The Jashinhei is a mech from the Japanese anime “Panzer World Galient: The Crest of Iron”. The kit is part of Kaiyodo’s “Artpla” series, which are fixed-pose models, some of which have been developed from classic resin or soft vinyl kits from the 1980-1990 era. The Jashinhei was originally a resin kit which Kaiyodo scanned and re-engineered into an injection molded model. This is a recent trend in Japanese manufacturers and is a great idea, as there were a lot of really cool resin and vinyl kits back in the day. Now we can enjoy these classics with the benefit of the ease of construction that injection molding provides.
The kit uses glue and requires painting, unlike the typical modern Bandai Gunpla fare. But I think this series is aimed at a slightly different crowd who remember the original garage kits and are used to gluing and painting their kits. The fixed pose format also runs counter to the trend of ever-increasingly poseable mecha models.
If you build armor and hate indie-link tracks, this kit will definitely give a sense of deja-vu. Each body segment and its interconnecting joint are all separate parts! While a little time consuming to assemble, this approach allows better detail definition. Here I have dry fitted the body segments and bagged them according to the assembly steps in the instructions. To have to sort through a jumble of pieces to figure out what goes where would be a headache!
Fit overall is quite good, considering the flowing, organic shapes. I get a WH40K vibe here, which is a good thing. The finished model will be large, as the scythe alone is around 13 inches long!
Signing up to follow this one. Very neat sculpt, even coming from outside the fandom. Feel free to share a little background on the lore/fiction surrounding this model in your next update!
The retooling of an old resin kit into a modern injection kit is awesome – a trend I hope continues. How do the parts look, in terms of mold lines, sprue gates, etc.? The parts in your pics have a glossy look to them, almost like they’re already metallic-toned. Probably just the lighting. And do you plan to paint it up in the box art colors?
Actually I never watched the TV show and only vaguely remember seeing the OVA movie. All I know is that the Jashinhei is piloted by the main baddie in the show.
The kit engineering and production are as good as you could possibly wish for. Moldings are clean, detail is great looking, and fit is superb. The plastic is molded in a glossy metallic bronze, which would look great if a patina effect were to be added by the modeler.
I do plan on fully painting the kit more or less as per the instructions.
My guess is that the manufacturers feel that there is still a market for the classic garage kits. New scanning technology and digital design tools make it possible to turn the designs into injection molded kits. Most of the subjects I have seen produced this way have been scaled down from the original, probably to cut down on production and packaging costs. Garage kits were a bit tricky to get ahold of back in the day due to the limited number produced, so I think it’s great that we can now more easily acquire them in injection molded form.
There was Jordi’s Promaxis, which was also from Crest of Iron, that was a large vinyl kit that I would like to see in injection molded form. The Promaxis was a mass production centaur-like mech which looked kind of dumpy in the TV show, but Jordi’s version was sleek and wicked looking.
I recently ordered a 1/24 scale Votoms Blood Sucker from Max Factory, which was based on a classic vinyl kit. To be able to build it as an injection plastic model is a dream come true for me.
It’s definitely a good time to be a fan of these kinds of kits, as they are only just starting to come out.
I have a feeling you may get your wish. I don’t see why they couldn’t scan and engineer figure kits as well. I’d love to see a plastic version of Kaiyodo’s 1/6 Briareos from “Appleseed”, even if they scaled it down to 1/8 or even 1/12. This might be the dawn of a renaissance era for fixed-pose figure kits.
Heh-heh, I forgot I started this thread. Sorry, I’m getting old and forgetful. So anyway, here is where the project is at.
I am replacing the solid molded eyes using clear blue sprue heat smashed into a block of scrap epoxy putty.
I’ll punch some foil discs to back the eyes when they are set in place. The scythe will also get clear replacements for the inset crystals, as I really stink at hand painting, and the WH40K technique of using paint to simulate clear parts still mystifies me.
Some color was thrown on, but I just free-handed everything, so I have to go back and properly mask up some parts to finish up. Also, I was in a rush last night, so I just blasted on the brown. I will go back and apply some shading and highlights later on.
The scythe handle is in two parts that join inside the right hand, and the thing is HEAVY. Notice how it is bowing in the last shot. The joint will need a good strong CA bond to ensure the Jashinhei will not need Weapon Viagra later on. I am also planning on using magnets to allow the hands to detach, so the scythe can be removed for transport and storage.
The lower body segments have been fully painted. Shading and weathering will follow.
Now for the intricate masking task that I have been dreading.
But there aren’t a lot of parts, just a lot of curly detail that will demand precision masking.
BTW, the paint is GSI Creos’ “Blue Gold”, which has a super fine grain, dries fast, and has a kinda satin finish like you see in the photo. I have a Knight of Gold from Five Star Stories that could use this.
It’s starting to take form. The work done on the lower body looks fantastic. I especially like that trick with fire forming your own clear lenses. I’ll have to add that method to the library.
I swear I saw someone do a trick with a clear coat of lacquer, putting the next color on and then using Naptha (lighter fluid) to carefully reveal the prior color. The lacquer protected the naptha from eating all the way through.
