Kotobukiya's Frame Arms

[wolfx]

The picture explains it. Looks like busou shinki rivals.

[CAIN MKII]

Awesome stuff: thank you for sharing!

[Lynx7725]

Inner frame looks interesting, but the other frame parts are the key; right now it looks to be way too little parts to make a decision whether to go along or not.

[wolfx]

Inner frame looks interesting, but the other frame parts are the key; right now it looks to be way too little parts to make a decision whether to go along or not.

Both frames have about 100 parts and you say that's way too little?

[Ghost Train]

The aerial one looks really nice, and I love the name, it just rolls off my tongue..... ssssstyyyyleeeeet

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

These look awesome. Are they toys or kits?

[wolfx]

These look awesome. Are they toys or kits?

Toys.

What's interesting is they will be compatible with koto's MSG stuff....which apart from the mecha hangars and carrier trucks, i'm not sure what else are in the MSG line.

[miriya]

I want one for the frame alone. I have a kitbash up my sleeve that needs something just like this. The height would have to be just right though.

[thegunny]

Toys.

What's interesting is they will be compatible with koto's MSG stuff....which apart from the mecha hangars and carrier trucks, i'm not sure what else are in the MSG line.

I think you'l find they are kits, at least that's what HLJ are calling them.

[Chronocidal]

I love how that one looks like someone basically made a mech out of F-16 parts.

I wonder what other armored core parts they have though.. just finished playing through AC:FA, and now I'm wondering how much you'd have to spend to get a decent sized set of parts to customize.

[bluemax151]

Toys.

What's interesting is they will be compatible with koto's MSG stuff....which apart from the mecha hangars and carrier trucks, i'm not sure what else are in the MSG line.

They have some support vehicles like tanks and helicopters as well. I haven't bought any yet but I'm planning to at some point.

http://www.hlj.com/product/KBYMB-22

http://www.hlj.com/product/KBYMB-23

http://www.hlj.com/product/KBYMB-24

http://www.hlj.com/product/KBYMB-25

[wolfx]

I want one for the frame alone. I have a kitbash up my sleeve that needs something just like this. The height would have to be just right though.

http://www.hlj.com/product/KBYFAF-01

I think you'l find they are kits, at least that's what HLJ are calling them.

Yur probably right as usual.

[Lynx7725]

Both frames have about 100 parts and you say that's way too little?

You know as well as I do that's parts-on-sprue count, and that's relatively inaccurate. What's more, it's also only two style right now, with what, 3, maybe 4 weapons? Not really enough, not for the type of kitbashing possibility that lines like Busho Shinki and Armoured Core has.

I like it, I really do. But if there's no clear idea what other further releases there will be, it's very iffy to get into.

They have some support vehicles like tanks and helicopters as well. I haven't bought any yet but I'm planning to at some point.

http://www.hlj.com/product/KBYMB-22

http://www.hlj.com/product/KBYMB-23

http://www.hlj.com/product/KBYMB-24

http://www.hlj.com/product/KBYMB-25

Those are an earlier line, so might not be part of this -- not even sure if it's compatible. But nice find, going to pick a couple up.

[miriya]

http://www.hlj.com/product/KBYFAF-01

Thank you wolfx!

[JB0]

I like the ad for other robot merch on the bottom.

"Over 5 more Virtual On robots available!"

[bluemax151]

Those are an earlier line, so might not be part of this -- not even sure if it's compatible. But nice find, going to pick a couple up.

The non-scale vehicles or aircraft are suitable for display with mechas about 12 to 16cm tall or in 1/144 to 1/72 scale.

It's hard to say but if they're compatible with the M.S.G. line like wolfx posted they are probably 1/144 scale roughly and should look fine.

[Lynx7725]

The non-scale vehicles or aircraft are suitable for display with mechas about 12 to 16cm tall or in 1/144 to 1/72 scale.

It's hard to say but if they're compatible with the M.S.G. line like wolfx posted they are probably 1/144 scale roughly and should look fine.

Uh, actually I meant if the weapons et. al. from these would plug into the Frames....

[bluemax151]

Well it's not like the sets really have any plug and play weapons anyway. The only thing that looks mildly promising are the rockets/missiles on the helicopter. The rocket pods look similar to the ones on the first trailer base but I'm not too sure if they're exactly the same.

[Lynx7725]

Well it's not like the sets really have any plug and play weapons anyway. The only thing that looks mildly promising are the rockets/missiles on the helicopter. The rocket pods look similar to the ones on the first trailer base but I'm not too sure if they're exactly the same.

Heh, who said anything about the helicopters? I want to slap these bazookas on the Frames:

[Temjin]

Frame Arms the idea is ok, but I don't like the look of the mechas.

[BeyondTheGrave]

Heh, who said anything about the helicopters? I want to slap these bazookas on the Frames:

I was thinking the same thing.

Also i could figure out what figures this guy on youtube was using in his videos till you said Busho Shinki and i looked into it.

Busho Shinki

or this

Strike witches.

[bluemax151]

Heh, who said anything about the helicopters? I want to slap these bazookas on the Frames:

I'd say based on the size of the base of those ICBMs it's going to be a no go.

[Lynx7725]

So anyone got any of these? A review would help.

[QuinJester]

So anyone got any of these? A review would help.

BAM

The good:

It's a phenomenally poseable frame. The shoulders are fantastic with the way they're jointed, able to flex and shrug and move essentially like a humans would. The waist is jointed in a manner that the figure can lean forward and backward quite a long way, although (as near as I can tell) there's no side to side bend. Obviously it can twist, though. The figure has adjustable hip height so you can make it taller or shorter, and while outward hip movement is limited very slighly (no side-to-side splits/van damme poses, unfortunately), the overall leg movement is great; kneeling or even sitting in sieza is no problem for the frame.

The not-so-good:

There's that "model kit" heritage rearing its ABS and polyvinyl head. It's by no stretch of the imagination an "action figure", despite coming in a window box all assembled. It's a snap-fit model kit that has had 95% of its parts put together already, make no mistake. Pieces will come apart while you're trying to move limbs, the elbow and knee joint pegs come out of their sockets VERY easily, and it uses polycaps for its various joints so it's bound to wear down and get floppy with time. You WILL need to sit down with a tube of glue with this, pre-built or not. In particular the upper bicep and the thighs are in desparate need of being permanently affixed, and the hands (which you put together yourself) have some fitment issues and will need to be glued as well to save headaches.

The rundown:

It's a very cool frame and I'm excited to get my Gourai so I can see how it works with the armor, but make no mistake about it, these are model kits through and through, despite having the pre-built frame. I see the Frame Architect as being a great commodity for customizers, though, and I do hope Kotobukiya keeps adding to this line because I can see a lot of potential here.

Pics:

This is it!

Fighting poses are a breeze!

The body is amazingly dynamic

Bird run! (Or perhaps figure skating) - The lightweight body coupled with the fairly robust joint system means if you can balance it, it can do it. This may change once outer armor comes into question, of course.

Iron man pose? No problem.

The extremely flexible waist really helps convey realistic poses.

-cue adaggio for strings-

[QuinJester]

Pics: continued (and part 2 - Gou-Rai armor)

Limber up...

Sitting crosslegged. Easy as pie.

Part 2 - Introducing Armor

The overall flexibility is impacted pretty severely by the armor (surprise surprise), mostly in the upper body and waist, but it still manages to remain an overall dynamic range that's very, very good.

Size up! The new feet give the Gou-Rai armor a bit of a "leg up" on the base Frame Architect.

Note: He stands really stably normally on a hard surface, but not so much on my drop cloth, which is why I've got him with his treads down. Normally he wouldn't need them.

Comparing elbow articulation:

Not a huge difference, but it's there. The wrists also lose most of their lateral movement, dropping from 180 degrees to about 10.

Shoulders - up and out:

Obviously the presence of shoulder pauldrons cuts down on the massive range of movement on the Frame Architect unit.

Shoulders - front to back:

Likewise, the chest and back armor cuts the phenomenal Frame Architect shoulder mobility down to a shadow of what it once was. It's still good for being expressive, but Gou-Rai wont be doing calisthenics any time soon.

Waist movement:

Gou-Rai can lean back a bit, but not nearly as much as the base frame. He can't really bend forward at all, due to the chest and waist armor.

Kneeling:

While the Gou-Rai armor can still pull a convincing kneel, it doesn't have the same gymnast-flexibility as the Frame Architect does. Still, not at all shabby.

In fact, the legs really still have a fantastic range of flexibility. I love the way his shinguards move to both allow a large amount of forward foot movement as well as support him in very deep squatting poses. You would be very hard pressed to find an armored figure that can crouch like this guy can.

... in fact, thanks to the design of the armor with its front and rear supports on the legs, he can hold more dynamic leg poses than the Frame Architect can without support.

The Frame Architect is supporting himself on the Gou-Rai armor; without support he'd be falling over in that matching pose.

[QuinJester]

Part 3 - Final pics

Likewise, the rear treads mean the Gou-Rai can pose in backwards angled poses, even supporting the Frame Architect while doing so.

And .. uh... what is this, I don't even

... so, yeah. Pretty neat. The added weight of the armor DOES make the joints move a lot looser, which is a bit of a concern considering that I know painting will add a lot of extra ballast and I can forsee it getting loose pretty easily. Overall though, the Gou-Rai armor manages to be a very cool model with a neat design, a lot of mobility (even if it's compromising 50% of the base Architect's movement, it's got a vast pool of motion still to draw from), and a lot of character despite its rather "generic" design.

If this were a metal frame like the SOC Spec Dragonar, this would honestly be one of my favorite toys ever. As it is, it's still a really cool model and I look forward to decorating it.

[Lynx7725]

Looks good. Thanks for the effort! I think it's worth getting one, but it feels more like a "scratchbuild your old mecha" system, more for scratch builders than players.

[electric indigo]

Here's a more ambitious build from the latest Model Grafix issue.

[wolfx]

Thanks for the review Quin Jester. The frame alone seems to be worth getting and customising.

[miriya]

After seeing your post I glued mine together last night and started my macross kitbash on it. I will post up here the progress when I get a chance. Thanks for the inspiration and tips.

[Faceless One]

Wow, I didn't know these existed until today, just Pre-ordered 1 SA-16d Khanjar and 2 Type 32 V Zenrai. Can't wait!

[eugimon]

wow, looks fantastic, can't wait to see your kitbash miriya!