SF3D, now called Maschinen Krieger, was conceptualized in Japan by Kow Yokoyama in 1984. Yokoyama created a graphically realistic setting in his writing, art and the scratch-built plastic model kits he made of the aftermath of World War IV. Yokoyama drew upon his love of WWII aircraft and armor and American sci-fi to create this celebrated cult favorite. Among his most interesting designs are his Powered Armor Suits, of which this limited edition kit features the most advance suit made for the Strahl Defense Force.

There are two complete Melusine figures included in this kit, each consisting of 49 parts. There is no flash to be seen and the detail is very good for such a small figure. We got a sprue from Hasegawa’s Gustav kit, which is the basic armor suit, and a smaller sprue for the upper suit and a few smaller pieces just for this Melusine. The decal sheet is quite extensive with many variant unit markings and numbers in both 1/35 and 1/20 scale. Most of the marking are actual German World War II unit insignias and numbering. The color scheme card has four marking photos and is printed on heavy card stock. The instruction sheet is four pages with only two pages of assembly and six steps. No photo-etched or clear parts are included.

The figure assembles quickly with great fit and just the sprue attachment points to clean up. There are a lot of seams on the arms, legs and main body, so get the putty or Mr. Surfacer ready. The main body did fit together with the panel lines a hair off, so some rescribing was in order. Part SC6 gets mounted inside the main body, so this needs to be glued before joining the halves together. I almost missed this, since it is a little confusing on the instruction sheet. The arms can be poseable since the elbows are rounded. The legs can be trimmed at the hip and moved a little, but not much.

We get the option of build the laser gun-equipped type or the engineer with either a Neupanzerfaust or Panzerschreck. Different hands are included for each weapon.

I painted this armored suit in a base of German grey with a three-color camo scheme.

I would like to thank IPMS and Hobbico for the opportunity to build and review this interesting sci-fi figure.