30MM 1/144 BEXM-33QB Volpanova [Quad Bike]
A quick 30MM build. This is my first proper non-acerby 30MM build in quite a while, and after building it I remember why I didn't get any more after my Forestieri a few years ago.
While the design and overall look of the kit is really nice, and well worth the time invested into building it, the kit suffers from the old ball-joint polycaps, as well as the standard 30MM waist design, making it rather floppy and prone to falling apart when posing. The key gimmick of the kit, the quad wheel attachment, is pretty fragile in pure robot-mode, and tends to make the kit tip backwards.
That being said, I had a ton of fun messing around with this kit. I ended up adding some basic muddy weathering as I was building, and I also went and added some spare stickers to it to give it a more detailed look overall (although I've found that a lot of the 30MM kits tend to be super detailed anyway).
Apart from just basic metallic weathering, and a nice layer of chrome marker behind the visor to help it pop, this kit is basically just 'as-is'. It doesn't come with anything aside from its main weapon, the bazooka, which gives it an overall Zaku-esque feel. I added a little blueing and soot to the barrel, but otherwise didn't bother much with extra customisation.
The main gimmick of this kit is its ability to transform into a semi-quad bike or full quad-bike mode. This isn't really dont through proper transformation, while this is technically possible, it's easier to remove the wheel sections to fold the legs into the backpack/body, before re-attaching them in the transformed mode.
The wheels are technically moveable, and I assume they'd spin freely if I didn't topcoat them, but they didn't spin for me in either of the transformed modes unfortunately.
The design of the bazooka's handle lets it attach to any 3mm peg hole, which lets it be mounted as a sort of turret-weapon in the transformed mode.
The transformed mode works as a perfect attack platform for my junker bot. Maybe this is an ally in some form of rebellion? That would require coming up with concrete lore for my OCs, and I'm allergic to that unfortunately. But they do look great together.
A really good looking build, I just wish it was as sturdy as it looks. It's only really properly sturdy in its transformed mode, with all of the joints locked in place.
I'm hoping I can get my write up of Moon Gundam done later this week, but then I hit the meat of my backlog. Lots to look forward to on this blog in the next month!
Please reblog, it helps more people see my write-ups.
