Gatchman II New God Phoenix plus LED kit

Published on
February 25, 2020
Review Author(s)
MSRP
$99.00
Product / Stock #
15776S
Company: Academy Models - Website: Visit Site
Provided by: Academy Models - Website: Visit Site
Box Art

This is a brand-new model of the New God Phoenix from Tatsunoko Production's TV Anime [Science Ninja Gatchaman II] broadcasted from October 1978. (Also known as Battle of the Planets in North America).

This version includes the optional LED lighting kit.

In the box is:

  • 2 x white sprues
  • 1 red sprue
  • 1 blue sprue
  • 1 pink transparent sprue
  • 1 dark grey sprue
  • 1 black sprue
  • 1 small yellow sprue
  • 8 white parts not on a sprue
  • 1 decal sheet
  • 1 sticker sheet
  • 1 instruction booklet
  • 1 LED kit

The sprues are extremely well molded with no flash and very detailed. The parts are all molded in the correct colors so if the build is done well there is no need to do much painting. The LED kit optional kit is simple and easy to use and fully detailed in the instruction booklet.

Construction

Stage 1 to 3 Assembly of the head of the Phoenix. The parts assembled perfectly and very minimal glue is required. This also means you do not have to paint the Phoenix unless you want to. I chose not to.

Stage 5 to 7 build the main body of the Phoenix; the instructions show you how to assembly with or without the LED kit. I went with installing the LED lighting. Here I did some painting at stage 5 to the engine intakes to help them show up behind the front grille. I encountered a problem assembling the parts G5 and 6 with the LEDs installed. They are tight, and the wires are hard to bend near the LED lights. So please take your time with this area. I also had to tape the LED wires in place to help with the routing.

Stage 8 to 9 are the assembly of the folding wings and tail of the Phoenix. This goes together very well. I will point out that you need to be careful to assembly the parts in the right way as it is a little confusing. The other area to be extra careful is when you assembly the two halves of the fuselage and trap the wings in place. You need to ensure the pins are lined up and the LED wires do not get caught. I had to attempt this a couple of times before it went together correctly.

Stage 10 assembles the head to the body, again no issues at the stage.

Stage 11 Building and attaching the vertical tail, no problems with this stage either.

Stage 12 Assembly of the undercarriage, the Phoenix can have the gear up or down. Here I chose down as it makes the whole thing look more impressive.

Stage 13 installed the two underwing hangers and LED lights. You do need to ensure these are installed the correct way around.

Stage 14 to 15 is for the assembly of the of the display stand which also has the batteries for the LED and the on/off button. As with the other stages this went together very well. The lights will now work lighting up the forward and underwing hanger plus the engines. They look great once lit!

Stage 16 and 17 add the missile covers or missiles in launch mode, Due to the great fit you can change this as you like.

Stage 18 is where most painting is needed for the figures and the mini vehicles. The figures are the wrong scale and are just for display. The mini vehicles can be put into the hangers for each.

Stage 19 is the building of the clear red special effects parts which represent the Phoenix flying ultra-fast causing flames to occur on the nose and wings. These parts are push-on and can me added and removed as you please.

The last work is the addition of the Decals (or stickers if you prefer).

Summary

This is excellent kit from Academy. I really enjoyed this and it looks amazing when displayed with LEDs on. This is not a difficult kit to build so any standard of modeler can enjoy assembling this kit.

Thanks go to Academy for providing this kit to review and IPMS USA for allowing me to review it.

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