I am probably one of the last of the 'Airfix generation' when, as a lad, this is what boys did. Unfortunately (or not) the bug seems to stay with you and over the years I have found a bit of modelling to be an absorbing, problem forgetting excercise. In all that time I have never completed a figure of any sort, so I thought this might be a bit of fun, although at 1/24 scale I was not expecting it to be easy to complete. I have to yet tackle that challenge, but I'm commenting on the initial impressions I get of this kit after a lifetime of 'kit experience'. The first thing that struck me was really a psychological thing. This is a big-ish box, but when opened, it reveals one, single sprue's worth of about a dozen small parts - that's all. This single sprue of parts was rattling around in this 'blousey' box like a pea in a cocoa tin. For some reason this just provided a flash of disappointment, perhaps like buying a 'jumbo' box of breakfast cereal to discover it's actually only half full. It would be much better to set a more realistic expectation by using a box which better matches the contents. A box about 1/4 the size of the one used would adequately hold the contents, and, incidentally, cut the transport costs by 75% - they are shipping around a lot of fresh air. That saving could be reflected in the price of the model. Which brings me neatly to the question of value. For the reasons above, this does give this figure the impression of being rather expensive for what it is. I know the cost of these things is in the tooling costs across the numbers sold rather than the 'quantity' in the box, but unfortunately we are used to very sophisticated kits from other manufacturers encompassing hundreds of parts, chromed, clear, rubber etc. with decals, instruction leaflets and so on, for only about twice the price of this figure. Against that measure, this does look expensive. In terms of quality, the figure seems quite well detailed, but has little in the way of 'technical sophistication'. I.e. The mating surfaces (arms to body etc.) are just flat surfaces with no locating lugs or spigots. One could argue that would allow some flexibility in positioning, but conversely, (from experience) I am anticipating these parts to be difficult to locate accurately and keep in place during assembly. I'm also expecting to need a few smears of filler to achieve seamless joints. Anyway, having got it I will persevere with it, mainly as test of my model making experience, but I'd have to say that given its price in terms of what you get for that price, I doubt I will be pursuing other examples of this range. EDIT: I’ve upgraded my initial three star rating to four star because this figure was ‘technically’ better than expected. The parts do fit together quite well, with moulding done to facilitate best location. I attach a couple of snaps of the model as good as I could get it. It is very difficult with much patience required. Imagine trying to paint a face on a garden pea, and you will have some idea of the scale involved, and the challenge. As I said originally, it’s a bit of fun, but my other comments still stand. I still think it’s expensive for what it is, and having now ‘been there-done that’, I doubt I will tackle another.
