault Suits series is a series of futuristic robotic war video games developed by NCS featuring soldiers manning gigantic humanoid machines dubbed Assault Suits. Spanning the course of 15 years and beyond, the games would be cross-distributed, cross-published and developed between the U.S. and Japan. It would be known as one of the most challenging series to follow due to the drastic changes from game to game. The original Assault Suit Leynos and the direct sequel used the term "Assault Suit" while the Valken series used the plural "Assault Suits""

This styrene kit from the company PLUM depicts the player's version of the main mecha from the game. The only other available kit, that I'm aware of, was a 1/72 scale resin kit from Yellow Submarine, long out of production.
 

Box Art

This is not a bad looking kit, and it reminds me a lot of the mecha from Heavy Gear. Only have 2 minor complaints about this model: the lack of additional weaponry and the price given the size of the finished model.

It has a decent amount of parts, including polycaps to allow mobility of the finished kit.  Haven't heard of the model kit company PLUM until now, but apparently they have released kits of video game vehicles before, and the reviews are favorable as to the quality.  Parts fit will tell during assembly, but it looks close to that of a Bandai Master Grade kit.

 

What You Get

Boxful o' parts	Sprues	Instructions (cover)	Instructions (assembly)	Instructions (color guide)	Close-up of parts	Close up of parts

Scale: 1/35
Manufacturer: PLUM
What you get: 12 sprues of injection-molded styrene parts (one of them clear), assembly instructions with painting color guide
Price: ¥6,210 (approx. $76.80) plus international shipping from Hobby Search or HLJ
Molding Quality: very nice & crisp, no mold flash
Detail: good surface details but maybe a wee bit lacking for a mecha
Accuracy: it's from a video game, so looks spot on to me
Pros: detail, rarity (only other Leynos was a resin kit, long OOP), appears to have a good parts fit
Cons: price/size of finished model (6" tall when complete), no extra weaponry

Final comments: If you can afford it and you are a fan of the Heavy Gear or Assault Suit video games of the 90's, this kit is a must-have.  Recommended.