1/12 Custom Quankai Base Body 02 DOMES-I "Z-AY1N"
We're back into girlpla with pretty much my first proper non-bandai girl build! The Quankai Model "DOMES-I" (Doll-Overall-Mechanism-Editable-Subject) is a really basic and simple-looking kit, although it has a ton of thought and complexity build in to give it excellent articulation. Unlike with the 30 Minutes Missions Acerby (of which I've built a few, including my Type-B, C, and E), there's not really any included lore.
The unboxing experience however feels really premium. There's a protective cover sleeve textured like a cardboard furniture case, and the box underneath features artwork of the DOMES-I disassembled for transport.
The kit comes with, alongside a plethora of hand options, a small battery that can be converted into a cartoony sci-fi pistol, and a number of face-plates (magnetically swappable) and hair options. I chose the spiky ponytail and rather normal fringe, but there are options for buns and straight hair as well as a school-uniform style hat. There's even a selection of four chest sizes!
For my build, I picked up a set of doll clothing from Etsy that fits the kit rather well. I wanted to create the impression of a Y2K-style athletic-streetwear outfit, and ended up with a look that was rather reminiscent of fighting game characters. It's a cute outfit and I love how well it compliments the look of the kit, although it's a shame how much it hides the really well done design work on the legs, which balance curves with robotic design pretty seamlessly.
Whereas my Acerby collection uses mostly Greek-letter naming schemes, I decided to use the Hebrew alphabet for Z-AY1N to differentiate her (given her different model kit company lineage). Ayin (ע) can be interpreted as knowledge, which fits my lore for her as a hacker, and with the use of the Zeta (to tie back to my usual robot-girl OC naming scheme) it becomes Zayin (ז), symbolising her combat capabilities. I like the idea of her as a scrappy street bot in a cyperpunk setting; to that end, I've bought some small scale computer parts but unfortunately they haven't all arrived.
Alongside the included battery laser pistol, I cleaned up a section of her runners to create an improvised bo-staff so she's more all-rounded in her weaponry. You can get some really expressive poses out of this kit, even when a little restricted by more human-like clothing.
As you can see, I haven't panel lined or topcoated this kit. The plastic quality isn't super great, and I'd probably ruin it by attempting to use enamel liner without a pre-coat. A topcoat would also ruin the rather nice gloss finish the kit comes with, so I've mostly left this kit in its stock state. The fitment of the parts is also rather suspect, and some parts felt rather excessively tight when assembling, so a topcoat runs the risk of making these sections too tight and thus causing them to break when trying to pose.
I will probably come back at some point and add some customisations such as stickers or paint however, to give the impression that Z-AY1N has modified her shell, being a rogue unit from what seems to be a retail line of robots.
The various holes and other "hard points" on the kit are all 3mm, and thus compatible with Bandai's standard action bases (as well as, presumably, any 3mm peg acessories).
Overall this was a really fun kit to put together, and I'm looking forward to periodically coming back to her to add more detail and other updates. Next up, I'm going back to my Acerbys to try and complete the collection.
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