In The Box

The kit comes in a sturdy 12” x 8” x 5” box with an illustration of the Tsubaki figure. Images of the finished model can be found on the box sides. Like Gundam kits, it comes molded in multiple colors so that a nicely finished model can be built right out of the box with minimal work. Both painted and unpainted images of the kit are shown on the sides of the box. The kit comes with thirty nine individually bagged sprues molded in eight colors. The engineering of the parts is designed to emulate the paint breaks of the figures complex color scheme. The runners are molded in POM, PVC and ABS and all the parts are designed to be snap fit. Regular solvent based glue will not affect these types of plastic. Figure kits are meant to be posable, thus tougher plastics are necessary so that the joints will both hold a pose and be durable.

The instruction book is well printed and has eighteen pages. The assembly steps are clear and well illustrated. The figure can be built in several configurations, ranging from unarmored to fully armored. To this end, included in the box are two different sets of many components for the figure, such as two types of legs, feet, arms and so on. In addition, the figure has four pre-printed face plates, each showing a different emotion that may be swapped in and out as the builder chooses. It also comes with blank face plates and eye decals to create your own custom face expressions. A color chart shows the Mr. Color/Gaia paints that can be used to paint the details. If you do wish to paint the figure the Mr. Color/Gaia colors are provided to match the molded parts. The figure also comes with a nice stand molded in clear red.

Review Process

For this review, I chose to build the figure right out of the box with some detail painting and panel lining. For a custom painted build of the kit, refer to the July/August IPMS/USA Journal article “Tsubaki - Sassy Samurai.” I wanted to keep it pretty straight forward for this review, as this may be your first exposure to the rapidly growing “Mecha Girl” model kit category.

The assembly is very like building a Gundam kit. Parts are rough snipped off the runners and then the nubs carefully trimmed off with a nippers. Nippers are precision pliers with an ultra-thin blade designed to remove the “nubs” from parts to minimize, or even eliminate any cleanup work. Parts are then push-fit together to create each subassembly. Sub-assemblies are then combined to create the figure body and the armor units.

The first thing you will build is the basic figure. The torso has a number of internal parts for poseability. There are lots of joints (abdomen, shoulder, elbows, knees, and so on). Because the human figure is bilaterally symmetrical, care must be taken to keep left and right body parts separate. The legs and arms have subtle differences which can be difficult to discern if they are all mixed up. A general rule of thumb is to put the “nicest” (i.e., no pin hole showing, least amount of seams) section of an assembly on the outside side of the figure.

Following the steps, you will build the basic figure first, then the armored body parts and finally the armor itself. The arms and legs come with different ways that other armor items may be snapped onto hard points. There are also support arms with different types of joints so that you can change the position of the various armor sections. This allows the armor to be adjusted so that the figure can be put into different positions. For these types of kits it is not only fun to build the model, but customize it by deciding which armor, facial expression, and pose that you will display it in (and share on social media). The figure comes with a nice sturdy base so that you can create any pose, while supporting the figure.

The kit has some areas that you will need to pay attention to. Some of the complex molding of the parts have nubs on points or concave surfaces that will require special care when using your nippers. The snap-fit of some parts is very tight and pulling them apart can be tricky if you make any mistakes. I recommend putting parts together loosely, until you are sure they are correct. As mentioned before, the kit has a lot of left and right assemblies with parts that are confusingly similar. Step 82, in which the large armor skirts are made, had some overlapping parts that took me a while to figure out. Both parts I-J-5 used in step 68 have very long pins and I lightly drilled out the receiving holes so that I could take them apart. If things don’t seem to be fitting, take a breath and evaluate before trying to force them together.

Conclusion

This kit falls into the intermediate range of building complexity for “Mecha Girl” kits. For most builders it should take only a couple of sittings to build. I have built a number of Volks VLOCKer’s kits and each new release improves on both styling and engineering. Posing the figure with all the supplied armor can be challenging, but this is true of any of the “Mecha Girl” offerings out there. I really like the samurai styling and the color choices. These kits are produced by Volks, which is essentially the same as Zoukei-Mura who manufacture the 1/32nd scale “Super Wings Series" of aircraft kits.

I will definitely build another and would recommend this kit to other builders. If this is a subject area that interests you, Tsubaki will provide a great building experience and is an excellent addition to your collection. If you have never built a “Mecha Girl” kit before, building this could represent a welcome change to your normal routine.

I want to thank Volks/Zoukei-Mura for providing the Tsubaki kit and IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review it.