As anticipated, Dimension Studios' upcoming Rockman Zero series Zero model kit made an appearance today at the "China International Comic Festival". Though it was only a prototype, much of the kit's key features were already in place.
First and perhaps most significant is confirmation that the kit features an inner skeletal frame, pictured on the left. Anyone who's put together some of the more complicated mecha kits out there will tell you just how important inner frame parts can be. Simply put, they're designed to make the fully-assembled figure more articulate. It's a skeleton in every sense of the word. I don't believe we've seen this feature on any previous Rockman kit before.
The kit will also include a Z-Saber and Z-Knuckle. The fingers of the Z-Knuckle are not articulate, meaning that the Z-Knuckle is an optional, interchangeable part. That alone gives us an idea how articulate the fully-assembled figure will be (i.e not too much).
Unfortunately, we're still in the dark about the kit's release date, price and availability. The China International Comic Festival runs for a few more days, though. Perhaps we'll here something by the weekend. Stay tuned!
Source: AncelCai
The amount of work that must go into these prototypes is phenomenal. It looks incredibly difficult - they must have excellent fine motor skills.
ReplyDeleteor they might go the 3D printing route
DeleteI tried to get a X series Zero 3D printed and it ended up not working so well because of... something involving the sprues to hold his hair up. I might be thinking more of stuff like kit-bashing.
Delete3D Printing!? Now you got my attention!
DeleteFor the hair and stuff, the printers they are using don't require sprues... It's a powder material which is why they come out solid as opposed to ridged like an extruded printer. I see a lot of printed prototypes made that way. You can tell because they are solid pieces and you some times see stepped layers like the sides of the pyramids, but they are still a single piece.
I wanna take a stab at Zero's hair for the Kotobukiya kits if I can come up with a good method. I doubt it will look better than theirs, though...
Regarding this model? I just don't like the way it looks. At all.
It was like a ladder piece or something, and the way my sister and I tried to print it, the threads of the liquid plastic just sorta went on the fritz and stopped actually building the figurine.
DeleteI wasn't aware they used a method like that, but you're right - this was the kind of 3D printer where everything would have needed to be sanded down a bit because otherwise it'd be sorta blocky.
DeleteBy the way, what don't you like about this model, Shrap? Is it the lines, lines, and more lines that make him look more like a little quasi-Gundam than an android?
DeleteI don't like the over exaggeration of Zero's design. I have the same beef with Ver KE designs. Those look nice but they just keep getting busier for the sake of being busier, especially Sigma's. X looked cool, but even X was over detailed for the sake of being busy. Parts of this one look too blocky and not as fluid as it could have.
DeleteI also don't think the face/head looks goofy.
It's really just taste is all.
Oh, yeah I feel similarly about the Ver.Ke stuff. I still wouldn't mind the Sigma if it meant we'd get a decent-sized poseable Sigma, but I'm not holding my breath on it.
DeleteINNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
ReplyDeleteIt looks Interesting. Hope they do a regular x version again.
ReplyDelete