[Kamen Rider Die]

First off, big thanks as always to Kurona for bundling together all of the new Shodo and/or SO-DO news. I was slightly concerned at the implication that folks would want to be reminded of Amazons Season 2, but I'll just assume that's the result of the translation from Bandai's blog.

Second, here's some pics and a short-ish review of SO-DO Chronicle Masked Rider Kuuga Mighty Form!




If you've done a few of the Zero-One kits, this process won't shock you. First box is going to have the base body and a couple three stickers for the belt:



The other box is going to have a gigantic sticker sheet and a billion small pieces:



It's not a terribly complicated construction or sticker application. The ankle stickers are by far the worst part, as they are practically microscopic, and they need to adhere to a raised surface. Pushing them down slides them around, so you'll be spending a little bit of time massaging them into the right place.



Other than that, the negatives are few, but disappointing. The big one is that the forearm pieces are painted on a sprue, so there are two big black marks on each forearm on opposite sides. There is literally no way to avoid this, because of how they've been painted. Get used to them, or try and paint-match a solution. The other minor quibble is that, with the Kuuga boot print being a separate flat piece, you a) can't use the footpeg on the stand for Kuuga; and b) it looks a little like he's wearing platform shoes.



Still, I think it's a solid enough piece. (That forearm thing is just this side of being a dealbreaker.) Tons of different hand options, great poseability, great paint apps on the non-forearm parts of the figure, and a fantastic head sculpt. If you keep a respectful distance, the flaws don't matter so much. Great shelf piece, maybe not one you're going to want to handle too closely.