Let’s get this little Haro put together. First, the parts:
It is at once both less pieces than I’m used to, and more than you might expect from this kind of kit. Also, I can kind of see why this thing cost almost the same as the HG Gundam Revive. While the Revive has many more parts, none of them are quite as big and/or dense as that big blue piece, or the red stand.
No Tools Needed?
The kit claims that absolutely no tools are needed. This is because the pieces are attached to the runners in such a way that they can be easily detached without nippers[^1]. At least, that’s what they say, but is it true?
Turns out the answer is “Yes, with one big caveat”. You can detach the pieces with just your bare hands, but it does still leave sprue marks that you (or at least _I) will want to clean up with a hobby knife. In my mind, this is a case of “six of one, half a dozen of the other”.
Outer Shell
My plan for this kit was to paint the exterior parts glossy, and the interior parts matte. That meant bringing out the Pledge floor polish, though I had some concerns. I’ve been using the Pledge a lot lately, and I am finding that it doesn’t tend to dry evenly. This is fixable by applying at least a second coat, but it also tends to dry with a sticky residue.
That’s when it hit me – this polish is really just clear acrylic paint, so why not thin it out with some water?
As it turns out, that was the right move. The paint applied easily, dried evenly, and there was no sticky residue. These pieces look like perfection.
On a side note, the design of Haro is a great example of how art - or more specifically, illustration - is about much more than just being able to draw. It is about design as well. Haro is nothing more than a circle with some lines on it, but the size and position of its eyes, the way center line is positioned to look like a smile - it all comes together to create such a cute and expressive character.
Core
The big blue piece is the “core” of Haro. I guess it is meant to represent all of its inner circuitry. I simply detailed it the same way as it appears on the box:
Limbs
Haro’s arms and legs are just little wire-shaped pieces. I panel lined them, and that’s about it. I also panel lined his cute little hands, which remind me a little of Mickey Mouse’s.
Interior Pieces
I’m not sure what to call these. Haro is shaped like a sphere, but his spherical shell has four sections that flip open to allow his arms and legs to extend out. These pieces here go inside the shell, directly below these four sections. They provide a place for the limbs to plug in, and I guess they also obscure the interior of the model.
Blade Arms
I was originally planning on painting the blade arms with metallic silver paint, but it didn’t work out too well. In my experience, it doesn’t behave well when applied to bare plastic, but is fine when applied against painted plastic. My plan, then, was to apply some primer first - but I forgot to do so.
Since the blades are not actually flat, the paint began to pool in certain places, while leaving other spots bare. After multiple coats and touch-ups, I never did get rid of all the bare spots, and the finish became quite uneven. It simply wasn’t looking good.
That is when I decided to go with the decals after all. They’re not perfect (it’s hard, if not impossible, to hide the seams), but they look better than I thought. Or, at the very least, they look better than my paint job. See for yourself:
There is one other thing I want to point out - see the tattoo decal on the left shoulder?
It turns out that the outline of the tattoo is actually engraved into the plastic. That means if you really wanted to, you could paint the tattoo on, rather than use the decal. Part of me wishes that I had at least tried to do this. The yellow outline of the decal doesn’t quite match the color of the yellow plastic, and the whole thing just sticks out like a sore thumb. Ah well.
Thrusters
The Zakrello has a set of thrusters and cannons. They all took longer to panel line than I anticipated:
The kit comes with decals to use for the red-colored cannons, but they were easy enough to paint.
Stand
The only reason why I am bringing up the stand is because its puzzle piece shape is allegedly compatible with the similarly puzzle piece shaped stands of the Bearguys:
I do plan on bringing this Haro to work to be on my desk, where I already have a Bearguy, so I guess I will be able to test this feature out.
Additional comments on the Build
Compared to normal 1⁄144 scale kits, this build was extremely fast (it took me all of two nights). However, it was quite a bit longer than the “builds” of the Bearguy and SD Build Burning Gundam, both of which I snapped together in a single sitting.
Wrap Up
In the next post, we will look at the finished Haropla.