Review of Dragon Momoko ZGMF-X12A MG Testament

I have very fond memories of Dragon Momoko as it was the first kit I picked up that started my journey down the hobby route. So presenting the Dragon Momoko ZGMF-X12A MG Testament. The Testament features in the popular series, Gundam SEED and continues Dragon Momoko's obsession with the suits from the SEED series. So far, I have avoided making the other kits from the series with the exception of the sword and launcher variant of the Strike but this suit stands out because of its unique coloring and design.

The box as usual is very simple with a nice view of the Testament on top.

The manual as usual from Dragon Momoko is very colourful and is printed on good quality paper. Daban trumps Dragon Momoko in one aspect though: before building any piece, Daban will list down all the runners that are needed for that piece so its easier to keep them handy before building rather than look around for the runners halfway through the build.

The chest piece snap fit is excellent. The detailing as expected is very good. The colours are particularly eye catching. (Sorry, I have had enough of white and blue colours in these kits, haha)

The head is interesting..the antenna point forward like an insect's.

The hands are typical Dragon Momoko hands with PG quality.

The arms and the shoulder pieces

The top half of the kit ready for action.

The waist unit. So far, the kit is great. The detailing as always has been excellent and the snap fit is very firm, except for the head piece but that can be a little difficult sometimes to get right anyway.

The dainty shoes..nice colour too.

Nice legs lol

Lower half of the kit ready and it is nicely balanced. Can stand on its own.

The kit in one piece...looks great.

The weapons and the shield ready

The front and the rear view of the kit.

The wings open in all their glory along with the extra guns. The pokemon cards around the kit were my son's idea of showing off improving the kit. Hmm..wonder what that implies about the kit. haha

Dragon Momoko has delivered and this kit is great. A great addition to any collection. Ticks all the boxes in my list for plastic kits.

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Review of Xingbao Dream-Car XB-03009 Gallon

Xingbao is the new kid on the block and their kits have been getting eye-catching by the day. So presenting the Xingbao Dream-Car XB-03009 Gallon. I got this kit from the guys over at Brixit. You can find them on Carousell as well. This kit is based on the Bugatti Chiron which in turn was based on the Bugatti Veyron.

First off, the box comes in plastic wrapping. I was like..Dude, that is cool. Overkill but it is cool.

The printing on the rear of the box says in proud lettering, "Made in China". Good for you Xingbao.

The packing continues impressing even on the inside. The manual is very impressive.

The first page gives a short bio of the MOC designer. You can follow him on FB for more regular updates.

The bags inside are numbered but I have yet to start building them. The other thing that struct me was the large amounts of space being wasted inside the box. Surely they could use a smaller box and save on shipping etc.

Quite simple construction. Please don't go in expecting technic style construction for this kit. It is more of model car which just rolls on its wheels. So no bells and whistles on this one. But looks wise, its good so far. And it is not going to be small from what I see. And having numbered bags helps...bigly. So far, the Xingbao Dream-Car XB-03009 Gallon has my thumbs up.

The seats and the "upholstery" inside looks very up market, I have to say that. I am enjoying the build so far. Even though, it seems to be "inefficient" but what do I know? Its simple and fun.

The doors in and it looks gorgeous so far. The speed of the build is quite fast compared to the usual LEPIN kits because the bags are numbered so it is easier to find and retrieve parts. But even then, it is still a lot of fun.

The windscreen is in.

Samurai swords in a vehicle kit??

Hmm for the front bumper?? Interesting.

The kit has been good so far but now you start to see the little details crop up. More on that later though.

Add in the piping provided to complete the look.

Final view of the kit.

What is my verdict about the kit? Let me give you some pros and cons that I discovered and you can decide for yourself.

Pros:

• The price is cheaper compared to LEPIN/ DECOOL vehicle kits.
• The design is very simple so someone younger can also easily follow it
• The completed kit is good for display

Cons:

• The number of pieces is low so the design has to be very simple for the size of the vehicle. There is not even a single beam piece to take the weight of the car so the car basically rests on the clutch of the plates. Not ideal if you want to "play" around with the vehicle. There are a lot of 6 pegs I think for the whole kit and they are for the wheel axles
• The quality of the pieces is not excellent. There are more than a few gaps after fitting together. More than LEPIN usually has. And in some pieces, the clutch is weak as well so the pieces can drop off at the slightest touch. 
• Fitting in the piping can be a little tricking because the clutch of some pieces is quite weak so when you struggle to slot in the piping, those pieces can fall off.

There are some quick fixes to the clutch issues like gluing the parts together or even using a little blue tack to improve the clutch. However, in spite of that I would not recommend this kit to be played around with. Sitting on display however, it looks more than a little impressive.

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Review of DECOOL 3415 + 3416 Combo Kit

Remember, we earlier went over the DECOOL 3415 Record Breaker and DECOOL 3416 QUAD BIKE? I had mentioned then that the two kits could combine to make a new kit. Well..here we are. The combo kit of those two earlier kits.

Behold the double pull back units that are combined here. One from each previous kit.

It is some kind of truck but without any steering or engine movement. That is to expected though.

IMO, a very smart kit for combining both the DECOOL 3415 Record Breaker and DECOOL 3416 QUAD BIKE into one. The pieces work together obviously but the manuals have to work together too. The instructions are spread over both manuals. Now that is some cooperation hehe. I am thinking of naming this kit, the DECOOL 3415.5 Co-Truck. What do you think?

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