#kyoukai senki

Amou: We’re really doing it! Hiding from the enemy, living off the fat of the la–
Alexei: YOOO, these guys have yuzu salt!

Amou and Gashin at a hot spring, from episode 11 of Amaim Warrior at the Borderline.

Amou puts his shirt on and strips to his underwear after getting wet, from episode 3 of Amaim Warrior at the Borderline.

Amou takes a bath and a shower and Gashin takes a shower, from episodes 2 and 6 respectively of  Amaim Warrior at the Borderline.

NA12 Brady Hound + V-33 Stork Carrier

Last of the Kyoukai Senki kits I had on order. Kinda wanted to get the V2 of the black boss unit, but could never find one on sale. I actually really like the designs from this series; they’re very modern and different from a lot of other Real Mech shows we get, and I enjoy that. I’d be very curious to see the designer(s) for this series do other stuff, like I’d love to see how they’d do a Gundam and how different it would be from, say, G40 which was created to be very realistic, or even Senkiitself since all its units are terrestrial and not space fairing.

The Good: These were very fun builds. The Brady Hound does a few things that surprised me and there was a lot of cool parts usage. It’s also very posable despite how weird its shoulders appear at first. It also comes with a swappable ‘off’ head.

The Stork Carrier was also fun. Definitely more simple than the APC, but has a few neat features to it, and a much more involved gimmick with how it tows the Brady Hound around.

It also comes with a few new accessories; a pair of shoulder mounted shields with small firearms inside, a pair of small automatic weapons, and a storage backpack. I would like to have upgraded my Kenbu with them, but they’re designed to be used with a specific kit, so I ended up not assembling them.

The Bad: The Brady Hound’s shoulders take a lot of force to assemble, and should be flush to the flight units. If you’re not careful, or don’t push them in all the way, you can easily stress the insides. And those shoulders do fall apart more frequently than I’d like, whether it be the winglets falling or armor popping off. The head’s also a little loose, but weirdly hard to swap out.

Similar to the APC, the Stork is just a giant accessory, but while the APC can be used with multiple kits and its additional part can as well, the Stork can only be used with the Brady Hound, and its new shoulder shields are also meant to be used with one specific kit.

The Details: Like the other Senkikits, not a ton of details to be added here. Just panel lining, fill, and optics (metallic green). Same with the Stork, except with a lot more fill and no optics. I did paint the edges of the wings (originally stickers) black, and the tips of its hidden missiles white and red.

Overall, the Brady is a good kit and good design. The Stork is also good, but definitely more passable since it’s just an accessory. If you’re a fan of MS like the Zaku, I think you might dig this one. While I do like the Bunyip more, this is a bit more traditional in design, which more people might appreciate.

ASC-716E Armored Special Carrier

I built a model car, dad; are you proud of me yet!?

Jokes and my probably 200+ model robot pedigree aside, I don’t build a lot of vehicles. I remember building a red car someone bought me as a kid, and I built the Ikaruga, even if it isn’t a traditional one, but that’s it. The process of building a robot is more fun for me, as there’s a lot of complex joints, and gimmicks, and more to do with it when you’re finished than set it up for display. That being said, this was an interesting change of pace, and sometimes throwing together a simpler model in a few hours can be more enjoyable than the long, complicated process of some other kits.

The Good: Simplicity in construction says nothing of detail. The ASC has a number of fun details, such as the displayable interior, its side and back doors lining up with both the internal staircase and trailer door, as well as a good deal of surface detail.

It also has a lot of clever engineering, such as a very simple axle that turns the front wheels in tandem, both sides of the trailer are able to naturally drop without deconstructing them, and it has a sliding armored section to cover the cab. If you buy two, you can also attach both trailers together, or endlessly if your wallet is as bottomless.

It also comes with a new arm unit. It’s meant for the Kenbu, but because it comes in white you can technically swap it between several of the AMAIMs. It’s also ambidextrous, if you happen to have two for above mentioned reasons.

The Bad: While it’s neat, it’s a large accessory, and not much else. Without any of the AMAIMS it’s just a car, and even if you like model cars, I don’t know how much you’d enjoy a fictitious one.

The Details: Panel lining and a few metallic red highlights where some of the headlights would be. I did end up using the front headlight stickers because of their complexity in a small space. When applying them, do it from the back as to not fill the hole meant for the translucent plastic.

Overall, despite being surprisingly enjoyable, this is just a large accessory, and not something that should be purchased on its own. Still, it’s neat, and if you like the AMAIMS, this is a fun piece to go along with them.