Having never owned the original Gaplant kit, I absolutely jumped at the chance to purchase the evolved form of Fiver’s core unit. It’s pretty much the old Gaplant kit with a snazzy new paintjob, a new head, and some other nifty extras.
Head:
The head doesn’t have much range of movement, but it looks how it should, and there are two V-fin pieces; one for MS mode, and the silcked-back one for MA mode. Needs a little green for the camera array on the top of the head, but is otherwise fine.
Torso:
Honestly, there’s not much to it because of the way the Gaplant is designed. It’s a delta-shape that juts out at the Gaplan’t chest. It’s molded in dark blue and there are two yellow vents on the chest. It looks sharp as part of the nose in MA mode, and it’s stable in MS mode too. There’s really not much to say.
Backpack:
An oblong thruster array stemming from the back of the MS. It’s t he same as the standard Gaplant, much like the torso, only in navy blue and yellow this time around. All of the thrusters are separate pieces, but need some paintwork to really look right. The large piece near the top of it also needs some blacking-in. On the other side, right behind the head, there’s a part that looks very similar to that area on the Hazel, which I never really noticed before, and liked.
Skirt Armor:
Now this is pretty different from the stock Gaplant. It has the same skirt armor as a base, but white skirt armor covers the blue front skirts and the side skirt armor is augmented as well, withs ome yellow vents. The rear is also quite different, with two blue fins and an extension which can hold the long blade rifle in MA mode.Everything here except the cameras looks pretty great OOB though the long white parts of the front skirt armor will need some work as well.
Arms:
I both love and hate the Gaplan’ts arms. I love them since the shield/gun/thruster all-in-one package has always impressed me. I hate them because they’re one of those cases where the arms have to be turned sideways or it looks kind of awkward. The arms are nicely-done, though they need a decent bit of detailing to look good, especially below the shoulders. There are some TTT insignia stickers you can label the boosters on the arms with and also help with some of the little details which I personally decided to use. The poseability is alright if the arms aren’t turned sideways, but it looks strange to have the boosters on the bottom of the arms to me.
Legs:
I really like the legs on this kit. They don’t require much work, and they’re actually really good for poseability. Even the feet are segmented. There are three thrusters on each leg, and both require a bit of yellow paint. The feet are molded in navy blue and white, and the legs are white with some navy blue parts near the knee joints, which are surprisingly easy to move and pose with. The legs are definitely one of the kits good points, I think.
Hands:
Now this is my big gripe about the kit. It has the same two crappy “open” hands (the kind where it’s like a fist, only with a big hole in the middle) that the original Gaplant came with as well as a trigger hand for the Long Blade Rifle. I mean, come on. It can’t have been two hard to give us a “free” left hand like the Hazel Custom had for the Gaplant. As a result, the left arm always looks a little silly in MS mode because of that open fist, in my opinion. And as always, don’t forget to paint the fingertips red!
Accessories:
Another big plus for this kit. The Long Blade Rifle is simply a godsend. It looks great even OOB, and you can use this big guy with the Hazels, too! It can be held both in MS mode and MA mode and the stock and barrel can be taken off to make a beam pistol as well. The pods on the shoulders are very nice too. They can move around a bit, and the right shoulder one can open up with its tooth-like hatches. They really add more presence to an already-menacing MS. Next, the stand. The stand is both good and bad. It’s wonderful for holding Hrairoo up in MS mode. Not a single hitch! However, holding it up in MA mode became an issue for me. Since the stand connects to the rifle instead of the Hrairoo itself, the connection is shaky at best and I could never get it to stay on the stand in MA mode for a prolonged period of time.
Transformation:
It’s not really a ‘true’ transformation since you simply add and remove/replace various parts on the MS for a lot of it, but it IS easily-done both to and from MA mode. The rifle fits snugly on the underside of the MA Gaplant, and the pods still hang over the shoulder areas. The upper torso flips back so does the rear skirt and legs, and the rest goes foward, and the pods, arms, V-fin, and rifle are simply removed and replaced. The MA mode looks very sleek, especially with the LBR.
Overall
I thoroughly enjoyed putting this kit together, and it will definitely impress so long as you put some decent detailing work into it. The stand during MA mode is a big downer, and the lack of a free left hand is a big disappointment, but the LBR is a beauty and they really did justice to the base Gaplant with the color changes and additions to the machine. It can be a bit awkward with posing sometimes, but generally it’s a joy to work with. While it does have its faults, the detailed skirt armor, new head, and other goodies make it an AEUG-blasting good time.
April 19th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
Having never owned the original Gaplant kit, I absolutely jumped at the chance to purchase the evolved form of Fiver’s core unit. It’s pretty much the old Gaplant kit with a snazzy new paintjob, a new head, and some other nifty extras.
Head:
The head doesn’t have much range of movement, but it looks how it should, and there are two V-fin pieces; one for MS mode, and the silcked-back one for MA mode. Needs a little green for the camera array on the top of the head, but is otherwise fine.
Torso:
Honestly, there’s not much to it because of the way the Gaplant is designed. It’s a delta-shape that juts out at the Gaplan’t chest. It’s molded in dark blue and there are two yellow vents on the chest. It looks sharp as part of the nose in MA mode, and it’s stable in MS mode too. There’s really not much to say.
Backpack:
An oblong thruster array stemming from the back of the MS. It’s t he same as the standard Gaplant, much like the torso, only in navy blue and yellow this time around. All of the thrusters are separate pieces, but need some paintwork to really look right. The large piece near the top of it also needs some blacking-in. On the other side, right behind the head, there’s a part that looks very similar to that area on the Hazel, which I never really noticed before, and liked.
Skirt Armor:
Now this is pretty different from the stock Gaplant. It has the same skirt armor as a base, but white skirt armor covers the blue front skirts and the side skirt armor is augmented as well, withs ome yellow vents. The rear is also quite different, with two blue fins and an extension which can hold the long blade rifle in MA mode.Everything here except the cameras looks pretty great OOB though the long white parts of the front skirt armor will need some work as well.
Arms:
I both love and hate the Gaplan’ts arms. I love them since the shield/gun/thruster all-in-one package has always impressed me. I hate them because they’re one of those cases where the arms have to be turned sideways or it looks kind of awkward. The arms are nicely-done, though they need a decent bit of detailing to look good, especially below the shoulders. There are some TTT insignia stickers you can label the boosters on the arms with and also help with some of the little details which I personally decided to use. The poseability is alright if the arms aren’t turned sideways, but it looks strange to have the boosters on the bottom of the arms to me.
Legs:
I really like the legs on this kit. They don’t require much work, and they’re actually really good for poseability. Even the feet are segmented. There are three thrusters on each leg, and both require a bit of yellow paint. The feet are molded in navy blue and white, and the legs are white with some navy blue parts near the knee joints, which are surprisingly easy to move and pose with. The legs are definitely one of the kits good points, I think.
Hands:
Now this is my big gripe about the kit. It has the same two crappy “open” hands (the kind where it’s like a fist, only with a big hole in the middle) that the original Gaplant came with as well as a trigger hand for the Long Blade Rifle. I mean, come on. It can’t have been two hard to give us a “free” left hand like the Hazel Custom had for the Gaplant. As a result, the left arm always looks a little silly in MS mode because of that open fist, in my opinion. And as always, don’t forget to paint the fingertips red!
Accessories:
Another big plus for this kit. The Long Blade Rifle is simply a godsend. It looks great even OOB, and you can use this big guy with the Hazels, too! It can be held both in MS mode and MA mode and the stock and barrel can be taken off to make a beam pistol as well. The pods on the shoulders are very nice too. They can move around a bit, and the right shoulder one can open up with its tooth-like hatches. They really add more presence to an already-menacing MS. Next, the stand. The stand is both good and bad. It’s wonderful for holding Hrairoo up in MS mode. Not a single hitch! However, holding it up in MA mode became an issue for me. Since the stand connects to the rifle instead of the Hrairoo itself, the connection is shaky at best and I could never get it to stay on the stand in MA mode for a prolonged period of time.
Transformation:
It’s not really a ‘true’ transformation since you simply add and remove/replace various parts on the MS for a lot of it, but it IS easily-done both to and from MA mode. The rifle fits snugly on the underside of the MA Gaplant, and the pods still hang over the shoulder areas. The upper torso flips back so does the rear skirt and legs, and the rest goes foward, and the pods, arms, V-fin, and rifle are simply removed and replaced. The MA mode looks very sleek, especially with the LBR.
Overall
I thoroughly enjoyed putting this kit together, and it will definitely impress so long as you put some decent detailing work into it. The stand during MA mode is a big downer, and the lack of a free left hand is a big disappointment, but the LBR is a beauty and they really did justice to the base Gaplant with the color changes and additions to the machine. It can be a bit awkward with posing sometimes, but generally it’s a joy to work with. While it does have its faults, the detailed skirt armor, new head, and other goodies make it an AEUG-blasting good time.