FEXT Hobby - OWL ONE Armour

[Saburo]

O.W.L. [Operations Weapons Laboratory] One Armour Review

Manufacturer: FEXT Hobby

Price: $45.00 USD

 

Overview:

The OWL One Armor is an add-on kit for the Bandai Hi-Metal R as well as the older Hi Metal  line for VF-1 Valkyries. The design of the armour appears to be based of the custom built Thunder Hummer aka Thunder Hammer Hammer Modeled by Kouichi Hatakeyama that was featured in Model Graphix Magazine in October 2002 issue.

 

Packaging:

The OWL ONE comes packaged in a simple window box the same size as the Hi-Metal R box format. The box art is a photo of the armour and is the same across all the different version, the only differentiator is the text on the lower left of the box. The armour parts and armor display rack are laid out in 2 layer clear plastic clamshell, the instructions and sticker sheets are in plastic bag beneath the yellow cardboard backing. The display bay is bagged under the clamshells.

 

Design:

The armor has clean lines and has a good amount of detail for its size. It has 8 panel/covers that open to reveal the missile bays and slot in the arm armour to connect the missiles included with the Hi-Metal R. The hip mounted missiles are on a rotating joint so that can swivel vertically. A great feature FEXT Hobby added the back boosters is an integrated arm that swivels out to help lock the boosters in place to prevent the backpack from falling back on the figure.

 

The armor does not hinder the range of motion of the most parts figure with the exception for the hips. The bracket that holds the front armor in place reduces the amount of outward angle of the hip joints.

 

Details:

The armour is molded in a bright white plastic with various parts of the armor, boosters, cannons, and missile tips molded in color with tampo printed markings on various parts of the armour.

Build:

Build quality is excellent, the plastic has a good and durable feel to it. I would put on par with the plastic quality of the Hi-Metal R line and top tier 3P TFs. Parts fit together nicely with just the right amount of friction to hold them together without being too difficult to take them apart.

 

Fitment:

The armour parts fit securely onto the VF-1 and held in place by friction tabs, while the shoulder armour snaps into place. The leg armour has a slight bit play when attached. There is a slot in the armour that appears to tab into the peg in the inner part of the leg of the VF-1 which I could not get to lock in.

 

Accessories:

The accessories vary based on what version of OWL ONE armour you have gotten, this can range from shields, missile and booster mounted cannons. Also included are sticker sheet for ranking emblems for the boosters, an armour display rack and display base.

 

Summary:

I am very impressed with the OWL ONE amour from FEXT Hobby, the quality and fitment of the armour is great add-on for Hi-Metal/Hi-Metal R VF-1. I like that for $45 USD FEXT Hobby included the display bay and armour display stand with the armour. On a side note the OWL ONE box weighs 670g about 1.5lbs. I am looking forward to FEXT Hobby’s future releases and I hope they make a Low-Vis version of the OWL ONE Armour.

 

Note: The chest piece of the OWL One armor will not fit onto the VE-1 Elint Seeker and VT-1 Super Ostrich due to their 2 seater canopy is larger than their single seat counter parts.

 

Weapons and accessories list courtesy of @no3Ljm

#000 (All White)
- Regular Boosters

#001 (Yellow Trim)
- x2 Strike Cannons
- x1 Shield

#011 (Red Trim)
- x1 Strike Cannon
- 1x Shield

#101 (Red Trim)
- x2 Shields

#102 (Brown Trim)
- x2 Shield

#102F (Brown Trim)
- x2 Strike Cannons
- x2 Big Missiles (2 Missiles Each)
- x2 Gatling Guns on Forearm Armor

#202 (Blue Trim)
- x1 Strike Cannon
- x1 Shield
- x1 Big Missiles (2 Missiles Each)
- x1 Gatling Gun on Forearm Armor

#303 (Red Trim)
- x1 Strike Cannon
- x1 Big Missiles (2 Missiles Each)
- x1 Gatling Gun on Forearm Armor

Edited August 23, 2018 by Saburo

[Saburo]

Photos

OWL ONE - 000

 

Edited August 5, 2018 by Saburo

[Saburo]

OWL ONE - 001

 

Edited August 8, 2018 by Saburo

[Saburo]

OWL ONE - 011

 

Edited August 10, 2018 by Saburo

[Saburo]

OWL ONE - 102

 

Edited August 17, 2018 by Saburo

[sh9000]

Nice pics.  The all white armor of the 000 looks to be one of my favorites.  I just noticed that they didn’t use a different pic of the armor for each of the boxes.

[no3Ljm]

Loving it. Though it's not using VF-1J's white, hope it will match the white of HM's Roy's VF-1S.

Great pics, @Saburo!

 

[seti88]

The white 000 would be so ideal for panel lining work. Man...@saburo excellent close ups! 

btw, what i like abt the armor release also is the fact they included the rack and booth(?) to go with it. Nice work FEXT...

 

 

Edited August 5, 2018 by seti88

[Arthurius]

Oh my, that 000 armor, damn I am so happy I got it on preorder!!!  Thanks Saburo for the pics, I think this will work well with my vf1j indeed.

 

And happy we can use normal missiles on the Arms, not just from the fp, that means all my vales can have missiles now, and sleeker ones.

Edited August 5, 2018 by Arthurius

[ScrambledValkyrie]

7 hours ago, no3Ljm said:

Loving it. Though it's not using VF-1J's white, hope it will match the white of HM's Roy's VF-1S.

Great pics, @Saburo!

 

The HM DYRL VF-1 white is a little more off-white with a hint of yellow, while the HMR TV Hikaru VF-1J white is slightly blue-gray. It looks like Fext has used a very bright white that won't exactly match either. Though I bet it would match the original HM TV Hikaru VF-1J, which was very white.

I personally thought the all-white 000 was a little too plain, and went with the 101 (along with the 102F for CF awesomeness).

[Saburo]

Updated with written review, see first post.

19 hours ago, sh9000 said:

Nice pics.  The all white armor of the 000 looks to be one of my favorites.  I just noticed that they didn’t use a different pic of the armor for each of the boxes.

Yes box art is the same across all of the version.

 

19 hours ago, no3Ljm said:

Loving it. Though it's not using VF-1J's white, hope it will match the white of HM's Roy's VF-1S.

Great pics, @Saburo!

 

Thank you @no3Ljm!  I like that it doesn't match completely, gives some contrast so you can see where Valkyrie is and doesn't look like an all white figure.

 

19 hours ago, seti88 said:

The white 000 would be so ideal for panel lining work. Man...@saburo excellent close ups! 

btw, what i like abt the armor release also is the fact they included the rack and booth(?) to go with it. Nice work FEXT...

As I was photographing, I was wondering if anyone was going to panel and weather them because they would look amazing.

I agree the display base and armor rack are nice that FEXT included them.  I am pretty sure members will be able to display their hall of armor setup. @sh9000 *hint* *hint*

 

13 hours ago, Arthurius said:

Oh my, that 000 armor, damn I am so happy I got it on preorder!!!  Thanks Saburo for the pics, I think this will work well with my vf1j indeed.

 

And happy we can use normal missiles on the Arms, not just from the fp, that means all my vales can have missiles now, and sleeker ones.

No problem, I'll try to get the VF-1S Messer colors on the 000 when I have some time.

[Sanity is Optional]

Definitely going to panel line mine, no questions.

[Saburo]

Updated with photos of the 001

[sh9000]

001 looks good.

[Saburo]

On 8/8/2018 at 6:15 AM, sh9000 said:

001 looks good.

I agree, its my favorite one.

 

 

Just uploaded photos of the 011.

[Mommar]

How many did they send you Saburo?

[Saburo]

12 hours ago, Mommar said:

How many did they send you Saburo?

They sent me 4 sets; 000, 001, 011 and 102.

[Mommar]

Oh, so everybody is going to have to put up with my crap pictures of 202 then.  lol

[Slave IV]

1 minute ago, Mommar said:

Oh, so everybody is going to have to put up with my crap pictures of 202 then.  lol

I have 202 and just got it. Will try to do it some justice but that is going to be part of my work desk Valk so I don’t have any lights or my good camera there. Hopefully no one complains too much about the pics I end up with again. 

[technoblue]

My 202 and 102F shipment was hijacked by customs, so I am waiting a little longer for that one to arrive.

Anyway, I'll be living vicariously through any pictures that are shared. No complaints from me. 

[Slave IV]

Here we go!

So far, I will echo the other reviews about this. Very nice product, not quite Bandai HMR level of quality on their official GBP but still very nice with awesome extras. I really like the backdrop and the options it gives you to build them up. I wish I could just buy those.

Edited August 10, 2018 by Slave IV

[Slave IV]

And just went ahead and put together the other backdrop I have

[sumyumgoy]

Beautiful shots!  Looking forward to playing with mine.  I gotta say, I'm a big fan of fext's delivery notifications.

[Slave IV]

[no3Ljm]

Wicked. 

[Slave IV]

9 hours ago, no3Ljm said:

Wicked. 

Thanks!

I'm liking this combo!

[rdrunner]

2 minutes ago, Slave IV said:

Thanks!

I'm liking this combo!

The blue trim looks spot on with the color of the visor!  I got a set of 001 for the Messer and the 202 looks like a much better fit for it.

[Slave IV]

11 minutes ago, rdrunner said:

The blue trim looks spot on with the color of the visor!  I got a set of 001 for the Messer and the 202 looks like a much better fit for it.

Yeah, after noticing the visor color, 202 was a lock for me to get. I wanted armor for Messer's VF-1S and Max is also my favorite so now I have an armor that goes well with both.

[seti88]

That messer 1S with the blue armor looks good! Yeah the blue visor matches up nicely...

Not to mention the yellow tipped missiles too....just how macross is supposed to be, with colors!

Edited August 21, 2018 by seti88

[Slave IV]

Yep! 202 was made for Messer but I want to see it on Max sometime too. I’m glad the official reaction missiles work with the armor since the ones that come with it are pretty clownish looking on the figure. They look fine mounted to the stand and maybe under the wings if they fit but the official ones for perfectly under the arms. 

[sh9000]

I’m going to do separate orders in groups of 2 items for each order to maximize the $5 off coupon.  Thinking about a 202 and 3 more 102s.

[Mommar]

3 hours ago, Slave IV said:

Yep! 202 was made for Messer but I want to see it on Max sometime too. I’m glad the official reaction missiles work with the armor since the ones that come with it are pretty clownish looking on the figure. They look fine mounted to the stand and maybe under the wings if they fit but the official ones for perfectly under the arms. 

Old or new Max?  I took photos on the old Max already.

[Slave IV]

3 minutes ago, Mommar said:

Old or new Max?  I took photos on the old Max already.

I was thinking new Max but it does look good in that pic you took with old one too. I may never use the armor for it though since it looks great on Messer and Max don't need no armor!

[valhary]

Sad news

I really hope this project can be released

 

 

Edited November 30, 2018 by valhary

[jenius]

It makes sense as repaints are super cheap and there's a good likelihood that people who ordered two would order three or more.